Seismic resistance of many buildings in Turkey is insufficient. Strengthening using R/C infills requires huge construction work. Feasible, easy strengthening techniques are being studied in Structural Mechanics Laboratory of METU. In this project, it was aimed to develop an economical strengthening method. This method is based on addition of steel fibers and/or PP fibers in mortar and application of mortar on masonry wall. Project was sponsored by the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (T&Uuml / BiTAK). Physical properties of cement, aggregate, and mortar used in tests were determined by material tests. After performing flexural strength and compressive strength tests, optimum mortar was obtained. R/C frames strengthened by applying the mortar to brick infilled walls were tested under reversed cyclic loads. Before the frame tests, two series of panel tests were performed to correctly model strengthened infill walls and to gather information about behavior of walls under load. Totally 10 frame tests were done. 4 tests were done as reference tests, and other 6 were done as strengthened frame tests. In the analytical part of study, the plastered hollow brick infill wall strengthened by FRM was modeled as two separate compression struts. First strut was used to model the plastered hollow brick infill wall. Second strut was used to model the FRM. This technique is effective in improving seismic behavior by increasing strength, initial stiffness, energy dissipation, and ductility. Moreover, the method provides strengthening of the buildings without evacuating the structure.

The demand for oil and gas is increasing yearly, whereas proven oil and gas reserves are being depleted. The potential of stripper oil and gas fields to supplement the national energy supply is large. In 2006, stripper wells accounted for 15% and 8% of US oil and gas production, respectively. With increasing energy demand and current high oil and gas prices, integrated reservoir studies, secondary and tertiary recovery methods, and infill drilling are becoming more common as operators strive to increase recovery from stripper oil and gas fields. The primary objective of this research was to support optimized production of oil and gas from stripper well fields by evaluating one stripper gas field and one stripper oil field. For the stripper gas field, I integrated geologic and engineering data to build a detailed reservoir characterization model of the Second White Specks (SSPK) reservoir in Garden Plains field, Alberta, Canada. The objectives of this model were to provide insights to controls on gas production and to validate a simulation-based method of infill drilling assessment. SSPK was subdivided into Units A ? D using well-log facies. Units A and B are the main producing units. Unit A has better reservoir quality and lateral continuity than Unit B. Gas production is related primarily to porosity-netthickness product and permeability and secondarily to structural position, minor structural features, and initial reservoir pressure. For the stripper oil field, I evaluated the Green River formation in the Wells Draw area of Monument Butte field, Utah, to determine interwell connectivity and to assess optimal recovery strategies. A 3D geostatistical model was built, and geological realizations were ranked using production history matching with streamline simulation. Interwell connectivity was demonstrated for only major sands and it increases as well spacing decreases. Overall connectivity is low for the 22 reservoir zones in the study area. A water-flood-only strategy provides more oil recovery than a primary-then-waterflood strategy over the life of the field. For new development areas, water flooding or converting producers to injectors should start within 6 months of initial production. Infill drilling may effectively produce unswept oil and double oil recovery. CO2 injection is much more efficient than N2 and CH4 injection. Water-alternating-CO2 injection is superior to continuous CO2 injection in oil recovery. The results of this study can be used to optimize production from Garden Plains and Monument Butte fields. Moreover, these results should be applicable to similar stripper gas and oil field fields. Together, the two studies demonstrate the utility of integrated reservoir studies (from geology to engineering) for improving oil and gas recovery.

Urban renewal and rampant suburbanization, like in many North American cities, has led to the decline of downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia. This thesis proposes a small-scale, child-oriented in?ll project as an alternate mode of development that retains historic fabric and repairs the urban ethos. A narrow, T-shaped, vacant lot in the heart of downtown provides the testing grounds for this intervention. Dynamic program combinations, and playful architectural propositions are presented as strategies to reintegrate children as active participants within the downtown area.

