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A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Materials, and Repair & Renovation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 April 2025 | Viewed by 10150

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Dongyu Niu

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Guest Editor

School of Materials Science and Engineering, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710061, China
Interests: asphalt pavement structure and material; micromechanical properties simulation of road materials; sustainable ecological pavement materials; high-performance road maintenance materials in special areas
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Zhengxian Yang

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Guest Editor

College of Civil Engineering, Fujian Provincial University Engineering Research Center for Advanced Civil Engineering Materials, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108, China
Interests: development and characterization of novel multi-functional composite materials to aid in the design of smart and sustainable infrastructures; development of new low-carbon and high-performance marine engineering materials including techniques to detect, prevent, predict, and remediate damage due to corrosion and biological fouling in the marine environment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Yangming Gao

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Guest Editor

School of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
Interests: mechanics of pavement materials; multiscale and multiphysics modelling; resilience and sustainability of asphalt pavements; intelligent transport infrastructure and materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Dan Chong

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Guest Editor

Department of Management Science and Engineering, School of Management, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China
Interests: sustainable infrastructure construction and management; life cycle assessment (LCA) modelling for infrastructure system; occupational health and safety management for workers in infrastructure industry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Urban infrastructure construction and management, as the backbone of urban economic and social development, have significant impacts on green economic development. However, with the growing demands of urbanisation, population growth, and climate change, urban infrastructure will undoubtedly face more serious challenges. In order to solve these challenges, new construction materials and technologies are needed to enhance and improve urban infrastructure construction, such as roads, bridges, and so on. For example, urban road infrastructure is currently encountering severe obstacles, such as higher and lower temperatures, flooding, and an increased number of freezing and thawing cycles due to climate change. To avoid more frequent pavement maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction, researchers and transportation agencies have recently started to focus on the resilience of pavement structures and materials. In addition, there is significant potential for improvement through the digitalisation of processes and the application of the building information modelling (BIM) approach, a methodology used to improve efficiency in urban infrastructure construction. Meanwhile, utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning for urban infrastructure construction and management is conducive to enhancing the integration of roadside infrastructure and intelligent transportation systems. This approach shows promise in improving traffic safety and system management efficiency. The construction and management of infrastructure pose various environmental risks that jeopardize the well-being of urban inhabitants and construction workers. It is imperative to employ scientific modelling techniques to accurately assess these environmental impacts throughout the entire life cycle.

This Special Issue “Urban Infrastructure Construction and Management” will provide an overview of existing knowledge on new materials, processes, and technologies for urban infrastructure construction. Original research, theoretical and experimental work, case studies, and comprehensive review papers are invited for possible publication.

Relevant topics to this Special Issue include (but are not limited to) the following subjects:

New materials for urban infrastructure construction;
Advanced technologies for infrastructure construction;
Sustainable infrastructure construction management;
Infrastructure construction structural health monitoring;
Machine-learning-powered management;
Urban infrastructure construction under climate change;
Smart and sustainable infrastructural construction;
Building information modelling (BIM) for infrastructural construction;
Environmental impact modelling for infrastructure in the life cycle.

Dr. Dongyu Niu
Prof. Dr. Zhengxian Yang
Dr. Yangming Gao
Dr. Dan Chong
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

cement-based materials
asphalt materials
numerical modelling
durability and resilience
intelligent transport
BIM
infrastructure construction

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Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 6803 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Feasibility Study of Magnesium Slag, Fly Ash, and Metakaolin to Replace Part of Cement as Cementitious Materials

by Fulu Wei, Hairong Xiao, Jia Zhang, Zhenqing He, Xuanhao Cao and Bowen Guan

Buildings 2024, 14(12), 3874; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14123874 - 2 Dec 2024

Viewed by 426

Abstract

To achieve the efficient utilization of magnesium slag, this study investigates the use of magnesium slag, fly ash, and metakaolin as partial substitutes for cement in cementitious materials. The reactivity of these materials is assessed based on the compressive strength of mortar. The response surface methodology is employed to explore the influence of material proportions on the strength performance of cement mortar. The mechanisms underlying strength development in the composite system are examined through XRD, SEM, TG-DTG, and BET analyses. Additionally, the effect of magnesium slag on the drying shrinkage properties of cement mortar is studied. The experimental results indicate that magnesium slag exhibits low reactivity and cannot be used alone as an active admixture. The optimal proportion of magnesium slag, fly ash, metakaolin, and cement is 10:10:10:70, achieving over 80% of the strength of pure cement mortar and approximately 1.5 times the strength of cement mortar containing 30% magnesium slag. Furthermore, magnesium slag helps mitigate the volume shrinkage caused by drying in cement mortar. Therefore, this study can facilitate the comprehensive utilization of magnesium slag in the construction sector, reducing its negative impact on the ecological environment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Infrastructure Construction and Management)

