scholarly journals Risk of Snake Entanglement Is Affected by Installation Method of Erosion Control Blankets

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 273-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krista J. Ward ◽  
Kasey L. Jobe ◽  
Nicholas C. Schiwitz ◽  
Daniel Saenz ◽  
Christopher M. Schalk

Abstract At the conclusion of road construction projects, an erosion control product (e.g., blankets, spray mulch) is installed to reduce soil loss and promote plant growth. Wildlife, such as snakes (suborder Serpentes), are prone to entanglement in erosion control blankets (ECBs) that contain polypropylene mesh with fused apertures. Previous reports have noted that the occurrences of entanglements are not uniform in their distribution across an ECB, but primarily occur where the edge of the mesh is exposed. We conducted an experiment to determine if modification to the installation methods of ECBs affects the likelihood of snake entanglement. We conducted entanglement trials to compare the likelihood of snake entanglement between two treatments: 1) exposed ECB edge (i.e., perimeter) and 2) buried ECB edge. Snakes were less likely to attempt to pass through the mesh on the buried edge treatment and all entanglements occurred on the exposed edge treatment. These results provide support that modification to the installation methods reduces snake entanglement in ECBs in some settings. However, we conducted our study in an experimental setting, and it should be evaluated under natural field conditions. This research can be used to inform several parties including contractors, habitat managers, and agency decision makers on additional steps that can be taken for products that fit their application needs to minimize risks to wildlife.

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalena Kowacka ◽  
Dariusz Skorupka ◽  
Artur Duchaczek ◽  
Paweł Zagrodnik

AbstractThe work contains information on the implementation of surveying works in the road construction process. The aim of the research was to identify geodetic risk factors occurring at the stage of preparation of a construction project, the presence of which can greatly disrupt the undertaking such as the road construction. The research was carried out on the basis of expert knowledge, documentation obtained from various road construction projects and the analysis of disturbances at the initial stage of works.


Author(s):  
R. K. Shah

<p>Accurate information of locations from visual aspect is vital for efficient resource planning and managing the workspace conflicts in the earthwork operations, which are missing in the existing linear schedules. Hence, the construction managers have to depend on the subjective decisions and intangible imagining for resources allocation, workspace conflicts and location-based progress monitoring in the earthwork projects. This has caused uncertainties in planning and scheduling of earthworks, and consequently delays and cost overruns of the projects. To overcome these issues, a framework of computer based prototype model was developed using the theory of location-based planning. This paper focuses on the case study experiments to demonstrate the functions of the model, which includes automatic generation of location-based earthwork schedules and visualisation of cut-fill locations on a weekly basis. The experiment results confirmed the model’s capability in identifying precise weekly locations of cut-fill and also visualising the time-space conflicts at the earthwork projects. Hence, the paper concludes that the model is a useful decision supporting tool to improve site productivity and reduce production cost of earthworks in the construction projects like roads and railways. </p><p><em>Journal of Advanced College of Engineering and Management, Vol. 1, 2015</em>, pp. 75-84</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 162 ◽  
pp. 01007
Author(s):  
Zeena Samueel ◽  
Hussein Karim ◽  
Mohammed Mohammed

In many road construction projects, if weak soil exists, then uncontrollable settlement and critical load carrying capacity are major difficult problems to the safety and serviceability of roads in these areas. Thus ground improvement is essential to achieve the required level of performance. The paper presents results of the tests of four categories. First category was performed on saturated soft bed of clay without any treatment, the second category shed light on the improvement achieved in loading carrying capacity and settlement as a result of reinforcing with conventional sand columns at area replacement ratio = 0.196. The third set investigates the bed reinforced by sand columns stabilized with dry silica fume at different percentages (3, 5 and 7%) and the fourth set investigates the behavior of sand columns treated with slurry silica fume at two percentages (10 and 12%). All sand columns models were constructed at (R.D= 60%). Model tests were performed on bed of saturated soil prepared at undrained shear strength between 16-20 kPa for all models. For all cases, the model test was loaded gradually by stress increments up to failure. Stress deformation measurements are recorded and analyzed in terms of bearing improvement ratio and settlement reduction ratio. Optimum results were indicated from soil treated with sand columns stabilized with 7% dry silica fume at medium state reflecting the highest bearing improvement ratio (3.04) and the settlement reduction ratio (0.09) after 7 days curing. While soil treated with sand columns stabilized with 10% slurry silica fume provided higher bearing improvement ratio 3.13 with lower settlement reduction ratio of 0.57 after 7-days curing.


