ANALYSIS OF PILES USED FOR SLOPE STABILIZATION

Piles used for the stabilization of slopes have to be adequately designed to resist the induced lateral loads due to the movement of the unstable slope. In this paper, a numerical method is presented for the analysis of this problem. In this approach, the piles are modelled using beam finite elements. The soil response at the individual piles is modelled using the modulus of subgrade reaction and pile–soil–pile interaction considered using the theory of elasticity. Two case histories, one for single pile and the other for pile group, are analysed which show that the numerical model can predict the general characteristics of the piles reasonably well. The study suggests that the design of the piles based on the computed response from single pile analysis, ignoring group effects, may be unduly conservative.     

Experimental study on hydrodynamic performance of SWATH vessels in calm water and in head waves

An extensive experimental investigation on four SWATH hull forms has been conducted in calm water and in regular waves at University of Naples Federico II. Calm water tests have been analyzed in the range of Froude number Fr_T from 0.1 to 0.6. For all four SWATH configurations at the speed, corresponding to Fr_T 0.32, the behaviour in regular waves has been tested. The results of heave, pitch and vertical accelerations are presented in nondimensional form as RAO. For the “most promising” SWATH #4 configuration, a set of stabilizing fins have been designed and an active stabilization system has been developed. The developed SWATH#5 has been tested in calm water on three displacements in the range of Fr_T from 0.1 to 0.65. The dynamic wetted surface has been identified and the residual resistance coefficient C_R as well as R_T/Δ are reported. Seakeeping tests have been performed in regular head sea and in head and following irregular sea at Fr_T = 0.50. The conditions for the occurrence of dynamic longitudinal instabilities have been identified. The results allows to comment the effect of slenderness of struts and SWATH’s immersed bodies on resistance and seakeeping and concerns the applicability of SWATH concept to small craft.     

Improvement of calcareous expansive soils in semi-arid environments

The semi-arid climate and geology of Cyprus have caused the formation of calcareous expansive soils on the island. In some areas, swelling has caused serious foundation problems. The industrial by-product Soma fly ash has been used to improve the engineering properties of the soil. Fly ash treatment has shown tremendous potential as an economical method for the stabilization of the soil. Significant reduction in the swell potential and an increase in the hydraulic conductivity values are obtained. Use of fly ash with a small percentage of lime produces even more dramatic results. Cation exchange capacity (CEC) values substantiate the formation of the new pozzolanic reaction minerals which result in more stable silt-sand like structures.     

酸性富水软土地基对深层搅拌法加固效果的影响

针对工程中出现的深层搅拌桩深部桩身质量不合格问题，结合水泥系深层搅拌法加固地基的作用机理，分析探讨了酸性富水地基土对水泥土凝结强度的不利影响，提出了改进意见。     

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.     

Surface properties of stabilizing coastal dunes: combining spectral and field analyses

The coastal dunes of Israel have been undergoing a process of stabilization since 1948. One of the major features of this process is a change in the surface properties of the dunes – the development of a biological soil crust (BSC), and a change in the properties of the sand grains themselves. In Ashdod, at the southern coastal plain of Israel, sand properties that include the BSC, their fines (silt and clay) content and free iron-oxide (indicating their degree of rubification) have been analysed in detail using field and lab spectroscopy methods. In addition, sand erosion and deposition were measured using erosion pins to determine their effect on the presence of the above-mentioned factors. It was found that the BSC over these dunes is comprised of green algae that differs in its reflectance spectra from cyanobacterial crust, especially in the blue band. The crust was found to be particularly developed in the stable areas (mainly the interdunes) and on the north-facing slopes rather than on the south-facing slopes. A positive correlation was found between the crust fines and chlorophyll content, with stable areas showing more developed BSC. The stable areas showed also a lower albedo and slightly more developed reddish colour, indicating a slightly higher rate of rubification. This study demonstrates that the intensity of sand erosion/deposition rates affects soil properties, with the BSC being the fastest to react to the stabilization process (months to several years), followed by the content of fine particles (several years to a decade), whereas the rubification process is a much weaker marker and may need much longer time periods to develop (decades to centuries).     

