SDFlex: A Framework for the Assessment and Construction of Sustainable Flexible Pavements

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 108-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marwa M Hassan
Keyword(s):  
Flexible Pavements ◽  
Highway Construction ◽  
Point System ◽  
Water Efficiency ◽  
Highway Design ◽  
Maximum Score ◽  
Gold Silver ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Passing Score ◽  
Design And Construction

There is a growing recognition that highway construction and maintenance have major environmental impacts. Despite the lack of a clear protocol for designing and constructing an environmentally-friendly highway, the industry experimented with sustainable alternatives since the 1970s. With an ultimate goal to develop sustainable guidelines for highway construction practices, this paper presents a general framework for the design and construction of sustainable flexible pavement system. This framework follows a similar approach to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) methodology by employing a point system to award a rating that quantifies the sustainability of the structure. The proposed framework divides factors related to highway design and construction into six major categories: sustainable sites (eight points), energy efficiency (five points), site air quality (four points), materials (ten points), water efficiency (four points), and innovative and design process (three points). The developed rating framework, referred to as Sustainable Design of Flexible Pavements (SDFlex), may be used to award a certification for sustainable highway design and construction. Different levels of certification may be awarded depending on the total earned credits from the six categories (Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Certified). A maximum score of 34 may be achieved under the aforementioned categories. It is proposed that a highway construction that satisfies the prerequisites and achieves a passing score of 10 be awarded a certified rating. The developed framework takes into consideration available technologies and the nature of the highway industry.

scholarly journals Analysis of the impact of road construction dust on glacier environment

2020 ◽  
Vol 145 ◽  
pp. 02048
Author(s):  
Jing Zhao ◽  
Shegang Shao ◽  
Dong Ni ◽  
Xiaodong Shang ◽  
Xiaofeng Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Albedo ◽  
Highway Construction ◽  
Road Construction ◽  
Dust Control ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Combination Method ◽  
Highway Design ◽  
Extension Direction ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Main Factor

Construction dust falls to the snow cover and the surface of the glacier to form a fouling layer to absorb more solar radiation and reduce the intensity of surface albedo, thereby accelerating the melting of the glacier, which is the main factor affecting the glacial environment in the Highway construction. This article adopts the combination method of wind tunnel experiment and numerical simulation was used to calculate the impact range of construction dust. The results show that with increasing of particle size, the diffusion range of dust decreased while the settlement speed increased. High dust concentration area (> 4mg / m3) is generally distributed within 1000m around the construction site. The specific extension direction is directly related to the local terrain and wind direction, and the height direction is generally not more than 300m. According to the above simulation results, for preventing and reducing the impact of highway construction on the glacial environment, the requirements of route selection and construction dust control measures was put forward, which played an important role and significance in guiding the highway design and construction and reducing the impact of highway construction on the glacial environment.

Improving the hydrobiological analysis of activated sludge at the Minsk wastewater treatment facilities

2021 ◽  
pp. 26-36
Author(s):  
О.С. Дубовик ◽  
Р.М. Маркевич ◽  
Е.В. Гаврилович ◽  
И.А. Гребенчикова ◽  
В.В. Иванович
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Point System ◽  
Treatment Conditions ◽  
Filamentous Microorganisms ◽  
Different Seasons ◽  
Treatment Facilities ◽  
Favorable Conditions ◽  
Quantitative Account ◽  
Different Levels

На основании накопленного опыта эксплуатации сооружений Минской очистной станции и обзора источников информации определена схема гидробиологического анализа активного ила, приведена форма регистрации результатов проведенного анализа. Для количественного учета нитчатых микроорганизмов разработана собственная пятибалльная система. Для нитчатых микроорганизмов, выявленных в активном иле, на основании анализа литературных данных определены условия, благоприятствующие их массовому развитию. В течение длительного периода времени, включающего разные сезоны года, проведена апробация усовершенствованной методики для мониторинга состояния иловой суспензии очистных сооружений двух площадок станции: классических четырехкоридорных аэротенков-вытеснителей первой площадки и биореакторов с каскадной денитрификацией второй площадки. Определены представители нитчатых микроорганизмов, постоянно обитающие в очистных сооружениях, выявлены доминирующие виды. Проведено сопоставление результатов анализа нитчатых форм и седиментационных характеристик активного ила. Сделаны заключения об особенностях биоценоза аэротенков первой площадки и биореакторов второй площадки, идентичности по видовому составу сообществ нитчатых бактерий, влиянии состава сточных вод и условий их очистки (нагрузка на ил, наличие зон с разным уровнем аэрации) на свойства иловой суспензии. Based on the accumulated experience in operating the Minsk Wastewater Treatment Facilities and a review of information sources, a scheme for the hydrobiological analysis of activated sludge was determined, and a form for recording the results of the analysis was provided. For the quantitative account of filamentous microorganisms, an original five-point system was developed. Based on the literature data analysis, favorable conditions for the mass growth of filamentous microorganisms found in activated sludge were determined. Over a long period of time, including different seasons of the year, the improved methodology was tested for monitoring the state of the sludge suspension at two sites of the treatment facilities: traditional four-line continuous-flow aeration tanks at the first site and bioreactors with cascade denitrification at the second site. The species of filamentous microorganisms, permanently living in wastewater treatment structures, have been identified, and the dominant species have been determined. The results of the analysis of filamentous forms and sedimentation characteristics of activated sludge are compared. Conclusions were made about the features of the biocenosis in the aeration tanks at the first site and in the bioreactors at the second site; about the identity of the species composition of the filamentous bacteria communities, the effect of the wastewater composition and treatment conditions (sludge load, occurrence of zones with different levels of aeration) on the properties of the sludge suspension.

