The structural rehabilitation of the Costa e Silva bridge in Brasília, DF, Brazil

Author(s):  
Pedro Almeida ◽  
Maruska L. S. Holanda ◽  
Ronaldo O. Almeida

<p>The structural rehabilitation of bridges is generally motivated by the premature aging of the structures and the increased daily traffic of vehicles. In the case of the Costa e Silva Bridge, the rehabilitation was conceived by the Federal District Government due to the partial collapse of the viaduct over the “Galeria dos Estados”, occurred in February 2018, with the same age and the same structural system and due to the relevance for Brasília's transportation system. Also, it was designed by the renowned architect Oscar Niemeyer and the only one designed by him that was built. The bridge is part of the world heritage site of the &quot;Plano Piloto&quot; of Brasília, by UNESCO. The investigation of the structural behavior of the bridge, to verify the need for rehabilitation, was made from visual inspections, geometric and topographic surveys, photographic records, extraction of samples of concrete, analysis of the original building design and after some occurrences along the way of time, structural monitoring. As a result of these investigations, several damages were identified, in particular: cracks in the webs of the box girders, concreting failures, increased permanent overload due to the thickness of the current pavement layer, leaching of concrete and, mainly, approximately 40 cm of deflection at cantilever beams. All of these damages were simulated in the numerical model of the bridge, proving that the excessive deflection at central span is resulted in the loss of prestressing due to stress corrosion and fatigue, reducing structural stiffness and can lead to sudden collapse. As the solution for rehabilitation of the structure was designed a reinforcement with external prestressing to reduce the cracking process and to neutralize the loss of prestressing, due to strands corrosion that can result in broken wires.</p>

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-72
Author(s):  
Dessy Kania

Tourism is an important component of the Indonesian economy as well as a significant source of the country’s foreign exchange revenues. According to the Center of Data and Information - Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the growth of foreign visitor arrivals to Indonesia has increased rapidly by 9.61 percent since 2010 to the present. One of the most potential tourism destinations is Komodo Island located in East Nusa Tenggara. With the island’s unique qualities, which include the habitat of the Komodo dragons and beautiful and exotic marine life, it is likely to be one of the promising tourism destinations in Indonesia and in the world. In 1986, the island has been declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism continuously promotes many of the country’s natural potential in tourism through various media: printed media, television and especially new media. However, there are challenges for the Indonesian tourism industry in facilitating entrepreneurship skills among the local people in East Nusa Tenggara. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (2011), East Nusa Tenggara is considered as one of the poorest provinces in Indonesia where the economy is lower than the average, with a high inflation of 15%, and unemployment of 30%. This research is needed to explore further the phenomenon behind the above facts, aiming at examining the role of new media in facilitating entrepreneurship in the tourism industry in Komodo Island. The results of this study are expected to provide insights that can help local tourism in East Nusa Tenggara. Keywords: Tourism, Entrepreneurship, New Media


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rohayah Che Amat

This research presents the value of historic urban landscape (HUL) elements in influencing the character of George Town UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS), Penang, Malaysia. The values were perceived by the local community of different social-cultural groups that occupied the study area. The historic urban landscape elements constitute towards the protection of its townscape. The identification of the heritage elements influenced by the community interaction with their environment. This study also helps to define the character of a place, as well as reflecting its historical significance. The study adopted four techniques to gather both qualitative and quantitative data, including questionnaire survey, in-depth interview, visual survey and content analysis. In general, the local community has the capability in valuing the historic urban landscape values. The outcomes of their perceptions became the statement of the historic urban landscape values, which are expected to lead to the development of the areas. The community evaluation and perception can be expanded in implementing any development of the historic urban area by the authority.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Fu ◽  
Pei Xu ◽  
Yukuan Wang ◽  
Yingman Guo

