Sustainable Approaches for Highway Runoff Management During Construction and Operation

Paper V and paper VI have not been published yet. Environmentally friendly approaches for highway runoff management during construction and operation are considered in this project. First, the state of the art in runoff management in terms of characterization, treatment, and modeling approaches were surveyed, and knowledge gaps were identified. Then, the characterization and treatment of tunneling wastewater (by natural and chemical coagulants) was investigated. In the next stage, the vulnerability of water quality to road construction activities was investigated by analyzing field monitoring data. In addition, two different approaches, involving information theory and gamma test theory, we…

Optimal degradation of Ciprofloxacin in a heterogeneous Fenton-like process using (δ-FeOOH)/MWCNTs nanocomposite

Abstract This study was aimed at the synthesis and characterization of ( δ -FeOOH)/MWCNTs nanocomposite as the catalyst for Ciprofloxacin (CIP) removal through a heterogeneous Fenton-like process. The proposed experimental design applies the central composite design (CCD) as a response surface methodology (RSM). The effect of influential parameters, including initial CIP concentration, catalyst dose, H 2 O2 concentration, initial pH, and reaction time on removal, were investigated. ( δ -FeOOH)/MWCNTs nanocomposite was synthesized using a single-step co-precipitation technique. Besides, nano-feroxyhyte and nanocomposite properties were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM),…

A multi-objective optimal allocation of treated wastewater in urban areas using leader-follower game

Abstract This study proposes a new method for optimal allocation of Treated Wastewater (TW), in which different stakeholders, their social position in decision-making, and priority of objectives were attended using the leader-follower game theory. The suggested methodology was applied in a case study in the eastern part of Tehran province in Iran, where the Water and Sewage Department is considered the leader and four TW dependent districts are the followers in the game model. The leader appropriates a certain TW quantity to the system, and the followers compete for the allocated resources in the face of various physical and sociopolitical constraints. The Nash-Harsanyi production function …

Assessing optimal water quality monitoring network in road construction using integrated information-theoretic techniques

Author´s accepted manuscript. The environmental impacts of road construction on the aquatic environment necessitate the monitoring of receiving water quality. The main contribution of the paper is developing a feasible methodology for spatial optimization of the water quality monitoring network (WQMN) in surface water during road construction using the field data. First, using the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) method, the water quality index (WQI) was computed in each potential monitoring station during construction. Then, the integrated form of the information-theoretic techniques consists of the transinformation entropy (TE), and the value of information (VOI) we…

Conflict resolution in the multi-stakeholder stepped spillway design under uncertainty by machine learning techniques

Abstract The optimal spillway design is of great significance since these structures can reduce erosion downstream of the dams. This study proposes a risk-based optimization framework for a stepped spillway to achieve an economical design scenario with the minimum loss in hydraulic performance. Accordingly, the stepped spillway was simulated in the FLOW-3D® model, and the validated model was repeatedly performed for various geometric states. The results were used to form a Multilayer Perceptron artificial neural network (MLP-ANN) surrogate model. Then, a risk-based optimization model was formed by coupling the MLP-ANN and NSGA-II. The concept of conditional value at risk (CVaR) was utilized…

Sustainable Approaches for Highway Runoff Management During Construction and Operation

Current European approaches in highway runoff management: A review

Highway runoff is one of the most significant non-point sources of pollution for the terrestrial and aquatic environment with biological, physical, and chemical effects. Considering local characteristics, treatment practices, and determining factors are essential for highway runoff management. The aim of this paper is to survey the review of highway runoff management in Europe with emphasis on runoff characterization, treatment, and modeling approaches and identifying possible knowledge gaps exists based on our review. The results showed that highway runoff has spatiotemporal variation, which is the main factor in the regional selection of the best management practice (BMP). Also, recent st…

A hybrid statistical decision-making optimization approach for groundwater vulnerability considering uncertainty.

Recognizing the vulnerable areas for contamination is a feasible way to protect groundwater resources. The main contribution of the paper is developing a hybrid statistical decision-making model for evaluating the vulnerability of Shiraz aquifer, southern Iran, with modified DRASTIC (depth to the water table, net recharge, aquifer media, soil media, topography, impact of the vadose zone, and hydraulic conductivity) by using the genetic algorithm (GA), the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method, and factorial analysis (FA). First, considering the variation of the uncertain parameters, 32 scenarios were defined to perform factorial analysis. Then using the AHP method and GA, DRASTIC parame…

Network design for surface water quality monitoring in a road construction project using Gamma Test theory

Road construction has a negative environmental impact on the surrounding aquatic environment, requiring the continuous monitoring of surface water quality. Here, optimization of the water quality monitoring network (WQMN) is an essential step in supporting the sustainable development of road construction projects. This study introduces Gamma Test theory (GTT) as a practical method for optimizing the WQMN of surface waters during road construction. The water quality index (WQI) was computed in 48 monitoring stations for six monitoring periods from 2017 to 2019; data was acquired from a primary monitoring network over a new highway in southern Norway. Based on the results, it is possible to r…

Groundwater sustainability: Developing a non-cooperative optimal management scenario in shared groundwater resources under water bankruptcy conditions.

Abstract Groundwater level drawdown changes the hydrological cycle and poses challenges such as land subsidence and reduction of the groundwater quality. In this study, a new approach using a simulation-optimization framework was developed for shared groundwater management under water bankruptcy conditions (where water demand is greater than the allowable discharge capacity of water resources). The novelty of this study lies in using bankruptcy rules and a game model to manage a bankrupted shared groundwater resource considering aquifer sustainability. Accordingly, groundwater flow in the aquifer was numerically simulated by a finite-differences model (MODFLOW). Then, the repeated performan…