M.Sc. / The Mining of sand in South Africa is rapidly growing to sustain an increasing demand of sand for building purposes. Although mining of sand is regulated by environmental legislation, such as the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998, previous poor mining practices have left areas of land degraded and vulnerable to erosion. These areas need to be rehabilitated by restoring the vegetation and habitats to a natural state. This study was conducted in the Seringveld Conservancy, where the mining of sand has left the landscape with a degraded and unsightly appearance, and where little rehabilitation of the original vegetation has taken place. The aim of the study was to develop rehabilitation techniques for the degraded mined soils and to develop an overall strategy of revegetation by regenerating key plant species. Techniques for regenerating indigenous tree species cover, using modified mined sludge if topsoil is not available, were used to develop a practical and cost effective strategy to be used in revegetation. A comparative trial was used to cultivate indigenous tree species in different soil mixtures. Monitoring was done weekly to determine the growth performance and to ascertain which plant species would be most suitable and easy to cultivate. The study is important as it provides new information on the rehabilitation and revegetation of sand mined areas in the Seringveld Conservancy. This study will determine if alternatives could be used to replace topsoil on mined areas where none is available. The study is needed to determine whether revegetation of the mined areas would be possible using indigenous plant species that are often difficult to grow. The overall results indicate that replacing topsoil was successful for various modified soil mixtures that could sustain the growth of indigenous vegetation on the sand mines. Different indigenous tree species require different modified soil mixtures for successful propagation. A revegetation strategy was developed to complement and enable the rehabilitation of the mined in the Seringveld Conservancy. The revegetation initiative will benefit the restructuring of the degraded mined areas in the Seringveld Conservancy and will provide a benchmark for revegetation efforts in future in similar sand mining areas.

We investigate evolution of mountain channel morphology and riverbed surface roughness by conducting laboratory experiments. The experimental flume is 4m long by 0.1m wide with a working length of 2.5m. We control initial sediment size distribution, flume slope, water discharge, and sediment feed rate. Measurements include topographic profiles, flow depth, surficial grain-size distribution, sediment transport rate, and sediment size distribution. Experiments begin with a gravel bed of a broad sediment size distribution, at two initial flume slopes: 8.2% and 12.4%. Discharge is held constant until transport rates and topographic changes indicate the system is at near steady state. Coarse sand is then fed into the channel at 1,000 g/min as a means to perturb the system. Sediment feed is held constant until the perturbed bed reach steady-state conditions. The feed is subsequently ceased and measurements continue until sediment transport rates and topography stabilize. These laboratory experiments provide first-hand observations of channel systems evolving after perturbations. Transport rates decay exponentially following perturbations and remain very low when the channel bed is stabilized. The introduction of coarse sand acts to smooth the channel bed by filling in topographic lows in the 8.2% sloped channel. At a 12.4% slope, increased mobility of sand allows steady state conditions to be met with little smoothing of the bed. The sand also increases the mobility of coarser sediment that was previously stable, likely due to local surface smoothing at grain scale. The increased fraction of surface sand cover maintains increased scouring and mobilization of coarser grains. These post-perturbation mechanisms are interpreted to be responsible for topographic adjustments as the system readjusts towards new steady-state conditions. Surface sorting and transporting distributions reflect high sand fractions well after perturbations have ceased. This suggests that brief pulses of fine sediment can increase coarse sediment mobility for prolonged periods. / text

