Method for Rapidly Assessing the Overtopping Risk of Bridges Due to Flooding over a Large Geographic Region

Hydraulic events are a leading cause of bridge failures. While these hydraulic events are accounted for in bridge design, changing environmental and land use conditions require continual updating of this risk. For example, after a bridge has been constructed, streamflow can change in unanticipated ways as a result of land use changes, geomorphic changes, and climate change. The objective of this research was to create a screening method able to quickly and inexpensively estimate overtopping risk across a collection of bridges based on the current streamflow conditions. The method uses a geographic information system, nationally available and standardized datasets, and recent regression equations to quantify bridge vulnerability to overtopping for flooding with varying return periods. This screening method could also be used to assist decision makers in updating the Waterway Adequacy field in the National Bridge Inventory, which indicates the overtopping risk of bridges. The method was applied to a portion of the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, United States that includes 475 bridges. The results of the analysis, when combined with transportation data for bridges, aid decision makers to assign further resources to complete more detailed analyses of bridges identified as being at risk for overtopping.     

Equity in neighbourhood walkability? A comparative analysis of three large U.S. cities

This study examines the spatial and statistical relationships between social vulnerability (SV) and neighbourhood walkability across three large U.S. cities with different urban typologies and development patterns: Charlotte, NC (a low-density, fast-growing “Sunbelt” city); Pittsburgh, PA (a moderate density, shrinking “Rust Belt” city); and Portland, OR (a progressive West Coast city known for its sprawl-containment policies). Binary logistic regression, independent-samples t-tests, and mapping techniques are employed to determine whether neighbourhoods with high SV (i.e. older populations, higher poverty rates, more service occupations, lower educational attainment, and a higher proportion of minorities) are as likely as those with low SV to exhibit a high degree of walkability. The publically available Walk Score® metric, based on proximity to amenities, street network connectivity, and density, was used as a proxy for neighbourhood walkability. The results indicate significant variability among cities, with Charlotte exhibiting the greatest potential for inequitable access to walkable urban environments and the most prominent concentration of “walk-vulnerable” block groups (BGs) with high SV and low walkability. Both Portland and Pittsburgh exhibited more equitable access when comparing BGs with high and low SV; however, they each presented unique spatial patterns, visualised using a series of maps.     

Communicating risk for vulnerable groups: a case study of the Mano community’s strategies for collective knowledge to action

This paper discusses the emergent interest in risk communication as a strategy for disaster risk reduction. Communication plays an essential role in understanding risk, but studies suggest that people often do not respond in the way that risk experts anticipate. For risk communication to be effective, vulnerable communities need to understand risk within the local context as well as in terms of sustainability. Risk messages offer communities a way to enhance their collective knowledge of existing vulnerabilities, leading them towards alternative solutions for action. A longitudinal study of the Mano community development approach and its recovery from the 1995 Kobe earthquake illustrates how risk communication dynamics contributed to the community’s sustainable risk reduction. The study concludes that risk communication is a collaborative way for a community to work with risk experts, own their risk information, influence existing policies and practices, develop solutions to reduce vulnerability, and ultimately enhance a community’s capacity for managing future risk.     

火电灰渣场自然恢复下灰渣养分及重金属含量研究

对自然恢复下4类不同年代样地的灰渣养分含量及重金属含量进行研究,通过对比分析发现,有机质、全氮、全钾、全磷含量随着自然恢复时间的增加呈现递增的趋势,全磷含量在各恢复阶段与对照样地之间并不存在显著差异(P0.05)。pH随着恢复时间的增加呈现递减的趋势。对灰渣综合质量指数进行研究发现,自然恢复长期、中期、短期与自然恢复初期对比均有显著提高(P0.05),且随着自然恢复时间的增加灰渣综合质量指数逐渐提高。对灰渣场锌、铅、铜3种重金属研究后发现,在自然恢复下随着时间的增加,灰渣中重金属含量均呈现递减的趋势。     

基于生态位理论的京津冀城市生态文明评价

生态文明评价体系是明确生态文明建设现状、定位生态文明建设存在问题的关键。从城市群视角出发引入生态位理论,界定生态文明位内涵,构建涵盖社会子系统生态位—经济子系统生态位—资源环境子系统生态位共29项指标的城市生态文明评价指标体系,并提出相对生态文明位和生态经济指数的二维模型,测算京津冀城市群6个案例城市在2007—2011年的生态文明建设水平、趋势以及地位。结果显示,2011年北京生态文明水平(相对生态文明位)最高,邢台生态文明水平最低,石家庄、秦皇岛、承德、天津生态文明水平分别排名第2、第3、第4、第5。2007—2011年,北京、承德、邢台生态文明水平呈现波动下降趋势,而秦皇岛、石家庄、天津呈现小幅上升趋势;但生态经济指数测算显示,北京的经济社会发展对于生态资源环境的占用消耗大,承德有较好的经济发展潜力。并基于该二维模型,将京津冀城市生态文明建设分为4种类型:发展失衡型、相对和谐型、高质量发展型、资源环境优势型,分别确定城市生态文明建设重点,为京津冀协同发展提供了指导依据。     