2003 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 409-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerd Sparovek ◽  
Isabella Clerici De Maria

Erosion tolerance is the most multidisciplinary field of soil erosion research. Scientists have shown lack in ability to adequately analyze the huge list of variables that influence soil loss tolerance definitions. For these the perspectives of erosion made by farmers, environmentalists, society and politicians have to be considered simultaneously. Partial and biased definitions of erosion tolerance may explain not only the polemic nature of the currently suggested values but also, in part, the nonadoption of the desired levels of erosion control. To move towards a solution, considerable changes would have to occur on how this topic is investigated, especially among scientists, who would have to change methods and strategies and extend the perspective of research out of the boundaries of the physical processes and the frontiers of the academy. A more effective integration and communication with the society and farmers, to learn about their perspective of erosion and a multidisciplinary approach, integrating soil, social, economic and environmental sciences are essential for improved erosion tolerance definitions. In the opinion of the authors, soil erosion research is not moving in this direction and a better understanding of erosion tolerance is not to be expected in the near future.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nabil Al-Hazim ◽  
Zaydoun Abusalem

This study aims to identify the most important factors that cause delay in road construction projects in Jordan, which results in cost and time overrun allocated for this type of engineering projects and cause critical problems for both the developer and the contractor. The gap between the cost at completion and that originally estimated, known as cost overrun, can be regarded as one of the most important parameters reflecting the success of projects. In the public sector, money spent on project change orders results in increased construction time which in return reduces the number and size of the projects that can be completed during any given fiscal year. To achieve this goal, the documents and the final reports for several sample projects implemented over the years 2000 to 2008 were analyzed. All the projects were administered by the same organization taken from Jordan Ministry of Rural and Public Works. The results of this study can assist highway officials in their design, planning, scheduling and projects completions so that necessary actions can be taken to control these overruns in future projects. The study showed that 19 factors might cause delays of road construction projects as defined through a detailed literature review. The analysis of the study indicated that the top causes affecting time and cost overrun in road construction projects in Jordan are Terrain and Weather conditions.


Author(s):  
Nagwan El- Sayed Abo El- Enen, Khaled Mohamed Heiza, Ibrahim Nagwan El- Sayed Abo El- Enen, Khaled Mohamed Heiza, Ibrahim

Due to recent environmental and Political requirements, and regulations of the construction industry, in which bridges is one of its important category, deciding its proper constructability is becoming vital. Therefor the objective of this research is to develop a decision model for selecting proper constructability of green bridges constructions, the model was built based on analytical network process (the ANP) soft were program, integrated with value engineering approach. For this analytical study different parameters are identified and ranked to be implemented for the decision model developed on the biases of four surveying studies conducted in this study the results of these surveying's was be analyzed by using the statically analytical program; "SPSS". Model validation and reliability is carried out using the analytical network process (ANP) for statistically analysis using case study which is a cable bridge project constructed in Egypt. ANP proves to be an effective framework for assessing readiness to adopt and facilitating TQM. The result of the study illustrate that the proper constructability alternative in green bridge concept for this determinate project is the concrete box girder type, upon this there is a cost loss of $3, 500 per square meter, equivalent to 50% losses, respect to the life cycle cost this is due to did not using the best alternate of the estimated project. upon the possibility of applying this decision model to such studies of infrastructure projects, and with respect to the results gained; it is recommend to apply the ANP model with respect to VE procedures to bridges projects of all kinds and their determinants, as well as all other construction projects, especially national ones, in future studies, which allows decision- makers to make decisions that aim at the highest quality without any waste in unnecessary costs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 119
Author(s):  
Johnson Matu ◽  
Dorothy Ndunge Kyalo ◽  
John Mbugua ◽  
Angeline Sabina Mulwa

This paper examines the influence of stakeholder participation in project execution on completion of road projects implemented by Kenya Urban Roads Authority. Descriptive research survey design was used for collection of both quantitative and qualitative data. Analysis was performed using correlation and regression analysis. The results were r = 0.796, R2 = 0.634, F (4, 209) = 90.503 and p&lt;0.000&lt;0.05. The findings revealed that stakeholder participation in project execution showed a strong, positive and statistically significant relationship with completion of urban road transport infrastructure projects and accounted for 63.4% of total variation in such projects. The study recommends government agencies should endeavour should work together during project implementation to ensure that service lines and acquisition of land is done ahead of time to avoid delay in completion. This will aim at ensuring quality work is achieved by both the client and the consultant through a collaborative stakeholder engagement. In conclusion, the findings of this study will shape the future of road construction and stakeholder engagement in road construction projects.


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