The mixed sand and gravel barrier beaches located on the South Island's East Coast are formed predominantly of Greywacke, eroded from the mountains, and transported via the major river systems. These barriers act as the interface between the South Pacific Ocean and the surrounding hinterland. In times of high energy coastal events, breaching is common. This thesis examines the form and function of the Waihao-Wainono barrier, a section of the coastline situated north of the Waitaki River. Breaches along this part of the barrier are frequent and several have rendered the surrounding farmland unusable for several years due to the effects of saltwater inundation. There is some concern among the local community as to exactly why the barrier breaches at certain locations and not others, making land planning and management a difficult task for farmers. Several of the local landowners believe that since the construction of the Waitaki Dam in 1935, a significant decrease in sediment size along the barrier has occurred. It is also thought that the barrier form has experienced substantial change. Through the use of physical techniques used in the field of coastal science, 17 sites along the Waihao-Wainono barrier were studied. Excavations were carried out, surface and substrate profiles recorded and sediment samples collected from the surface. sub-surface and substrate of the barrier. Analysis of the barrier form and barrier volume concluded that the past breach sites consisted of steeper lower foreshore slopes than the non-breach sites, and at two sites, the substrate was not reached. Breach areas display the greatest barrier volume of all the study sites, which is contrary to belief. In relation to the surface sediments, the majority of barrier profiles displayed the distinct mean grain size cross shore zonation, characteristic of mixed sand and gravel beaches. The best and most consistent surface sorting was also identified as being a characteristic of the breach sites. The sediment size is not shown to have drastically reduced over the thirty year sampling period as was perceived by the local community. Within the sub-surface of the barrier, the sediments displayed chaotic sizes and generally poorly sorted material. Several of the breach sites contained a distinct change in sediment size between the coarser surface layer and the finer layer located immediately below. This layering of coarse and fine sized sediments leads to differences in permeability within the barrier, which is thought to be a major factor in why these sites have breached. Resulting from these findings, a group of characteristics of breach sites was formed and several predictions made as to where the barrier may breach in the near future.

No description available.

The mixed sand and gravel barrier beaches located on the South Island's East Coast are formed predominantly of Greywacke, eroded from the mountains, and transported via the major river systems. These barriers act as the interface between the South Pacific Ocean and the surrounding hinterland. In times of high energy coastal events, breaching is common. This thesis examines the form and function of the Waihao-Wainono barrier, a section of the coastline situated north of the Waitaki River. Breaches along this part of the barrier are frequent and several have rendered the surrounding farmland unusable for several years due to the effects of saltwater inundation. There is some concern among the local community as to exactly why the barrier breaches at certain locations and not others, making land planning and management a difficult task for farmers. Several of the local landowners believe that since the construction of the Waitaki Dam in 1935, a significant decrease in sediment size along the barrier has occurred. It is also thought that the barrier form has experienced substantial change. Through the use of physical techniques used in the field of coastal science, 17 sites along the Waihao-Wainono barrier were studied. Excavations were carried out, surface and substrate profiles recorded and sediment samples collected from the surface. sub-surface and substrate of the barrier. Analysis of the barrier form and barrier volume concluded that the past breach sites consisted of steeper lower foreshore slopes than the non-breach sites, and at two sites, the substrate was not reached. Breach areas display the greatest barrier volume of all the study sites, which is contrary to belief. In relation to the surface sediments, the majority of barrier profiles displayed the distinct mean grain size cross shore zonation, characteristic of mixed sand and gravel beaches. The best and most consistent surface sorting was also identified as being a characteristic of the breach sites. The sediment size is not shown to have drastically reduced over the thirty year sampling period as was perceived by the local community. Within the sub-surface of the barrier, the sediments displayed chaotic sizes and generally poorly sorted material. Several of the breach sites contained a distinct change in sediment size between the coarser surface layer and the finer layer located immediately below. This layering of coarse and fine sized sediments leads to differences in permeability within the barrier, which is thought to be a major factor in why these sites have breached. Resulting from these findings, a group of characteristics of breach sites was formed and several predictions made as to where the barrier may breach in the near future.

Thesis (Professional Degree)--University of Missouri, School of Mines and Metallurgy, 1935. / The entire thesis text is included in file. Typescript. Title from title screen of thesis/dissertation PDF file (viewed June 9, 2010) Includes bibliographical references (p. 36) and index (p. 37).

