Successive Alkalinity-Producing Systems (SAPS) have proven to be a viable alternative to chemical treatment for renovating acidic mine drainage (AMD). The lack of water quality based design guidelines, however, is believed to be a cause of the variability of SAPS performance in the field. This study monitored eight SAPS systems for the purpose of determining the effect of influent water quality and system design on system performance. Monthly water quality data were obtained for each system over periods ranging from 3 to 5 years. All systems demonstrated an ability to generate alkalinity and/or neutralize acidity. These systems revealed significant correlations between net alkalinity production and log residence time (r = 0.7414), influent total iron (r = 0.7357), and influent non-manganese acidity (r = 0.6919). From these relationships, a calibrated model was developed for predicting SAPS net alkalinity generation. As a compliment to the field study, a series of laboratory-scale SAPS columns were studied for a period of 12 months to examine the effect of residence time on system performance and to monitor the internal changes in water quality. The columns were operated at residence times of 17, 30, 60 hours with three replicates each and were subject to ambient temperature fluctuations. Data revealed that systems with residence times below 25 hours in the organic layer were unable to adequately reduce dissolved oxygen concentrations in the organic layer to prevent limestone armoring. The results of this study suggest water quality based guidelines for designing SAPS systems. / Master of Science

Foundations of river bridges need to be protected with respect to excessive scouring. Degree of protection depends on the severity of scouring action around bridge piers and abutments. A case study is carried out to design appropriate protective measures for sequential viaducts located on Ankara-Pozant highway in Turkey. A number of analyses are conducted to obtain water surface profiles throughout the study reach. Local scour depths at piers and abutments of the viaducts are then obtained. The design process for countermeasures is performed concerning hydraulic, hydrologic, constructional, and economical requirements. To this end, riprap, partially grouted riprap, and articulated concrete blocks are studied in these view points. A criterion based on a selection index, which is defined by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program in the USA, is applied in this study. Implementation of partially grouted ripraps at infrastructural elements is found to be an appropriate solution.

The objective of this thesis was to develop guidance for an anchored geotextile Rapidly Deployable Armoring System for the landward side of earthen levees to mitigate the effects of storm surge and overtopping waves. A case study of the Backwater Levee protection placed during the 2011 Mississippi River flood by the US Army Corps of Engineers was performed to prove construction feasibility. Full scale anchor testing was performed for 0.3 and 0.6 m rod shaped anchors to determine their load deflection behavior. Anchor test data and shear stress profiles based on flume testing presented in literature were used in conjunction with surface to surface contact interactions to develop a single-layer elastic membrane finite element model (SLEMM) of an RDAS to provide design guidance. The SLEMM appears to perform the finite element formulations correctly, but does not produce physically meaningful results. Further improvements to the model are needed for useable design.

No / In evaluating the resistance of sediment particles to entrainment by the action of the flow in a river, the grain geometry is usually characterized using representative sizes. This approach has been dictated, initially by lack of physical insight, but more recently by the lack of analytical tools able to describe the 3-D nature of surface grain organization on water-worked sediment beds. Laboratory experiments are presented where mixed grain size beds were mobilized under a range of hydraulic and sediment input conditions. Detailed bed topography was measured at various stages. Statistical tools have been adopted which describe the degree of surface organization on water-worked sediment bed surfaces. The degree of particle organization and the bed stability can be evaluated in relative terms using the properties of the probability density distribution of the bed surface elevations and in absolute terms using a properly defined 2-D structure function. The methods described can be applied directly to natural water-worked surfaces given the availability of appropriate bed surface elevation data sets.