Browsing by Author "Weerakoon, DK"

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item: Conference-Abstract
An Analytical study of the value of urban open spaces in promoting environmental improvement and social wellbeing
Kalupahana, C; Weerakoon, DK; Mahees, IM
According to current projections, more than 75% of the human population will live in cities and urban areas by 2050. This will lead to overcrowding of the cities that will lead to conversion of much needed open spaces to meet infrastructure needs. Loss of urban spaces will contribute to physical inactivity which together with unhealthy diets will contribute to a rapid increase in the non-communicable diseases among the urban populace. Therefore modern cities must incorporate urban parks to provide aesthetic, social, physiological and psychological benefits to urban societies. In Sri Lanka, an initiative has been taken to create urban parks, multi use trails and wetland nature parks to encourage active and passive recreation as well as social gathering. This research project was formulated to test the hypothesis that “created parks have generated improvement in physical environment such as quality of air and aesthetics and has made an impact on sociological wellbeing of the user community”. The research focused on four open spaces created in Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, Diyatha Uyana, Parliament green, Japanese friendship road walk path and model paddy field walk path. One environmental parameter, air quality and visitation patterns to these parks were investigated with the aim of identifying level of exposure of the visitors while spending time at these sites and visitor preferences. The air quality of the four sites is well within National air quality standards, especially during the peak use hours of these sites by general public. The parks attract a multitude of users mainly between 29 and 49 years of age. The users show site tenacity based on the type of activity they engage in while using these parks. These parks have positively contributed to social and physical well being of park users.
item: Conference-Abstract
Animal collision induced road accidents in the Southern Expressway
(Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa., 2014-08) Mayadunnage, S; Colombage, SS; Weerakoon, DK; Mampearachchi, WK; Pasindu, HR
Declaring open the Southern expressway in November 2011 marks a major milestone of the future road network development in Sri Lanka. Ensuring road safety is one of the key considerations during the operational phase of an expressway as vehicles travel at a much faster rate, which will increase the probability of road accidents. During the period, November 2011 to December 2013, 1023 road accidents have taken place in the Southern Expressway. Out of these, 20% have resulted due to animal-vehicle collision. Animal-vehicle collisions could result in property damage, personal injury or fatalities to the commuter. This study was undertaken to analyze temporal and spatial patterns of animal induced road accidents reported in the southern expressway that would inform development of mitigation measures to reduce the incidence of road accidents caused by animal collision. Accident reports available for animal collision related road accidents during the period, December 2011 to December 2013 was collected and analyzed to identify animal collision patterns. During this period 173 road accidents have taken place. Out of these 172 accidents only involved only a single vehicle while one of the incidents involved two vehicles. Further, 98% of the incidents (169) resulted only property damages while the remaining four incidents have resulted in injury to the 10 commuters. During the study period no fatalities have resulted due to accidents due to animal collisions. There was no significant difference between the incidence of road accidents resulting due to animal collisions reported in the Galle bound section (87 incidents) compared to Colombo bound section (86 incidents) of the highway. The rate of accidents resulting due to animal collisions has reduced by 11% during the second year of operation compared to the first year. Animal collision rates fluctuated over time with highs in April and July and lows during March and May. The highest number of incidents was reported in the stretch between 80 and 90 km followed by 21 to 30 km stretch. Out of the 173 accidents recorded, 70% (121 incidents) have resulted due to collision with dogs followed by pigs (20 incidents), birds (20 incidents) monkeys (7 incidents). Out of the 20 accidents reported due to bird collision 13 have resulted due to Peacocks. Other animals that have resulted in accidents include land monitors, buffaloes, goats, porcupines and foxes which have all contributed less than 5% of the incidents. The road accidents resulting due to collision with dogs have undergone a 33% reduction during the second year of operation compared to the first year. Out of the 173 animal collision related road accidents reported 74% involved motor cars followed by vans (11%), jeeps (8%), cabs (5%), busses (1%) and lorries (1%), indicating smaller vehicles are more susceptible for animal collision related road accidents. Out of the reported animal related road accidents 58% have occurred during day time and 87% of these accidents have occurred on sunny days while the rest on rainy days. Further 83% of the animal related road accidents have taken place on clear days compared to 13% that have occurred during rainy days. Therefore, lack of visibility or whether condition may have not contributed to animal related road accidents. This study indicates that animal related road accidents show clear spatial and temporal patterns that can be used to develop mitigation measures in the future.