Master of Science / Civil Engineering / Sunanda Dissanayake / The percentage of gravel roads in rural areas in Kansas is higher than most states. A wide variation of traffic volumes across different regions and variations of local conditions and scenarios present a great challenge for local agencies to determine suitable roadway surface types for local rural roads, especially considering constraints on transportation budgets. The primary objective of this research was developing specific guidelines to identify the most suitable roadway surface for a particular roadway section with given conditions. Surveys were carried out to determine the importance of factors affecting the selection of a roadway surface type, where were later used for guideline development. General guidelines were developed using the multi-criteria assessment method in order to fulfill the main objective. The main important factors in decision-making were identified as agency cost, safety, Vehicle Operating Cost (VOC), traffic volume, purpose of road usage, and public preference. Multi-criteria assessment method involves calculating the weights for the factors important in decision-making, the respective scaled values for each factor for paved surface and gravel surface, and eventually calculating the final score for paved and gravel surface type. Equations were formulated to carry out life cycle cost (LCC) analysis along with the present worth evaluation. The formulas provided flexibility to calculate agency cost by considering local variation. VOC was calculated for paved and gravel roads considering variations in speed of different classes of vehicles, gradient and horizontal curve of the road, and the conversion factor for cost on paved surface versus gravel surface. Safety analysis was carried out for local rural roads in Kansas for five years, from 2010 to 2014, using the Kansas Department of Transportation’s KCARS database. After calculating the EPDO crash rates on paved and gravel roads in Kansas, results showed that paved surfaces were in general safer than gravel surfaces, which was taken into consideration while calculating the scaled values for safety. The final score was calculated by multiplying the weights of each factor and their respective scaled values. Roadway surface type with higher score is the preferred alternative for a road section under consideration. A computer-based program was created as a user interface, using Visual Studio, to carry out all complex calculations for determining LCC and VOC considering local variations. The program also helped determine final total scores for paved and gravel roads by considering scaled values of all-important factors considered for conversion. Another approach using cost versus traffic volume showed that the break-even point for traffic volume decreased with an increased percentage of trucks and increased vehicle speeds. Thus, the developed guideline helps determine the best roadway surface type for any set of local conditions.

Submitted by Caroline Falcao (caroline.rfalcao@ufpe.br) on 2017-06-06T17:10:34Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 811 bytes, checksum: e39d27027a6cc9cb039ad269a5db8e34 (MD5) 2012-Dissertacao-GustavoAlexandreSilva.pdf: 10928701 bytes, checksum: 44c2b4f22827eed6eae53c17ea822ea3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-06T17:10:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 811 bytes, checksum: e39d27027a6cc9cb039ad269a5db8e34 (MD5) 2012-Dissertacao-GustavoAlexandreSilva.pdf: 10928701 bytes, checksum: 44c2b4f22827eed6eae53c17ea822ea3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / O setor de agregados para a construção civil possui a parcela de insumos minerais mais consumidos e, consequentemente, os mais significativos em termos de quantidades produzidas no mundo. Apesar de serem abundantes e apresentarem baixo valor unitário, seu consumo é um importante indicador do perfil sócio-econômico de desenvolvimento de um país, estado ou região metropolitana. Este trabalho foi concebido no intuito de suprir a carência de informações e dados sobre o setor de agregados para construção civil na Região Metropolitana de Natal-RN (RMN), conforme sua geologia e os recursos minerais, modo de ocorrência, especificações dos materiais e dados econômicos. Formada por dez municípios, a RMN se apresenta como uma das regiões de maior dinamismo econômico-social do Estado. Em relação a sua urbanização, a diferença é visivel, uma vez que a população rural supera a população urbana em alguns municípios. Sua área abrange uma superfície de 2.807,54 km², isto corresponde a 5,3% do território estadual. Sua população, de acordo com o Censo Demográfico de 2010, atingiu 1.351.004 habitantes. Isso representa 42,6% da população do Rio Grande do Norte (3.168.133 habitantes), compreendendo uma taxa de crescimento no período 2000 – 2010 de 1,88% ao ano. O Produto Interno Bruto (PIB) da RMN teve um aumento consistente de 2003-2008. No entanto, sua constribuição para o PIB do Estado, cai em média 0,63% ao ano devido processo de interiorização do desenvolvimento que o Rio Grande do Norte vem passando nos últimos