WorldWideScience

Sample records for bulldozers

  1. Design of Stress-Strain Measuring System for Bulldozing Plate Based on Virtual Instrument Technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu, S C; Li, J Q; Zhang, R

    2006-01-01

    Soil is a kind of discrete, multiphase compound that is composed of soil particles, liquid and air. When soil is disturbed by bulldozing plate, the mechanical behavior of the soil will become very complex. Based on the law of action and reaction, the dynamic mechanical behavior of disturbed soil was indirectly analyzed by measuring and studying the forces on the bulldozing plate by soil currently, so a stress-strain virtual measuring system for bulldozing plate, which was designed by the graphical programming language DASYLab, was used to measure the horizontal force Fz acting on the bulldozing plate. In addition, during the course of design, the experimental complexities and the interferential factors influencing on signal logging were analyzed when bulldozing plate worked, so the anti-jamming methods of hardware and software technology were adopted correlatively. In the end, the horizontal force Fz was analyzed with Error Theory, the result shown that the quantificational analysis of Fz were identical to the qualitative results of soil well, and the error of the whole test system is under 5 percent, so the tress-strain virtual measuring system was stable and credible

  2. Impact of Bulldozer's Engine Load Factor on Fuel Consumption, CO2 Emission and Cost

    OpenAIRE

    V. Kecojevic; D. Komljenovic

    2011-01-01

    Problem statement: Bulldozers consume a large amount of diesel fuel and consequently produce a significant quantity of CO2. Environmental and economic cost issues related to fuel consumption and CO2 emission represent a substantial challenge to the mining industry. Approach: Impact of engine load conditions on fuel consumption and the subsequent CO2 emission and cost was analyzed for Caterpillar bulldozers. Results were compared with the data on bulldozers' fuel consu...

  3. Research on Fuel Consumption of Hybrid Bulldozer under Typical Duty Cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Qiang; Wang, Wen-Jun; Jia, Chao; Yao, You-Liang; Wang, Sheng-Bo

    The hybrid drive bulldozer adopts a dual-motor independent drive system with engine-generator assembly as its power source. The mathematical model of the whole system is constructed on the software platform of MATLAB/Simulink. And then according to the velocity data gained from a real test experiment, a typical duty cycle is build up. Finally the fuel consumption of the bulldozer is calculated under this duty-cycle. Simulation results show that, compared with the traditional mechanical one, the hybrid electric drive system can save fuel up to 16% and therefore indicates great potential for lifting up fuel economy.

  4. Evolutionary Bi-objective Optimization for Bulldozer and Its Blade in Soil Cutting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Deepak; Barakat, Nada

    2018-02-01

    An evolutionary optimization approach is adopted in this paper for simultaneously achieving the economic and productive soil cutting. The economic aspect is defined by minimizing the power requirement from the bulldozer, and the soil cutting is made productive by minimizing the time of soil cutting. For determining the power requirement, two force models are adopted from the literature to quantify the cutting force on the blade. Three domain-specific constraints are also proposed, which are limiting the power from the bulldozer, limiting the maximum force on the bulldozer blade and achieving the desired production rate. The bi-objective optimization problem is solved using five benchmark multi-objective evolutionary algorithms and one classical optimization technique using the ɛ-constraint method. The Pareto-optimal solutions are obtained with the knee-region. Further, the post-optimal analysis is performed on the obtained solutions to decipher relationships among the objectives and decision variables. Such relationships are later used for making guidelines for selecting the optimal set of input parameters. The obtained results are then compared with the experiment results from the literature that show a close agreement among them.

  5. Environmental damages of forest road construction by bulldozer on ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    STORAGESEVER

    2009-09-15

    Sep 15, 2009 ... In this study, forest road construction technique by using bulldozer was investigated in forested lands ... example, sediment yield delivered from forest roads to ... minimize the erosional impact of roads on the environ- ... 951 mm. 4570 kg. Figure 2. Proportion of environmental damages on road cross section.

  6. Research on the Multi-Energy Management Strategy of the Electric Drive System of a Tracked Bulldozer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ming Pan

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The multi-energy management strategy of electric drive system of tracked bulldozer was researched. Firstly, based on power requirement of typical working condition of a tracked bulldozer, the power distribution strategy for three energy sources in the front power chain was proposed by using wavelet theory and fuzzy control theory. Secondly, the electric drive system simulation platform was built in MATLAB/Simulink. At last, a driver-controller based HILS (hardware-in-the-loop simulation platform was built and the multi-energy management strategy was verified. The HILS result shows that front power chain’s power output can meet the back power chain’s requirement, the engine-generator set works near the best fuel consumption curve, and the battery pack’s charge-discharge frequency and current are low. Thus the designed multi-energy management strategy can be used in real-time control of electric drive bulldozer.

