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OCR for page 135
Intro~action
MILTON PIKARSKY
The political, economic, and social consequences of the Organization
of Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC's) actions during the late
1973-1974 period, exacerbated by the Iranian embargo in 1979, are still
reverberating, and the world's transportation systems including that
of the United States are in a major transitional period.
The U.S. transportation system can be briefly described as a vast
enterprise, the costs of which account for about $500 billion, or in excess
of 20 percent of the gross national product, smaller than the amount
for housing and larger than the amount for food. It is a fragmented
system built and operated by thousands of private firms and government
agencies in a decentralized fashion. Relatively few decisions are made,
and few individuals or entities have effective control or even influence
over much of the system. Rather, the relative size and efficiencies of
different subsystems are the product of thousands of lower-level actions
that respond to market decisions of shippers and travelers. All of this,
when aggregated, results in the total transportation system.
The current technological systems supporting this vast transportation
network reflect nearly 100 years of progress, much of which has occurred
in the last 50 years. Today, increasingly, technological innovation must
be responsive to social, economic, and political pressures if it is to be
effective.
The three papers that follow explore current technological develop-
ments and trends in these areas of transportation: (l) aviation and aircraft
technology, (2) use of reinforced earth in surface transportation projects,
and (3) railroad technology.
135
OCR for page 136
136
TRANSPORTATION TECHNOLOGY
The U.S. civil aviation industry has been the dominant technological
and market force. However, competitive forces worldwide, the domestic
economy, and market uncertainties may alter the shape of the industry
in the coming years. Technologically the civil aircraft vehicle is highly
efficient because of its advanced electronic systems, and increased tech-
nological efficiency is possible. However, affordability and planning
imply restraint. It is against this background that the industry must shape
itself in the future, and in the first paper, John E. Steiner describes the
current technology as well as the technological building blocks and the
potential rewards and challenges ahead.
In the next paper, James K. Mitchell discusses the cutting edge of
technology with regard to soil, one of our most abundant and least
expensive potential construction materials. Human attempts to improve
the soil for use as a structural material precede recorded history. Indeed,
they can be dated to engineering and construction projects of 5,000
years ago, when the pyramids of the shenzi on the Tibetan-Mongolian
plateau were built of a compacted mixture of clay and lime.
We are all familiar with the Roman-built roads, which outlasted the
empire and are still in evidence today. Soils have been wetted, dried,
heated, frozen, pounded upon, vibrated, mixed with other materials,
pushed, rolled, implanted with things, and dehydrated to improve their
properties. Principles of soil behavior and foundation engineering that
are still valid today were recorded in the Tribiuses, 10 books of archi-
tecture of the first century B.C. In the New World the Mayans constructed
roads that had a base of broken limestone with stone sizes decreasing
upward, covered with a mortar of lime and sifted earth. The scarcity of
timber in the southwestern United States and regions of Central and
South America led to exploitation of local stones and soils, resulting in
the familiar adobe brick, strengthened as necessary with sticks and reeds.
The quest to better adapt soils for use in construction is not surprising,
since in addition to being one of our most abundant and least expensive
materials, soil is also one of our potentially most useful structural ma-
terials.
Despite the known potential to facilitate earth work and soil improve-
ment work on a large scale, little exploitation of this potential construc-
tion material occurred until the twentieth century. Indeed only in the
last two decades have the methodologies for soil improvement and ground
strengthening been developed. Of the existing methodologies, soil re-
inforcement is the one most intensely studied and advanced in appli-
cation. Many of the currently available techniques were specifically de-
veloped for use in highway construction. Dr. Mitchell's presentation
considers the currently available types of soil reinforcement, their ap-
plication, design, construction, and economies.
OCR for page 137
INTRODUCTION
137
In the third paper, William J. Harris, Jr., discusses technological
opportunities in the railroad industry. Successes stemming from earlier
technological developments led the industry to a preeminent competitive
position. It is natural that under those circumstances the railroads have
failed to pursue new technology. However, with the gradual develop-
ment of the truck and waterway modes of transportation and the com-
pletion of the interstate system of highways, the railroads were suddenly
confronted by a vigorous economic challenge.
The railroad industry has responded with the adoption of new tech-
nologies to force safety improvements and efficiencies in rail transpor-
tation. Dr. Harris describes the current status of technology and the
anticipated trends in the industry, bringing to the discussion his unique
awareness of the technological and research issues facing the railroads
during the present, uncertain, transition period on which deregulation
legislation has had an impact.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
potential construction