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25 pages, 11274 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of the Spatial Constraints of Urban Underpass Channels Based on BIM

by Anmeng Wang, Wei Li, Kai Liu, Xingli Jia, Junheng Guo and Kangjie Wang

Buildings 2024, 14(11), 3350; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14113350 - 23 Oct 2024

Viewed by 556

Abstract

The construction of urban underpasses faces various spatial constraints, which will lead to deformation or failure of the structures if not satisfied. The introduction of BIM (Building Information Modeling) and other modern information technology to achieve rapid and accurate spatial constraint analysis of the design scheme is of great significance to ensure the quality and safety of the underpass and adjacent structures. Firstly, through extensive literature collection and survey, the key spatial constraint indicators of underpasses in dense urban spaces and the evaluation rules of each indicator are determined. Then, an SQL (Structured Query Language)-based database of spatial constraint rules for underpasses in dense urban space areas is constructed, and the spatial constraint analysis process for underpasses in dense urban space areas is proposed. Finally, based on Building Information Modeling, programming support, and a development environment provided by C# and Visual Studio, a spatial constraint analysis system for underpasses in dense urban space areas is developed to realize complex spatial constraint analysis functions. The application practice of the system is carried out by taking a city underpass project as an example. The results show that in the design of urban underpass engineering, the spatial constraint analysis system designed in this paper and the calculation method adopted can simplify the model transmission process, save on labor costs, and reduce the error of the calculation results. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Infrastructure Construction and Management)

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21 pages, 12110 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Reed Fiber Length and Dosage on the Properties of Reed-Fiber-Modified Bitumen and Bituminous Mortar

by Huikun Chen, Junyan Zhang, Dongyu Niu, Xueyan Liu and Peng Lin

Buildings 2024, 14(9), 2749; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14092749 - 2 Sep 2024

Viewed by 764

Abstract

In order to explore the feasibility and efficacy of reed-fiber-modified bitumen (RFMB), three lengths and three dosages of reed fibers were selected to modify bitumen and bituminous mortar, while the physicochemical properties of RFMB and RFMB mortar were analyzed. In this work, FTIR spectroscopy was employed to characterize the chemical impact of fiber on bitumen. The viscidity and rheology of RFMB and the tensile strength of RFMB mortar were evaluated using a Brookfield viscometer, dynamic shear rheometer, and monotonic tensile test. The results showed that adding fibers primarily affects the physical structure rather than the chemical composition of bitumen, confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy. RFMB viscosity increased with higher fiber dosage and fiber length. Rheological evaluations showed an enhanced complex shear modulus for RFMB, suggesting improved performance at higher temperatures but increased stiffness at lower temperatures, with the latter indicating reduced flexibility. RFMB also demonstrated superior fatigue and rutting resistance, albeit with compromised stress sensitivity. Tensile tests on RFMB mortar highlighted significant improvements, especially with longer fibers, while shorter 0.4 mm fibers showed modest reinforcement effects, possibly due to uneven distribution during sample preparation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Infrastructure Construction and Management)

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18 pages, 3306 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Introducing Methods for Analyzing and Detecting Concrete Cracks at the No. 3 Huaiyin Pumping Station in the South-to-North Water Diversion Project in China

by Peng Cui and Yazhou Qin

Buildings 2024, 14(8), 2431; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14082431 - 7 Aug 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 801

