Previous authors have developed many different types of water pipe condition and failure models using the various methodologies available.  Contrary, current utilities are struggling to maintain their current water infrastructure system, due to the lack of effective prediction tools at hand.  The gap between the methodologies available in academic research and the tools available to current water utilities needs to be addressed.  This paper presents a fuzzy inference prediction model used to forecast the performance rating of individual drinking water pipeline sections (node to node) in which utilities can easily apply to their drinking water infrastructure system. Prior to the development of a prediction model, a through literature and current practice review is completed detailing and summarizing all the available mathematical models.  Following, an infrastructure overview is presented detailing the various pipe materials, lifecycle and failure modes and mechanisms.  A data structure is also detailed which lists all parameters that affect the condition and/or performance of a pipeline.  All of these tools are successfully used to develop a fuzzy inference performance model. The fuzzy inference performance model is considered novel in that it considers close to 30 pipe parameters.  Moreover, the performance model is applied using the Western Virginia Water Authority (WVWA) and the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) databases to evaluate and verify the predicting results.  Lab testing of several pipe samples is also used to evaluate the model.  The testing consists of a ring bearing test which is used to calculate the rupture modulus of the pipe.  Comparing the original vs. the current rupture modulus can determine the remaining strength of the pipe.  The remaining strength can then be used to assess the performance results predicted by the fuzzy inference model. Further a framework is set forth which utilizes the model's predicted performance ratings to develop deterioration curves which can be used as a tool to forecast and plan future inspection, repair, rehabilitation and replacement of water pipelines.  The deterioration model is made up of a Markov chain approach coupled with a non-optimization technique. / Ph. D.

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Countries across the globe have started taking measures to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions andto power the future with more sustainable forms of energy. One such initiative towards sustainableenergy generation is through wind energy. The wind energy contribution has shown a drastic increasein Sweden during the last few years. However there are several issues due to improper siting of windmills. This thesis aims to conduct a multi-criteria evaluation to determine suitable wind farm sites inVästernorrland County. The spatial planning through multi-criteria evaluation is done jointly usinganalytical hierarchy processing and weighted linear combination in ArcMap. There are 29 criteriataken into account and the buffer zones from each criterion are decided based on Swedish legislation,discussions with stakeholders and from similar previous studies. Three scenarios namely green,economy and tourism are created giving emphasize on the aspects as the title implies. The scenarioeconomy has the least area with very high suitability scores when compared to the other two scenarios.The results obtained for the three scenarios are grouped into classes with suitability scores. About 60%of the total area is unsuitable for wind farm installations and most of the area has less to moderaterange of suitability. The major constraints that restrict the wind mill installations are spaces with landcover like water, roads and national protected areas. Based on the suitability scores, the best three sitesare finally selected which covers the three scenario aspects. Other sites are excluded due to reasons likelow suitability, closeness to the county boundary and too small in size. Among the best three sites, twosites already have permission to build wind farms. The proposed third site is about 2.5 squarekilometres located to the south-east of the county. In conclusion, the project result not only shows thatthere are more potential / Länder över hela världen har börjat vidta åtgärder för att minska utsläppen av växthusgaser och att iframtiden övergå till mer hållbara energikällor. Ett sådant initiativ mot en hållbar energiproduktion äratt satsa på vindkraft. Vindenergi har visat en drastisk ökning i Sverige under de senaste åren. Detfinns dock flera problem på grund av olämplig placering av vindkraftverk. Avhandlingen syftar till attgenomföra en utvärdering av flera kriterier för att bestämma lämpliga lägen för vindkraftparker iVästernorrlands län. Den fysiska planeringen genom utvärdering av flera kriterier görs gemensamtmed hjälp av en analytisk hierarki-bearbetning och vägd linjär kombination i ArcMap. Det tas hänsyntill cirka 29 kriterier och buffertzoner för varje kriterium bestäms utifrån svensk lagstiftning,diskussioner med intressenter och liknande tidigare studier. Tre scenarier, med respektive tonvikt påekologi, ekonomi och turism skapas och analyseras. Scenario ekonomi har det minsta området medmycket höga lämplighetspoäng jämfört med de andra två scenarierna. Resultaten som erhållits för detre scenarierna grupperas i klasser med olika lämplighetsresultat. Cirka 60% av den totala arealen ärolämplig för vindkraftsanläggningar och majoriteten av området har mindre till måttligt lämpligtutbud. De stora begränsningarna som sätter gränser för vindkraftsanläggningar är de områden somupptas av exempelvis vatten, vägar och nationella skyddsområden. Baserat på lämplighetspoängen ärde bästa tre platserna utvalda som representerar de tre scenarierna. Andra platser utesluts på grund avskäl som låg lämplighet, närhet till länets gräns och alltför små områden. Bland de utvalda områdenahar två redan tillstånd att bygga vindkraftparker. Den föreslagna tredje platsen är cirka 2,5kvadratkilometer belägen i sydöstra delen av länet. Sammanfattningsvis visarprojektet resultatet intebara att det finns fler potentiella platser men identifierar också de mest lämpliga platserna förinstallation av vindkraftverk i Västernorrlands län.

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