Hydrophobic impregnations often referred to as water repellent agents, today mainly consisting of alkylalkoxysilanes, are often used on concrete to prolong the service life of the structure. This is accomplished by protecting the reinforcement bars from chlorides or by changing the moisture content inside. When the concrete is treated with a water repellent agent the properties of the surface layer becomes hydrophobic and thereby water droplets are stopped from entering, still allowing water vapour to pass through. This change can reduce chloride ingress and stop heavy rain from penetrating through the surface layer. This thesis presents results concerning how the properties of concrete are affected by a hydrophobic impregnation. Moisture transport and fixation in the surface layer of the concrete are studied as well as the secondary effects of more practical use such as the effect on chloride ingress, water absorption and humidity level. It also presents results on how the penetration depth and concentration of the water repellent agent (i) depend on a number of parameters, and (ii) affect the outcome of the treatment. Water repellent treatments on a number of different concrete structures in Stockholm, ranging from tunnel to high-rice building, are evaluated as well. The three most important factors for the penetration of any water repellent agent into concrete are time, porosity and degree of saturation. A semi-empirical equation is derived that gives an idea on how much these factors affect the efficient penetration depth of the water repellent agent. The depth and concentration have a major effect on the performance of the treatment. The moisture diffusion coefficient for a water repellent treated concrete is close to constant and not nearly as dependent on the relative humidity (RH) as for untreated concrete. Unlike untreated concrete, where capillary suction plays an important role for the moisture transport at high RH, the vapour transport is the dominant transport mechanism even at high RH for water repellent treated concrete. The moisture fixation is affected by a water repellent treatment and the effect is clearest at high moisture levels. The main reason for this is that the capillary porosity is affected by the treatment to a relatively high degree while the gel porosity to a large extent remains unaffected. A hypothesis is presented which suggests that the RH inside the concrete at the time of the treatment affects not only the depth and concentration but also in which range of pore radii the water repellent agent is present and active. The durability of hydrophobic impregnations can be divided into surface effects and in depth effects. The first is sensitive to the environmental and mechanical loadings and normally disappears within a year while the later can be long lasting if a sufficient depth is reached. Hydrophobic impregnations are not the answer to all problems in concrete related to moisture, but if correctly used it can prolong the service life of the structure which will lead to savings of natural resources and thus both economical and environmental savings for the community. / Vattenavvisande impregneringsmedel, som i dagsläget till största del består av alkylalkoxysilaner, används ofta på betong för att förlänga livslängden på konstruktionen. Detta syfte uppnås genom att armeringen skyddas mot klorider eller att fukthalten inuti betongen sänks. När betongen impregneras ändras ytskiktets fuktmekaniska egenskaper från hydrofila till hydrofoba vilket gör att vattendroppar kan stoppas medan vattenånga tillåts passera. Dessa förändrade egenskaper kan medföra att kloridinträngningen minskar och att kraftiga regn inte tränger genom det impregnerade skiktet. Denna avhandling presenterar resultat om hur betongen påverkas av en vattenavvisande impregnering. Fukttransport och fuktfixering i betongens ytskikt har undersökts men även sekundära effekter som kloridinträngning, vattenabsorption och förändring i fuktinnehåll vilka alla är av större praktisk nytta. Avhandlingen presenterar också resultat om vilka faktorer som påverkar impregneringens inträngningsdjup och koncentration samt vilken betydelse dessa har för funktionen. För att utvärdera impregneringars effekt i olika miljöer har ett stort antal objekt i Stockholm undersökts, innefattande olika konstruktioner från en tunnel till höghus. Impregneringens inträngningsdjup och koncentration har en avgörande betydelse för dess funktion. De tre viktigaste faktorerna för alla impregneringsmedels inträngning i betong är tid, porositet och fuktnivå. En semiempirisk ekvation har tagits fram där det framgår hur dessa tre faktorer påverkar det slutliga inträngningsdjupet för impregneringen. Till skillnad från obehandlad betong är transportkoefficienten för en impregnerad betong nästan oberoende av den relativa fuktigheten (RF) i omgivningen. Vid höga RF, där största delen av fukttransporten i obehandlad betong sker på grund av kapillärkrafter, är ångtransporten fortfarande den dominerande transportmekanismen i impregnerad betong. Fuktfixeringen i betong påverkas av en impregnering och effekten är störst vid höga RF. Det är dock tydligt att en viss mängd fukt finns inuti den impregnerade betongen. Detta kan förklaras med att största delen