Application of geogrids in waste dump stability: a numerical modeling approach

Geosynthetic is widely used to reinforce the weak rock mass, mine waste dump, soil slopes road cut slopes, etc. The present paper discusses the effect of geogrids on the stability of mine waste dump. The stability of mine waste dump has been done by Fast Langrage Analysis of Continua (FLAC) slope software, which is based on finite difference method. Reinforcement by geogrids mainly depends on the tensile strength, aperture size of geogrids, and particle size distribution of dump rock mass. Different permutations and combinations of spacing between two geogrid sheets have been taken into consideration to study the stability of mine waste dump. The factor of safety is calculated to quantify the effect of geogrids on waste dump slope. It has been observed from numerical modeling that the maximum slope angle is 45° at a height of 10 m. The scope of increasing slope angle from 45 to 60° is evaluated using geogrids. It has been found from the study that the factor of safety increases as the spacing between geogrids decreases. Maximum strain is also plotted of each case to identify the slip circle. The positions of geogrids modify the probable slip circle or failure plane of mine waste dump. Using ten geogrids at a spacing of 1 m, the slope angle can be increased up to 60° with factor of safety of 1.4.     

GIS-based geo-environmental evaluation for urban land-use planning: a case study

A geo-environmental evaluation for urban land-use planning often requires a large amount of spatial information. Geographic information systems (GIS) are capable of managing large amounts of spatially related information, providing the ability to integrate multiple layers of information and to derive additional information. A GIS-aid to the geo-environmental evaluation for urban land-use planning is illustrated for the urban area of Lanzhou City and its vicinity in Northwest China. This evaluation incorporates topography, surficial and bedrock geology, groundwater conditions, and historic geologic hazards. Urban land-use is categorized according to the types of land-use and projects planned, such as high-rise building, multi-storey building, low-rise building, waste disposal, and natural conservation. Multi-criteria analysis is performed to evaluate development suitability of the geo-environment for each category, according to appropriately measured and weighted factors. A suitability map for each category is developed using an algorithm that combines factors in weighted linear combinations. It is demonstrated that the GIS methodology has high functionality for geo-environmental assessment.     

Influence of rainfall on the deformation and stability of a slope in overconsolidated clays: a case study

The behaviour of an instrumented unstable slope in a profile of weathered overconsolidated clay has been analysed. Available field investigation data and laboratory tests were integrated in a coupled hydromechanical model of the slope. Particular attention was given to the unsaturated soil conditions above the water table and to the influence of the rainfall record. Recorded pore-water pressures helped to identify the hydrogeological conditions of the slope. The coupled model was used to compute slope deformations and the variation of safety with time. Actual rainfall records were also integrated into the analysis. Comparison of measurements and calculations illustrate the nature of the slope instability and the complex relationships between mechanical and hydraulic factors. Electronic Publication     

粗粒料强度准则与排土场稳定性研究

排土场稳定性主要取决于排土场的坡角及排弃废石的内部强度。通过低压到高压的三轴压缩试验研究了千枚岩粗颗粒散体材料强度的特性及压力对其强度的影响。试验表明：粗颗粒材料的破碎率随着压力的增大而增加,而增加速率则随着压力的增大而减小,并给出了一个用于描述压力及破碎率的关系式。提出了考虑破碎对强度影响的强度准则,该准则能描述粗颗粒材料的强度随压力的变化情况。采用该强度准则分析排土场的稳定性,其结果更加接近实际情况。而采用摩尔-库仑强度准则计算得到的排土场稳定性安全系数偏大,存在安全隐患。建议采用本文提出的强度准则分析排土场稳定性,特别是对于超高排土场的稳定性分析,更加适用该强度准则。     

The 2015 Shenzhen catastrophic landslide in a construction waste dump: analyses of undrained strength and slope stability

