Prior to an underground excavation a site investigation is carried out. This includes reviewing and analysing existing data, field data collected through outcrop mapping, drill core logging and geophysical investigations. These data sources are combined and used to characterise, quantify and classify the rock mass for the tunnel design process and excavation method selection. Despite the best approaches used in a site investigation, it cannot reveal the required level of detail. Such gaps in information might become significant during the actual construction stage. This can lead to; for example, over-break due to unfavourable geological conditions. Even more so, an underestimation of the rock mass properties can lead to unplanned stoppages and tunnel rehabilitation. On-the-other-hand, the excavation method itself, in this case, drill and blast, can also cause severe damage to the rock mass. This can result in over-break and reduction of the strength and quality of the remaining rock mass. Both of these attributes pose risks for the tunnel during excavation and after project delivery. Blast damage encompasses over-break and the Excavation Damage Zone (EDZ). In the latter irreversible changes occur within the remaining rock mass inside this zone, which are physically manifested as blast fractures. In this thesis, a number of methods to determine blast damage have been investigated in two ramp tunnels of the Stockholm bypass. Herein, a comparison between the most common methods for blast damage investigation employed nowadays is performed. This comparison can be used to select the most suitable methods for blast damage investigation in tunnelling, based on the environment and the available resources. In this thesis Ground Penetrating Radar, core logging (for fractures) and P-wave velocity measurements were applied to determine the extent of the blast damage. Furthermore, the study of the two tunnels in the Stockholm bypass shows a significant overestimation of the actual rock mass quality during the site investigation. In order to gain a more accurate picture of the rock mass quality, Measurement While Drilling (MWD) technology was applied. The technology was investigated for rock mass quality prediction, quantifying the extent of blast damage, as well as to investigate the potential to forecast the required rock support. MWD data was collected from both grout and blast holes. These data sets were used to determine rock quality indices e.g. Fracture Indication and Hardness Indicator calculated by the MWD parameters. The Fracture Index was then compared with the installed rock support at the measurement location. Lastly, the extent of the damage is investigated by evaluating if the MWD parameters could forecast the extent of the EDZ. The study clearly shows the capability of MWD data to predict the rock mass characteristics, e.g. fractures and other zones of weakness. This study demonstrated that there is a correlation between the Fracture Index (MWD) and the Q-value, a parameter widely used to determine the required rock support. The study also shows a correlation between the extent of the blast damage zone, MWD data, design and excavation parameters (for example tunnel cross section and charge concentration).

Cette thèse présente les résultats d’une fouille archéologique préventive menée sur un site de la région périurbaine est de la ville antique de Beyrouth. Leur étude approfondie montre des changements dans la fonction d’utilisation de cet espace, toujours lié directement à la ville. Son urbanisme s’est développé sur les bords des prolongations des axes urbains. Il n’a été bien planifié qu’à partir du Ier s. apr. J.-C. durant sa transformation en un espace funéraire. Sa division par des limites de terrains servait probablement aux colons nouvellement installés pour leurs activités agricoles, économiques, artisanales, etc. L’installation de constructions monumentales dans ce secteur périurbain n’a commencé qu’à la fin du IIe s. apr. J.-C. C’est ainsi qu’un sanctuaire du culte héliopolitain a été construit dans la plaine côtière, entre les deux voies menant à la ville, au point le plus proche de la mer et sur une falaise. Sa destruction est confirmée durant le IVe s. apr. J.-C.,soit à cause du tremblement de terre du 348/349 apr. J.-C. soit à la suite de la christianisation de la région. Ensuite, ce secteur a abrité plusieurs grandes résidences qui ont été détruites, soit par le tremblement de terre du 551, soit ultérieurement. Vers le début de la période médiévale, l’espace périurbain est a été abandonné pour la récupération des pierres des anciens monuments. Son occupation par des bâtiments ne reprend qu’à la période ottomane. / This thesis presents the results of the archaeological rescue excavation of a site situated in the periurban area of the ancient city of Beirut. The study findings reveal chronological changes in the use of the space, that are consistently linked to developments associated with the growth of the city. The site developed along the extensions of the urban axes, but was fully elaborated in the 1st century A.D. with its transformation into a burial ground. Divided by territory limits, the new colonists then most likely used this location for their economical, agricultural, and artisanal activities. The installation of monumental constructions in this peri-urban area began at the end of the 2nd century A.D. A sanctuary pertaining to the Heliopolitan cult was thus built on the plain between the two roads leading to the city, on the “Ras Mdawar” cliff at the nearest point to thesea. Its destruction is dated to the 4th century A.D., either as a consequence of the earthquake of 348/349 AD or as a result of the Christianization of the region. Several large villas were later built in this area and destroyed either by the earthquake of 551 AD or at a later period. With the start of the medieval era, the peri-urban space was abandoned and exploited for the recuperation of stones from the ancient monuments. It remained unoccupied until the Ottoman period.

