A geological and geotechnical investigation of the settlement area of Zümrüt Building (Konya, Turkey) which caused 92 fatalities due to its collapse

This study examines the local geological conditions and soil structure as possible causes of the collapse of the Zümrüt Building 2 February 2004. This catastrophe resulted in 92 fatalities and 35 injuries. This study also examines other views which claim weak soil structure, elastic and consolidation settlement of soil and excessive groundwater extraction as well as subsidence resulting from the underground silt erosion as possible factors. Zümrüt Building was constructed on normally consolidated, low plasticity clay. The underground water table was 30 m in depth. The internal friction angle of soil was 8°–30°, its cohesion was between 34 and 127 kN/m² and standard penetration test numbers varied between 11 and 50. The underground water level beneath Zümrüt Building had risen 4.5 m since its construction. Therefore the claim that subsidence resulting from the decrease of underground water level contributed to the collapse is incorrect. Secondly the settlement, resulting from the filling up of the pores created by the silt receding with the underground water, was 4.4 mm in total, and attributing this as the primary cause of the collapse is also incorrect. Soil properties, in situ and laboratory test results showed that the existing and/or expected settlement and the differential ground settlement in the Zümrüt building vicinity had the potential to cause structural damage. The tensile stresses caused by differential settlements recorded here are thought to be an indicator, but not the main cause contributing to the collapse of the building. The Zümrüt Building collapse was due to several compounding mistakes during the construction phase. These were geotechnical and other project faults and the use of low quality construction materials. The resulting catastrophe caused 92 fatalities, 35 injuries and a material loss of approximately US$7 million.     

Reliability based risk index for the design of reinforced earth structures

The design methods currently used for earth reinforcement are mostly based on deterministic properties of both the soil and the construction materials used. Nowadays, however, the general trend is designing at a specific degree of reliability. This is even more true where the raw data such as soil properties exhibit significant variation. Deterministic solutions, in this case, may not suffice. Therefore, this paper will attempt to use probabilistic formulations thereby modifying the existing design procedure of reinforced earth retaining walls to account for uncertainties and variabilities. Through a first order Taylor's series expansion about the mean, the mean and variance of the strip reinforcing components, namely width and length, are derived in terms of the variations in the soil properties. Design charts that enable estimation of both mean and variance are developed to avoid extensive partial differentiation involved in the computations. Using appropriate probability distributions along with the mean and variance, the final design outputs are determined for a selected failure probability by introducing what is refered to as 'risk index'. The results indicate that the risk index increases with an increase in the coefficient of variations and a decrease in failure probability. Furthermore, it is shown that in some cases, depending on the variabilities of the soil properties, the classical design technique produced a relatively high failure probability. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Regional modelling of rainfall-induced runoff using hydrological model by incorporating plant cover effects: case study in Kelantan,Malaysia

The objective of this paper is to develop a spatial temporal runoff modelling of local rainfall patterns effect on the plant cover hilly lands in Kelantan River Basin. Rainfall interception loss based on leaf area index, loss/infiltration on the ground surface, and runoff calculation were considered as the main plant cover effects on the runoff volume. In this regard, a hydrological and geotechnical grid-based regional model (integrated model) was performed using Microsoft Excel^® and GIS framework system for deterministic modelling of rainfall-induced runoff by incorporating plant cover effects. The infiltration process of the current model was integrated with the precipitation distribution method and rainfall interception approach while the runoff analysis of integrated model was employed based on loss/infiltration water on the ground surface with consideration of water interception loss by canopy and the remaining surface water. In the following, the spatial temporal analysis of rainfall-induced runoff was performed using 10 days of hourly rainfall events at the end of December 2014 in Kelantan River Basin. The corresponding changes in pressure head and consequent rate of infiltration were calculated during rainfall events. Subsequently, flood volume is computed using local rainfall patterns, along with water interception loss and the remaining surface water in the study area. The results showed the land cover changes caused significant differences in hydrological response to surface water. The increase in runoff volume of the Kelantan River Basin is as a function of deforestation and urbanization, especially converting the forest area to agricultural land (i.e. rubber and mixed agriculture).     