Abstract

Concrete cracks pose significant threats to concrete structures, causing immediate strength loss and leading to gradual erosion that compromises structural integrity. Therefore, accurate and automatic detection and classification of concrete cracks, along with the evaluation of their effects on target structures, are critically important. This study focuses on the No. 3 Huaiyin pumping station, a large-scale hydraulic structure on the Eastern Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project in Jiangsu, China. First, relevant field test literature is reviewed, and the finite element method is applied to investigate the effects of an existing crack on the No. 2 supporting wall. Using thermomechanically coupled numerical simulations, the distribution of tensile stress in the supporting wall is reported in two cases: without a crack and with an existing crack. The findings indicate that the increase in tensile stress due to the existing crack is relatively small and can be considered negligible for the No. 2 supporting wall. Next, the pretrained YOLOX network for the detection and classification of three types of cracks is proposed and retrained using collected concrete crack datasets. The mean average precision of the retrained YOLOX network for all three types of cracks reaches 80%. Finally, the retrained YOLOX network is applied to detect and classify cracks at the No. 3 Huaiyin pumping station. This automatic detection and classification approach will enhance the high-quality management of the pumping station because it is labor-saving and easy to deploy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Infrastructure Construction and Management)

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19 pages, 2720 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Urban Infrastructure Construction Planning: Urban Public Transport Line Formulation

by Silin Zhang, Buhao Zhang, Yi Zhao, Shun Zhang and Zhichao Cao

Buildings 2024, 14(7), 2031; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14072031 - 3 Jul 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 930

Abstract

Urban public transport line formulation has its appeal in promoting public convenience and developing environmentally friendly cities. During the bus line planning stage, the line frequency and stop location determination is a key issue for decision makers. Our study focuses on the integrated formulation problem between line frequency and stop planning featuring multi-type vehicles. The multi-type vehicles are able to accommodate the various passenger demands at either peak hours or off-peak hours. The a priori magnitudes of user demands are investigated by drone-based technique methods in the tactical-level plan. The collected geospatial data can assist the public transport user forecast. A mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model is proposed. The objective is to minimize the walking cost of passengers, the building cost of stops, and the operation cost of service frequency. The effectiveness of the model is validated by a real case in Nantong, China. CPLEX is used to resolve the MILP model. Yielding to the budget constraint, in high-price, medium-price, and low-price scenarios, the optimal high-quantity stop scheme can save 3.04%, 3.11%, and 3.38% in overall cost compared with the medium-quantity stop scheme, respectively; their cost savings are 8.53%, 8.70%, and 9.09% more than the costs of the low-quantity stop scheme. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Infrastructure Construction and Management)

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14 pages, 7304 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Automatic Detection of Urban Pavement Distress and Dropped Objects with a Comprehensive Dataset Collected via Smartphone

by Lin Xu, Kaimin Fu, Tao Ma, Fanlong Tang and Jianwei Fan

Buildings 2024, 14(6), 1546; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14061546 - 27 May 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 887

Abstract

Pavement distress seriously affects the quality of pavement and reduces driving comfort and safety. The dropped objects from vehicles have increased the risks of traffic accidents. Therefore, automatic detection of urban pavement distress and dropped objects is an effective method to timely evaluate pavement condition. Firstly, this paper utilized a portable platform to collect pavement distress and dropped objects to establish a high-quality dataset. Six types of pavement distresses: transverse crack, longitudinal crack, alligator crack, oblique crack, potholes, and repair, and three types of dropped objects: plastic bottle, metal bottle, and tetra pak were included in this comprehensive dataset. Secondly, the real-time YOLO series detection models were used to classify and localize the pavement distresses and dropped objects. In addition, segmentation models W-segnet, U-Net, and SegNet were utilized to achieve pixel-level detection of pavement distress and dropped objects. The results show that YOLOv8 outperformed YOLOv5 and YOLOv7 with a MAP of 0.889. W-segnet showed an overall MIoU of 70.65% and 68.33% on the training set and test set, respectively, being superior to the comparison model and being able to achieve high-precision pixel-level segmentation. Finally, the trained models were performed on the holdout dataset for the generalization test. The proposed methods integrated the detection of urban pavement distress and dropped objects, which could significantly contribute to driving safety. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Infrastructure Construction and Management)

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17 pages, 5102 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Preparation and Properties of Attapulgite-Hydroxyethyl Cellulose Composite Poly (Acrylic Acid-co-2-acrylamide-2-methylpropanesulfonic Acid) Concrete Internal Curing Material

by Younan Zhao, Laifa Wang, Yongqing Li, Rui Xiong and Fuyang Lu

Buildings 2024, 14(5), 1467; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14051467 - 18 May 2024