The 2015 catastrophic landslide in a 110-m-high waste dump in Shenzhen is recognized as one of the largest landfill failure worldwide. An earlier comprehensive field investigation revealed that the dominant component of the fill was completely decomposed granite (CDG), and the dumping operation was accompanied by a rise of the groundwater level. In this paper, the complex stress paths for the initially unsaturated fill materials being subjected to both rapid filling and wetting were investigated. A simplified method was proposed for estimating the gain of undrained shear strength under the complex stress paths. Soil samples were taken from the site to a laboratory to measure the undrained shear strength and validate the estimation method. Total stress-based stability analyses were carried out to calculate the factor of safety of the dump at failure. The triggering mechanism of the landslide is clarified as follows: The gain of shear strength with the surcharge loading for the wet layer in the lower part of the waste dump was limited by a build-up of excess pore-water pressure. The gain of shear strength for the relatively dry fill material was attenuated with the rise of groundwater level. When the shear strength was not enough to resist the increasing slip force with the surcharge loading, a deep-seated translational failure took place in the lower wet layer of the waste dump. The proposed method for analyses of undrained strength and slope stability are proven to be applicable to the waste-dumping operation with rapid filling and rising groundwater level.

     

Failure of a mine waste dump in Zimbabwe: Causes and consequences

A combination of factors are considered important in causing the failure and subsequent development of a flowslide of a gold mine waste dump (or tailings dam) at Arcturus, near Harare, Zimbabwe. These factors comprise poor basal drainage, steep perimeter walls, saturation of the walls and basal sediments through continued spigoting of slurry during a period of heavy rainfall, and the effect of this saturation on the tailings. Properties of the tailings, eyewitness accounts, documentary evidence, and site characteristics are discussed. The failure and subsequent development of a fatal 300-m flowslide are reconstructed in a five-phase developmental model. The general applicability of the results is discussed.     

降雨和蒸发对土质边坡稳定性的影响

降雨入渗降低边坡的稳定性,蒸发增加边坡的稳定性,降雨和蒸发对边坡稳定性的定量研究是很有意义的。采用蒸发和降雨模型对边坡进行非饱和-非稳定渗流分析,用总凝聚力表示的Bishop极限平衡法计算边坡安全系数。采用数值方法对算例土质边坡进行了研究,得到了孔隙水压力随时间变化的关系、边坡安全系数随时间变化的关系。结果显示：土体中孔隙水压力与天气条件、边坡安全系数与天气条件之间存在滞后关系;降雨和蒸发对边坡的表层滑动稳定性影响非常大,对深层滑动稳定性影响相对较小;降雨过程中边坡的临界滑动面由较深位置向较浅位置转变,蒸发过程则相反。     

Assessment of geo-environmental properties depressing urban development with GIS: a case study of Kozlu settlement,Turkey

Kozlu is a mining town only 5 km away from the main city of Zonguldak and initially was not favored for settlement due to its rugged and hilly topography. However, along with hard coal production in large quantities throughout the years came the industrialization at its full speed with plenty job opportunities which then gave rise to intense population in the region where there were only a few sheds and slums just a century ago. Workers migrating to Kozlu in thousands needed dwellings to live in, but the law, so-called the Coal Basin Restrictions Law which came in effect in 1910, hindered the implementation of zoning plans. Planned housing was not possible in the region not until the abolishment of the law in 1986. During these 76 years, the settlement in the area mostly by the mining and industry workers was carried out without proper zoning plans, usually on demand basis. Today because of this unplanned housing and harsh topography, the Kozlu settlement area (KSA) has a history of being attraction point for many natural and man-made disasters which can be summarized as are topography, geological and carstic structure, mining activities and mass movements. In this study, a settlement suitability map is produced for the study area using a geographic information system. The map produced is designated into four settlement suitability zones, namely suitable to settlement, slightly suitable to settlement, suitable to settlement with precautions and unsuitable to settlement. It clearly shows that 24.73% of the study area lies in suitable and slightly suitable to settlement areas while the bulky rest pertains to suitable to settlement with precautions and unsuitable to settlement. The latest studies show that the 37.5% of the buildings and houses in the KSA are situated on the lithologic units identified as hydrogeological permeable and semipermeable, 7.8% on carstic caverns and a hefty rate of 47.6% on the surfaces deformed by mining-induced subsidence. Therefore, it is needless to claim that the administrators of Kozlu should promptly develop a settlement plan for the welfare of the city.     