av kapillärporerna påverkas av impregneringen medan gelporerna förblir obehandlade. Resultaten indikerar också att fuktnivån vid impregneringstillfället avgör vilken del av porsystemet som kan behandlas och inte bara koncentrationen och inträngningsdjupet. Långtidsegenskaperna hos impregneringen kan delas upp i yt- och djupeffekt. Effekten på ytan avtar normalt sett inom ett år på grund av damm och partiklar, UV-ljus, slitage mm. Djupeffekten påverkas däremot inte av dessa faktorer och kan finnas kvar i decennier. Vattenavvisande impregneringar är inte lösningen på alla fuktrelaterade problem i betong, men om de används på rätt sätt så kan det förlänga livslängden på många konstruktioner. Detta leder till ett bättre hushållande med naturresurser och därmed både ekonomiska och miljömässiga besparingar för samhället. / QC20100715

Monitoring is an important tool for gaining insight into an organisation’s environmental performance and for learning about the environmental condition and the effectiveness of environmental management measures. Development of environmental monitoring has generally relied on research aiming at improving monitoring methodology, technique or practice within a particular management tool. Little empirical research has taken into account the organisation’s reality where several management tools are used in parallel. This thesis analyses the practice of environmental monitoring in public authorities with the aim of identifying barriers and possibilities for environmental monitoring as an instrument for improving environmental performance, using the Swedish Rail Administration as a case organisation. The study identified two different types of environmental monitoring: environmental performance measurement (EPM) and activity monitoring, both important for achieving environmental improvements. EPM involves gathering and evaluating data to determine whether the organisation is meeting the criteria for environmental performance set by the management of the organisation. EPM can further be used for judging the success and failure of environmental objectives and strategies. Activity monitoring provides each project of the organisation with information to minimise the negative effects on the natural environment or human health and to ensure that the organisation’s operations conform with regulations. Problems encountered comprised a variety of little co-ordinated monitoring activities, poor utilization of the monitoring results as well as limited internal feedback on monitoring results. Some of the problems identified seem to be an effect of the management transition from a traditional ‘command and control’ system to a self-administered organisation managed by economic incentives and voluntary management systems. This thesis suggests several improvements to make monitoring more efficient. Primarily, the monitoring systems must have a clear structure and be adapted to its specific function. The EPE system would benefit from being integrated with the organisation’s central performance measurement, presenting progress towards organisational strategic objectives as well as operational objectives. The system for activity monitoring must not only focus on inputs and outputs to the system but must also include the environmental condition of the system. In order to improve communication and learning, monitoring data within both EPE and activity monitoring must be better transmitted and utilised within the structure of the permanent organisation. Experience from all monitoring activities that now is scattered and inaccessible to the individuals of the organisation could beneficially be stored within a well-structured organisational ‘memory‘. Such a system would facilitate an iterative management process where the monitoring results and the knowledge gained are used for making future plans and projects more adaptive, thereby improving the environmental performance of the organisation. / QC 20100729

This thesis deals with appropriate legislation concerning common utilities, such as infra-structural facilities and natural resources, which can regulate construction, maintenance, use and financing. Appropriate legislation can be viewed in the two main perspectives, effi-ciency and equity, and the thesis concerns primarily on efficiency. The purpose is to develop an analytical model, which can be used to facilitate structured assessments concerning the management of common utilities. The problem field concerned is of great complexity, and the model is therefore to be viewed as a support for decision-making, not as an instrument capable of delivering ready-made solutions. To structure the problem area it’s divided into three parts, the social, physical and institu-tional environments. The social environment is concerned with factors, such as group size and amount of trust and social capital, which can influence the feasibility of co-operation. The analysis leads to a classification of three social groups: Close-knit, loosely-knit and anonymous. The physical environment is concerned with characteristics of utilities, which influences need for, and feasibility of, co-operation. Rivalry of use and excludability are identified as important factors in this aspect. By combining them six types of goods