Objective. To develop, formalize, and evaluate a decentralized multi-agent system for realâtime traffic management in autonomous openâpit mining operations, aimed at minimizing truck idle time, preventing congestion and deadlocks, and increasing overall haulage efficiency. Methodology. The system is designed using a multiâagent paradigm where haul trucks, excavators,dumping points, and key infrastructure elements are modeled as autonomous agents. Task allocation is performed via a marketâbased Contract Net Protocol with bidding based on estimated time of arrival. Path planning employs an A* algorithm on a dynamic graph, while conflict resolution is achieved through a reservation mechanism managed by infrastructure agents. Reinforcement learning (Qâlearning) is integrated to allow truck agents to adapt their bidding strategies over time. The approach is validated through agentâbased simulations under normal, highâintensity, and disruption scenarios, and compared against a centralized firstâcome, firstâserved dispatch system. Results. Under normal operation, the multiâagent system reduced average truck idle time by 44%, cycle time by 17.5%, increased throughput by 21%, and lowered traffic conflict frequency by 66.5% compared to the baseline. In highâintensity traffic, it prevented congestion and deadlocks, maintaining smooth flow. During unexpected disruptions (excavator breakdown, road blockage), the system autonomously reâplanned routes and reassigned tasks within minutes, effectively isolating the impact and ensuring operational continuity. Scientific novelty. The novelty lies in the holistic integration of decentralized coordination, marketâbased task allocation, dynamic path reservation, and reinforcement learning within a unified multiâagent framework for realâtime traffic management in openâpit mining. This approach enables emergent selfâorganization, robust adaptation to dynamic conditions, and scalability beyond the capabilities of traditional centralized fleet management systems. Practical significance. The proposed system offers a scalable and resilient solution for autonomous haulage fleets, directly reducing operational costs through lower idle times and higher throughput, improving safety by preventing traffic conflicts, and enhancing resilience to equipment failures or route blockages. It provides a clear pathway for transitioning existing mines to fully autonomous, efficient, and safe operations. Keywords: multi-agent system, traffic management, open-pit mining, autonomous haulage, fleet management, reinforcement learning, Contract Net Protocol, path planning, conflict resolution, simulation.
Mary D. Willis, Joan A. Casey, Jonathan J. Buonocore
This Viewpoint discusses the need for research on and mitigation strategies for the potential community and population health effects of cryptocurrency mining, an energy-intensive and noise-producing industry.
Zongliang Zhang, Sherong Zhang, Zhiyong Zhao, Lei Yan · 6 authors
Improving the design efficiency of hydropower hub buildings and promoting the application of intelligence in engineering construction and operation management have been critical issues in hydropower engineering construction. The major challenges are mainly reflected in the difficulties of multidisciplinary collaboration and the inefficient coordination of work involving multiple parties. This paper proposes a building information modeling (BIM)-based technology system architecture for digital design, intelligent construction, and intelligent operation, which combines BIM technology with geographic information system (GIS), computer aided engineering (CAE), internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and other technologies. The proposed system includes a BIM-based multiprofessional forward collaborative design method, a BIM-based engineering construction management model, and a real-time safety analysis and evaluation technology system based on actual measured safety information and construction. The hydroelectrical engineering BIM (HydroBIM) comprehensive control platform is developed. In the planning and design stage, the platform enables the whole process and full-professional collaborative digital design. In the engineering construction management stage, it supports the whole process and all-round information management and control of contract, schedule, quality, safety, and investment. In the operation management stage, the platform facilitates the integrated management of engineering safety evaluation, early warning, and emergency plan based on monitoring data and the consistency criterion of positive and negative evaluation. The application of this technology in more than 20 engineering, has proven to improve the efficiency of design and analysis of hydropower hub buildings and the intelligence level of engineering construction and operation management, and overcome the difficulties of multi-professional collaboration in the design stage and low efficiency of multi-participant coordination in the construction stage.
As an important part of modern urban construction, urban underground comprehensive pipe gallery has solved the shortcomings of traditional direct burial and decentralized laying modes, and greatly improved urban disaster resilience and urban quality. The introduction of PPP mode can effectively solve the financing problem of the construction of pipe gallery and reduce the risk of government investment. Facing the arrival of the climax of domestic pipe gallery construction, in order to scientifically grasp the market demand situation of urban underground comprehensive pipe gallery PPP project, a market demand forecasting model based on BP neural network is proposed. The policy, economy, law, financing, construction, income, and other pipe gallery PPP project market demand influencing factor sand the number of historical pipe gallery PPP are taken as input parameters, and the market demand data to be predicted are taken as output parameters. The market demand value of the predicted time can be calculated by inputting the predicted time. The results show that the BP neural network model has a good applicability in solving the market demand forecasting problem of urban underground comprehensive pipe gallery PPP project.