  7. Modelling and Bi-objective Optimization of Soil Cutting and Pushing Process for Bulldozer and its Blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barakat, Nada; Sharma, Deepak

    2017-12-01

    Bulldozer is an earth moving machine, which is mainly used for cutting and pushing soil. The process of soil cutting and pushing involves various decisions making to make it optimum. The decisions are generally made based on the experience of practitioners that may not be optimum for different working conditions. In this paper, a bi-objective optimization problem is modelled so that the optimum values of decision variables can be determined. The objective functions are proposed to make the process economic and productive by minimizing the cutting force on a bulldozer blade and maximizing the blade capacity. A constraint is also developed on the power requirement from a bulldozer to overcome resistance. The problem is solved using ɛ-constraint method and multi-objective genetic algorithm. The approximate Pareto-optimal solutions and their perturbation analysis are presented. Various relationships are evolved from the post-optimal analysis that can be used for making guidelines for decision making for the process. The originality of this paper lies in developing the bi-objective formulation and in presenting various relationships by the post-optimal analysis, which has sparingly done in the domain literature.

  8. ALGORITHM OF DETERMINATION OF POWER AND ENERGY INDEXES OF SCREW INTENSIFIER ON THE BULLDOZER WORKING EQUIPMENT AT TRENCH REFILLINGS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    KROL R. N.

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Raising of problem. A bulldozer work at trench refilings is conducted by cyclic, machine shuttle motions that increases a right-of-way; increasing of time charges, fuel and labour by the side of the continuous refilling method. Besides the indicated defects gets worse also the quality of the trench refilling: the uneven soil output into a trench with large portions results the damages of pipes isolation and emptinesses formation, in consequence  settling and washing of soil. A bulldozer with the screw intensifier (SI, is deprived lacks of an odinary bulldozer  moving along a trench, it moves the loose soil that does not fall on a pipeline, but rolles on it. Thus the circuitous speed of a cutting edge of SI exceeds the speed of the base machine moving that provides the strong soil treatment (before dispersion before output into a trench. Purpose. The algorithm development of the rotational moment determination on the SI driveshaft, the consumable energy, the energy intensity and the working process productivity of the reverse trench refillings depending on physical and mechanical properties of soil, geometrical parameters of SI and bulldozer optimal speed. Conclusion. The developed algorithm allows to define that at the fixed value of the rotational speed the rotational moment and indicated efficiency of SI at the optimum speed increasing of the base machine change on a linear law; the optimum speed change of the base machine practically does not influence on the energy intensity at the considered change of the rotational speed .

  9. Lightweight Bulldozer Attachment for Construction and Excavation on the Lunar Surface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mueller, Robert; Wilkinson, R. Allen; Gallo, Christopher A.; Nick, Andrew J.; Schuler, Jason M.; King, Robert H.

    2009-01-01

    A lightweight bulldozer blade prototype has been designed and built to be used as an excavation implement in conjunction with the NASA Chariot lunar mobility platform prototype. The combined system was then used in a variety of field tests in order to characterize structural loads, excavation performance and learn about the operational behavior of lunar excavation in geotechnical lunar simulants. The purpose of this effort was to evaluate the feasibility of lunar excavation for site preparation at a planned NASA lunar outpost. Once the feasibility has been determined then the technology will become available as a candidate element in the NASA Lunar Surface Systems Architecture. In addition to NASA experimental testing of the LANCE blade, NASA engineers completed analytical work on the expected draft forces using classical soil mechanics methods. The Colorado School of Mines (CSM) team utilized finite element analysis (FEA) to study the interaction between the cutting edge of the LANCE blade and the surface of soil. FEA was also used to examine various load cases and their effect on the lightweight structure of the LANCE blade. Overall it has been determined that a lunar bulldozer blade is a viable technology for lunar outpost site preparation, but further work is required to characterize the behavior in 1/6th G and actual lunar regolith in a vacuum lunar environment.

  10. Combining Off-the-Job Productivity Regression Model with EPA’s NONROAD Model in Estimating CO2 Emissions from Bulldozer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Apif M. Hajji

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Heavy duty diesel (HDD construction equipment which includes bulldozer is important in infrastructure development. This equipment consumes large amount of diesel fuel and emits high level of carbon dioxide (CO2. The total emissions are dependent upon the fuel use, and the fuel use is dependent upon the productivity of the equipment. This paper proposes a methodology and tool for estimating CO2 emissions from bulldozer based on the productivity rate. The methodology is formulated by using the result of multiple linear regressions (MLR of CAT’s data for obtaining the productivity model and combined with the EPA’s NONROAD model. The emission factors from NONROAD model were used to quantify the CO2 emissions. To display the function of the model, a case study and sensitivity analysis for a bulldozer’s activity is also presented. MLR results indicate that the productivity model generated from CAT’s data can be used as the basis for quantifying the total CO2 emissions for an earthwork activity.

