Search results for "Levee"
showing 9 items of 9 documents
Adaptation to climate change of the French wine industry: a systemic approach – Main outcomes of the project LACCAVE
2018
Présenté au 12. Congreso Internacional Terroir; Taking into account the major economical role and specificities of the French wine industry, adaptation to climate change is a very challenging issue. In 2011, 23 research teams launched a systemic and multidisciplinary program to analyze the impacts from the vine to the region, to define adaptation strategies combining technical, spatial and organizational options and to evaluate the perception by the actors and consumers of climate change issues. Thermal variability was studied at local scale to develop high resolution atmospheric models which better simulate future climate trends. Impacts on growth/developmental conditions and vine response…
Flooding in the Digital Twin Earth: The Case Study of the Enza River Levee Breach in December 2017
2023
The accurate delineation of flood hazard maps is a key element of flood risk management policy. Flood inundation models are fundamental for reproducing the boundaries of flood-prone areas, but their calibration is limited to the information available on the areas affected by inundation during observed flood events (typically fragmentary photo, video or partial surveys). In recent years, Earth Observation data have supported flood monitoring and emergency response (e.g., the Copernicus Emergency Service) thanks to the proliferation of available satellite sensors, also at high spatial resolution. Under this umbrella, the study investigates a levee breach that occurred in December 2017 along t…
The control of lava flow during the 1991–1992 eruption of Mt. Etna
1993
Abstract All the actions carried out in 1992 to protect the village of Zafferana Etnea from being invaded by lava are described. An earthen barrier 234 m long and 21 m high was firstly built in January 1992 by accumulating with mechanical escavators 370,000 m 3 of earth, scoriae and stones. This embankment contained the lava for about one month and was overflowed by April 9, 1992. Three additional smaller earthen barriers (lenght: 90–160 m; height: 6–12 m) were built in April to gain time while the lava front was descending towards Zafferana from the overflowed first embankment. The major effort of the 1992 operation consisted of several attempts at stopping the lava front advance by divert…
Human Impact Effects on Târnava River Basin Aquatic Biodiversity (Transylvania, Romania)
2020
Today the following categories of human impact are present in the Tarnava Watershed: hydrotechnical works, insufficiently treated/cleaned sewage, river substratum mineral exploitation/over-exploitation, manure leakage, artificial standing water, industry, river embankment, deforestation, pouching, etc., the first three of these inducing the highest impact on the lotic systems habitats and biodiversity.
Comparative life-cycle assessment of conventional (double lane) and non-conventional (turbo and flower) roundabout intersections
2016
Abstract This research studied and compared different construction techniques for the road subgrade, embankment and pavement of different types of roundabout intersections in order to assess their environmental sustainability. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was carried out on double lane, turbo- and flower roundabouts. We considered virgin materials and reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) for the pavement construction. Also the environmental effects due to in situ lime stabilization of fine-grained soils were assessed in order to reduce the use of virgin material in road subgrades. The use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) can lead to a significant reduction in pollutant emissions and energy …
Stability of Embankments Resting on Foundation Soils with A Weak Layer
2021
The presence of weak layers in geotechnical systems, including soil or rock masses, both natural and man-made, is more frequent than is normally believed. Weak layers can affect both failure mechanisms, in drained and in undrained conditions, as well as in static and seismic conditions, and the safety factor. In the present study, conducted numerically using the finite-element method (FEM) Plaxis 2D code, the influence of a horizontal thin weak layer on stress and strain distribution, on failure mechanisms and on the overall stability of an embankment was evaluated. The results obtained prove that when the weak layer is located at a significant depth from the foundation plane, the failure m…
Hydro-mechanical behaviour of a sandy silt from a river embankment
2020
The paper presents the results of an experimental campaign aimed at characterizing the hydro-mechanical behaviour of a sandy silt from a river embankment. Due to continuous river level fluctuations and changing climatic and environmental conditions, flood embankment materials experience frequent variations in degree of saturation and suction values. Such variations strongly impact the earthwork performance both in terms of seepage and stability conditions. For these reasons, a detailed characterization of the material behaviour in unsaturated conditions was carried out. Experiments were designed in order to highlight the response of the involved soil in terms of changes in matric suction an…
A GIS-Based Model for the analysis of an urban flash flood and its hydro-geomorphic response. The Valencia event of 1957
2016
Summary Flash floods are recurrent events around the Mediterranean region. Extreme episodes activate hydro-geomorphic high-intensity processes with low frequency. In urban environments, the complexity becomes higher due to the existence of very quick-response runoff. However, immediate recovery works remove the urban marks. After a short time both the significance and magnitude of the hydro-geomorphic event become completely unrecognizable. Nevertheless, these episodes generate extensive documentation which is testimony of the processes in almost real time. It is necessary to exploit this source typology in order to draw flood sketches when events far in time may lack a sufficiently rich da…
Soil and water losses from new citrus orchards growing on sloped soils in the western Mediterranean basin
2009
Ten representative research sites were selected in eastern Spain to assess soil erosion rates and processes in new citrus orchards on sloping soils. The experimental plots were located at representatives sites on limestone, in areas with 498 to 715 mm year−1 mean annual rainfall, north-facing slopes, herbicide treated, and new (less than 3 years old) plantations. Ten rainfall simulation experiments (1 h at 55 mm h−1 on 0·25 m2 plots) were carried out at each of the 10 selected study sites to determine the interill soil erosion and runoff rates. The 100 rainfall simulation tests (10 × 10 m) showed that ponding and runoff occurred in all the plots, and quickly: 121 and 195 s, respectively, fo…