scholarly journals A Building Information Modelling (BIM) based Water Efficiency (BWe) Framework for Sustainable Building Design and Construction Management

Electronics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhen Liu ◽  
Chao Zhang ◽  
Yuanxiang Guo ◽  
Mohamed Osmani ◽  
Peter Demian
Keyword(s):  
Information Integration ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Water Efficiency ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Building Information Modelling ◽  
Building Projects ◽  
Information Modelling ◽  
Building Information ◽  
Design And Construction

There is a lack of decision-making tools for water efficiency design and construction to maximize project benefits and water conservation. An increasing number of research studies indicate that building information modelling (BIM) can enhance the cooperation, improve work efficiency, and conduct simulation and analysis of sustainability performance in building projects. However, BIM’s potential to enhance water efficiency is yet to be established, such as water gird design optimization, clash detection, combination of BIM with smart appliances and sensors. The research adopted a mixed method approach to investigate the potential impact of BIM on water efficiency in building projects. It involved 50 practitioners from the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry through a questionnaire survey and the follow-up interviews. The quantitative results of questionnaire data and qualitative results of interviews were used to develop a “BIM-based Water Efficiency (BWe) Framework” which was subsequently validated by five experienced practitioners and researchers in the form of semi-structured interviews. The framework applies BIM to optimize traditional water efficiency measures based on an information database. The geometry, attributes, status information of building components or non-component objects stored in the database greatly improve information integration degree of construction engineering. This study provided a reference for the use of BIM for water conservation in building design and construction.

Development of load and resistance factor design format for flexible pavements

1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 880-885 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyung Bae Kim ◽  
Ronald S Harichandran ◽  
Neeraj Buch
Keyword(s):  
Flexible Pavements ◽  
The United States ◽  
Resistance Factor ◽  
Pavement Design ◽  
Fatigue Design ◽  
Reliability Methods ◽  
Partial Safety Factors ◽  
Factor Design ◽  
Load And Resistance Factor ◽  
Different Levels

The objective of pavement design, just as with the design of other structures, is to provide economical designs at specified levels of reliability. Methods that yield designs with different levels of reliability are undesirable, and over the course of time design approaches in the United States have converged toward the load and resistance factor design (LRFD) format in order to assure uniform reliability. At present the LRFD format has been implemented in concrete, steel, wood, and bridge design specifications. In this paper, reliability concepts are used to illustrate the development of an LRFD format for fatigue design of flexible pavements. It is shown that 10 candidate pavement sections designed against premature fatigue failure according to standard practice using the DNPS86 software do not have uniform reliability. It is demonstrated that uniform reliability can be achieved by using the LRFD format. The work reported is based on assumed variations of pavement layer properties and on analytical formulation; field verification was not attempted.Key words: LRFD, reliability index, fatigue, partial safety factors, flexible pavement design.

Highway Construction and Ecological Environment Protection: Corn Relationship and Key Principle

2013 ◽  
Vol 831 ◽  
pp. 287-292
Author(s):  
Xiao Chun Qin ◽  
Yi Shen ◽  
Qiang Meng ◽  
Dan Wang
Keyword(s):  
Highway Construction ◽  
Ecological Environment ◽  
Environment Protection ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Highway Design ◽  
Fast Development ◽  
Protection And Utilization ◽  
Human And Nature ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Design Construction

The fast development of highway construction makes its negative effects on the natural ecological environment more and more prominent, which makes the designer to have to think in earnest about how to deal with the relationship between highway construction and ecological environmental protection and how to put the concept of harmonious relationship between human and nature, subsistence and development, and alteration and respect of nature into highway design. Based on the analysis in ecology and ecosystem of highway, highway ecological esthetics and ecological ethic are explained in the paper. The core of the relationship between highway construction and ecological environment protection is studied from the three aspects of avoidance and compensation, destruction and recovery, and protection and utilization. The concept and characteristics of ecological highway are defined. And ecological highway design principle and requirement are also explored to confirm the key content of ecological environment protection in highway construction, which make the ecological ideas apply to the entire life circle of highway construction including plan, design, construction and operation to achieve highway sustainable development.

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