  11. The assessment of environmentally sensitive forest road construction in Calabrian pine forest areas of Turkey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tunay, Metin

    2006-07-01

    Forest road construction by bulldozers in Calabrian Pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) forests on mountainous terrain of Turkey causes considerable damage to the environment and the forest standing alongside the road. This situation obliges a study of environmentally sound road construction in Turkey. This study was carried out in 4 sample sites of Antalya Forest Directorate in steep (34-50% gradient) and very steep terrain (51-70% gradient) conditions with bulldozer and excavator machine and direct damages to forest during road construction was determined, including forest area losses and damages to downhill trees in mountainous areas. It was determined that in steep terrain when excavators were used, less forest area (22.16%) was destroyed compared to bulldozers and 26.54% less area in very steep terrain. The proportion of damage on trees where bulldozer worked was nearly twofold higher than excavator was used. The results of this research show that the environmentally sensitive techniques applied for the road construction projects are considerably superior to the traditional use of bulldozers on steep slopes. The environmentally sound forest road construction by use of excavator must be considered an appropriate and reliable solution for mountainous terrain where areas of sensitive forest ecosystems are to be opened up.

  12. Environmental impacts of forest road construction on mountainous terrain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caliskan, Erhan

    2013-03-15

    Forest roads are the base infrastructure foundation of forestry operations. These roads entail a complex engineering effort because they can cause substantial environmental damage to forests and include a high-cost construction. This study was carried out in four sample sites of Giresun, Trabzon(2) and Artvin Forest Directorate, which is in the Black Sea region of Turkey. The areas have both steep terrain (30-50% gradient) and very steep terrain (51-80% gradient). Bulldozers and hydraulic excavators were determined to be the main machines for forest road construction, causing environmental damage and cross sections in mountainous areas.As a result of this study, the percent damage to forests was determined as follows: on steep terrain, 21% of trees were damaged by excavators and 33% of trees were damaged by bulldozers during forest road construction, and on very steep terrain, 27% of trees were damaged by excavators and 44% of trees were damaged by bulldozers during forest road construction. It was also determined that on steep terrain, when excavators were used, 12.23% less forest area was destroyed compared with when bulldozers were used and 16.13% less area was destroyed by excavators on very steep terrain. In order to reduce the environmental damage on the forest ecosystem, especially in steep terrains, hydraulic excavators should replace bulldozers in forest road construction activities.

  13. Environmental Impacts of Forest Road Construction on Mountainous Terrain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erhan Caliskan

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Forest roads are the base infrastructure foundation of forestry operations. These roads entail a complex engineering effort because they can cause substantial environmental damage to forests and include a high-cost construction. This study was carried out in four sample sites of Giresun, Trabzon(2 and Artvin Forest Directorate, which is in the Black Sea region of Turkey. The areas have both steep terrain (30-50% gradient and very steep terrain (51-80% gradient. Bulldozers and hydraulic excavators were determined to be the main machines for forest road construction, causing environmental damage and cross sections in mountainous areas.As a result of this study, the percent damage to forests was determined as follows: on steep terrain, 21% of trees were damaged by excavators and 33% of trees were damaged by bulldozers during forest road construction, and on very steep terrain, 27% of trees were damaged by excavators and 44% of trees were damaged by bulldozers during forest road construction. It was also determined that on steep terrain, when excavators were used, 12.23% less forest area was destroyed compared with when bulldozers were used and 16.13% less area was destroyed by excavators on very steep terrain. In order to reduce the environmental damage on the forest ecosystem, especially in steep terrains, hydraulic excavators should replace bulldozers in forest road construction activities.

  14. Dynamic Modeling and Control Strategy Optimization for a Hybrid Electric Tracked Vehicle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hong Wang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available A new hybrid electric tracked bulldozer composed of an engine generator, two driving motors, and an ultracapacitor is put forward, which can provide high efficiencies and less fuel consumption comparing with traditional ones. This paper first presents the terramechanics of this hybrid electric tracked bulldozer. The driving dynamics for this tracked bulldozer is then analyzed. After that, based on analyzing the working characteristics of the engine, generator, and driving motors, the power train system model and control strategy optimization is established by using MATLAB/Simulink and OPTIMUS software. Simulation is performed under a representative working condition, and the results demonstrate that fuel economy of the HETV can be significantly improved.

  15. Environmental Assessment, Establishing a Drop Zone at the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center in Socorro, New Mexico and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-11-07

    Rustle of leaf 20 dB Whisper 30 dB Normal conversation 60 dB Inside passenger car at 60 MPH 65-75 dB Ringing telephone 80 dB Lawn mower 85-90 dB...shows that the noise would be at a level between a lawn mower and a tractor/bulldozer, which is more than sufficient to wake people at night and to...would be at a level between a lawn mower and a tractor/bulldozer, which is more than sufficient to wake people at night, and to disrupt their

  16. New Product

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    铭瑄

    2012-01-01

    Double Coin Holdings Launch New OTR Tire REM-15 With the increase of the demand for large-scale bulldozer in American market, Double Coin Group Co., Ltd. developed the Double Coin REM-15 OTR tire. This product is applicable for large-scale loader and bulldozer. The most remarkable characteristic is that it has good energy-saving performance and durability with low operating cost while the performances of tires aren't lowered. The new REM-15 is currently offered in the 17.5R25 size, which will be expanded to larger sizes in the future.

