Since the turn of the last century, a substantial increase in nutrient load to the Baltic Sea is apparent. Adding the ongoing environmental change with raising temperatures and increased precipitation, this will continue to have a prominent environmental impact on our coastal ecosystems, especially in northern latitudes. Constructed wetlands are becoming more important as a mitigation measure to retain nutrients, however, they are until this day not well studied in northern latitudes. In this paper, nutrient retention in a newly constructed wetland is studied during its first month after activation, as well as potential downstream effects in associated sea bay. An additional literature study compiles information about the current knowledge, use and functionality of wetlands surrounding the Baltic Sea. This is done to widen knowledge regarding effectiveness of wetlands as nutrient traps in general, as well as to compare with the studied wetland. A net retention of 30 % for dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and total phosphorus (TP) was found, as well as 27 % for total nitrogen (TN), 25 % for phosphate (PO43-) and 21 % for nitrate (NO3-). TP was found to be within range of expected retention capacity, when comparing with wetlands included in the synthesis. TN retention, however, seemed to be somewhat greater than in other wetland studies. Furthermore, the retention varied and seemed to be highest during an increased discharge, in the beginning and end of March. This was partly reflected by greater inlet concentrations and transports in most of the parameters during the initial time period. Decreasing temporal trends was seen in concentrations of DOC, total nutrients and NO3- concentrations in the sea bay, indicating an immediate downstream effect of the wetland installation. Findings from the synthesis indicate that there are very few studies in, and thus little knowledge about, wetlands in northern climate. Overall, the results from the pioneer northern wetland in Sörleviken suggest that net retention is possible during its first month post-activation.

Les vibrations du sol induites par les activités humaines telles que, les activités industrielles, la circulation des camions et voitures, les explosions dues aux constructions ou l’exploitation de la déconstruction, atteignent souvent la limite de gêne pour les usagers et parfois la limite de nocivité. Dans les régions urbaines à forte densité et pour les bâtiments abritant des équipements sensibles, les vibrations du sol doivent être strictement contrôlées. Jusqu'à présent, de nombreuses méthodes de réduction de vibration ont été proposées, dont l'une est l'installation d'une barrière d'ondes entre les sources et les structures à protéger. Au cours des dernières décennies, l'efficacité de l'isolation des vibrations à l’aide de barrière d'ondes a été étudiée. Toutefois, il y a peu de travaux consacrés à l’influence mutuelle des paramètres du système sol-barrière sur l'efficacité de l'isolation de la barrière d'ondes, et l'optimisation de la barrière d'onde est également rare. D'autre part, l'influence des vibrations du sol, générées par les explosions durant la construction d’un nouveau tunnel, sur un tunnel avoisinant, interpelle en raison des dommages qui peuvent être produits. Jusqu'à présent, il existe peu de mesures d'atténuation globale proposées par les chercheurs et les ingénieurs concernant la réduction de vibrations dans les tunnels lors des explosions. Pour répondre à ces insuffisances, cette thèse porte sur l'étude de l'influence des différents paramètres du système sol-barrière et qualifie l'efficacité de l'isolation de la barrière d'ondes. Les paramètres clés sont identifiés, leur rôle respectif quantifié. Plus important encore, une méthode de conception d'optimisation est mise au point, dans le but de proposer la barrière qui est capable de réduire au minimum la vibration du sol en site protégé. Enfin, le comportement dynamique du tunnel existant sous les sollicitations des explosions proches est examiné. Les paramètres qui influent considérablement sur la réponse du tunnel sont mis en évidence. Deux mesures d'atténuation pratiques, concernant l'installation d'une couche de protection le long de la paroi du tunnel d’une part et des explosions à retardement (plutôt que des explosions instantanées) d’autre part, sont présentées en détails. Les recherches menées dans le cadre de cette thèse sont en mesure de fournir des éléments pour la conception optimisée de la barrière d'ondes afin de réduire les vibrations du sol en site protégé et pour la conception de mesures d'atténuation concrètes afin de protéger un tunnel existant par des explosions à proximité. / Ground vibration induced by human activity such as industrial activities, car or truck traffic, or pilling and blasting in construction or deconstruction operation, generally reaches the troublesome limit for men and occasionally attains the harmful limit. In the densely populated urban regions and buildings housing sensitive equipments, ground vibration has to be strictly controlled. Up to now, many vibration reduction methods have been proposed, one of which is the installation of wave barrier between the dynamic sources and the protected structures. Over the past decades, the vibration isolation effectiveness of wave barrier has been extensively studied. However, to the best of the writer’s knowledge, there is little study about the mutual influence of the parameters of soil-barrier system on the barrier screening efficiency, and the optimization design for wave barrier is rare as well. On the other hand, the influence of ground vibration generated by explosions on the nearby existing tunnel has attracted more and more attention due to the recent damage or even failure of tunnels. Up to now, there are few mitigation measures comprehensively proposed by researchers and engineers for the tunnel vibration reduction during explosions. To overcome those drawbacks, this dissertation focuses on the investigation of the influence of various parameters of soil-barrier system on the barrier isolation efficiency. Key parameters are identified. More importantly, an optimization design method is developed, aiming to find out the desirable barrier that is able to minimize the ground vibration in protected site. Besides, the dynamic behavior of existing tunnel under nearby explosions is examined. Parameters that significantly affect the response of tunnel are pointed out. Furthermore, two practical mitigation measures: the installation of a protective layer along the tunnel lining and time-delayed explosions (rather than instantaneous explosions), are presented with details. The research in this dissertation is able to provide a good reference for the optimization design of wave barrier in reducing ground vibration in protected site and for the design of practical mitigation measures to protect existing tunnel from nearby explosions.