Ecological management based on the ecosystem approach promotes ecological protection and the sustainable use of natural resources. We developed a quantitative approach to identify the ecological function zones at the country-scale, through integrating supply and demand of ecosystem services. We selected the biologically diverse hotspot of Baoxing County, which forms a part of the Sichuan Giant Panda World Heritage Site, to explore the integration of ecosystem services supply and demand for ecosystem management. Specifically, we assessed the various support, provision, regulating, and cultural services as classified by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. We applied the InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs) model to spatially map habitat quality, water retention, and carbon sinks, and used statistical data to evaluate food products, animal husbandry, and product supply services. We then quantified the demands for these services in terms of population, protected species, hydropower, water, and land use. The relationship between areas of supply and areas of demand was discussed for each township, and the spatial variability in the supply–demand relationship was also considered. As a result, we spatially divided the county into six ecological functional areas, and the linkages between each region were comprehensively discussed. This study thus provides a detailed methodology for the successful implementation of an ecosystem management framework on a county-scale based on the spatial partitioning of supply and demand.


Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 30
Author(s):  
Marie-Luise Frey

From the middle of the 1990s, geotourism was introduced through the first geotrails, their evolution, and the first geopark worldwide in Gerolstein/Vulkaneifel, Germany. The latter is one of the founding members of the European Geoparks Network, which was established in 2000 at the International Tourism Bourse (ITB) in Berlin. The main goal of the first geopark was to link geological heritage with tourism in a rural area that was trying to create new perspectives to inspire young people to stay in their home territory. Geotourism was initiated as part of sustainable tourist development and for future sustainable development at that time in the Gerolstein region. The first steps to implement the Gerolstein/Vulkaneifel Geopark, Germany, were taken in 1992. The core aspects included geological heritage, science transfer, and education as tools for developing geotourism in the broad sense and integrating local people and municipalities in the geopark activities of the rural region. Close collaboration with the local and regional tourism organizations highlighted the need to both define tools and demonstrate their success. Up to now, practice has shown that such success can be demonstrated by the infrastructure created, as well as adjacent measures and activities. A network of factors was determined to play a significant role in ensuring the successful sustainable development in a geopark across the field of geotourism. There are many activities and publications on geological heritage, geosite assessment, significance, and use, but there are fewer which reflect on the network of factors highlighted in this contribution which were first presented in 2002. In many publications and investigations, one factor in particular is emphasized, e.g., infrastructure development, such as panels or other items. Not all of the mentioned factors, however, are being addressed. As a result, a selection of good practice examples of UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGP) working on the network-oriented conceptual basis has been studied here, in line with the conceptual principle set forth about 25 years ago. The geopark examples in this study include Lesvos Island UGGp (Greece), Naturtejo UGGP (Portugal), Vulkaneifel UGGp (Germany), and Hong Kong UGGP (China), as well as the example of the Messel Pit World Heritage Site (WHS) (Germany). The latter was integrated to present an example which is not a geopark, showing that this concept can also be transferred to a WHS as a tool for sustainable development according the UN 2030 Agenda. The information on the development of the selected examples was obtained by visiting the geopark territory and from the geopark’s websites and published material as a combined methodology.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 8006
Author(s):  
Till Schmäing ◽  
Norbert Grotjohann

The Wadden Sea ecosystem is unique in many respects from a biological perspective. This is one reason why it is protected by national parks in Germany and by its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In biology didactics, there are only a few studies that focus on the Wadden Sea. This work investigates students’ word associations with the two stimulus words “national park” and “UNESCO World Heritage Site”. The survey was conducted among students living directly at the Wadden Sea and among students from the inland. The analysis of the identified associations (n = 8345) was carried out within the framework of a quantitative content analysis to be able to present and discuss the results on a group level. A statistically significant difference was found between the two groups. Overall, results showed that the students made subject-related associations as well as a large number of associations to both stimulus words that could be judged as non-subject-related. In some cases, a connection with the region of residence could be found, but this was not generally the case. Even students’ immediate residential proximity to the Wadden Sea is no guarantee that they have knowledge of the two considered protection terms.


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