  17. 78 FR 28190 - Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) 134-Chattanooga, Tennessee; Notification of Proposed Production Activity...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-05-14

    ... to hydraulic excavators; bulldozers; wheel loaders; dump trucks; forklifts; forestry harvesters...; springs; supports; clamps; pipes; brackets; engines; engine blocks; engine plugs; engine cylinders; motors...

  18. 77 FR 23745 - Proposed Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan for the Bay Checkerspot Butterfly and Serpentine...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-04-20

    ... (including, but not limited to, bulldozers, cement trucks, water trucks, and backhoes) Erosion control... and work areas to the project site only, or to existing paved roads, Removal of all food-related trash...

  19. A Mean Wink at Authenticity: Chinese Images in Disney's "Mulan."

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mo, Weimin; Shen, Wenju

    2000-01-01

    Offers a critique from two Chinese educators with regard to the historical, cultural, linguistic, and artistic authenticity of Disney's animated film "Mulan." Argues that the filmmakers robbed the original story of its soul and "ran over Chinese culture with the Disney bulldozer," imposing mainstream cultural beliefs and…

  20. Diesel Engine Technician

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tech Directions, 2010

    2010-01-01

    Diesel engine technicians maintain and repair the engines that power transportation equipment such as heavy trucks, trains, buses, and locomotives. Some technicians work mainly on farm machines, ships, compressors, and pumps. Others work mostly on construction equipment such as cranes, power shovels, bulldozers, and paving machines. This article…

  1. Middle Level Preservice Teachers Experience a Natural History Arts-Integrated Interdisciplinary Thematic Unit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weber, Carolyn A.; Rule, Audrey C.

    2017-01-01

    Curricular demands and best practices for middle school require interdisciplinary units. Arts integration can provide motivation and a new pathway to learning. This unit focused on inquiry into the natural history of artifacts and rocks recovered from the exposed subsoil of an area near Cedar Falls, Iowa that had been bulldozed as part of…

  2. Evaporative loss from soil, native vegetation, and snow as affected by hexadecanol

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henry W. Anderson; Allan J. West; Robert R. Ziemer; Franklin R. Adams

    1963-01-01

    Abstract - Only in a bulldozed brush field and with heavy applications of hexadecanol under snow did significant reductions in evapotranspiration occur with application of hexadecanol to natural stands. Marked reductions in evaporation from snow occurred when hexadecanol emulsion was applied to the snow surface. More than two-thirds of the precipitation in the United...

  3. Technical and financial management of the fleet of vehicles of an opencast mining operation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Laversanne, J.

    1988-05-01

    The collieries of the Centre and Midi coalfield are equipped conventionally with shovels, wheeled loaders, dumpers and bulldozers. In 1986/87 the new strip mine of Carmaux was begun with its mixed extraction, using bucket wheel excavators for the Tertiary overburden and shovels and dumpers for the coal. 2 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.

  4. An experimental prescribed burn to reduce fuel hazard in chaparral

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lisle R. Green

    1970-01-01

    The feasibility of reducing fuel hazard in chaparral during safe weather conditions was studied in an experimental prescribed burn in southern California. Burning was done under fuel and weather conditions when untreated brush would not bum readily. Preparatory treatment included smashing of brush on strips with a bulldozer, and reduction of moisture content of leaves...

  5. Identifying unstable sites on logging roads

    Science.gov (United States)

    R. M. Rice; J. Lewis

    1986-01-01

    Logging roads are an important source of forestry-related erosion. The amount of erosion on a forest road is determined by the interaction between how the road is constructed and maintained and the environment in which it is built. The roads in this study were constructed with large bulldozers, and most excavated material was sidecast. The roads studied were...

  6. Pilot Evaluation of the Career Assessment Inventory for Use in Apprentice Placement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1986-08-01

    241000) (00 S2 ea Heavy Equipment 2850000(0 CD Be a Restaurant CookIPf 195 00000G Q Be an Actor * Actress Operator (bulldozer, 280004e0St ro * 96000 ea... vs . painter). 2. If the CAI is to be used at all, its best use is to counsel shipyard applicants who lack blue collar interests to carefully

  7. Squatting to end domicide? Resisting bulldozer urbanism in contemporary Shanghai

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhang, Yunpeng

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available For millions of Shanghainese on the lower rung of society, the history of the great urban transformation in the city since the 1990s is written with their tears for the loss of their homes, communities and livelihood. In this paper, I argue for squatting as a straightforward, effective and potentially radical strategy to redress the displacees’ suffering, to take a more active and progressive control of the violent accumulation process and to challenge the hegemonic discourse of private homeownership that underpins the rapid transformation of Shanghai’s urban landscape. The argument is built upon an in-depth study of a family evicted by the World Expo 2010 and squatted in a resettlement apartment. Their framing of justice and entitlement, embedded in local cultural and moral universes, not only lends legitimacy to their squatting but also mobilises popular sympathy, both of which are conducive to effective resistance.

