Unconventional and Simplified Approach towards Unpaved Roads: Application of Geosynthetics

A field trial was carried out to investigate the performance of different unconventional geosynthetic materials in unpaved road construction over soft ground.The test site comprises of 25 m long, by 3 m wide test sections, built on a subgrade of undrained shear strength approximately 45 kPa . One isunreinforced and serves as a control section in the study, three sections includea geotextile, and one includes a geogrid. Each test section incorporated avariable thickness of sandy gravel base course material, between25 and 45 cmthick. They were loaded in sequence by a vehicle of standard axle load.Performance of the test sections was evaluated from measurements of rut depth, base course thickness, base course deformations, geosynthetic strain, and deformed profile of the geosynthetic, with increasing number of vehicle passes.The four geosynthetic materials used exhibited a broad range of stiffness and material properties ,but the general performance of the four reinforced sections was similar on the base course layers. On contrary thinner subgrades showed a significant difference between the geosynthetics Keywords: Geo-synthetic materials, geo-textile, geo-grid, unpaved road.

Measurement of Seafloor Acoustic Backscatter Angular Dependence at 150 kHz Using a Multibeam Echosounder

Acoustic seafloor measurements with multibeam echosounders (MBESs) are currently often used for submarine habitat mapping, but the MBESs are usually not acoustically calibrated for backscattering strength (BBS) and cannot be used to infer absolute seafloor angular dependence. We present a study outlining the calibration and showing absolute backscattering strength values measured at a frequency of 150 kHz at around 10–20 m water depth. After recording bathymetry, the co-registered backscattering strength was corrected for true incidence and footprint reverberation area on a rough and tilted seafloor. Finally, absolute backscattering strength angular response curves (ARCs) for several seafloor types were constructed after applying sonar backscattering strength calibration and specific water column absorption for 150 kHz correction. Thus, we inferred specific 150 kHz angular backscattering responses that can discriminate among very fine sand, sandy gravel, and gravelly sand, as well as between bare boulders and boulders partially overgrown by red algae, which was validated by video ground-truthing. In addition, we provide backscatter mosaics using our algorithm (BBS-Coder) to correct the angle varying gain (AVG). The results of the work are compared and discussed with the published results of BBS measurements in the 100–400 kHz frequency range. The presented results are valuable in extending the very sparse angular response curves gathered so far and could contribute to a better understanding of the dependence of backscattering on the type of bottom habitat and improve their acoustic classification.

Disturbance Process of Sandy Gravel Stratum Caused by Shield Tunneling and Ground Settlement Analysis

This paper analyzed the earth pressure, pore pressure, and surface settlement of the Luoyang urban rail transit tunnel in a sandy gravel stratum (Henan Province, China) under different burial depths by using field measurement methods. The results showed that the earth pressure as well as pore pressure of the soil layer above the working surface increased sharply and reached their maximum values when the cutter head of the shield gradually crossed the working surface. During the completion of synchronous grouting, the earth pressure and pore pressure increased slightly; when shield tunneling passed through the working surface, the earth pressure is smaller than the original earth pressure due to the unloading effect. The surface settlement curve above the tunnel took on a “V” shape after the completion of the left-side tunnel excavation, conforming to the normal distribution pattern. The surface settlement curve above the two tunnels took on a “W” shape after the completion of the right-side tunnel excavation, which is in good agreement with the proposed theoretical calculations. The findings of this study can help for better understanding the control of safety risk during shield construction.

Innovation structures of very lean roller compacted concrete dams

Over the past 20 years, rolled compacted concrete (RCC) dams have continued to be built in many countries because of their technical and economic advantages over conventional dams of vibrating concrete and embankment dams. The aim of this study is the development of new structural and technological solutions in RCC dams in order to reduce the consumption of cement and expand their use on non-rock foundations, which will allow them to successfully compete with concrete face rockfill dams. The numerical analyses of static and seismic stress-strain state (SST) of gravitational dams in roller compacted very lean concrete dams have been made, as well as their stability, strength and cost have been assessed. For rock and dense sandy-gravel foundations the most economical is the concrete face rockfill dam and symmetrical RCC dam of very lean concrete with bases (0.5-0.7) of both slopes and outer zones of conventional concrete and central zone of rockfill strengthened by cement-ash mortar. Taking into account that the cost of diversion and spillway tunnels for very lean RCC dam will be less and the construction period - shorter than for the concrete face rockfill dam, it can be concluded that variant of symmetrical RCC dam of very lean concrete is the technically and economically effective. Symmetrical RCC dams of very lean concrete with 1V/(0.5-0.7)H slopes have more seismic resistance and technical and economic efficiency as compared with conventional gravitational RCC dams and other types of dams. These dams up to 200 m high can be built on rock foundations and up to 100 m high - on dense sandy gravel foundations.