can be identified: Private goods, club goods, common pool resources, toll goods, public goods and local pub-lic goods. The institutional environment is concerned with rules, which can control the use of com-mon utilities. Two concepts are identified as pivotal: property rights regimes and decision-making procedures. There are four property rights regimes: Individual rights, group rights, public rights (limited and unlimited) and no rights. Furthermore there are three decision-making procedures: Market regulation, group decision-making and public decision-making. A fourth possibility is no decision making-forum. By linking together social groups and types of goods a matrix is obtained in which each square represents a unique combination of social and physical environment. In this analyti-cal framework it is analysed which combinations of property rights regimes and decision-making procedures that are best suited to each square. In the end, Swedish legislation on roads, water and sewerage installations and aesthetic design of buildings is analysed with aid of the analytical model. / QC 20100825

This doctoral thesis deals primarily with condition assessment of road equipment. The road equipment concept is defined by five main groups, road lighting, fences and barriers, vertical signs, horizontal signs and traffic signals, respectively. Of these groups, road markings, street lighting and barriers of three-lane roads have been studied more in detail. A state-of-the-art, comprising information obtained by comprehensive literature studies on condition assessment of road equipment is presented. Comparably few fundamental studies were found, which, to some degree, can be explained by the lack of suitable physical measurement methods. However, in the case of road marking retroreflectivity, mobile instruments have been developed, and research published in this area is relatively comprehensive. Furthermore, although not based on mobile measurements, several studies on assessments on performance of road sign sheeting have been published. The experimental part of the thesis is divided into four studies, of which two are dealing with mobile measurement of wet road markings and street lighting, respectively. One of the studies concerns condition assessment of road marking performance accomplished in the Nordic countries. Finally, one study comprises risk analysis related to crashes into the barriers on three-lane roads. At road equipment condition assessment, mobile measurement methods are preferable compared to stationary methods. However, many relevant parameters are tricky to measure at speed. One example in this connection is characterization of performance of wet road markings, which has to be based on one or more parameters obtained by measurements on dry surfaces. Results presented in this thesis indicate that retroreflectivity and skid resistance of wet road markings can be predicted based on retroreflectivity and macro-texture of dry road marking. For traffic safety, street lighting is important. The performance of this type of road equipment is in most cases described in terms of luminance of the illuminated road surface. However, luminance measurements are tricky and time-consuming and not useful for condition assessment. On the contrary, measurement of illuminance is easy to carry out and can be performed at speed. One part of the thesis describes how road surface luminance in street lighting can be estimated based on illuminance and reflection properties of the road surface. With the purpose of comparing road marking performance in the Nordic countries, condition assessment using mobile measurement equipment was accomplished in 2002 and 2003. In each of the five Nordic countries, a number of roads were chosen for measuring retroreflectivity. The study showed that the retroreflectivity of edge, centre and lane lines was poor in some countries, but, at least regarding edge lines, this shortcoming could be compensated by use of wide, continuous lines. In other words, the visibility of longitudinal road markings was approximately equal in the different countries. The purpose of the risk analysis performed on three-lane road barriers was to estimate the influence of the time-period between initial crash and repair on the risk of a secondary accident. The result showed that, especially in winter-time, time-reduction means reduced risk of secondary accidents. / QC 20100824

The focus of this study is on potential damages to buildings resulting from expansive soils in Tanzania, particularly clay soils in Kibaha. For the fact that most of the affected structures are founded on expansive soils, a clear understanding of the behaviour of soils and their interaction with structures has been of interest to the study in order to evaluate properly the source of the problem.The geotechnical behaviour of expansive clay soils is investigated by looking into the geomorphologic, geological and climatic conditions and mineralogical composition of the soils in the study area.Two sites, representative of known problem-areas in Kibaha were selected for geotechnical tests. Geotechnical site investigation consisted of open trial pits, profile description and the collection of both disturbed and undisturbed samples. To extend