Taiwan, like many other countries, often incentivizes private investors to participate in the construction of infrastructures for environmental protection. The build-operate-transfer (BOT) or build-operate-own (BOO) model of financing public infrastructure was introduced to Taiwan in the 1990s. Among them, the construction of incinerators to treat the municipal solid waste using the BOT/BOO model was quite a success in the beginning. With the socio-technical change of lifestyle and waste generation, the amount of amount of trash dropped dramatically. The policy failed eventually, however, because the government over-estimated the trash quantity and refrained from inter-municipality cooperation to treat trash efficiently. This failure triggered a rash of intense debates and legal disputes. In the case of the Taitung incinerator, the 26th incinerator located in southeastern Taiwan, the arbitration resulted in the government making significant compensation payments to the private sector. The finished construction was consequently converted into a âmothballed and pensioned offâ facility. This study applies in-depth interviews and literature review to discuss aspects contributing to the policy failure and proposes some possible remedial measures. Five aspects are summarized, namely, the administrative organizationâs rigid attitude, the irrationality of the BOT/BOO contracts, the loss of the spirit of BOO partnerships, the heavy financial burden on local government, and the abandonment of inter-municipality cooperation. The remedial measures for the policy failure are presented in the form of thorough policy evaluation, room for contract adjustments under the BOT/BOO model, encouragement of cross-boundary cooperation, and revision of the legal framework for implementing decentralization.
The history of the Chicago Skyway in Illinois, from its inception in 1953 to its 99-year lease in 2005, is examined in this paper. As one of the last U.S. toll roads to be built before the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, the skyway's administration reflects the decentralized and relatively flexible institutions of highway administration that prevailed at the time. Chicago officials were able to finance the skyway with revenue bonds to address an anticipated traffic crisis resulting from uncoordinated planning for the Indiana Toll Road. However, Chicago's independent initiative came with a lack of oversight and resulted in questionable design parameters, traffic projections, and financing. Skyway bonds went into default in 1963, and decades of financial shortfalls and deferred maintenance followed. In the 1990s, improved traffic and revenue allowed for debt retirement and physical rehabilitation. Its lease to an investment group led by Australia's Macquarie Bank indicated a new paradigm of decentralized highway administration that included an important private-sector role. The $1.83 billion deal was hailed as a triumph for Chicago and a model for future transactions, but once again, its value for investors was questionable. A half-century of skyway history reveals some of the advantages and risks of a decentralized and relatively unregulated system of highway financing and administration.
In response to the mandates in the MINER Act of 2006, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducted refuge alternatives research that included characterizing the utility, practicality and survivability of refuge chambers and outby safe havens. NIOSH also prepared and delivered a report to Congress in late December 2007 that summarized the findings of the research, included recommendations concerning the design and performance specifications for refuge alternatives, and focused on specific information that could inform the regulatory process on refuge alternatives. This paper highlights NIOSHâs research and recommendations concerning refuge alternatives, survivability evaluations of refuge chambers and presents a brief review of the current deployment of refuge chambers in underground coal mines in the U.S. The research has lead to the conclusion that refuge alternatives have the potential for saving the lives of mine workers if they are part of a comprehensive escape and rescue plan and if appropriate training is provided. Introduction The U.S. coal mining industry experienced an increase in fatalities during 2006 when 37 miners perished in the nationâs underground coal mines. Nineteen miners perished in three disasters: 12 miners perished in a methane explosion at the International Coal Group, Sago Mine, two more miners died in a fire at the Aracoma Coal Co., Alma No. 1 Mine, while another methane explosion resulted in the loss of five more miners at the Kentucky Darby, LLC, Darby No. 1 Mine. This reversed the downward trend of fatalities that had taken place during the previous 21 years (Fig. 1). The causes of all the underground coal mine fatalities in 2005, 2006 and 2007 are listed in Table 1. Table 1 illustrates that fewer fatalities occurred in 2005 and 2007 than 2006 with the goal of zero fatalities as desirable. The Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006 (MINER Act), PL 109-236, was passed in response to this increase in fatalities resulting from the three mine disasters that occurred in 2006 (United States, 2006). Section 13 of the Act â Research Concerning Refuge Alternatives, specifies NIOSHâs responsibilities with respect to refuge alternatives. Section 13, subsection (a) of the Act states that âThe National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) shall provide for the conduct of research, including field tests, concerning the utility, practicality, survivability and cost of various refuge alternatives in an underground coal mine environment, including commercially available portable refuge chambers.â Subsection (b)(1) then states that âNot later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health shall prepare and submit to the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, and the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives a report concerning the results of the research conducted under subsection (a), including any field tests.