Viewed by 951

Abstract

Attapulgite-hydroxyethyl cellulose-poly (acrylic acid-co-2-acrylamide-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid) (ATP-HEC-P(AA-co-AMPS)) in-concrete curing material was synthesized by aqueous solution polymerization using attapulgite (ATP) as an inorganic filler and hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) as a backbone. The effects of relevant factors such as ATP dosage, HEC dosage, degree of neutralization, initiator quality, and cross-linking agent quality on the water absorption characteristics of ATP-HEC-P (AA-co-AMPS) were investigated through expansion tests. The micro-morphology of ATP-HEC-P (AA-co-AMPS) was also comprehensively characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, a thermal analysis, and other applicable means. The results showed that the prepared ATP-HEC-P (AA-co-AMPS) had a strong water absorption and water retention capacity, with a water absorption multiplicity of 382 g/g in deionized water and 21.55% water retention capacity after being placed at room temperature for 7 d in a bare environment. Additionally, ATP-HEC-P (AA-co-AMPS) showed good performance for absorbing liquids within the pH range of 7–12. The material’s thermal stability and mechanical properties were also significantly improved after the addition of ATP. The preparation cost is low, the process is simple, and the material meets the requirements for concrete curing materials. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Infrastructure Construction and Management)

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19 pages, 10449 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of Workability and Mechanical Properties in Cement Mortar after Compounding Igneous Rock Powder and Silica Fume

by Bo Liu, Xiaodong Zhao, Xing Liu, Zhenqing He, Xuanhao Cao and Bowen Guan

Buildings 2024, 14(2), 359; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14020359 - 28 Jan 2024

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1257

Abstract

In order to investigate the influence of igneous rock powder and silica fume on the performance of cement mortar, facilitate the application of igneous rock powder in engineering, and promote the greening of the cement industry, this study examined the pozzolanic activity of three different types of igneous rock powders: granite, andesite, and tuff. It explored the workability and mechanical properties of both binary systems (igneous rock–cement) and ternary systems (igneous rock–silica fume–cement). Microscopic techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis–differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and nitrogen adsorption were used to investigate the mechanisms of how different types of igneous rock and silica fume affect the cementitious systems. The results showed that the pozzolanic activity of igneous rock powders was relatively weak, and their inclusion at levels below 20% had minimal impact on the flowability of cement mortar. In fact, within the 20% inclusion range, andesite powder even increased the flowability. Co-blending igneous rock powders with silica fume promoted the early hydration of cement, resulting in reduced calcium hydroxide (CH) content in the hydration products. The most significant increase in strength of the cement mortar system was observed when 5% to 10% (by mass) of igneous rock powder and 5% to 10% of silica fume were used as replacements for cement. The highest cement mortar strength was achieved when 10% andesite and 10% silica fume were used as replacements, resulting in a compressive strength of 52.2 MPa. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Infrastructure Construction and Management)

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Review

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25 pages, 7346 KiB

Open AccessReview

Recycling of Aluminosilicate-Based Solid Wastes through Alkali-Activation: Preparation, Characterization, and Challenges

by Lichao Feng, Shengjie Yi, Shuyuan Zhao, Qiucheng Zhong, Feirong Ren, Chen Liu, Yu Zhang, Wenshou Wang, Ning Xie, Zhenming Li and Na Cui

Buildings 2024, 14(1), 226; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14010226 - 15 Jan 2024

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2342

Abstract

Recycling aluminosilicate-based solid wastes is imperative to realize the sustainable development of constructions. By using alkali activation technology, aluminosilicate-based solid wastes, such as furnace slag, fly ash, red mud, and most of the bio-ashes, can be turned into alternative binder materials to Portland cement to reduce the carbon footprint of the construction and maintenance activities of concrete structures. In this paper, the chemistry involved in the formation of alkali-activated materials (AAMs) and the influential factors of their properties are briefly reviewed. The commonly used methods, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TG), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), and X-ray pair distribution function technology, to characterize the microstructure of AAMs are introduced. Typical characterization results of AAMs are shown and the limitations of each method are discussed. The main challenges, such as shrinkage, creep, efflorescence, carbonation, alkali–silica reaction, and chloride ingress, to conquer for a wider application of AAMs are reviewed. It is shown that several performances of AAMs under certain circumstances seem to be less satisfactory than traditional portland cement systems. Existing strategies to improve these performances are reviewed, and recommendations for future studies are given. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Infrastructure Construction and Management)

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