and amplify the findings, supplementary samples were collected from the environs of the two sites.The collected samples were submitted to soil laboratories at KTH, ARU, SEAMIC and DIT for mineralogical composition tests, natural water content, density, Atterberg limits and swell tests. The results of this investigation indicate that soils in Kibaha contains clay (31%), have high liquid limit (59%) and plastic limit (37%) which indicate high potential swell.Since swell pressure, free swell and swell percent are key properties of expansive soils, the swell properties were measured by free swell tests and one-dimensional oedometer swell tests. The free swell ranged from 100% to 150% and the swell pressure was in the region of 45 kPa. The coefficient of linear extensibility (COLE) was determined for characterizing expansive clays. For all tested samples, COLE ranged from 0.09 to 0.14 indicating that soils fall in the region of high to very high expansion potential rating. The properties of expansive soils were confirmed by the x-ray diffraction test which showed the presence of smectite in the soil. Furthermore, total suction measurement technique using filter paper method indicated that the soils have high suction values, signifying that they have a tendency to swell upon wetting depending on plasticity of particular soil.The depth of the active zone was measured as a function of moisture variations in the profiles during two extreme weather conditions. The active zone depth was found to be between 1.0 and 2.0 m deep. Procedures to assess models to predict swell in the case study were outlined together with their validity.Vertical and horizontal spatial variability in selected soil properties was defined using geostatistical techniques through the fitting of variogram. The indicator semivariograms of both clay contents and free swell gave a range of 20 m horizontally and 1.0 m vertically, with the horizontal variograms exhibiting greater ranges than the dipping variograms.Physical conditions of the surveyed properties in the area confirmed that building damages are associated with poor building materials triggered by expansive soils. In support of the obtained data, the actual behaviour of the foundations was supplemented with prototypes of strip foundations whose performances were monitored over a period of four months. Finally, suggested are the ways forward to solve the problem of foundation on expansive soil / QC 20100824

The number of political goals set, and decisions taken, in respect of environmental matters at both the international and the Swedish national, regional and municipal levels is constantly increasing. The overall goal in the Swedish context is to become a sustainable society. The municipalities are expected to hold a key role in this transition, specifically through their spatial planning and their responsibilities for environmental and health issues. The aim of this thesis is to increase our empirical understanding of the day-to-day planning practice and environmental work. One important assumption here is that changing conditions, for example in relation to changes in legislation or bureaucratic re-organisations, do not always have an impact on every-day professional practice. In focus are therefore the day-to-day work and the professional perspectives as the professionals themselves articulate them. Interaction between occupational groups, the role of occupational culture and perspective and the articulation of knowledge is highlighted. The methods used for empirical data gathering are qualitative interviews and focus group sessions. The theories applied concern mainly professions, organisational culture and planning theory. It is apparent in the studies that the professional groups often have simplified, stereotypical images of one another, even though each group without exception has respect for the other professional groups. However, there are difficulties in the translation between officials of knowledge and evaluation of facts of the different groups. There is often low understanding of the fact that other groups act based on their professional knowledge and experience. The thesis show that national regulations and legislation alone cannot guarantee that environmental management will be prioritised at the local level – a gap between national policy and local practice here is clearly demonstrated. It should however be noted that the level of environmental competence in the local public administration is adequate and increasing. / QC 20100617

