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Winter driving conditions pose a real hazard to road users with increased chance of collisions during inclement weather events. As such, road authorities strive to service the hazardous roads or collision hot spots by increasing road safety, mobility, and accessibility. One measure of a hot spot would be winter collision statistics. Using the ratio of winter collisions (WC) to all collisions, roads that show a high ratio of WC should be given a high priority for further diagnosis and countermeasure selection. This study presents a unique methodological framework that is built on one of the least explored yet most powerful geostatistical techniques, namely, regression kriging (RK). Unlike other variants of kriging, RK uses auxiliary variables to gain a deeper understanding of contributing factors while also utilizing the spatial autocorrelation structure for predicting WC ratios. The applicability and validity of RK for a large-scale hot spot analysis is evaluated using the northeast quarter of the State of Iowa, spanning five winter seasons from 2013/14 to 2017/18. The findings of the case study assessed via three different statistical measures (mean squared error, root mean square error, and root mean squared standardized error) suggest that RK is very effective for modeling WC ratios, thereby further supporting its robustness and feasibility for a statewide implementation.

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The onsite wood frame method of constructing new buildings has been the norm for residential and basic commercial structures for more than a century. In this review study, we consider investment into plastic composite structures to supplement or replace wood frame home construction. Previous developments in this field often centralize on using a classic composite sandwich panel design: a polymer-based core material adjoined to layers of synthetic fiber-reinforced polymer (e.g. fiberglass). The core of the composite panels is designed to meet demands toward low cost, light weight, and structural rigidity. Different varieties of plastics, including thermosets and thermoplastics, are discussed. Factors that need to be considered in the fabrication of composite modular residential buildings include, but are not limited to, energy consumption (both in building heating and cooling, and fabrication energy usage), fire resistance, resource use, environmental impact, human impact, and cost. Basic fabrication principles and techniques for composite modular panels are reviewed, wherein mechanical and electrical work can be incorporated into the building during panel manufacturing. Methods in which panels can be fabricated in high volumes that enable economies of scale are described. Thusly, recent progress in the application of plastics forming and machining that is applicable to the construction industry, and the feasibility of this type of residential construction are elucidated and discussed holistically.