Effects of seepage on a three-layered slope and its stability analysis under rainfall conditions

Natural Hazards - The seepage and stability of unsaturated soil slopes under torrential rain conditions are key issues in geotechnical and hydraulic engineering. In this work, based on...     

矿山地质环境治理工程设计思路探讨——以广西凤山县石灰岩矿山为例

我国许多废弃和老矿山未实施地质环境治理和土地恢复工程,矿区内环境恶劣.为了解决废弃矿山遗留的环境问题,国家提供了专门的政策和资金进行治理,但亟需从技术层面上提出一套适合国情的设计理论.在总结废弃矿山地质环境治理工程特点的基础上,提出了矿山地质环境治理工程设计的原则、指标和流程,并将设计理论用于广西凤山石灰岩矿山的治理工程设计.结果表明:(1)矿山地质环境问题复杂多样,治理工程涉及环境地质、生态地质、岩土工程、环境工程和景观工程等多学科交叉.治理工程设计需要综合考虑地质环境问题、可行性、效益和社会需求四个主要指标.(2)凤山石灰岩矿山的地质环境问题包括松动危岩、潜在崩塌体、土地和植被资源占用与破坏、地形地貌景观破坏.采取截水、锚固、落石平台和岩石雕刻将采石掌子面改造为公园的景点,并通过岩壁雕刻宣传当地的民俗文化.(3)治理工程消除了废弃采石矿山的地质灾害安全隐患,同时,建设成世界级的雕刻景点,从环境、经济和社会三方面体现了治理工程的效益.     

Quantification of stability improvement of a dump through biological reclamation

An integrated study on biological stabilisation of a dump slope has indicated that biological reclamation with grass and tree species should be considered for long term stability of this coal mine dump in India. The grasses have greater soil binding capacity and help to control soil erosion and improve dump stability. Native grasses such as Bamboo (Dendrocalmus strictus) and Kashi (Saccharum spontaneum) are the important constituents of grass species which can stabilise the dump slopes. Field observation of growth performance of grasses have indicated that mean grass height, root depth and below-ground root biomass are 185 cm (±68), 45 cm (±5) and 467 g m^–2 (±170), respectively after three years of grass growth on Mudidih overburden dump slope in India. The growth performance of tree species, namely Sisum (Dalbergia sisoo) and Subabool (Leucena lecocephala), in terms of height, diameter increment, below-ground biomass and root depth have shown mean values of 219 cm (±94), 48 mm (±6), 4.0 kg m^–2 (±1.5) and 1 m (±0.1), respectively. This acts as biological fertility which helps in root proliferation and enhancement of dump stability. From the numerical modelling it is suggested that roots of these grass and tree species have significantly enhanced the factor of safety of dump from 1.4 to 1.8 and therefore have a positive role in maintaining long term stability.     

Potential impacts of aerosol–land–atmosphere interactions on the Indian monsoonal rainfall characteristics

Aerosols can affect the cloud-radiation feedback and the precipitation over the Indian monsoon region. In this paper, we propose that another pathway by which aerosols can modulate the multi-scale aspect of Indian monsoons is by altering the land–atmosphere interactions. The nonlinear feedbacks due to aerosol/diffuse radiation on coupled interactions over the Indian monsoon region are studied by: (1) reviewing recent field measurements and modeling studies, (2) analyzing the MODIS and AERONET aerosol optical depth datasets, and (3) diagnosing the results from sensitivity experiments using a mesoscale modeling system. The results of this study suggest that the large magnitude of aerosol loading and its impact on land–atmosphere interactions can significantly influence the mesoscale monsoonal characteristics in the Indo-Ganges Basin.     