Negative effects on water quality are created by eutrophication of the world’s water resources. Mitigation measures have been implemented, but poor improvements in water quality have been observed. Two-stage ditches have the possibility to increase nutrient and sediment retention to reduce eutrophication in receiving water bodies. A two-stage ditch has floodplain terraces on each side of the ordinary main channel. The terraces are available for flooding during high water flows and enables decreases in flow velocities. However, more knowledge is needed about the two-stage ditch and its effect in Swedish landscapes. The aim of the project was to study the two-stage ditch design with focus on water retention. Optimization of the two-stage ditch design was made by modeling and simulating design parameters and vegetation in the software Hydrologic Engineering Center’s River Analysis System (HEC-RAS). An existing two-stage ditch in Sweden was used as base and comparison to the theoretical model. In addition, a climate change scenario was studied to evaluate the impact of increased storm events in a two-stage ditch. Results showed that increased retention time of water, nutrients, and sediments theoretically can be given by designing two-stage ditches with maximum terrace width and minimum terrace height, and with terraces angled away from the main channel. Vegetation should also be kept on both terraces and in the main channel of the two-stage ditch to increase retention time. The study also showed that the two-stage ditch design has the possibility to decrease peak water levels during storm events, which can be expected to increase in the future. The impact on transport of nutrients and sediments from more future extreme hydrological events needs further studies. / Negativa effekter i vattenkvalitet skapas av övergödning i världens vattenresurser. Åtgärder för att begränsa övergödningen har genomförts, men svaga förbättringar i vattenkvalitet har noterats. Tvåstegsdiken har möjligheten att öka retentionen av näringsämnen och sediment för att minska övergödning. Ett tvåstegsdike har terrasser på vardera sida om den vanliga mittfåran. Terrasserna är tillgängliga för översvämning vid höga vattenflöden, vilket möjliggör minskning av flödeshastigheter. Dock krävs mer kunskap för tvåstegsdiken och dess effekt i svenska landskap. Syftet med projektet var att studera designen av tvåstegsdiken med fokus på retention av vattenflöde. Optimering av tvåstegsdikens design genomfördes via modellering och simulering av designparametrar och vegetation i programvaran Hydrologic Engineering Center’s River Analysis System (HEC-RAS). Ett befintligt tvåstegsdike i Sverige användes som bas och jämförelse mot den teoretiska modellen. Ett scenario för klimatförändring studerades även för att utvärdera effekten i ett tvåstegsdike då fler stormevent sker. Resultaten visade att ökad retentionstid for vatten, näringsämnen, och sediment teoretiskt kan ges genom att designa tvåstegsdiken med maximal terrassbredd och minimal terrasshöjd, samt med terrasser vinklade bort från mittfåran. Vegetation bör även behållas på terrasser och i mittfåran av tvåstegsdiket för att öka retentionstiden. Studien visade även att tvåstegs- dikets design har möjligheten att minska toppflöden vid stormevent, vilka kan förväntas öka i framtiden. Påverkan på transport av näringsämnen och sediment från fler framtida extrema hydrologiska event kräver ytterligare studier.