Magistranto baigiamajame darbe apibrėžiama intarpo samprata bei apžvelgiama jo raida Lietuvos didžiuosiuose senamiesčiuose nuo antros XX a. pusės iki XXI a. pradžios – 2004 m. Atstatinėjant ir regeneruojant miestų senamiesčius įvairiais naujais architektūros kūrimo principais, seno ir naujo santykio tema yra ypač aktuali, todėl magistriniame darbe gilinamasi į XX a. antros pusės - XXI a. pradžios (1945-2004) laikotarpį, kartu bandoma apibrėžti intarpo raidą Europoje nuo viduramžių iki tyrime nustatytos Lietuvos periodizacijos, nustatant galimus intarpo harmonizavimo ir įterpimo būdus miesto istorinėje aplinkoje, imant dėmesin ne tik jo vietą istorinės aplinkos struktūroje, bet ir stilistines vieno ar kito laikotarpio architektūros kryptis. Išgryninti intarpo morfotipų kiekybiniai ir urbanistiniai rodikliai Vilniaus, Kauno, Kėdainių ir Klaipėdos istoriniuose senamiesčiuose gretinami su jų architektūrine raiška. Identifikuojami charakteringiausi analizuojamų senamiesčių intarpų objektai ir tiriama jų architektūros raiška per sąryšį su gretimais istoriniais pastatais pagal nusistatytus intarpų atrankos ir jų architektūros vertinimo kriterijus. Aiškinantis skirtingų senamiesčių periodizacijos sistemų intarpų architektūrinės kompozicijos harmonizavimo į istorinę aplinką priemones, įvardijamos ryškiausios iš jų bei labiausiai pasireiškusios atitinkamu laikmečiu. / Master's thesis defines the concept of the infill and overviews it’s development in Lithuanian old towns from the second half of twentieth century till the beginning of twenty-first century – 2004. Using a variety of new architectural design principles the Old Towns of the cities are being rebuilt and regenerated. This refers to a particularly relevant subject of relation between old and new. The focus of the master thesis is the period between the second half of twentieth-century and beginning of the twenty-first century (1945-2004) period, with an attempt to define the evolution of infill in Europe since the Middle Ages until the determined Lithuanian periodization, and potential means of harmonization of infill and it’s insertion in the atmosphere of historic site, taking the attention not only to its location in the historical structure of the environment, but also to a stylistic architectural trends of the periods. Purified quantitative and urban indicators of infills’ morphotypes in Vilnius, Kaunas, Kedainiai and Klaipėda historical old towns are set against its architectural expression. The most characteristic objects of infills in old towns and sites are identified and investigated in terms of architectural expression through its relationship with adjacent historic buildings. The criteria is set according to the infills’ selection and its’ architectural evaluation. Explaining the different periodization systems in old towns infills’ harmonization of architectural... [to full text]

No description available.

Sedimentological and biostratigraphic investigations onshore Lebanon coupled with 2D offshore reflection seismic data allowed proposing a new Mesozoic-Present tectono-stratigraphic framework for the northern Levant Margin and Basin. The seismic interpretation supported by in-depth facies analysis permitted to depict the potential depositional environments offshore Lebanon as no well has yet been drilled. The Levant region has been affected by successive geodynamic events that modified the architecture of its margin and basin from a Late Triassic to Middle Jurassic rift into a Late Cretaceous subduction followed by collision and Miocene-Present strike slip motion. The interplay between major geodynamic events as well as sea level fluctuations impacted on the sedimentary infill of the basin. During Jurassic and Cretaceous, the Levant Margin is dominated by the aggradation of a carbonate platform while deepwater mixed-systems prevailed in the basin during the Oligo-Miocene, three major sedimentary pathways are expected to drive important quantities of clastic material into the Levant Basin: (1) canyons along the Levant Margin, (2) the Latakia region (coastlal Syria) and (3) the Nile Deep sea cone. Regional drainage system analysis was performed to estimate the contribution of the different sediment sources to the infill of the basin. A numerical stratigraphic forward model, Dionisos, was used to test the Middle-Late Miocene source-to-sink scenarios permitting to better assess the plausibility of the expected sedimentary volumes for each source through a comparison with actual drainage systems

Milosevic, S. 2014. Buller – Hur planers en bullerfri stad?. Kulturgeografiska institutionen, Uppsatser, Uppsala universitet.   This essay is about noise pollution caused by urbanization. The field study takes place in Uppsala and explores their organization of handling problems with noise pollution caused by traffic. Noise pollution has long been neglected as an environmental hazard. Studies show that noise pollution can cause severe health problems such as increased blood pressure. Therefore the EU has made a new directive on how cities should handle noise pollution. The essay also exemplifies how the work with noise pollution is implemented in a residential production of today. I have come to my results by observing the surroundings and interviewing the planning engineer of the new residential buildings on the street Stationsgatan which is close to the Central station in Uppsala, Sweden. I have also interviewed the project manager of the municipality’s action plan for reducing noise pollution which was made due to the EU-directive. My results show that we must reduce our dependence of cars and plan for a soundscape as much as we plan on the visual aspect if we want to reduce the noise pollutions in our cities. Not only will the noise pollution reduce if we reduced the use of private cars but also a lot of other pollutions would decrease.