Assessment of Aquifer Vulnerability in an Agricultural Area in Spain Using the DRASTIC Model

The assessment of aquifer vulnerability is a very important task, especially in agricultural areas because the quality and availability of groundwater affects both the sustainability of agriculture and the quality of life. In this study, an integrated approach is considered, with the use of the generic and agricultural DRASTIC models as well as a geographic information system (GIS), to assess groundwater vulnerability in the agricultural area of Barrax, in the province of Albacete, in Spain. Seven parameters—depth to water, net recharge, aquifer media, soil media, topography, impact of vadose zone media, and hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer (DRASTIC)—have been considered as weighted layers to enable an accurate groundwater risk mapping. The results of the generic DRASTIC model indicated very low vulnerability to contamination for Barrax groundwater due to limited urban and industrial development in the wider area. However, agricultural activities impose pressure to groundwater resources and the results of the agricultural DRASTIC model show that 6.86% of the study area is characterized by very high, 2.29% by high, 47.28% by medium, 38.28% by low, and the remaining 5.29% by no vulnerability to groundwater contamination. The distribution of nitrate concentration in groundwater in the area under study is quite well correlated with the agricultural DRASTIC vulnerability index. Sensitivity analysis was also performed to acknowledge statistical uncertainty in the estimation of each parameter used, to assess its impact, and thus to identify the most critical parameters that require further investigation. Depth to water and impact of vadose zone are the parameters that had the most noticeable impact on the generic DRASTIC vulnerability index followed by the soil media and topography. In contrast, the agricultural DRASTIC method is more sensitive to the removal of the depth to water parameter followed by the topography and the soil media parameters.     

猪粪干发酵物料流动性指标研究

干式沼气发酵工艺的研究中,影响干发酵工艺的最大问题是出料困难.出料的方法及设备的研究开发都涉及物料流动性.目前,还没有表征干发酵物料流动性的指标.针对该问题,本研究考察了塌落度、休止角和静摩擦系数3种参数表征猪粪干发酵物料流动性的可行性.通过3种指标对流速的曲线拟合,发现塌落度与流速的关联性最好,灵敏度系数曲线显示塌落度的灵敏度较休止角和静摩擦系数高.塌落度的测定上限和测定下限分别为253和279 mm,对应的流速分别为0.01和0.29 m/s;休止角和静摩擦系数的准确度均超出了要求的范围,所以无测定限.塌落度的最大相对误差、相对平均偏差和相对标准偏差分别为12.79％、23.62％和30.68％,远低于休止角和静摩擦系数,因此,塌落度测量结果的准确度和精密度高于休止角和静摩擦系数.从参数的准确度和精密度以及测量方法的灵敏性和测定限几方面综合考虑,塌落度适合作为表征猪粪干发酵物料流动性的指标.     

快腐剂对畜禽粪便堆肥过程中腐熟度的影响

以牛粪、菌糠和鸡粪等为材料按照两种比例调配为混合基质,在添加或不添加快腐剂的条件下在发酵桶中进行为期38 d的堆肥发酵实验,通过对发酵产物的温度、p H值、总有机碳、C/N、硝铵态氮含量和种子发芽指数等指标变化的研究,揭示了快腐剂对发酵过程的影响。结果表明,虽然快腐剂对有机物料的温度、C/N比无显著的影响,但可以促进铵态氮向硝态氮的转化,在16 d时使发酵产物NH+4-N/NO-3-N比值降为0.15,达到腐熟标准(0.16);提升种子发芽指数,在腐解29 d时使种子发芽指数达到82.76%,达到完全腐熟指标(0.8),比不添加快腐剂的处理提前了4 d左右。快腐剂的作用效果受腐解物料配比的影响。     

电网规划环境影响评价的难点及对策建议

我国电网规划环境影响评价工作正处在起步阶段,缺乏成熟的理论方法和指标体系。结合常州市“十二五”电网发展规划环境影响评价工作,探讨了电网规划环评中存在的难点和问题并提出了相应的对策建议。     

Co-composting of livestock manure with rice straw: Characterization and establishment of maturity evaluation system

Composting is considered to be a primary treatment method for livestock manure and rice straw, and high degree of maturity is a prerequisite for safe land application of the composting products. In this study pilot-scale experiments were carried out to characterize the co-composting process of livestock manure with rice straw, as well as to establish a maturity evaluation index system for the composts obtained. Two pilot composting piles with different feedstocks were conducted for 3 months: (1) swine manure and rice straw (SM–RS); and (2) dairy manure and rice straw (DM–RS). During the composting process, parameters including temperature, moisture, pH, total organic carbon (TOC), organic matter (OM), different forms of nitrogen (total, ammonia and nitrate), and humification index (humic acid and fulvic acid) were monitored in addition to germination index (GI), plant growth index (PGI) and Solvita maturity index. OM loss followed the first-order kinetic model in both piles, and a slightly faster OM mineralization was achieved in the SM–RS pile. Also, the SM–RS pile exhibited slightly better performance than the DM–RS according to the evolutions of temperature, OM degradation, GI and PGI. The C/N ratio, GI and PGI could be included in the maturity evaluation index system in which GI > 120% and PGI > 1.00 signal mature co-composts.