Streambank dewatering for increased stability

Streambank erosion is often the dominant source of sediment leaving modified watersheds. Mass failure of high, steep banks is one of the most serious forms of streambank erosion. The risk of a given bank experiencing mass failure is a function of bank height, angle, and soil strength, which is governed by soil moisture. Two methods for bank dewatering were tested in adjacent sections of streambank bordering a deeply incised channel in northern Mississippi: a low‐cost pump system and subsurface horizontal drains. Pore water pressures (both positive and negative pressures, or matric suction) were continuously monitored for 2 years at the pumped site, at an adjacent untreated control section, and for 1 year at the site stabilized with horizontal drains. Resulting data were used to calculate a time series of the factor of safety using a computer model. Over the course of two wet seasons, average bank retreats for the control and pumped plots were 0·43 and 0·21 m, respectively. More limited monitoring revealed that the site with passive drains retreated about 0·23 m. At the pumped site pore water pressure was 3–4 kPa lower than at the control site during the most critical periods. Accordingly, computed factors of safety were above the failure threshold at the pumped site, but fell below unity at the control site on 11 occasions over the period of observation. Similarly, the drained site displayed generally lower pore water pressure and higher safety factors except for two events when drains were evidently overwhelmed with the volume of local surface and subsurface flows. These results suggest, but do not prove, that bank dewatering promoted lower rates of bank retreat and higher levels of stability since the three sites had slight differences in soils, geometry and boundary conditions. Initial cost of the dewatering treatments were significantly less than orthodox bank stabilization measures, but operation and maintenance requirements may be greater. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Can dynamite-blasted reefs recover? A novel, low-tech approach to stimulating natural recovery in fish and coral populations

Throughout Southeast Asia, blast fishing creates persistent rubble fields with low coral cover and depauperate fish communities. We stabilized a 20-year-old rubble field in a Marine Protected Area in the Philippines, using plastic mesh and rock piles in replicated 17.5m(2) plots, thereby increasing topographic complexity, fish habitat, and recruitment substrate surface area. Multivariate analysis revealed fish community shifts within the rehabilitated area from that characteristic of rubble fields to one similar to the adjacent healthy reef within three years, as measured by changes in fish abundance and body size. Coral recruitment and percent cover increased over time, with 63.5% recruit survivorship within plots, compared with 6% on rubble. Our low-cost approach created a stable substrate favoring natural recovery processes. Both rehabilitation and the elimination of poaching were integral to success, emphasizing the synergism between the two and the need to incorporate both when considering mitigation.     

Risk mitigation and the social cost of carbon

The social cost of carbon – i.e., the marginal present-value cost imposed by greenhouse gas emissions – is determined by a complex interaction between factual assumptions, modeling methods, and value judgments. Among the most crucial factors is society's willingness to tolerate potentially catastrophic environmental risks. To explore this issue, the present analysis employs a stochastic climate–economy model that accounts for uncertainties in baseline economic growth, baseline emissions, greenhouse gas mitigation costs, carbon cycling, climate sensitivity, and climate change damages. In this model, preferences are specified to reflect the high degree of risk aversion revealed by private investment decisions, signaled by the large observed gap between the average rates of return paid by safe and risky financial instruments. In contrast, most climate–economy models assume much lower risk aversion. Given high risk aversion, the analysis finds that investment in climate stabilization yields especially large net benefits by forestalling low-probability threats to long-run human well-being. Accordingly, the social cost of carbon attains the markedly high value of $25,700 per metric ton of carbon dioxide in a baseline scenario in which emissions are unregulated. This value falls to just $4 per ton as the stringency of control measures is successively increased. These results cast doubt on the idea that the social cost of carbon takes on a uniquely defined, objective value that is independent of policy decisions. This does not, however, rule out the use of carbon prices to achieve the benefits of climate stabilization using least-cost mitigation measures.     

海底硬岩钻探的现状与前景分析

海底硬岩是世界大洋钻探实现“莫霍钻”目标必然钻遇的地层。世界大洋钻探实施的航次中已多次钻遇海底硬岩,不仅采获了岩心样品,也在钻进施工中发现了诸多问题。本文搜集了近年来世界大洋钻探实施的309、312、335、360和384等有关海底硬岩钻探航次的资料,在对航次情况简要介绍的基础上,重点阐述了目前海底硬岩钻探在钻头、井壁稳定以及取心工具等方面遇到的挑战以及采取的应对措施,并对今后海底硬岩钻探的发展进行了展望。