A historical review and assessment of urban heat island research in Singapore

This historical review of 20 studies since the 1960s examines the influence of urban development on the thermal environment in Singapore, a fast growing tropical island city‐state. Past observations are critically assessed with regard to experimental controls and station metadata. Given the availability of historical climate and developmental data spanning almost 50 years, changes in urban heat island (UHI) intensity and spatial coverage can be traced temporally. Rapid urban expansion in Singapore is clearly reflected in spatially and temporally changing air and surface temperature patterns. The nocturnal canopy‐layer UHI intensity – measured as the difference between the commercial urban core and undeveloped areas close to primary or secondary rainforests for example – doubled in magnitude between 1965 and 2004. At the same time, the spatial extent of the nocturnal UHI has also expanded with the development of new housing and industrial districts. The influence of the growing city is also reflected in surface temperature. Two satellite images dated 13 years apart demonstrate the encroachment of areas with high surface temperatures into previously cooler areas during daytime corresponding with new public housing estates and low‐rise residential areas or facilities being built. The results from our study contribute to the growing body of tropical heat island research. They provide baseline data for future research and urban development in the Singapore context and, more generally, offer important cues for urban planners to make tropical cities more sustainable.     

Pile group settlement: A probabilistic approach

The uncertain settlement response of pile groups is determined using a ‘hybrid’ formulation and a first-order perturbation technique. The spatially varying soil modulus, which gives rise to the uncertainties in the pile group settlement, is modeled as a homogeneous random field. The random field is assumed to be one-dimensional since the ‘hybrid’ formulation does not account for horizontal variation in the soil properties. Using the proposed method, the coefficient of variation of the pile group settlement is computed. The single-pile solutions obtained compare favorably with the solutions from a conventional stochastic finite element analysis. Pile groups of sizes ranging from two to twenty-five piles are studied. It is observed that the coefficient of variation is not significantly affected by the pile spacing as well as the group size. By defining an appropriate performance function, the reliability index of a pile group system is also found to be approximately the same as that of a single-pile system. These observations suggest that the solutions for a single pile may be used to estimate the uncertainties in the settlement response of pile groups.     

Responses of the green-lipped mussel Perna viridis (L.) to suspended solids

Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the lethal and sublethal effects of suspended solids on the survival and physiological, behavourial and morphological changes of the green-lipped mussel Perna viridis collected from Tolo Harbour, Hong Kong. Results showed that P. viridis survived in all test conditions of suspended solids from 0 to 1200 mg/l over a period of 96 h. Physiological responses of the green-lipped mussel under 14-d exposure of suspended solids from 0 to 600 mg/l, followed by 14-d recovery in natural seawater, revealed no significant changes (p>0.05) in oxygen consumption and dry gonosomatic index for treatments in different concentrations of suspended solids and exposure time. Changes in clearance rate were only found to be significant (p<0.001) with exposure time. Responses in behavourial and morphological changes of the green-lipped mussel were also studied under similar experimental treatments and exposure time. Byssus production was significantly (p<0.001) related to exposure time. Gill damage, however, was significantly greater in treatments (p<0.001). Present findings suggested that P. viridis could tolerate a high level of suspended solids in the laboratory. There were dose-dependent effects of suspended solids on morphology of gill filaments. Implications of survival and responses of the green-lipped mussel to suspended solids in the marine environment are discussed.     

Role of fluids in surface deformation caused by the 1999 Chi‐Chi earthquake in Taiwan

The 1999 Chi‐Chi earthquake significantly altered the landscape of central Taiwan. Surface deformation produced by the earthquake along the trace of the Chelungpu thrust can be classified into two styles: (1) uplift without significant surface rupture, and (2) uplift accompanied by surface rupture. Here we examine areas that exhibited the first style of deformation (e.g. Wufeng). Seismic stress at the time of the main shock may have been relieved by high pore‐fluid pressure in a 300‐m‐thick sand and gravel aquifer. Along the thrust fault, frictional heating of these sediments resulted in thermal expansion and an increase in pore‐fluid pressure. High pore‐fluid pressure damped seismic‐wave energy and enhanced intergranular slips of unconsolidated sandy and gravel sediments, which were possibly assisted by sulphuric acid corrosion, leading to a high sulphate content in the groundwater (c. 70 mg L^?1). These changes permitted surface folding and terrace‐style uplifting to occur without significant rupture. In contrast, other areas in which the second style of deformation is dominant (e.g. Fengyuen‐Shihkang) have thin (0–10 m) sand and gravel deposits and lower concentrations of sulphate (c. 30 mg L^?1) in groundwater. In these areas, sediments were heated but not sufficiently to produce significant thermal expansion and increase in pore‐fluid pressure; accumulation of stress in these locations led to rupture at the ground surface, with the formation of steep fault scarps. The areas exhibiting the first deformation style are characterized by the presence of high pore‐fluid pressure, frictional heat conduction, and possibly chemical corrosion related to sulphuric acid attack and formation of sulphate, in contrast to those involving significant uplift and surface rupture. The areal distribution of these two surface deformation styles suggests that the aforementioned fluid‐related subsurface processes may have altered the characteristics of sediments and caused diverse responses to the quake. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical analysis of axially loaded vertical piles and pile groups

A numerical method, based on a simplified elastic continuum boundary element method, is presented for the settlement analysis of axially loaded vertical piles and pile groups. The soil flexibility coefficients are evaluated using the analytical solutions for a layered elastic half space. Results are presented and compared with existing published solutions for the following cases: (i) piles in homogeneous soil, (ii) piles in finite soil layer, (iii) piles end-bearing on stiffer layer, (iv) piles socketted into stiffer bearing layer, and (v) piles in Gibson soil. Reasonably good agreement is obtained between the present solutions and existing published solutions.     

Removal of organic matter from reservoir water: mechanisms underpinning surface chemistry of natural adsorbents

One of the key challenges in water treatment industry is the removal of organic compounds by cost-effective methods. This study evaluated the adsorptive removal of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from reservoir water using fuller’s earth (FE) in comparison with natural (SQ) and modified quartz (MSQ) sands. The removal capacities of FE at different contact times, pH levels, adsorbent dosages and initial DOC concentrations were compared with both the quartz sands. The optimum DOC removals by FE and SQs were achieved at contact time of 60 and 30 min, pH level of 6 and 4, and at adsorbent dose of 1.5 g/150 mL and 10 g/100 mL, respectively. The adsorption capacity of FE (1.05 mg/g) was much higher compared to the MSQ (0.04 mg/g) and SQ (0.01 mg/g). Adsorption equilibrium data better fitted to the Freundlich model than to the Langmuir model, suggesting that adsorption occurred primarily through multilayer formation onto the surfaces of FE and SQ. The pseudo-second-order model described the uptake kinetics more effectively than the pseudo-first-order and intra-particle diffusion models, indicating that the mechanism was primarily governed by chemisorption. These observations were well supported by the physiochemical characteristics and charge behaviour of the adsorbents. In mass-transfer study, the results of liquid film diffusion model showed that the adsorption of DOC on FE was not controlled by film diffusion, but other mechanisms also played an essential role. This study demonstrates that FE is an effective adsorbent for the removal of DOC in surface water treatment.     

A variational approach for vertical deformation analysis of pile group

A variational approach for the analysis of vertical deformation of pile groups is presented. The method assumes that the deformation of piles can be represented by a finite series. The method applies the principle of minimum potential energy to determine the deformation of piles. Using this method, an analytical solution for pile groups in soil modelled by the theoretical load–transfer curves can be obtained rigorously. Analysis of field tests indicates that the method can predict the performance of pile groups reasonably well.