Full-Scale Experimental Evaluation of the Flood Resiliency of Thin Concrete Overlay on Asphalt Pavements

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110615
Author(s):  
Angel Mateos ◽  
John Harvey ◽  
Miguel Millan ◽  
Rongzong Wu ◽  
Fabian Paniagua ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Structural Damage ◽  
Water Saturation ◽  
Critical Time ◽  
Structural Response ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Pavement Materials ◽  
Structural Capacity ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Pavement Structure ◽  
Falling Weight

The capacity to resist flooding is one of the critical challenges of pavement resiliency in locations subject to inundation. Flooding increases moisture contents, which weakens most pavement materials. Although the effect of moisture on the mechanical properties of most pavement materials is reversible, the structural damage caused by trafficking applied on the weakened pavement structure is not. The critical time for structural damage is typically after the flood and before “life-line” pavements have dried back when trucks are bringing in relief supplies and hauling out demolition. This fact, together with the increased occurrence of extreme weather events and sea level rise resulting from climate change, emphasizes the need to better understand the impacts of flooding on identified life-line pavements. This paper evaluates the flooding resiliency of thin concrete overlay on asphalt (COA) pavements by studying the effects that water saturation produces on the pavement structure. The research is based on the structural response and distresses measured in five thin COA sections that were instrumented with sensors and tested with a heavy vehicle simulator (HVS) under flooded conditions. The research shows that the flooding did not produce a noticeable change in the structural capacity of the COA, based on the structural response measured under the loading of the HVS wheel and the falling weight deflectometer, but did result in some structural damage to the asphalt base in some of the sections.

scholarly journals Impact of Cyclone Yasi on the wreck of the SS Yongala documented by comparative multibeam bathymetry analysis

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Thomas C. Stieglitz ◽  
Paddy Waterson
Keyword(s):  
Structural Damage ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Multibeam Bathymetry ◽  
Site Management ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
Risk Areas ◽  
Physical Impact ◽  
Government Initiative ◽  
Dive Tourism

<p>In February 2011, north Queensland experienced one of the largest and most severe tropical cyclones on record. Category 5 Cyclone Yasi caused substantial structural damage not only on land, but also at sea, including to the historic shipwreck of the <em>SS Yongala</em>. The <em>Yongala</em> is of high cultural and natural heritage value and is a major dive tourism attraction. As part of a Queensland Government initiative to document the degree of damage by Cyclone Yasi, changes to its structure were documented by comparative analysis of multibeam bathymetry data of the wreck collected in August 2004 and May 2011 (i.e. pre- and post-Yasi respectively). The storm had a significant physical impact on the c.110m-long wreck. The most pronounced changes occurred in the forward section of the wreck. A 35m section forward of the central deck citadel has rotated around its own axis and the bow dropped more than 5m in depth. Minor deformations were observed at the stern of the wreck and debris was identified on the seafloor around the wreck. The impacts of the cyclone will exacerbate deterioration. It is very likely that the wreck’s hull will rupture in the short- to medium-term, especially if further extreme weather events occur. Together with visual observations, the results of this study will inform ongoing site management by contributing to the identification of key risk areas, and help to establish policies and procedures to address damage to the wreck’s integrity in the future.</p>

Evaluation of the structural capacity of rigid pavements at the network level

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 439-447
Author(s):  
M. Saleh ◽  
J.D. van der Walt
Keyword(s):  
Evaluation Method ◽  
Structural Condition ◽  
Rigid Pavement ◽  
Structural Capacity ◽  
Overall Evaluation ◽  
Actual Field ◽  
Pavement Structure ◽  
Base Course ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Falling Weight

Pavement surface deflection has been used by researchers and highway agencies to assess the structural condition of the pavement structure. None of the currently available approaches provides an acceptable evaluation method for the rigid pavement structural capacity at the network level. In this research, pavement structural ratio (PSR) and overall pavement structural index (OPSI) were derived from deflection bowls generated from finite element simulations and validated by actual field deflection data measured by falling weight deflectometer and performance data extracted from long-term pavement performance database. The PSR parameter provides structural evaluation of the rigid pavement slab and the base course above the subgrade only. Whereas, OPSI parameter provides an overall evaluation of the pavement structure and the subgrade.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Impact of Omitted Accidental Actions and the Method of Land Use on the Number of Construction Disasters (a Case Study of Poland)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 618
Author(s):  
Anna Szymczak-Graczyk ◽  
Ireneusz Laks ◽  
Barbara Ksit ◽  
Maria Ratajczak
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Structural Damage ◽  
Design Guidelines ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Weather Factors ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Vehicle Impact ◽  
The Impact