Socio-Economic Factors Affecting Agricultural Development in Al-Hassa Oasis,Saudi Arabia

The developmental schemes implemented by the Government in the Al-Hassa Oasis have influenced the social and economic behavior of Al-Hassa farming community. The impact of these socio-economic changes on agricultural practices and water use have been evaluated in this study.A detailed questionnaire was prepared considering social attitude, standard of living, family structure, and occupation, and was distributed among the farmers of the Al-Omran area. Data thus collected were statistically evaluated. The study showed that literacy and social exposure were the major factors for the acceptability of modern agricultural practices in the oasis.     

Geotechnical properties of a chemically stabilized soil from Malaysia with rice husk ash as an additive

Summary The stabilization of Malaysian soil by mixing with rice husk ash, a locally available waste material, to improve its engineering properties is described. Stabilizing agents, i.e. cement and lime, were added to produce the reaction products which are responsible for the enhancement of the engineering properties. Based on the strength development, it seems that lime is the more effective stabilizing agent. However, the cheap waste material can be used as partial replacement for the more expensive cement in the cement-treatment of the soil. A durability study was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of this stabilization method.     

Palaeocurrents in Mesopotamian geosyncline

Terrigenous sandstone formations of Mesopotamian geosyncline were investigated in order to reconstruct the palaeocurrents in the basin and to compare ancient and recent drainage systems. Direct and indirect methods were used; direct ones, as investigation of the dipping of cross bedding revealing directly the axis or direction of the currents, and indirect ones, as heavy mineral analyses, revealing the possible source areas.All the formations distributed in the southwestern flank of the geosyncline exhibit the palaeocurrents flowing from the southwest towards the northeast, i. e. towards the axis of the geosyncline. By contrast, all the formations distributed in the opposite flank of the geosyncline, exhibit also opposite current directions, i. e. from the northeast towards the southwest. This ancient current system resembles the recent situation; transversal basin filling from both sides towards the geosynclinal axis. In recent times oblong basin filling, executed by Twin rivers, Euphrates and Tigris, also takes place. They transport the material along the geosynclinal axis towards the remaining marine parts of the Mesopotamian geosyncline, represented by Persian Gulf.

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Zusammenfassung Terrigene sandige Ablagerungen der mesopotamischen Geosynklinale wurden untersucht, um die Paläoströmungen in den Sedimentationsbecken zu rekonstruieren. Es wurden direkte (Untersuchung der Strömungsschichtung) und indirekte Methoden (Schwermineral- und Geröllanalysen) angewendet.Alle Formationen, welche am südwestlichen Rand der Geosynklinale liegen, zeigen Paläoströmungsrichtungen von Südwesten nach Nordosten. Dagegen zeigen die nordöstlichen Formationen umgekehrte Richtungen von Nordosten nach Südwesten, senkrecht zur Geosynklinalachse. Beide Paläoströmungen sind sehr ähnlich dem heutigen Bild. So können wir auch heute eine Querfüllung des Geosynklinalbeckens beobachten. Außerdem tritt heute auch eine Längsfüllung der Geosynklinale durch Euphrat und Tigris auf. Diese Flüsse transportieren das Material entlang der Geosynklinalachse zur rezenten marinen Restgeosynklinale, die heute den Persischen Golf bildet.

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Résumé Les formations détritiques du géosynclinal Mésopotamique ont été étudiées en vue d'une réconstruction des paléocourants et d'une comparaison de la situation présente et ancienne. Des méthodes directes (études de la stratification croisée) et indirectes (études de minéraux lourds) ont été employées.Toutes les formations situées au bord sud-ouest du géosynclinal montrent des paléocourants dirigés du sud-ouest au nord-est. Au contraire, les formations du bord nord-est présentent la direction inverse. Les paléocourants ont toujours été dirigés perpendiculairement à l'axe du géosynclinal. Le système des paléocourants anciens ressemble au système contemporain. Le remplissage du bassin a toujours été transversal. Mais aujourd'hui le remplissage longitudinal existe aussi. Ce remplissage est effectué par les fleuves Euphrate et Tigre, qui transportent des matériaux détritiques dans le reste marin du géosynclinal Mésopotamique.

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High latitude helical surge of May 22, 1989

A helical surge (S 72, W 90) was recorded by a monochromatic filter at the University Observatory of Istanbul. It is a significient one at a very high latitude and without any center of activity. A sequence of the filtergrams showed some condensed points from which the motions of the plasma are traced. Different velocities were determined on each of the branches of the helical surge during its evolution. The surge reached its maximum height of 298 000 km and the maximum velocity of this upper region was 250 km s^–1.