Investigation on the geological and geotechnical factors leading to a major slope failure at a selected site on a Jordanian highway

During and after the very wet 1991/1992 winter experienced in Jordan, significant slope failures occurred along several sections of the new Irbid-Amman highway in Jordan. The topography over most of the route is hilly, and significant amounts of cut and fill were used to construct the highway. One such slope failure lies at 44+800 km on the highway south of Jerash City at a distance of about 5.0 km from Wadi Zerqa bridge. A landslide occurred downslope of the highway embankment resulting in a collapse of the most of the gabbion wall supporting the embankment. This paper deals with the overall stability of the slope at 44+800 km. It presents the geological and geotechnical studies carried out at this site, identifies the causes and mechanism of instability, and presents appropriate remedial measures. The study concluded that the landslide movement occurred within the colluvium material. It resulted primarily from excess piezometric pressures generated within the slope as a direct consequence of inadequate drainage. It is recommended to reconstruct the entire gabbion wall with its foundation seated on the sandstone that underlies the colluvium and to install a surface drainage system at the site.     

The dynamics of farmer migration and resettlement in the Dhidhessa River Basin,Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

The Dhidhessa River Basin (DRB), in the Abbay River Basin in Ethiopia, is undergoing large-scale dam construction for sugarcane irrigation. We focused on the dynamics of population migration, settlement, relocation and water resource development in the DRB using primary and secondary data. Two major migration waves were observed in the basin: the first in 1984–1986 during a severe drought and the second during 2005–2017. Most rural migrants were “pulled” by government initiative in the period 1984–2017, while a few migrated of their own accord due to famine. We found that the first migration wave from eastern Ethiopia (Harar) to DRB was due to scarcity of water, land and rainfall and the migration positively affected migrant livelihoods. In the second phase, dam construction displaced settled farmers and migrants, adversely affecting their livelihoods. Analysis is needed that considers the wellbeing of the displaced agrarian society and the migrant population in the dam-affected area.     

Predicting soil erosion hazard in Lattakia Governorate(W Syria)

The main objective of this study is to predict soil erosion in the Lattakia Governorate(WSyria)using the Water Erosion Prediction Project model(WEPP)and to compare the result with that of the RUSLE.Field survey and data collection were carried out,and 44 soil samples were analyzed.In addition,all the necessary input files were prepared for use in the WEPP model and RUSLE.Results show that more than of 80%of the locations studied experience slight to moderate erosion(less than 5 t/ha/y),whereas the rest of the locations experience severe soil erosion hazard.Moreover,the volume of runoff estimated by the WEPP model is in the range of 51e321 mm,and the R^2 between the simulated soil erosion and the predicted runoff reached 0.68.Interestingly,the R^2 between the WEPP model and RUSLE is 0.56,which indicates a good correlation between the two models.     

Dimensional Effects on Dynamic Properties and the Relationships between Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity and Physical Properties of Rock Under Various Environmental Conditions

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - The ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) test is an extensively used, nondestructive, and simple test to delineate the dynamic properties of rocks for...