Title: Production of Light Weight Concrete by Bio- Materials

Abstract: The study compares the use of bio-aggregates from rattan, wood and bamboo as coarse aggregate in concrete. Also reinforced concrete short columns were made where the above mentioned coarse aggregates were used having bamboo and rattan as reinforcement. Full study was conducted by OPC, ASTM Type-1, sand of a constant fineness modulus (FM) of 2.79 and water–cement ratio of 0.485. Curing of samples was done for 28 days and crushing was performed after 56 days. The highest and lowest compressive stress was found in the concrete where coarse aggregate was rattan and bamboo respectively. The compressive strength of the specimens was seen to be increased as the amounts of bamboo and rattan as the reinforcement were increased. Moreover, as the weights of the concrete of bio-aggregates were found much less than that of normal weight concrete, therefore as  light weight concrete these materials may reduce dead load of structure considerably.

Title: Ferry Transport  Of  Trans Maluku Interislands Cluster In Indonesia

Abstract: Geography with a dominance of marine areas are scattered in small islands (island group), resulting in high transportation costs, the level of isolation, poor accessibility, lack of infrastructure and transportation affect to economic growth in the region Province of Maluku. These study are policy and case study, using the method of gap analysis, descriptive qualitative to find out how people's satisfaction with the performance, characteristics of transportation development priorities and strategies. In general, transport services is still far from adequate, although subsidies from the government, especially in the islands group in the East and South. Required system integration between modes of air transport services and water transport (pioneering sea transport, cruise people, and Ferry transportation).

Title: Soil Moisture Mapping Using Active Microwave for a Semi-Distributed Hydrologic Model:  Case study in Turkey

Abstract: Soil moisture condition of a watershed plays a significant role in separation of rainfall into infiltration and surface runoff, and hence is a key parameter for the majority of physical hydrological models. A semi-empirical backscatter (Dubois) model is utilized in the reverse order to develop radar backscatter versus soil roughness relationship and soil roughness maps of the study area are produced. Another relationship is built between radar backscatter and the three governing soil surface parameters as local incidence angle, soil moisture and soil roughness, in order to use in the development of soil moisture estimation. The soil moisture maps of the basin are then introduced as input to a semi-distributed hydrological model study using, HEC-HMS, as the initial soil moisture condition of a flood event simulation in 2005. A comparison between both the distributed and lumped model simulation results using active microwave images with the observed field data is carried out using statistic parameter, the root mean square error (RMSE). The distributed model runs resulted in RMSE as 0.35 for both radar approaches and lumped model simulation gave a higher value 0.43. The differences in peak flows were ranged between 1-2 % for the distributed case and 9% for the lumped model approach. But the runoff volume differences were in reverse order being less 0.2% for the lumped and changed in between 7.5-7.0% for distributed (SAR and ASAR radar) model applications.

Title: Characterization of Contact Stresses Between Dowels and Surrounding Concrete in Jointed Concrete Pavement

Abstract: In order to analyze the contact stresses between dowels and surrounding concrete in the dowel-jointed cement concrete pavement, the 3-D finite element model is used to simulate the stress concentration in concrete around the dowel bars under traffic loading. The stress and strain responses on the concrete surface have been calculated and they are also verified with self-design full-scale experiments. Results show that the strain data from the numerical simulation agrees well with the full-scale experiment. As a result, the research indicates that the 3-D finite element model is an efficient and accurate method to calculate the interaction characteristics between dowel bars and surrounding concrete. Besides, the high press stress concentration on the concrete up dowels and the tensile stress concentration on the concrete besides dowels will cause the initial crack development in the concrete material surrounding the dowels, which is the main reason leading to the dowel bar deterioration. In this paper, a more concrete and detailed numerical analysis method will be provided to analysis the stresses concentration at steel-concrete interface in the concrete structure.

Title: On the Use of the Basic Quality Tools for the Improvement of the Construction Industry: A Case Study of a Ready Mixed Concrete Production Process

Abstract: The paper is dedicated to make a review of the basic concepts on process improvement and to show the benefits of applying these concepts in improvement projects of construction firms. A special focus is made on the use of the basic quality tools to improve the production process of ready mixed concrete (RMC). A local ready mix concrete producer at the region of Hail in Saudi Arabia has been taken as a case study, where the 28 days compressive strength of the plant has been monitored and analyzed using the histogram and Xbar-R control charts techniques. The analysis shows clearly that concrete producers can effectively improve their production processes, save money, materials and make their processes sustainable.