Spurred by changing retail and development patterns, as well as continuous suburban growth, greyfield sites can be found at the heart of most postwar suburbs in North American municipalities. Ranging in definition, greyfields are best described as an “underused, economically obsolete, retail tract located in an inner ring suburb that requires significant public and private involvement to curtail decline” (Feronti, 2003, p.11). However, tied to demographic trends and increased municipal urbanization, these vacated retail sites are positioned well for redevelopment. Yet, the redevelopment process of these sites is fraught with impeding and facilitating factors that can have significant implications for redevelopment options and viability. As such, research questions considered were: Do municipalities address greyfield challenges and opportunities? What factors impede and facilitate greyfield redevelopment? This thesis also asks these questions within the context of the City of Edmonton’s current policy and existing built form, and asked: How should greyfields be planned in the City of Edmonton? This thesis attempts to answer these questions through a review and analysis of existing literature, case studies (Belmar in Lakewood, Colorado and Century Park in Edmonton, Alberta) and through primary research conducted with key stakeholders. The research found that municipalities were largely unacquainted with the challenges and opportunities of greyfield redevelopment. Where support guidelines did exist, they were largely aspirational and lacked consideration for the unique impeding and facilitating factors of greyfield redevelopment. It was found that impeding factors to greyfield redevelopment ranged from administrative hurdles fraught with inexperience in greyfield redevelopment, to financial and land economic constraints. Facilitating factors were found in collaborative stakeholder consultation, municipal and administrative leadership, and a range of supportive fiscal mechanisms. Lastly, ten recommendations to facilitate greyfield redevelop within the City of Edmonton were discussed.

This thesis examines the barriers that impede intensification (infill and redevelopment) within Regina’s Warehouse District (The District). In addition this study provides recommendations to overcome said barriers in order to facilitate residential development. This research expands upon two previous studies from 2002 and 2009, which were initiated by community stakeholders and that identified the need for additional residential development within The District. To date, success of the two previous plans in attracting new infill and redevelopment has been limited. This research looks to understand why this is, through the use of semi- structured interviews with key informants. Additional data from secondary documents and visual observations was collected to substantiate this approach. This research found that intensification in The District has been limited due to; unbalanced growth, existing municipal policies and zoning, a negative perception, proximity to noxious uses, an absence of amenities and services, unfavourable land development economics, and a soft demand amongst prospective residents. The second part of this research identified possibilities or factors to facilitate intensification within The District. Similarly these findings are grounded in the discussion with key informants. This data is corroborated by existing planning literature, as well as best practices from a number of North American jurisdictions. This study found that intensification could be facilitated in The District by; balancing growth, revising municipal policy and zoning, increasing public investment, improving the perception, having the city engaged in development, and with increased financial incentives. This research has explored intensification in two unique contexts, a mid-sized Canadian city and a historically industrial neighbourhood. It has contributed to the academic literature by establishing a better understanding of the barriers to intensification within both contexts. More specifically, it has explored intensification within Regina’s Warehouse District, a city that has been largely bypassed by academic planning literature.

"The World Bank's central mission is to fight poverty. Over 2 billion people around the world live in poverty. With such pressing concerns, why bother about arts and culture: because we must accept the importance of social well-being, educational and intellectual fulfilment. Culture is profoundly important. We need to understand the cultural dimension of development: for example effective educational projects must take into account the cultural expression and language of the community. We have moved from involvement solely with financial capital to a financial being balanced with social and structural factors, a more holistic view that incorporates lending criteria that accommodate 'social capital'. We will do our utmost to make a difference. Bank finance in culture is truly complementary to that of others. A Kenyan proverb displayed at the Museum of Natural History in New York reads: "Let us treat nature well. It was not given to us by out fathers but it was lent to us by our children". I suggest we insert 'cultural heritage' for nature." Ian Johnson - Vice President Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development, The World Bank (http:\www.arts&culture trust.htm) The Inner City of Pretoria is rapidly degrading. Businesses are moving out and poorer people are moving in. To create a place for real people, more than just economic stability is needed. At the Vienna Architecture Conference in 1993 "The End of Architecture?" Zaha Hadid stated: " Being an architect today one is faced with the challenge of a profession torn in two distinct aspects. On the one hand architecture became pure technique, as if it were a branch of engineering; on the other hand, it becomes image production, as if it were a branch of advertising."(Noever, 1992; 27) The theme at the conference alluded to the fact that architecture for architecture's sake no longer predominates, and it now seems that only fashion is being rewarded. Architecture for architecture's sake cannot be the solution, cannot be the antidote to fashion; only a social purpose to architecture, publicly formulated, can be such an antidote. There can be no great architecture without a social programme. A visionary architecture has to take part in a political vision, and its reality presupposes a political process, which puts a new architecture on the agenda and thus transforms the profession into a movement with new aims and inspirations. What matters to the inhabitants of the Inner City, apart from the fundamentals for physical survival, is the quality of buildings and the in-between spaces that they generate. Keeping this in mind one should realise that designing outside spaces is as important as designing buildings. There has always been a distinction between interior and exterior space, with architects and interior architects responsible for the latter and landscape architects responsible for the first. If one intends to create a real people's place there should be a fusion between these two elements. They should be perceived as spaces created for people, without drawing a distinction between inside and outside. This is one of the elements which the city lacks most. The open spaces in the Berea precinct are either not planned or not utilised in the way they were planned. Today cities may be increasingly sophisticated in meeting technical needs, but now is the time to bring deeper human needs into the brief. / Dissertation (MArch (Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Architecture / unrestricted