  8. University of Otago 1998 field school excavations at Shag Point, North Otago

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weisler, M.I.

    1998-01-01

    During late 1997, discussions with Gerard O'Regan, representing Te Runanga O Moeraki, lead to combining the needs of cultural resource management, teaching and research at the Shag Point archaeological site, situated about an hour's drive north from the University of Otago. In late 1996, a car park (ca. 20 by 40 m) was bulldozed on Department of Conservation land just inland from Shag Point. Unfortunately, the north-east portion of the site, as well as cultural deposits along newly graded access roads, were destroyed. Te Runanga O Moeraki requested that I conduct archaeological survey and excavations at Shag Point to determine the extent of site destruction and to recover a sample of cultural material in the bulldozer spoil dirt. In addition to these cultural resource management objectives, it was necessary, from a research point of view, to determine: (1) the site area; (2) dates of site use; (3) the nature of occupation, subsistence practices and stone-tool technology; (4) evidence of interaction through analysis of imported artefacts; and (5) relationship of the Shag Point site to the major prehistoric village at Shag River mouth, located less than 1 km south. (author). 2 refs., 2 figs

  9. JPRS Report, Science and Technology, USSR: Science & Technology Policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1988-07-18

    equipment for the processing of wool and silk , for the leather haber- dashery industry, and others. As a whole in 1988 work will be performed on nearly...agricultural, industrial, and logging tractors, grain, corn , and potato combines, beat harvesters and cotton pickers, bulldozers, excavators... silicon . The previously unknown resonance gen- eration and amplification of the even harmonics of electromagnetic waves in case of threshold switching

  10. New Terrorism In France

    Science.gov (United States)

    2018-03-01

    garnering support for a fight against the “far enemy.”126 Although a pioneer in the use of fledgling mobile video technology, Bin Laden quickly...Baghdadi ordered the bulldozing of border signposts in a choreographed video production that followed his promise to destroy all countries’ borders.154...conflicts, such as holding religious education as a formal subject; no testing during Ramadan; abstention from music, art, biology and sex

  11. Evaluation of Rhizobium tropici-derived Biopolymer for Erosion Control of Protective Berms. Field Study: Iowa Army Ammunition Plant

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-06-01

    for two 14-hr days. Both the bulldozer and hydroseeder had a delivery surcharge; however, the contractor purchased the necessary fuel ($1800) and an...Section 4: First Aid Measures Eye Contact: Skin Contact: Inhalation : Wash with water and seek medical assistance if irritation persists. Wash...any chemicals. Inhalation : None normally required. If dust possible, a NIOSH approved respirator should be worn. ERDC TR-16-5 37 Section 9

  12. Restoring nature: continuing the conversation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paul H. Gobster; R. Bruce Hull

    2001-01-01

    In the course of our lives we are sometimes confronted by events that jolt us out of our everyday experience. These events can be positive-the birth of a child, a move to a new region or country, the rediscovery of a species thought to be lost from an ecosystem. Such events can also be negative-the death of a loved one, a lost political battle, the bulldozing of a...

  13. Estimated radiation doses resulting if an exploratory borehole penetrates a pressurized brine reservoir assumed to exist below the WIPP repository horizon: a single hole scenario

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bard, S.T.

    1982-03-01

    A radiation dose consequence analysis has been performed for a postulated scenario in which an exploratory gas or oil well-bore penetrates the repository and intercepts a brine reservoir in the Castile formation. The brine, corings and drilling mud are contained in a one acre holding pond on the surface. Upon the completion of drilling activities the dried holding pond area is reclaimed with a bulldozer to its original topographic conformation. The estimated radiation bone dose commitments to (1) a bulldozer operator, and (2) a member of a farm family 500 meters down wind are summarized for three penetration event times. The highest estimated 50 year bone dose commitment to an individual reclaiming the contaminated holding pond area was determined to be 590 mrem from the inhalation of CH-TRU wastes resuspended into the atmosphere at an event time of 100 years post-closure. A second dose model using a specific activity approach is developed in Appendix C for this same individual where an upper 50 year dose commitment of 450 mrem is calculated. Both of these derived estimates may be compared to the 5800 mrem to bone surfaces which may be expected from natural background radiation to an individual in the United States over a fifty year period

