Observations on the changes in nitrate concentrations along streams in seven upland moorland catchments in Northeast Scotland

River water has been sampled under baseflow conditions in both summer and winter at c. 250-m intervals along the length of each of seven rivers in northeast Scotland, and the nitrate contents have been determined. The resultant data have been examined in the context of the nitrogen saturation hypothesis. Capacity of the catchment soils to retain nitrate was generally minimal in winter. Although biological uptake of nitrate was evident in summer, in the upper part of each catchment substantial nitrate leaching still occurred. The phenomenon was most marked in water draining from hill peats, except where these were conspicuously waterlogged. The results are discussed in the context of possible nitrogen saturation effects on upper catchment slopes.     

Boston harbor outfall tunnel: An environmental imperative

In February 1989, the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority (MWRA) began the design and construction of a 15.3-km subsea tunnel and ocean riser system to discharge effluent in conjunction with the design and construction of a large secondary treatment plant. The court-mandated schedule required the tunnel and risers to be completed in July 1995. The paper discusses the project from the viewpoints of management, concept design and construction methods, including the ocean riser system. Key to th success of the project is the accuracy of the location of the risers. The design calls for a final tunnel alignment to be driven within 10 m of the riser shafts, beginning at a distance of 13.1 km from shore.     

Radiocesium in muscle tissue of reindeer and pike from northern Sweden before and after the Chernobyl accident. A retrospective study on tissue samples from the Swedish Environmental Specimen Bank.

After the Chernobyl accident in April 1986, considerable deposition of radionuclides occurred regionally in eastern, central and northwestern Sweden. Locally, the fallout of radiocesium exceeded the remainder from atmospheric nuclear weapons tests by several magnitudes. Since the end of the 1960s samples of organs from various plant and animal species, annually collected at different localities, have been preserved in the Swedish Environmental Specimen Bank (ESB). In this work samples from the ESB have been used for retrospective studies of radioactive pollution. The activities of Cs-134 and Cs-137 in muscle tissues from reindeer, Rangifer tarandus, and pike, Esox lucius, preserved in the ESB, were measured. The samples were collected annually; the reindeer at three localities in northern Sweden and the pike at one of them. In material collected prior to the Chernobyl accident, the levels of Cs-137 were 57-180 Bq/kg in reindeer and 14-24 Bq/kg in pike, fresh weight basis. These levels relate to earlier nuclear bomb tests. A significant decrease was found in pike during the pre-Chernobyl period (1971-86). In post-Chernobyl samples the burden of Cs-137 varied from amounts equal to the former levels in the northernmost locality and up to 80 times higher for the maximum values in the southernmost locality. The highest value recorded was 18,425 Bq/kg in reindeer. The geographic variations in reindeer from Chernobyl fallout were in accordance with the pattern of deposition estimated by aircraft surveys performed in May 1986. The ratio between 'new' and 'old' radiocesium burdens in pike, caught in 1987, approached the corresponding ratio for reindeer grazing in the precipitation area of the lake; 33 and 19, respectively.     

Geomechanical model simulation for the varied rock formations of the Kadana dam foundation,Gujarat, India

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment - Precambrian layered rocks consisting of quartzites, phyllites and metagreywackes of the Aravallis having a large variation in thickness,...     

Contribution à l'étude de la détermination des conditions de formation des haloformes

In recent years the presence of haloforms has been observed by some researchers in waters of various origins.The aim of this study is to determine the conditions in which chloroform is formed by chlorination of aqueous solutions of some organic compounds.The first part of this work was carried out by chlorination of synthetic basic solutions of acetone and thus enabled us to determine the reagent concentrations needed to obtain the maximum quantity of chloroform.We studied next the effect of chlorination on organic material solutions (humic acids and phenols), in the course of an oxidation treatment; the results obtained by chlorination of aqueous solutions of humic substances show that the quantity of chloroform produced passes through a maximum value which depends on the time of ozonisation. Similar results were obtained for the chlorination of phenol solutions during oxidation by the u.v. + H₂O₂ system. These results may be explained by the partial degradation of the molecules which leads in the formation of reactional intermediate precursors of the haloform reaction. We undertook at the same time the study of a rapid test allowing us to detect the presence of haloform reaction precursors in a certain sample of water.     