Study of Production Drifts Stability and Assessment of Reinforcement Requirements at LKAB Konsuln Test-Mine Levels 436 and 486 Using Geologic Structures Data, and Modelling Software - Dips and Unwedge:  a Part of dp1 Project (Mine Layout and Technology) of the Sustainable Underground Mining (Sum) Project Oludare Joseph Olufe Global population has been on exponential increase over the past half century. The population explosion is driving massive urbanization and infrastructure developments across the globe, which result in huge demand for metals, especially steel. The trend is forecasted to continue to rise steeply in for the next two decades. This is putting enormous strain on metals mining, especially because new surface economic deposits are rare to come by. Therefore, mining is steadily going deeper in many of the mining destinations across the world.     Mining at great depths present unique challenges, particularly regarding stability of excavations at depths. Rock falls, rock burst, excavation collapse are common occurrences associated with deep mining. In regions with high seismicity potentials the frequency and consequences could be very high. Over the past decade ground instability has become a significant challenge confronting mining at LKAB deep mines. There had been incidents that resulted in long term closure of sections of the mines, with resultant adverse economic impacts. More undesirable is loss of live of personnel.     The study was conducted at the Konsuln test mine levels 436 and 486, aimed to investigate the impacts of geologic structures on excavations instability at depths, at the Kiruna iron ore mines, on one hand.  And on the other hand, evaluate the influence of geologic structures on ground reinforcements at the mine. Structural data were collected and analysed using Dips program to define orientation of major structures. The results were used for wedge analysis and excavations stability modelling using Unwedge program. Important rock mechanical parameters were defined based on data provided, and others based on literatures. A design factor of safety of 1.5 was used.     Results from the study established that structures have significant impact on excavations instability at the Konsuln mine. 100% of the production drifts studied has minimum of four wedges formed in its perimeters. Out of this approximately 37% has factor of safety lower than 1.5. Evaluation of reinforcements (shotcrete and rock bolts) implemented in the mine found that approximately 15% of the total wedges formed in the production drifts has factor of safety less that 1.5 after both shotcrete and rock bolt reinforcements had been implement. Also, approximately 5% of the total wedges has apex height longer the rock bolt length.     It was therefore concluded that structurally induced instability is a major contributor to excavations instability at the Kiruna mine. The study approach presented a new methodology to understand and provide robust solution to ground instability problem at the mine.