As climate changes progress we are dealing with violent and excessive environmental actions. However, the impacts of loads acting on a building object caused by unlikely phenomena such as: fire, explosion, flood, vehicle impact, plane impact, excessive snowfall, and excess wind gusts are still being ignored when analyzing the structure of building objects in the combinatorics of loads. The paper presents a multi-criteria approach to accidental actions and analyzes design situations and load combinations in relation to accidental actions. The existing legal acts were used to define the concept of a construction disaster. The authors verified, on the basis of applicable legal acts and design guidelines, individual analysis strategies for ensuring the safety of building objects and divided them into consequence classes of structural damage. They collected and analyzed the number of construction disasters which occurred in Poland between 1995–2019 (25 years) based on the data from the General Office of Building Control. The number of disasters was divided by voivodeships and causes and supplemented with the data on the number of people injured. The article presents the direction of research development that could be undertaken in order to eliminate future catastrophes caused by the omission of the analysis of the impact of accidental actions at the design stage. Statistical analyses were carried out to show whether land use, population density, and weather factors (wind) affect the number of recorded disasters. It has been shown that regions that have preserved the sustainable development of their territories are less vulnerable to disasters resulting from extreme weather events.

Modelling the Bioclimatic Niche of a Cohort of Selected Mite Species (Acari, Acariformes) Associated with the Infestation of Stored Products

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 399-416
Author(s):  
V. M. Tytar ◽  
Ya. R. Oksentyuk
Keyword(s):  
Potential Evapotranspiration ◽  
Species Distribution Modeling ◽  
Mite Species ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Stored Products ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Moisture Regimes ◽  
Bioclimatic Variables ◽  
Contemporary Climate ◽  
Future Management

Abstract In this study an attempt is made to highlight important variables shaping the current bioclimatic niche of a number of mite species associated with the infestation of stored products by employing a species distribution modeling (SDM) approach. Using the ENVIREM dataset of bioclimatic variables, performance of the most robust models was mostly influenced by: 1) indices based on potential evapotranspiration, which characterize ambient energy and are mostly correlated with temperature variables, moisture regimes, and 2) strong fluctuations in temperature reflecting the severity of climate and/or extreme weather events. Although the considered mite species occupy man-made ecosystems, they remain more or less affected by the surrounding bioclimatic environment and therefore could be subjected to contemporary climate change. In this respect investigations are needed to see how this will affect future management targets concerning the safety of food storages.

Urban Population Knowledge of Climate Change in Costa Rica and Nicaragua

2013 ◽  
pp. 55-76
Author(s):  
Sergio A. Molina Murillo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Costa Rica ◽  
Urban Population ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
International Policies ◽  
General Concern

Most scenarios indicate that people in developing countries are more vulnerable and less capable of adapting to climate change. Since our public understanding of risk toward climate change in developing countries is limited, this article presents results from Costa Rica and Nicaragua, two countries which are socio-economically distinct, but which are expected to suffer similar extreme weather events. From October of 2008 until May 2010, a total of 1,047 respondents were surveyed in cities of both countries. The main results indicate that climate change is a widely known concept but other notions such as “carbon footprint” are foreign to most respondents. Despite the general concern with its negative consequences, respondents’ foremost concern is linked to their socioeconomic situation, and how it will be impacted by climate change in such aspects as poverty and social security. The results presented here contribute to advance national and international policies aiming to support mitigation or adaptation strategies in developing countries.

Reliability, Resilience and the Oncoming Wave of Retiring Baseload Units, Volume I: The Critical Role of Thermal Units During Extreme Weather Events

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter C. Balash, PhD ◽  
Kenneth C. Kern ◽  
John Brewer ◽  
Justin Adder ◽  
Christopher Nichols ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Weather Events

Governing climate change for sustainable food production: A case study of emerging markets

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 64-75
Author(s):  
Robert Ddamulira
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Future Success ◽  
Governance Challenges ◽  
Change Impact ◽  
Document Review

This article addresses three research questions: How does climate change impact food production? What are the governance challenges associated with managing such impacts? What are the conditions for future success in managing the impacts of climate change on food production? To answer these questions, the researcher undertook a document review and analysis to address these various aspects with a major focus on East Africa. The study finds that climate change affects food production largely through its physical impacts on precipitation and increased the frequency of extreme weather events. Within a context of weak governance; climate change further challenges governance institutional structures and mechanisms. The study concludes that specific aspects of the prevailing climate change governance regime require major reforms (particularly the role of the state, corporations and civil society) while other climate governance mechanisms need to be completely overhauled (for example through establishment of a new World Environment Organization).

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