  14. Post-disturbance plant community dynamics following a rare natural-origin fire in a Tsuga canadensis forest.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bryan D Murray

    Full Text Available Opportunities to directly study infrequent forest disturbance events often lead to valuable information about vegetation dynamics. In mesic temperate forests of North America, stand-replacing crown fire occurs infrequently, with a return interval of 2000-3000 years. Rare chance events, however, may have profound impacts on the developmental trajectories of forest ecosystems. For example, it has been postulated that stand-replacing fire may have been an important factor in the establishment of eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis stands in the northern Great Lakes region. Nevertheless, experimental evidence linking hemlock regeneration to non-anthropogenic fire is limited. To clarify this potential relationship, we monitored vegetation dynamics following a rare lightning-origin crown fire in a Wisconsin hemlock-hardwood forest. We also studied vegetation in bulldozer-created fire breaks and adjacent undisturbed forest. Our results indicate that hemlock establishment was rare in the burned area but moderately common in the scarified bulldozer lines compared to the reference area. Early-successional, non-arboreal species including Rubus spp., Vaccinium angustifolium, sedges (Carex spp., grasses, Epilobium ciliatum, and Pteridium aquilinium were the most abundant post-fire species. Collectively, our results suggest that competing vegetation and moisture stress resulting from drought may reduce the efficacy of scarification treatments as well as the usefulness of fire for preparing a suitable seedbed for hemlock. The increasing prevalence of growing-season drought suggests that silvicultural strategies based on historic disturbance regimes may need to be reevaluated for mesic species.

  15. Emplacement of rock avalanche material across saturated sediments, Southern Alp, New Zealand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dufresne, A.; Davies, T. R.; McSaveney, M. J.

    2012-04-01

    The spreading of material from slope failure events is not only influenced by the volume and nature of the source material and the local topography, but also by the materials encountered in the runout path. In this study, evidence of complex interactions between rock avalanche and sedimentary runout path material were investigated at the 45 x 106 m3 long-runout (L: 4.8 km) Round Top rock avalanche deposit, New Zealand. It was sourced within myolinitic schists of the active strike-slip Alpine Fault. The narrow and in-failure-direction elongate source scarp is deep-seated, indicating slope failure was triggered by strong seismic activity. The most striking morphological deposit features are longitudinal ridges aligned radially to source. Trenching and geophysical surveys show bulldozed and sheared substrate material at ridge termini and laterally displaced sedimentary strata. The substrate failed at a minimum depth of 3 m indicating a ploughing motion of the ridges into the saturated material below. Internal avalanche compression features suggest deceleration behind the bulldozed substrate obstacle. Contorted fabric in material ahead of the ridge document substrate disruption by the overriding avalanche material deposited as the next down-motion hummock. Comparison with rock avalanches of similar volume but different emplacement environments places Round Top between longer runout avalanches emplaced over e.g. playa lake sediments and those with shorter travel distances, whose runout was apparently retarded by topographic obstacles or that entrained high-friction debris. These empirical observations indicate the importance of runout path materials on tentative trends in rock avalanche emplacement dynamics and runout behaviour.

  16. Feature Extraction for Digging Operation of Excavator Based on Data-Driven Skill-Based PID Controller

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kazushige Koiwai

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Improvement of the work efficiency is demanded by aging and reducing of the working population in the construction field, so that some automation technologies are applied to construction equipment, such as bulldozers and excavators. However, not only the automation technologies but also expert skills are necessary to improve the work efficiency. In this paper, the human skill evaluation is proposed by the data-driven skill-based PID controller. The proposed method is applied to the excavator digging operation. As the result, the difference between the novice operation and the skilled operation is extracted. Moreover, the numerical difference is clarified based on the result.

  17. Restoration of forest soils after bulldozer site preparation in the Ore Mountains over 20 years development

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Podrázský, V.; Kapička, Aleš; Kouba, M.

    2010-01-01

    Roč. 29, č. 3 (2010), s. 281-289 ISSN 1335-342X R&D Projects: GA ČR GA205/07/0941 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z30120515 Keywords : immission areas * soil degradation * trace elements Subject RIV: DE - Earth Magnetism, Geodesy, Geography

  18. System catalytic neutralization control of combustion engines waste gases in mining technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korshunov, G. I.; Solnitsev, R. I.

    2017-10-01

    The paper presents the problems solution of the atmospheric air pollution with the exhaust gases of the internal combustion engines, used in mining technologies. Such engines are used in excavators, bulldozers, dump trucks, diesel locomotives in loading and unloading processes and during transportation of minerals. NOx, CO, CH emissions as the waste gases occur during engine operation, the concentration of which must be reduced to the standard limits. The various methods and means are used for the problem solution, one of which is neutralization based on platinum catalysts. A mathematical model of a controlled catalytic neutralization system is proposed. The simulation results confirm the increase in efficiency at start-up and low engine load and the increase in the catalyst lifetime.