Debido a la plusvalía del suelo y al incremento poblacional en los distritos Top de Lima, los proyectos inmobiliarios se diseñan con un mayor número de sótanos para poder cubrir la demanda de estacionamientos. Por lo que en la presente investigación vamos a emplear la herramienta Value Stream Mapping para optimizar el proceso de excavación masiva. El Value Stream Mapping es una herramienta empleada en la industria manufacturera que pertenece a la filosofía Lean Manufacturing, esta herramienta consiste en identificar el flujo de la cadena de valor de cierta actividad y mediante un gráfico tener una visión completa del flujo de trabajo y de todos los procesos involucrados. Mediante este mapeo resultará mucho más sencillo identificar los procesos que no aportan valor a la actividad para luego aplicar mejoras y poder optimizar el proceso de excavación masiva. Para analizar el proceso de excavación masiva se utilizaron datos obtenidos de tres proyectos ubicados en Lima cuyas profundidades de excavación fueron de 3 y 4 anillos. El mapeo de estado actual de estos proyectos nos permitió realizar un diagnóstico general e identificar los procesos con mayores tiempos no productivos. Finalmente, se elabora un mapa de estado futuro considerando la propuesta de mejora para el proceso de eliminación con pasamano de dos excavadoras, se implementa la propuesta de mejora en un cuarto proyecto con una profundidad de excavación de 6 anillos, con los resultados obtenidos se justifica que empleando la herramienta de Value Stream Mapping se puede optimizar el proceso de excavación masiva. / Due to the increase in land value and population growth in the top districts of Lima, real estate projects are designed with a greater number of basements to meet the demand for parking. Therefore, in this research we are going to use the Value Stream Mapping tool to optimize the massive excavation process. Value Stream Mapping is a tool used in the manufacturing industry that belongs to the Lean Manufacturing philosophy, this tool consists of identifying the flow of the value chain of a certain activity and by means of a graphic to have a complete vision of the workflow and all the processes involved. Through this mapping it will be much easier to identify the processes that do not add value to the activity and then apply improvements to optimize the mass excavation process. To analyze the mass excavation process, data obtained from three projects located in Lima with excavation depths of 3 and 4 rings were used. The current state mapping of these projects allowed us to make a general diagnosis and identify the processes with the longest non-productive times. Finally, a future state mapping is elaborated considering the improvement proposal for the two-excavator handrail disposal process, the improvement proposal is implemented in a fourth project with an excavation depth of 6 rings, with the results obtained it is justified that using the Value Stream Mapping tool the massive excavation process can be optimized. / Tesis

The increasing volume of waste of all kinds is currently a phenomenon of economically developed society and one of the problems of environmental protection. It is therefore imperative, in the interest of sustainable development, to monitor impacts related to the impact on our ecology, to regulate waste production by legislation and universally promote their reuse and recycling. Construction and demolition waste occupy a significant share of the total waste volume. This category also includes excavated soils. Recycling of these materials could significantly reduce the amount of landfilled waste and at the same time, these materials could be used as an important source of secondary raw materials. The doctoral thesis describes the research and development of the new technology of reuse soils in the form of self-compacting grouts. The result of the solution will be a suspension of optimal rheological properties, providing a perfect leaking around the stored utility networks. Emphasis will be placed on the study of the interaction of different types of soils with the stabilizers, flowable or plasticizing additives and its typical dispersible substance, including verification of the developed technology in situ.

The topic of this thesis is to create a study of the rehabilitation of the sewer network. The sewer system under assessment is located in city Znojmo, specifically Znojmo – city. In this case, rehabilitation is proposed in order to improve the functional operational properties of the sewer network and extend its service life. The work was divided into two basic parts, namely the Accompanying and Summary Technical Report. Three variants of solution were proposed. The first two variants are made as trenchless using a sanitation sleeve in the first one and a short sanitation sleeve in combination with a sanitation sleeve in the second. The third variant is made as an open excavation recovery. A description of the rehabilitation technology was carried out and the facts that each individual Option or what the three Option would bring up were defined. These three variants of the solution are assessed in terms of economic, technical and environmental impact.