anos. Na abordagem da geologia optou-se pela discussão dos registros geológicos em termos de unidades pré-quaternárias (anteriores a 2 milhões de anos) e unidades quaternárias. As rochas britadas e os sedimentos como areias e cascalhos são os materiais naturais utilizados como agregados na construção civil. Enquanto os sedimentos são usados, geralmente, como encontrados na natureza, as rochas podem passar por processos de britagem e moagem para atingir as especificações granulométricas. Na data da consulta havia registrados no DNPM destinados a produção de areia e brita 57 processos e dentre os 10 municípios da RMN os que apresentaram maiores quantidades de processos minerários foram: São Gonçalo do Amarante (28%), Ceará - Mirim (19%) e Monte Alegre (19%). O método de lavra de areia comumente utilizado na RMN é o de dragagem em leito de rio ou cava submersa, já que cerca de 85% da produção são proveninetes de áreas localizadas nos leitos dos rios. Os 15% restantes vêm dos terraços denominados de depósitos eólicos, riachos de menor porte. No caso da explotação de Brita o método de lavra é a céu aberto. O consumo de brita da Grande Natal é suprido pela produção de unidades pertencentes a três grupos empresariais. A produção de brita para a Grande Natal, foi estimada em 1.570.140 m3 /ano ou 2.590.731 t/ano, enquanto que a ociosidade média das instalações de beneficiamento das unidades produtoras está próxima de 50%. Em 2011 a produção anual de areia para construção civil foi de 1.967.159 m³ ou 2.950.738 t. Os Preços médios de brita, pesquisados, variaram desde R$ 30,00/t (ROM) até R$ 58,00/t (nas casas de materiais de construção), já os de areia foi de R$ 7,00 /t (ROM) até R$ 20,00/t (no varejo). As reservas estimadas (medidas e indicadas) de agregados, considerando a produção consumida atualmente na RMN, são suficientes para atender a demanda projetada para os proximos 15 anos isto sem levar em conta as reservas inferidas que podem aumentar substancialmente este tempo. / The most widely used inputs in the construction aggregates sector in the world are the mineral. Despite their abundance and low unit value, their use is an important indicator of the socioeconomic profile of a country, state or metropolitan region. This paper aimed to provide information and data, which are scarce, on the construction aggregates segment in the Metropolitan Region of Natal – RN (RMN), considering its geology, mineral resources, mode of occurrence, material specifications and economic data. Formed by ten cities, the RMN is the State region with the greatest economic and social dynamics. Regarding its urbanization, the rural population exceeds the urban population in some cities. The RMN covers an area of 2.807,54 km², accounting for 5.3% of the state territory. According to Brazilian Census 2010, its population reached 1,351,004 inhabitants, which corresponds to 42.6% of the population of Rio Grande do Norte (3,168,133 inhabitants), and a growth rate in the 2000 – 2010 period of 1.88% per year. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the RMN has increased consistently from 2003-2008. However, its contribution to the state GDP falls 0.63% on average per year due to the recent process of internal development in Rio Grande do Norte. Concerning the geological approach, we decided to focus on the pre-quaternary (< 2 million years ago) and quaternary geologic periods. The crushed rocks and sediments such as sand and gravel are natural materials used as aggregates in construction. As the sediments are used generally in their natural condition, the rocks may undergo crushing and grinding process to achieve the required specifications. On the date of the consultation there were 57 processes recorded at the DNPM for the production of sand and gravel. São Gonçalo do Amarante (28%), Ceará - Mirim (19%) and Monte Alegre (19%) were the RMN cities with the highest number of mineral processing activities. The sand mining method commonly used in the RMN concerns river bed dredging or digging trial pits, since 85% of the production comes from fields located in riverbeds. The remaining 15% come from terraces known as aeolian deposits, small streams. Regarding the exploitation of gravel, the open pit mining method is used. The consumption of gravel in the Grande Natal region is supplied by production units belonging to three business groups. The production of gravel in the Grande Natal region was estimated in 1,570,140 m3 /year or 2,590,731 t/year, while the average idleness of the processing facilities of the production units close to 50%. In 2011 the annual building and construction sand was 1,967,159 m³ or 2,950,738 t. The average prices of gravel found ranged from R$ 30,00/t (ROM) to R$ 58,00/t (in construction material shops). The average prices of sand, in turn, ranged from R$ 7,00 /t (ROM) to R$ 20,00/t (in retail stores). Given the current production rates of aggregates in the RMN, the estimated reserves (measured and indicated) are sufficient to meet the demand forecast for the next 15 years, without taking into consideration the inferred reserves that can substantially increase this period.