Title: An Embodied Energy Analysis of Social Housing in Brazil: Case Study for the “Program My House My Life”

Abstract: The Brazilian government has started up a large social housing program for low-income families. Considering the large investment for this program, it is important to analyse the environmental impact to create a base for further improvement assessment. The goal of this paper is to visualise the embodied energy of case study for a house in the social housing program. The case study showed that the embodied energy (EE) is 7,2 GJ/m2. Half of the Embodied Energy is due to material use for maintenance and around 57% of the embodied energy is used in the wall construction. The study indicates that the largest improvement potential for reducing the embodied energy is connected to the walls trough choosing materials and systems with less Embodied Energy and higher durability to decrease the need for maintenance and substitution of materials.

Title: Method for assessing of sustainability of habitations of social interest (MASP-HIS)

Abstract: The main purpose of this work  is to present for the first time the method entitled Method for Assessing the Sustainability of Habitations of Social Interest (MASP-HIS). This method has been developed in order to analyze the sustainability of habitations of social interest, applied to specifications of materials and components for vertical sealing subsystems. This method calculates indices of sustainability at the phase of the design of habitations of social interest, related to specifications of materials and components, when one refers to the environmental, economic and socio-cultural aspects. Through the method, it is possible to have partial indices, for each one of the aspects, or the index of design when the aspects are set together, for various combinations of materials and components of the analyzed subsystem.  The partial indices can be used to detect and solve critical points of design, related to such specifications, once low partial indices indicate low sustainability. This can be verified at the end of this paper, by the results obtained from the application of the method to two designs developed in the Midwest region of Brazil.

Title: Erection Analysis of a Large-Scale Radial Cable Net

Abstract: Characteristics of radial cable nets are studied and the concept of erection analysis and design are proposed to simulate the whole erection process. Erection schemes are discussed based on behaivor of cable nets. Mechanism motion and elastic deformation are classified in the erection process. The proposed method is verified using a large-scale radial cable net. The case study indicates the proposed concept could be used to provide aids for erection analysis and simulation during the erection process.

Title: A Case Study on The Impact of The Leather Industries on The Ground Water Aquifer in Bangladesh

Abstract: Leather industry plays an important role in Bangladeshi Economy due to its large potential for employment, growth and export. At the same time, it poses serious environmental threats by discharging liquid effluents and solid wastes directly into surrounding low lying areas without proper treatment. In a study of 2001, relatively high concentrations of Chromium, Lead and Sulfide was identified in the ground water in Hazaribagh area but in another study of 2008 there was no sign of any contamination. This paper describes a recent survey conducted in 2010 whose major objective was to monitor the water quality of selected DWASA deep tubewells of Hazaribagh area for the presence of contamination by tannery wastewater and to identify the trend of change of water quality. A high concentration of chemical oxygen demand (COD) (from 7.9 to 8.5 mg/l) was observed in the month of April in all wells of Hazaribagh. Sulfide concentrations in some of the samples were found to be excessively high, varying from 0.0-10.0 µg/l. Relatively higher concentration of iron (0.0 to 1.2 mg/l) and ammonia (0.0 to 1.272 mg/l) were detected in some water samples. EC concentration was higher for all the wells (300 µg/cm to 500 µg/cm). The groundwater resources at Hazaribagh area that have been sampled in this investigation mostly satisfy the WHO and Bangladesh drinking water standard for the parameters tested in the study. But some elevated levels of COD, sulfide and lead have been detected which may be a matter of concern.

Title: Seismic Attenuation for Medellin City-Colombia: A Neural Network Approach

Abstract: Considering the techniques artificial neural networks and incorporating the information contained in strong motion database, of the Local Accelerographs Network of Medellin Colombia, cognitive models were identified for compute of duration of the intense part of seismic shaking, the horizontal peak ground acceleration, and the acceleration response spectra with 5% damping. These neural models were obtained by means of algorithmic transformations of parameters that characterize seismic source, wave trajectory and site effects at a particular location. A set of 278 accelerograms was used for training the neuronal networks and verification of their generalization capabilities. The results achieved exhibit the reach of the artificial neural network to model non-linear problems and phenomenon that are not well understood yet.

Title: Improving of Seismic Performance of Steel Structures Using an Innovative Passive Energy Damper with Torsional Mechanism

Abstract: In this paper, a new passive energy damper with torsional mechanism was introduced and studied in numerical and experimental approaches. Experimental results showed a stable hysteresis loop for damper. The requirement recommendations and mathematical formulas to analysis and design was presented. Those formulas have a good accuracy to predict the damper’s behavior. Also numerical results indicate that energy dissipation and plastic deformation is concentrated at torsional damper while inelastic behavior and damage of other structural parts and elements are controlled which it enhances structural seismic behavior. It was also concluded that addition of torsional damper, is very economical and easily repairable after an earthquake.