Agenda 2030, som är en sammanfattande beskrivning av FN:s globala hållbarhetsmål, handlar om att tillsammans kunna hjälpa till att reducera den miljöpåverkan som finns i samhället idag (FN, 2015). En av de branscher som har störst inflytande på växthuseffekten är byggbranschen och därför finns det stor möjlighet här att bidra till en positiv utveckling. Syftet med den här rapporten är att undersöka huruvida det är ekonomiskt lönsamt för projektet för både beställare och entreprenörer att tänka hållbart, varvid rapporten kommer att utgå från en fallstudie i en marksänkningsentreprenad i Slakthusområdet. För att kunna uppmuntra entreprenörer och beställare att tänka mer hållbart har återanvändandet av schaktmassor, genom branschsamverkan, studerats. De frågeställningar som studerats i rapporten är följande: Hur kan branschsamverkan bidra till lägre koldioxidutsläpp och ekonomiska besparingar? Och hur stor blir den samhällsekonomisk nyttan av dessa klimatbesparingar i kronor? Resultaten i denna rapport är baserade på kvalitativa studier från anläggningsprojektet i Slakthusområdet. För att kunna implementera en kalkyl av den ekonomiska- samt samhällsekonomiska nytta i Slakthusområdet har två olika scenarion jämförts, nämligen scenario 1 och scenario 2. Scenario 1 efterliknar Skanskas befintliga marksänkningsentreprenad, vars projektmål är att reducera klimatpåverkan med 50 procent jämfört med en traditionellt driven marksänkingsentreprendad. Scenario 2 utgår från en traditionellt driven marksänkingsentrprenad. Resultatet av scenarioanalysen visar på att Scenario 1 är särskilt gynnsamt både ekonomsikt samt ur ett samhällsekonomisk perspektiv, där stora besparingar har påvisats i projektet. Resultatet visade att det nästan kostade 10 miljoner kronor mer att tillämpa scenario 2 jämfört med att tillämpa scenario 1. Dessutom resulterade scenario 1, utöver den ekonomiska fördelen, även en samhällsekonomisk nytta om ungefär 2,6 miljoner kronor. Det analytiska ramverket som använts i rapporten är cirkulär ekonomi. / Agenda 2030, which is a summary description of the UN’s global sustainability goals, is about being able to work together to help reduce the environmental impact that exists in society today (UN, 2015). One of the industries that has the greatest influence on the greenhouse effect is the construction industry and therefore there is a great opportunity here to contribute to a positive development. The purpose of this report is to examine whether it is economically viable for the project for both clients and contractors to think sustainably. In order to encourage contractors and clients to think more sustainably, the reuse of excavated masses, through industry collaboration, has been studied. The issues studied in the report are the following: How can industry collaboration contribute to lower carbon dioxide emissions and economic savings? And how big will the socio-economic benefit of these climate savings be? The results in this report are based on qualitative studies from an urban development project in Stockholm, Sweden. In order to be able to implement a calculation of the economic and socio-economic benefits in the project area, two different scenarios have been compared, namely scenario 1 and scenario 2. Scenario 1 mimics Skanska’s existing ground lowering contract, whose project goal is to reduce climate impact by 50 percent compared to a traditionally driven ground lowering contract. Scenario 2 is based on a traditionally driven ground lowering contract. The results of the scenario analysis show that Scenario 1 is particularly favorable both from an economic point of view and from a socio-economic perspective, where large savings have been demonstrated in the project. The result showed that it cost almost 10 million SEK more to apply scenario 2 compared to applying scenario 1. In addition, scenario 1 also resulted in a socio-economic benefit of approximately 2.6 million SEK. The analytical framework used in the report is circular economy.

