SummaryDirect shear tests were conducted on a granite to granite interface for the purpose of tracing the evolution of frictional resistance as the initially smooth and polished surface wears during continuing shearing displacement. At the moment when sliding on the freshly manufactured interface starts (first slip), the friction angle is very low, between 15 ~ and 20 ~ , but then it increases with displacement rapidly without reaching a peak in the first test (maximum displacement less than 25 ram). Upon repeated shearing of the same surface (without re-finishing), this process of "displacement-strengthening" continues until a total accumulated displacement of about one half of one meter is reached. At this point, the angle of friction would typically be between 42 ~ and 44 ~ .Once the residual surface was established, the effect of time-related parameters, the duration of stationary contact under constant normal and shear load and variable displacement rate, were investigated. The frictional resistance is shown to increase with decreasing displacement rate and to increase with the duration of stationary contact.At a normal load greater than about one half of one MPa, shear displacement on a residual surface proceeds in an unstable, stick-slip manner. The change from stable to unstable sliding, that can be effected by either decreasing the sliding velocity or increasing the normal load, is not instantaneous, but occurs over a finite amount of displacement.

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Reform of trucking Vehicle Weights and Dimensions (VWD) regulations inCanada is now underway. The effect these reforms will have on the freight transportation industry are only recently the subject of research. This paper is part of this new research effort, aimed at understanding how regulatory reform in the trucking sector will affect the existing competitive relationship between trucks and the railways. The paper presents the results of study and research into modelling the relationship between mode choice and the service characteristics that are affected by VWD reform.Using several periods of data, a series of econometric models are developed which help to elucidate the relative relationships between the mode service characteristics for both of the principal interprovincial freight modes. A technique is developed and presented to model railway user costs in order to overcome the complex and often unrepresentable pricing activities of Canadian railways.The strength of the developed econometric models is presented, including their significance and statistical reliability. This is further reinforced by the similarities exhibited by all the models in the series. The selected model is applied to predict market service responses required of the railway industry in order to compete with the trucking sector now adapting to the new regulations.The impact of the newly implemented vehicle weight and dimension reform on the rail transportation industry is analyzed and railway industry improvements aimed at maintaining its market share are presented. The results predicted by the model show that railway user cost reductions should be moderate, and likely less than the level of inflation over the period of time when trucking converts its fleet to take advantage of the new regulations.