  19. The Challenge of Wireless Connectivity to Support Intelligent Mines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Barbosa, Viviane S. B.; Garcia, Luis G. U.; Caldwell, George

    2016-01-01

    The need for continuous safety improvements and increased operational efficiency is driving the mining industry through a transition towards large-scale automation of operations, i.e., “intelligent mines”. The technology promises to remove human operators from harsh or dangerous conditions...... for unmanned mine operations. Although voice and narrowband data radios have been used for years to support several types of mining activities, such as fleet management (dispatch) and telemetry, the use of automated equipment introduces a new set of connectivity requirements and poses a set of challenges...... in terms of network planning, management and optimization. For example, the data rates required to support unmanned equipment, e.g. a teleoperated bulldozer, shift from a few kilobits/second to megabits/second due to live video feeds. This traffic volume is well beyond the capabilities of Professional...

  20. Comprehensive work plan for the Well Driller's Steam Cleaning Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1997-02-01

    The purpose of this Comprehensive Work Plan is to address the history of the site as well as the scope, roles and responsibilities, documentation, training, environmental compliance requirements, and field actions needed to close the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Well Driller's Steam Cleaning Facility, hereinafter referred to as the Facility. The Facility was constructed in 1989 to provide a central area suitable to conduct steam cleaning operations associated with cleaning drilling equipment, containment boxes, and related accessories. Three basins were constructed of crushed stone (with multiple plastic and fabric liners) over a soil foundation to collect drill cuttings and wastewater generated by the cleaning activities. The scope of this task will be to demolish the Facility by using a bulldozer and backhoe to recontour and dismantle the area

  1. "A Rainforest in Front of a Bulldozer": The Literacy Practices of Teacher Candidates Committed to Social Justice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Janet D.

    2012-01-01

    This critical ethnographic study explores how two teacher candidates in English education used specific and varied literacy practices to enact their social justice priorities at a troubled high school in a high-need district. Data include interviews before and after the student teaching experience; observations of teaching, blogs, journals, and…

  2. Achieving the projected capacity of the Stanyantsi mine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dragiev, D

    1979-07-01

    Equipment includes 2 Skoda excavators, one Skoda E-25 power shovel, KraZ dump trucks, graders and S-100 bulldozers. The annual production of 700,000 tons is consumed by the Maritsa-Iztok 2 power plant. To increase production and eventually achieve the originally projected output of 1,400,000 tons annually it is necessary to procure an ESh-10/70 power shovel for surface work, employ all available excavating equipment in surface mining and complete an estimate of all needed mining equipment. The new exploitation plan calls for a reorganization of surface levels, realignment of surface drainage, arrangements for employment of two conveyor belts, construction of a service base for the ESh-10/70 power shovel, training of operators and maintenance crews for the ESh-10/70 power shovel, installation of new electric lines and substations and resurfacing access roads with gravel.

  3. Production and efficiency of large wildland fire suppression effort: A stochastic frontier analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katuwal, Hari; Calkin, David E; Hand, Michael S

    2016-01-15

    This study examines the production and efficiency of wildland fire suppression effort. We estimate the effectiveness of suppression resource inputs to produce controlled fire lines that contain large wildland fires using stochastic frontier analysis. Determinants of inefficiency are identified and the effects of these determinants on the daily production of controlled fire line are examined. Results indicate that the use of bulldozers and fire engines increase the production of controlled fire line, while firefighter crews do not tend to contribute to controlled fire line production. Production of controlled fire line is more efficient if it occurs along natural or built breaks, such as rivers and roads, and within areas previously burned by wildfires. However, results also indicate that productivity and efficiency of the controlled fire line are sensitive to weather, landscape and fire characteristics. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Automatic target classification of man-made objects in synthetic aperture radar images using Gabor wavelet and neural network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vasuki, Perumal; Roomi, S. Mohamed Mansoor

    2013-01-01

    Processing of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images has led to the development of automatic target classification approaches. These approaches help to classify individual and mass military ground vehicles. This work aims to develop an automatic target classification technique to classify military targets like truck/tank/armored car/cannon/bulldozer. The proposed method consists of three stages via preprocessing, feature extraction, and neural network (NN). The first stage removes speckle noise in a SAR image by the identified frost filter and enhances the image by histogram equalization. The second stage uses a Gabor wavelet to extract the image features. The third stage classifies the target by an NN classifier using image features. The proposed work performs better than its counterparts, like K-nearest neighbor (KNN). The proposed work performs better on databases like moving and stationary target acquisition and recognition against the earlier methods by KNN.