Experimental Study on the Riverbed Coarsening Process and Changes in the Flow Structure and Resistance in the Gravel Riverbed Downstream of Dams

Following the construction of a reservoir, sediment is intercepted, which greatly reduces the sediment concentration in the discharged flow. This reduction causes riverbed scouring and flow structure adjustments downstream, thereby impacting the river habitat. This study used the generalized flume test with different bed sand compositions and discharge rates to simulate the scouring adjustment process of a sand pebble riverbed channel downstream of a reservoir. The results show that the bed sediment composition affects the water surface gradient, scour depth, turbulence intensity, and sand resistance directly after final scouring. Coarse-grained bed sediment demonstrated the greatest final turbulence intensity and sand resistance, while bed sediments with reduced coarseness exhibited a greater scouring degree; the resistance for sand grains of moderate coarseness showed the greatest change. Sand resistance was exponentially and positively correlated with the median grain size and the fractal dimension of bed sediment mass. The mass fractal dimension expression was suitable for the analysis of bed sand grain-size distribution; it contributed to the calculation of grain resistance with fewer hydraulic parameters. The relationship between the mass fractal dimension and the adjusted grain resistance was also established, which can aid the calculation of the resistance changes in sandy gravel-bed river reaches downstream of reservoirs, enabling the prediction of their effects on aquatic habitats.

A LABORATORY MODEL FOR THE ADSORPTION AND LOSS OF THE SULFATE TRANSPORT IN MULTI POROUS MEDIA OF SOIL

Development of industries and agriculture, salts, especially sulfates, used in many industries, such as fertilizers and pesticides, have become one of the most common problems. In this paper, a laboratory model was established to study the sulfate-contaminated transport process. Four samples of porous media contain the same pollutant, sandy soil, sandy gravel soil, agricultural (organic) soil, and calcareous soil. Where a pollutant is pumped at a concentration of 280 mg/l through a system consisting of a tube of length 4 meters and 8 cm thickness and distributed in the soil Each type is one meter. The results showed that all types of soils, except organic, had leaching or loss of sulfates from the soil and dissolving them with a soil solution. The transfer of pollutants from soil to the solution may reach between 50 to 300 mg/l per meter, while organic soil showed the ability to Absorption up to 100 mg/L per meter. However, it was found that organic soil contains the largest amount of sulfate and was able to adsorption, and it was found that bacterial activity has a role in reducing sulfate in organic soil and thus returning the soil to adsorption after a certain time of saturation process.

Metabolic diversity and aero-tolerance in anammox bacteria from geochemically distinct aquifers

Background: Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) is important for converting bioavailable nitrogen into dinitrogen gas, particularly in carbon poor environments. Yet, the diversity and prevalence of anammox bacteria in the terrestrial subsurface – a typically oligotrophic environment – is little understood across different geochemical conditions. To determine the distribution and activity of anammox bacteria across a range of aquifer lithologies and physicochemistries, we analysed 16S rRNA genes, metagenomes and metatranscriptomes, and quantified hydrazine synthase genes and transcripts sampled from 59 groundwater wells distributed over 1 240 km2. Results: Data indicate that anammox-associated bacteria (class Brocadiae) and the anammox process are prevalent in aquifers (identified in aquifers with sandy-gravel, sandsilt and volcanic lithologies). While Brocadiae diversity decreased with increasing DO, Brocadiae 16S rRNA genes and hydrazine synthase genes and transcripts (hydrazine synthase, hzsB) were detected across a wide range of bulk groundwater dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations (0 – 10 mg/L). Anammox genes and transcripts (hzsB) correlated significantly with those involved in bacterial and archaeal ammonia oxidation (ammonia monooxygenase, amoA), which could represent a major source of nitrite for anammox. Differences in anammox community composition were strongly associated with DO and bore depth (and to a lesser extent pH and phosphate), revealing niche differentiation among anammox bacteria in groundwater that was largely driven by water oxygen contents, and not ammonium/nitrite. Eight Brocadiae genomes (63-95% estimated completeness) reconstructed from a subset of groundwater sites belong to 2 uncharacterized families and 6 novel species (based on average nucleotide identity). Distinct groups of these genomes dominated the anammox-associated community at dysoxic and oxic sites, further reflecting the influence of DO on Brocadiae composition. Six of the genomes (dominating dysoxic or oxic sites) have genes characteristic of anammox (hydrazine synthase and/or dehydrogenase). These genes, in addition to aerotolerance genes, belonging to four Brocadiae genomes, were transcriptionally active, although transcript numbers clearly highest in dyoxic groundwater. Conclusions: Our findings indicate anammox bacteria contribute to loss of fixed N across diverse anoxic-to-oxic aquifer conditions, and that this is likely supported by nitrite from aerobic ammonia oxidation. Results provide an insight into the distribution and activity of anammox bacteria across distinct aquifer physicochemisties.