Settlements and deformations of industrial structure built on weak soils

Conclusions 1. In engineering-geologic explorations, it is necessary to investigate the engineering-geologic morphology to a depth of 15–18 m: lenses and interlayers of weak soils - unevenly compacted silty-sand fills, peat, slime, etc.2. Open unwatering of pits in the vicinity (10–15 m) of existing structures is impermissible, since it leads to removal of fine soil fractions because of piping, and to large and impermissible deformations of the load-bearing elements of the structures. In such cases, deep groundwater lowering by means of wellpoints should be used.In the case described in this article, the industrial structure underwent a mean settlement of about 20 cm, a tilt of 0.015, and a wall deflection of 0.002. By using deep groundwater lowering, such deformations could have been prevented.3. The development of settlements with time was due to the presence of weak soils - peat lenses and thin slime interlayers - in the foundation bed of the shop.4. An effective means for stopping the settlement of the industrial structure was the construction, under the walls, of two rows of cast-in-place piles with cantilever beams to which the wall loads were transmitted.Scientific-Research Institute of Foundations. GIPROLESKhIM. Translated from Osnovaniya, Fundamenty i Mekhanika Gruntov, No. 1, pp. 5–7, January–February, 1975.     

Dynamic analysis and optimal feedback control synthesis applied to biological waste treatment

The dynamics and optimal feedback control of biological waste treatment processes are examined. Modern feedback control theory is applied and results are obtained for both proportional and proportional plus integral control. A dynamic mathematical model of the system is developed by employing a Monod kinetic model, which is modified to account for endogenous metabolism, and a complete mixing flow model in the growth chamber. The feedback control is implemented via the flow rate so as to maintain desired effluent concentrations. External disturbances which cause changes in substrate concentration and/or cell concentration are considered and optimal control effort is applied. Results are also presented for impulse and step changes in the influent substrate concentration. It is found that by changing the values of the weighting factors in the objective function, it is possible to obtain good control of either the effluent substrate concentration or cell concentration.     

Free vibration of a clamped-free circular cylindrical shell partially filled with liquid—Part I: Theoretical analysis

Theoretical analyses are presented for the linear free vibration of a clamped-free cylindrical shell partially filled with an incompressible, inviscid liquid. For the vibration of the shell itself, the dynamic version of the Donnell equations was used and the problem was solved with the modified Galerkin procedure, taking the effect of the axisymmetric deformation due to the static liquid pressure into consideration. Concerning the vibration relevant to the liquid motion, the solution for the velocity potential was assumed as a sum of two sets of linear combinations of the suitable harmonic function, the unknown parameters of which were imposed to satisfy both boundary conditions along the wetted shell wall and the free liquid surface in a sense of appropriate series expansions. The procedure stated in the foregoing leads to a determinantal equation for the determination of the natural frequencies of the present shell-liquid system. To compare with the experimental results which will be stated in a companion paper,¹⁴ detailed numerical results will be presented in another companion paper¹³ on the free vibration characteristics of the two test cylinders partially filled with water.     

Results of evaluation of the strength of concrete placed in the shafts of cast-in-place piles

Conclusions 1. Application of the method of underwater concreting with the use of a container is inexpedient in connection with the presence of a large number of flaws detected in the shafts of cast-in-place piles formed by this method; concreting of holes by the VAT method is preferable.2. The strength of concrete in the shafts of cast-in-place piles increases, reaching a maximum at a depth of 0.4–0.5 the length of the shaft. Variation in strength along the shaft is explained primarily by the percentage of coarse aggregate contained in the concrete.3. The quality of pile concrete should be monitored during all stages of pile installation, and, primarily during the stage of concreting, i.e., when there is a chance of correcting an observed defect.All-Union Institute for the Design and Planning of Health Resorts. Scientific-Research Institute of Foundations and Underground Structures. Translated from Osnovaniya, Fundamenty i Mekhanika Gruntov, No. 5, pp. 14–17, September–October, 1976.     

A box beam finite element for the elastic analysis of thin-walled structures

The purpose of this paper is to present a formulation of a curved thin-walled box beam finite element having a variable cross-section with at least one vertical axis of symmetry.

To allow for the effects of warping and distortion, three degrees of freedom have been included in the formulation. These degrees of freedom have been designated as the rate of change of twisting angle, the distortional angle of the cross-section, and the rate of change of distortional angle. The effect of shear lag has also been included.

The element may be used for the elastic analysis of a variety of thin-walled structures and in particular for the preliminary analysis of box bridge decks where a three-dimensional analysis may be unnecessary. The accuracy of the element has been demonstrated by comparison of the results obtained with known results from other methods for some examples.