Assessing pollutions of soil and plant by municipal waste dump

Research is few in the literature regarding the investigation and assessment of pollutions of soil and plant by municipal waste dumps. Based upon previous work in seven waste dumping sites (nonsanitary landfills) in Beijing, Shanghai and Shijiazhuang, this study expounds the investigation and assessment method and report major pollutants. Using relative background values, this study assesses soil pollution degree in the seven dumping sites. Preliminary conclusions are: (1) pollution degrees are moderate or heavy; (2) pollution distance by domestic waste that is dumped on a plane ground is 85 m; (3) the horizontal transport distance of pollutants might be up to 120 m if waste leachates are directly connected with water in saturated soils; (4) vertical transport depth is about 3 m in unsaturated silty clayey soils. Furthermore, using relative background values and hygiene standards of food and vegetable this study assesses the pollutions of different parts of reed, sorghum, watermelon and sweet-melon. It is found: (1) in comparison with the relative background values in a large distance to the waste dumping sites, domestic wastes have polluted the roots and stems of reed and sorghum, whereas fine coal ash has polluted the leaves, rattans and fruits of watermelon and sweet-melon; (2) domestic wastes and fine coal ash have heavily polluted the edible parts of sorghum, water melon and sweet-melon. As, Hg, Pb and F have far exceeded standard values, e.g., Hg has exceeded the standard value by up to 650–1,700 times and Cd by 120–275 times, and the comprehensive pollution index is up to 192.9–369.7; (3) the polluted sorghum, watermelon and sweet-melon are inedible.     

海岸带地质环境监测体系建设与管理的构想——以上海海岸带为例

结合上海海岸带地质环境实际情况和相关监测经验,本文介绍了海岸带地质环境监测体系建设和管理的设想和思路,提出了全国海岸带地质环境监测体系建设和管理的建议。     

Malaria and related environmental issues in India: a case study of Aligarh city

Malaria is one of the most widespread diseases in the world. Endemic malaria no longer occurs in many temperate zones as a result of social and economic improvement. At present malaria is the Third World's most dreaded killer. It kills over 1 million people and causes 300–500 million episodes of illness. In India, malaria-reported deaths have shown an upward trend. In 1955, a drive to eradicate malaria was launched in India. But after initial success it failed and malaria made a comeback. Malarial mosquitoes generally prefer unpolluted natural breeding sites but now they have adapted to the changed urban environment. In this paper, an attempt has been made to examine the occurrence of malaria and related environmental issues in a small town of India. Aligarh city, lying in the shadow of the country's capital New Delhi, was selected as a case study. Data were collected mainly from household surveys with the help of questionnaire interviews. About 2,185 households belonging to different income groups were sampled. The differences in the occurrence of malaria in the different income households (in 87% low, 69% lower-middle, 65% middle, 14% upper-middle, and 5% upper) suggest that most of these differences are related to the environmental conditions existing inside and outside their homes, such as poor drainage system, poor sullage disposal, open blocked drains, waterlogging and indoor water storage in open containers. Commitment both by the Government and local residents is needed to improve the environmental conditions and eradicate malaria.     

Interaction of monsoonal wave, current and tide near Gopalpur, east coast of India, and their impact on beach profile: a case study

A 97-day-long record on waves and currents was obtained using wave rider buoy and current meter moored at 2.5 km off Gopalpur from 19 May to 23 August 2008 representing southwest monsoon months. A Valeport tide gauge was used to record water level at Gopalpur port. Simultaneously, beach profiles at 4 transects were monitored using real-time kinematic (RTK) global positioning system (GPS). A total of 636,167 waves were analyzed for the period; a range of 3,200–9,700 waves approach the coast in an individual day. During the study, unusual characteristics of wave were observed on July 29, 2008, with a magnitude of significant wave height, H_s = 2.85 m, maximum wave height, H_max = 5.22 m, and peak wave period, T_p = 10.2 s, and on August 11, 2008, with H_s = 2.28 m, H_max = 5.37 m, and T_p = 11.1 s. Significant beach loss was noticed during these periods, and severe erosion was recorded on August 1, 2008. Beach profile data indicates that 18–58 cu. m/m sediment was lost during the study period. The paper provides an overview of the statistical analysis of wave heights, periods, direction, and spectral energy density and explains the cause of coastal erosion and loss of sediment.     