M.Tech. (Mechanical Engineering) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Gravel beaches and barriers occur on many high-latitude, wave-dominated coasts across the world. Due to their natural ability to dissipate large amounts of wave energy, gravel coasts are widely regarded as an effective and sustainable form of coastal defence. However, during extreme events waves may overtop, overwash, and even lower, the crest of the gravel beach, flooding the hinterland. In the evaluation of the safety of gravel coasts against flooding, coastal managers currently rely on models that have been shown in previous studies to be inaccurate. The research in this thesis attempts to improve the current predictive capacity of gravel beach storm response by developing a new process-based model to simulate storm impacts on gravel coasts. The numerical model developed in this thesis, called XBeach-G, is a morphodynamic, depth-averaged, cross-shore profile model, based on the XBeach model for sandy coasts (Roelvink et al., 2009). The model simulates the morphological response of gravel beaches and barriers to storms by solving: (1) intra-wave flow and surface elevation variations using a non-hydrostatic extension of the non-linear shallow water equations; (2) groundwater processes, including infiltration and exfiltration, using a Darcy-Forchheimer-type model; and (3) bed load transport of gravel using a modification of the Van Rijn (2007a) bed load transport equation to include flow acceleration effects, which are shown to be significant on coarse-grained beaches. The model is extensively validated for hydrodynamics, groundwater dynamics and morphodynamics using detailed data collected in physical model experiments, as well as data collected in the field on four natural gravel beaches in the UK and one in France. Validation results show that the model has high quantitative skill in simulating observed hydrodynamics on gravel beaches across a wide range of forcing conditions, in particular with regard to wave transformation, wave run-up and wave overtopping. Spatial and temporal variations in groundwater head are shown to be well represented in the model through comparison to data recorded in a physical model experiment. Validation of the morphodynamic component of XBeach-G shows that the model has high model skill (median BSS 0.75) in simulating storm impacts on five gravel beaches during ten storm events, with observed morphodynamic response ranging from berm-building to barrier rollover. The model is used to investigate hydrodynamic processes on gravel beaches during storms, where it is found that incident-band variance is elemental in the generation of wave run-up on gravel beaches. Furthermore, simulations of wave run-up during high-energy wave events show a distinct disparity between run-up predicted by empirical relations based on the Iribarren parameter and wave steepness, and run-up predicted by XBeach-G, where predictions by the empirical relations substantially underestimate observed wave run-up. Groundwater processes are shown, by means of sensitivity simulations, to strongly affect the morphodynamic response of gravel beaches and barriers to storms. The research in this thesis supports the hypothesis that infiltration in the swash is a key driver for the berm-building response of gravel beaches and helps to reduce erosion of the upper beach during storms. Through model simulations on a schematic gravel barrier it is shown that groundwater processes effectively increases the capacity of gravel barriers to withstand storms with 1-3 m higher surge levels than if groundwater processes did not occur. Reducing the width of a barrier leads to a lowering of this capacity, thereby reducing the resilience of the barrier to extreme storm events. Despite its strong influence on gravel beach morphodynamics, it is found that infiltration plays a relatively small role on wave run-up levels on most natural gravel beaches (median R 2% run-up level reduction of 8%). Application of the model in validation simulations and sensitivity simulations in this thesis, as well as in storm hindcast simulations discussed by McCall et al. (2013) shows the value of using the process-based XBeach-G model in coastal flooding analysis over the use of empirical tools. While no model can be considered entirely accurate, application of XBeach-G in all hindcast overwash simulations has lead to reasonable estimates of overtopping discharge and of morphological change, which is a significant improvement over the frequently substantial errors of the empirical tool designed for this purpose.