Influence of saturation on rainfall generated landslides in shale along Murree-Kohala road,Pakistan

On August 10, 2010 a series of landslides of more than 90,000 m³ occurred along the Muree-Kohala road in the northern area of Pakistan. A study was undertaken to evaluate the likely impacts of percent saturation and bulk density on mobilized shear strength along the basal rupture surface of the landslide. A series of unconfined compression test and unconsolidated undrained triaxial tests were performed on remolded samples of different densities with varied percentages of saturation. The results of these tests suggest that soil cohesion and friction decreases with increasing saturation. The tests also showed that the shear strength parameters tend to increase with increasing dry density; however, all the samples exhibited a noticeable loss of shear strength with increasing degree of saturation, independent of soil density.Limit equilibrium slope stability analyses were performed along the most probable failure planes, based on shear strength parameters corresponding to degrees of saturation, which varied between 30% to about 100%. This resulted in drop of factor of safety from FS = 1.64 down to 0.51 as the degree of saturation approaches unity.These results suggest that the causative factor in triggering the landslide along Murree-Kohala was the partial saturation of the zone that developed the basal rupture plane. As rain infiltrated the slope, the bulk unit weight of the soil increased, while the shear strength along the developing plane of rupture decreased sufficiently to concentrate shear strain when the material became more than 60% saturation (FS < 1.0).     

Preventing and analysis of falling rocks: A case of Sarica village (Gürün,Turkey)

Rock fall is a common natural hazard causing significant damage to infrastructure and loss of life and property. This paper describes selection of prevention method, construction processes and the results of a rockfall hazard assessment for the village of Sarica (Gürün region, Turkey) based on an engineering-geological model. The study area is located on the lower parts of an area with very steep cliffs and 40-50⁰ slopes with fractured sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Detailed studies have been conducted in the region to prevent the risk of any rockfalls. Maps and charts are prepared including the rock blocks that are likely to fall and the related housing area under the risk. It was found that block sizes reached 3 m³. Rockfall analyses were performed along the selected profiles using the Rocfall V.5.0 software. Kinetic energy, bounce height, horizontal location of rock end-points and velocity of the rocks along each section were evaluated separately for each profile. This data was used to select design and construction of rockfall preventing system. In this study professional type rock fall barrier (catchment fence) was used. This method was chosen because it was cheaper, more practical and reliable than others.     

3D geostatistical modelling and uncertainty analysis of clay minerals distribution in reservoir rocks

Drilling through shale layers is associated with many problems such as wellbore instability, hole wash out, pipe stuck, etc. Reactive shale with swelling potential can lead to such problems. Reactive shale is a shale that has high swelling clay mineral like montmorillonite although there was a little amount of this clay mineral. So determine the type of clay mineral in shale formation and obtain the distribution of swellable clay mineral can help us in the selection of stable well path and determination of well location that has least instability problem, prevention and prediction of problem associated with swelling clay mineral such as pipe stuck, hole wash out, bit balling, etc. In this paper, we used thorium and potassium from corrected gamma ray (CGR) log to obtain the type and percentage of clay mineral. Then used X-ray diffraction for more detail analysis of clay mineral constitute. Finally, geostatistical modelling is used to obtain the continuity of clay mineral in the reservoir and estimate the amount of desire clay mineral along the reservoir.     

An investigation of the effects of important grouting and rock parameters on the grouting process

Today, grouting is used as an aid in ground improvement in most civil and mining engineering projects. Groutability and grout penetration depth are among the most important issues that are considered in grouting operation. Various parameters such as in-situ stress, pore water pressure, joint geometric and geomechanical characteristics, grout properties (viscosity and yield stress) and technical factors such as grouting pressure and flow rate affect the groutability and grout penetration depth in a jointed rock mass. Knowledge of the effect of these parameters has advantages in the prediction of grouting results. Typically, cement-based grout is used in jointed rock masses. Unlike water, stable cement-based grout usually acts as a Bingham fluid. In this study the effect of important parameters on grouting process in a jointed rock mass was investigated numerically using the DEM method. In the conducted study, the problem geometry represents a horizontal section in a regularly jointed rock mass with two joint sets. The analyses results show that the grout penetration depth and intake increase as joint aperture, normal stiffness and grouting pressure increase and in-situ stress and pore water pressure decrease. Increase in joint spacing does not have any effect on the grout penetration depth but decreases the grout intake. The effect of joint orientation on grouting process is strongly dependent on in-situ stress state. On the other hand, increase in grout yield stress decreases the grout penetration depth and intake, while grout viscosity does not have any effect on maximum grout penetration depth and intake. To further investigate the above mechanisms, the grouting process conducted in Gotvand dam-Iran was simulated numerically.     

Mineralization of organic matter from vinasse using physicochemical treatment coupled with Fe<Superscript>2+</Superscript>-activated persulfate and peroxymonosulfate oxidation

Application of advanced oxidation process for wastewater treatment has gained more attention recently. In this study, the efficiency of coagulation–flocculation pretreatment coupled with sulfate radical-based advanced oxidation process (SR-AOP) in the removal and mineralization of organic matter of sugarcane vinasse was evaluated. For coagulation–flocculation, jar-test experiment was carried out with ferric chloride as coagulant and the removal of TOC, color and UV₂₅₄ was determined. The results revealed that by using 15 g/L of coagulant, 70 % of TOC removal and nearly 100 % of UV₂₅₄ and color removal were achieved. The pretreated vinasse was then subjected to SR-AOP. In this study, sulfate radical was generated using persulfate (PS) and peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activated by Fe(II). The effect of reaction time, oxidants to Fe(II) ratio and pH on the TOC removal efficiency were investigated. For the effect of reaction time, the TOC removal was found to increase significantly for the first 5 min. TOC removal was found to increase with increasing concentration of Fe(II) for PMS. However, for Fe(II)/PS, the TOC removal efficiency was decreased with increasing Fe(II) concentration. Both Fe(II)/PMS and Fe(II)/PS showed the highest TOC removal efficiency when the oxidation was carried out at pH 7. By using the selected optimum condition, nearly 70 and 49 % of TOC removal were achieved for PMS/Fe(II) and PS/Fe(II), respectively. Therefore, it can be concluded that SR-AOP can be a promising alternative method for TOC removal from sugarcane vinasse.