â This document summarizes NIOSHâs refuge alternatives research that was included in the report to the U.S. Congress. The concept of utilizing refuge chambers dates back as far as 1912 when the U.S. Bureau of Mines advocated the building of refuge chambers to fight mine fires (Rice, 1912) in the main sections of mines (Paul et al., 1923). In the late 1930s and early 1940s, some small refuge chambers had been established in some coal mines in the central states and these chambers saved lives (Harrington and Fene, 1941). In addition, the Harwick Coal and Coke Co. built a number of large refuge chambers in the Harwick Mine. These chambers were 23-m(75-ft-) long, 2.4m(8-ft-) high and 3.3-m(11-ft-) wide, cut out of the coal and connected to the surface by two boreholes to provide air, communications, food and water (Harrington and Fene, 1941). More recent research efforts were completed under contract for the U.S. Bureau of Mines starting around 1970 and extending into the mid-1980s. Five major contract efforts were completed between 1970 and 1983 that addressed mine rescue and survival, the design of explosion-proof bulkheads, post survival and rescue research needs, and guidelines for rescue chambers. As a result, one refuge chamber was constructed and is still located in NIOSHâs Bruceton Safety Research Coal Mine (Fig. 2). In general, these contract efforts did not point to any one specific component that would ensure survival during a mine disaster but stressed that survival is a collaboration of subsystems. The subsystems that make up the overall survival strategy include escape, rescue, communications, breathable air and barricading (refuge). NIOSHâs recent research on refuge alternatives was limited to underground coal mine applications. Historically, the use of refuge alternatives has been more prevalent in underground metal/nonmetal mines. The underlying differences between mining sectors are significant and practices in one sector cannot be generalized to the other. Even so, the findings from this research may be useful for metal/nonmetal application. The research efforts summarized in this document involved a number of activities. First, a literature search was performed to identify the findings from any past research on refuge alternatives and topics related to mine refuge and mine disasters, escape and mine rescue. Visits were made to mines, nationally and internationally, and meetings were held with mining experts from labor, industry and government in the U.S., Australia and South Africa to collect information on refuge alternatives, specific refuge regulations and to discuss contemporary issues associated with refuge alternatives. Several contract efforts were completed that examined existing U.S. and international practices, regulations and refuge products. However, these efforts revealed very little information related to coal mining refuge applications, while identifying several knowledge and technology gap areas. In response, a major research contract was awarded to address the gap areas, including guidance for locating and positioning refuge alternatives and establishing specifications for chambers and in-place shelters1. 1The gap areas were identified at the end of the international survey effort, which was performed during July through October 2006. The technical part of the contract to address these areas was completed at the end of October. The actual contract award, conducted in compliance with the Federal Acquisition Rules, was made in March 2007. Work on this contract will continue through 2009. The contractor was able to provide key inputs for the preparation of the report to Congress. Concurrently, NIOSH researchers examined nonminFIGURE 1 Underground coal mine fatalities 1987-2007 (Bauer Kohler, 2009.
Private-ownership of roads in Nigeria is still at the deliberation stage. In other words roads (tarred and untarred) are owned by Federal, State and Local authorities in Nigeria. Most of these roads, however, share a common characteristic of being âunsafe at any speedâ, at any time of the day. This is as a result of the low quality of the road components, structures and patterns. For example, road surfaces are undulating and rough. Also, the poor standard of road infrastructure like guard railings/barriers; pavement marking and signs; illumination levels, traffic signals, horizontal/vertical alignment and sight lines contribute largely to the increasing carnage on Nigerian road network. This trend persists because authorities in Nigeria have practically relegated to the background regular road safety audit operations. This is an inevitable aspect of modern methods of road administration and management, which determines a number of traffic potentials concerning highway high collision locations; protection of errant vehicles from light poles, trees, ditches, replacement of damaged and missing signs, street lighting, capacity and level of service analysis. Finally, this paper suggests commissioning of a National Road Research Fund, with a view to developing an efficient road safety audit operational system. Also, the introduction of private initiatives and a Community-based Approach in road administration, as well as decentralization of road administration framework at all levels, will greatly help âengineer outâ potentially unsafe features across Nigerian roads, towards a better road traffic environment in the 21st century.
Martin Lang, Frederick Novotny, Mohan Jethwani, Charles Samowitz
The establishment of a centralized sewerage agency in 1963 has enabled the development of a program to upgrade and augment New York Cityâs sewer system to meet the vital life supporting needs of the 21st century. The previous decentralized structure, with five different design standards and financing assessments, did not lend itself to a rational and sound engineering approach to the drainage problems. The shift of population to the periphery of the city, the elimination of sewer assessment, and the antiquated sewerage mandated launching a crash effort. Citywide planning, new management techniques, infusion of new engineers, and optimal use of in-house staff and consultants have all culminated in sixfold acceleration of the sewer construction program.