Travel demand forecasting is essential for many decisions, such as infrastructure investments and policy measures. Traditionally travel demand modelling has considered trip frequency, mode, destination and route choice. This thesis considers two other choice dimensions, hypothesised to have implications for travel demand forecasting. The first part investigates how the increased possibilities to overcome space that ICT (information and communication technology) provides, can be integrated in travel demand forecasting models. We find that possibilities of modelling substitution effects are limited, irrespective of data source and modelling approach. Telecommuting explains, however, a very small part of variation in work trip frequency. It is therefore not urgent to include effects from telecommuting in travel demand forecasting. The results indicate that telecommuting is a privilege for certain groups of employees, and we therefore expect that negative attitudes from management, job suitability and lack of equipment are important obstacles. We find also that company benefits can be obtained from telecommuting. No evidences that telecommuting gives rise to urban sprawl is, however, found. Hence, there is ground for promoting telecommuting from a societal, individual and company perspective. The second part develops a departure time choice model in a mixed logit framework. This model explains how travellers trade-off travel time, travel time variability, monetary and scheduling costs, when choosing departure time. We explicitly account for correlation in unobserved heterogeneity over repeated SP choices, which was fundamental for accurate estimation of the substitution pattern. Temporal constraints at destination are found to mainly restrict late arrival. Constraints at origin mainly restrict early departure. Sensitivity to travel time uncertainty depends on trip type and intended arrival time. Given appropriate input data and a calibrated dynamic assignment model, the model can be applied to forecast peak-spreading effects in congested networks. Combined stated preference (SP) and revealed preference (RP) data is used, which has provided an opportunity to compare observed and stated behaviour. Such analysis has previously not been carried out and indicates that there are systematic differences in RP and SP data. / QC 20100825

This report describes from start to finish how a new design and extension of the Gengras student union center at the University of Hartford was done. The report will be using a project that was made by me and explains how the whole project was planned by contacting S/L/A/M Collaborative Inc. all the way until the final outcome was presented for a final jury. It explains the whole chain process one should use when designing a building such as different analysis, precedent studies, concept development and how to approach the design project. New technologies, the feature of access and flexibility are the main influence words in the design that is being used as an example. These words can be found and felt throughout the whole building both in the façade drawings and in the plan solutions. The result was a building that is more organic and flexible in its forms and spaces than current architecture is today. A sort of architecture that comes more and more in which will shape the society in the future. My building also keeps a sense of the old façade to create a transition between the new and the old. The old and the new cooperation prove that the innovative design does not destroy the old building; it only enhances it and prepares it for the future.

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Det här är resultatet av ett examensarbete utfört vid Mälardalens högskola i samarbete med Iggesund Paperboard AB. Syftet med examensarbetet var att se om det är viktigt för ett företag att ha tillgången till en gästgård men även till hur de är utformade för att fungera för den typen av verksamhet. En gästgård kan ses vara viktig för ett företags representation. Gården används främst som ett tillvägagångssätt för att sälja företagets varor och tjänster men ger också en god möjlighet till att knyta starkare band mellan kunder såväl som mellan företagets egna arbetstagare. Anledningen till att det här examensarbetet utfördes var för att företaget såg det som ett behov att se över om dessa gästgårdar var värda att bevara och utveckla i framtiden. En utredning gjordes därför genom besök och jämförelse av tre olika gästgårdars verksamhet och utformning för att se hur viktig en sådan gård kan anses vara för ett företag. Som ett resultat av denna utredning har därefter ett förslag till en utformning av en bättre fungerande arbetsmiljö vid Hedvigsfors Herrgård tagits fram. Förslaget var ett önskemål från Iggesund Paperboard AB då denna gästgård fått en utökad verksamhet vilket lett till dåligt fungerande personalutrymmen. / This is the result of my examination report for Malardalens University in cooperation whit Iggesund Paperboard AB. The purpose with this work was to see how important a guesthouse is for a company but also how they are designed to work for this type of activity. A guesthouse can be seen to be important for a company´s representation. The house can be used as a technique to sale the companies goods and services but it is also a god method to tie strong band with the customer as well as between the company’s own employees. The reason that the study was made was that the company saw it as a need to look over if this type of guesthouse is important to keep and expand in the future. An investigation was their forth made through visits and comparison to three different guesthouses activity and design to see how important this type of house was seen to be for a company. As a result a proposal of a design for better work environment was made for Hedvigsfors farm. This proposal was a wish from Iggesund Paperboard AB after that the increased activities at this guesthouse have led to a bad work environment.