排土场土石混合体分形特征与抗剪强度特性研究

露天矿山剥离堆积的土石混合体颗粒尺度不一,且力学性质异常复杂。以西藏甲玛铜矿南坑排土场为研究对象,采用现场勘测的方法测定堆积体的粒度组成及其分布特征,开展室内重塑土样的固结排水三轴压缩试验,以分析土体屈服强度特性与剪胀性,以及抗剪强度参数的取值。研究结果表明,自排土台阶坡顶至坡底,土石混合体的土粒减少且块石增多,颗粒的平均粒径呈指数关系增大;土体的粒度分布具有显著的分形结构特征,随块石含量的增大,其粒度分形维数减小。块石含量不同的土样在偏差应力作用下均表征出压密、屈服、塑性流动破坏的剪切特性,且围压条件与块石含量是影响土体剪切变形的两个关键因素,低围压时增加块石含量,土体更易产生剪胀。摩尔库伦强度准则能客观反映土体屈服的现象及过程,随块石含量的增加,土体的黏聚力呈线性减小且内摩擦角呈指数增大。     

Prediction of rainfall using artificial neural networks for synoptic station of Mashhad: a case study

In this paper, we have utilized ANN (artificial neural network) modeling for the prediction of monthly rainfall in Mashhad synoptic station which is located in Iran. To achieve this black-box model, we have used monthly rainfall data from 1953 to 2003 for this synoptic station. First, the Hurst rescaled range statistical (R/S) analysis is used to evaluate the predictability of the collected data. Then, to extract the rainfall dynamic of this station using ANN modeling, a three-layer feed-forward perceptron network with back propagation algorithm is utilized. Using this ANN structure as a black-box model, we have realized the complex dynamics of rainfall through the past information of the system. The approach employs the gradient decent algorithm to train the network. Trying different parameters, two structures, M₅₃₁ and M₇₄₁, have been selected which give the best estimation performance. The performance statistical analysis of the obtained models shows with the best tuning of the developed monthly prediction model the correlation coefficient (R), root mean square error (RMSE), and mean absolute error (MAE) are 0.93, 0.99, and 6.02 mm, respectively, which confirms the effectiveness of the developed models.     

Levee failure mechanisms during the extreme rainfall event: a case study in Southern Taiwan

Extreme weather has recently caused many disasters worldwide. In August 8, 2009, Southern Taiwan suffered from serious floods during Typhoon Morakot. In this extreme rainfall event, the Chiuliao first levee in the Laonong River basin experienced catastrophic failure. Therefore, this study focuses on the levee failure mechanisms based on variations in levee water levels. Specifically, this study investigates four mechanisms based on limit state equilibrium. The first mechanism involves the slope stability under hydrostatic conditions at various water levels. The results of this analysis show that the levee cannot fail under this mechanism. The second mechanism involves the levee slope stability with steady-state seepage. Because the water levels are different on the protected and flood sides, the water recedes much faster on the flood side than the protected side. Based on this analysis, the levee slope might fail when the water level at the protected side is close to the top of levee and the water level at the flood side starts to recede. The third and fourth mechanisms involve the levee foundation failure in terms of sliding and overturning failure. The results of this study indicate that the levee foundation is more prone to sliding failure than overturning failure. Based on these results, this study shows that the levee failed when the water level at the protected side neared the top of levee while the water level at flood side started to recede. At this moment, the levee may fail because of both the slope failure with seepage and sliding failure of the levee foundation.