[pt] Deformabilidade e estabilidade de taludes em solo grampeado são aspectos relevantes na utilização deste sistema de reforço de taludes naturais ou resultantes de processo de escavação. A concepção do projeto envolve a escolha do comprimento, ângulo de instalação, espaçamento e resistência dos grampos. O dimensionamento, usualmente baseado na teoria do Equilíbrio Limite, não consegue prever deformações no interior da massa grampeada, assim como a redistribuição de esforços nos grampos ao longo das diversas etapas de escavação. Estas informações podem ser obtidas por modelagem computacional com o auxílio do programa FLAC, de forma a definir critérios de projeto para massas grampeadas em solo residual. Para escavações de baixa altura (inferiores a 5m), a razão entre comprimento do grampo e altura da escavação deve ser superior a 0,7 e a razão entre espaçamento vertical e comprimento do grampo inferior a 50%. Para escavações maiores, a razão entre espaçamento vertical e comprimento do grampo deve ser inferior a 25%. Para estas condições não é observada uma configuração de colapso do talude em solo grampeado. O ângulo de rotação da face da escavação é um parâmetro importante no projeto. Adicionalmente verifica-se que uma pequena variação na geometria, condições de contorno, modelo constitutivo e parâmetros do solo e do grampo causam mudanças expressivas nos valores de deslocamento, tensões iniciais e esforços axiais nos grampos. Uma pequena variação da inclinação do talude pode acarretar reduções de até 70% nos deslocamentos finais. Os esforços axiais máximos, mobilizados em cada grampo durante o processo de escavação, são maiores nos taludes mais íngremes. / [en] Deformability and stability of slopes supported by soil nailing are relevant aspects in the utilization of this reinforcement system during excavation. The project concept involves choosing the installation angle, spacing, and resistance of the soil nails. The parameters, usually determined from Limit Equilibrium Theory, cannot predict the deformation of the reinforced mass or the redistribution of stresses on the nails throughout the excavation stages. This information was obtained through computer modeling using the FLAC Program, which defined the performance of soil nailing masses in residual soil. For shallow excavations (H < 5m), the ratio between length and excavation height must be a minimum of 0.7, the ratio between spacing and length up to a maximum of 0.5. For higher excavations, the ratio between spacing and length has to be reduced to 0.25. The rotation angle of the excavation s face is an important parameter. Additionally, small variations in the geometry, boundary conditions, constitutive model, and soil and nail parameters, can cause large changes in the deformations, initial tensions and axial stresses in the nails. Regarding the slope inclination, a small variation can cause reductions of up to 70% in the final deformations. The maximum axial stresses mobilized in each nail during the process of excavation are larger in steeper slopes.

No description available.

Remediation of contaminated groundwater remains a high-priority national goal in the United States. Water is essential to life, and new sources of water are needed for an expanding population. Groundwater remediation remains a significant technical challenge despite decades of research into this field. New approaches are needed to address the most severely-polluted aquifers, and cost-effective solutions are required to meet remediation objectives that protect human health and the environment. Source reduction combined with Monitored Natural Attenuation (MNA) is a remediation strategy whereby the source of contamination is aggressively treated or removed and the residual groundwater plume depletes due to natural processes in the subsurface. The USEPA requires long-term performance monitoring of groundwater at MNA sites over the remediation timeframe, which often takes decades to complete. Presently, computational tools are lacking to adequately integrate source remediation with economic models. Furthermore, no framework has been developed to highlight the tradeoff between the degree of remediation versus the level of benefit within a cost structure. Using the Natural Attenuation Software (NAS) package developed at Virginia Tech, a set of formulae have been developed for calculating the TOR for petroleum-contaminated aquifers (specifically tracking benzene and MTBE) through statistical techniques. With the knowledge of source area residual saturation, groundwater velocity, and contaminant plume source length, the time to remediate a site contaminated with either benzene or MTBE can be determined across a range of regulatory maximum contaminant levels. After developing formulae for TOR, an integrated and interactive decision tool for framing the decision analysis component of the remediation problem was developed. While MNA can be a stand-alone groundwater remediation technology, significant benefits may be realized by layering a more traditional source zone remedial technique with MNA. Excavation and soil vapor extraction when applied to the front end of a remedial action plan can decrease the amount of time to remediation and while generally more expensive than an MNA-only approach, may accrue long-term economic advantages that would otherwise be foregone. The value of these research components can be realized within the engineering and science communities, as well as through government, business and industry, and communities where groundwater contamination and remediation are of issue. Together, these tools constitute the Sâ ªEâ ªEâ ªPâ ªAGE paradigm, founded upon the concept of sound science for an environmental engineering, effectual economics, and public policy agenda. The TOR formulation simplifies the inputs necessary to determine the number of years that an MNA strategy will require before project closure and thus reduces the specialized skills and training required to perform a numerical analysis that for one set of conditions could require many hours of simulation time. The economic decision tool, that utilizes a life cycle model to evaluate a set of feasible alternatives, highlights the tradeoffs between time and economics can be realized over the lifetime of the remedial project. / Ph. D.