  5. Beijing 798 Art Zone: A Maturing Creative Cluster?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Waibel, Michael

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available The Beijing 798 Art Zone (北京798艺术区 is certainly the most famous cultural district within China. It is located on a spacious factory site of a former military-industrial project from the 1950s. At that time, it was realized with the support of architects from East Germany, who were responsible for designing many buildings in Bauhaus style. Already during the late 1990s, avant-garde Chinese artists and designers started to move into the mostly derelict area. The site soon became the blossoming epicenter of contemporary art in China. It was finally saved from bulldozing before the Beijing Olympic Games and has turned into a popular urban leisure area not only for the emerging bourgeois bohemians (Bobos, but also for an increasing amount of international tourists. As a pioneering art zone it became a role model for the development and management of many other creative spaces in China.

  6. Yemen watched from cement plant construction work. Cement plant koji wo toshite mita Yemen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Furuta, M [Kajima Corp., Tokyo (Japan)

    1993-06-25

    Construction of a cement plant was planned at southern part of Yemen. This is a cement plant with annual production 500,000 tons. The term of work was from January, 1990 to February, 1993. The present paper describes an outline the construction of this Cement Plant, the nationality and living environment in Yemen, and construction equipment which was used. The construction work consisted of 113,000m[sup 3] of digging, 82,000m[sup 3] of backfilling, 66,100m[sup 3] of concreting, and 29,285m[sup 3] of asphalt pavement. Reinforcing steel weighing 6,400 tons and steel frame weighing 3,600 tons were totally used. Equipment weighing 7,912 tons and electric devices weighing 1,299 tons were totally installed. For this construction work, two crawler cranes, six hydraulic cranes, aggregate plant, concrete mixers, and construction equipment, such as bulldozers, shovels, and dumpers, were brought from Japan. 5 figs.

  7. Improving machine operation management efficiency via improving the vehicle park structure and using the production operation information database

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koptev, V. Yu

    2017-02-01

    The work represents the results of studying basic interconnected criteria of separate equipment units of the transport network machines fleet, depending on production and mining factors to improve the transport systems management. Justifying the selection of a control system necessitates employing new methodologies and models, augmented with stability and transport flow criteria, accounting for mining work development dynamics on mining sites. A necessary condition is the accounting of technical and operating parameters related to vehicle operation. Modern open pit mining dispatching systems must include such kinds of the information database. An algorithm forming a machine fleet is presented based on multi-variation task solution in connection with defining reasonable operating features of a machine working as a part of a complex. Proposals cited in the work may apply to mining machines (drilling equipment, excavators) and construction equipment (bulldozers, cranes, pile-drivers), city transport and other types of production activities using machine fleet.

  8. People and things. CERN Courier, Apr 1987, v. 27(3)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1987-01-01

    The article reports on achievements of various people, staff changes and position opportunities within the CERN organization and contains news updates on upcoming or past events. On Friday February 13, bulldozers began clearing a 200 acre (80 hectare) site at Newport News, Virginia, for the proposed US Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) to provide high energy electron beams for nuclear physics. The XI International Workshop on Weak Interactions will be held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from 14- 19 June. Discussion sessions covering current topics in weak interaction physics will allow active participation by workshop attendees. The Division of Particles and Fields of the American Physical Society and the Central Design Group of the proposed US SSC Superconducting Supercollider are organizing a Workshop on Experiments, Detectors and Experimental Areas for the SSC, to be held at Berkeley from 7-17 July. As southern hemisphere astronomers witnessed a gigantic supernova explosion towards the end of February, underground neutrino detectors all over the world picked up bursts of particles

  9. People and things. CERN Courier, Apr 1987, v. 27(3)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Anon.

    1987-04-15

    The article reports on achievements of various people, staff changes and position opportunities within the CERN organization and contains news updates on upcoming or past events. On Friday February 13, bulldozers began clearing a 200 acre (80 hectare) site at Newport News, Virginia, for the proposed US Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) to provide high energy electron beams for nuclear physics. The XI International Workshop on Weak Interactions will be held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from 14- 19 June. Discussion sessions covering current topics in weak interaction physics will allow active participation by workshop attendees. The Division of Particles and Fields of the American Physical Society and the Central Design Group of the proposed US SSC Superconducting Supercollider are organizing a Workshop on Experiments, Detectors and Experimental Areas for the SSC, to be held at Berkeley from 7-17 July. As southern hemisphere astronomers witnessed a gigantic supernova explosion towards the end of February, underground neutrino detectors all over the world picked up bursts of particles.

  10. Uranium Yellow Cake accident - Wichita, Kansas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borchert, H.R.

    1987-01-01

    A tractor and semi trailer containing Uranium Yellow Cake, had overturned on I-235, Wichita, Kansas on Thursday, March 22, 1979. The truck driver and passenger were transported, with unknown injuries, to the hospital by ambulance. The shipment consisted of 54 drums of Uranium Ore Concentrate Powder. Half of the drums were damaged or had their lids off. Since it was raining at the time of the accident, plastic was used to cover the barrels and spilled material in an attempt to contain the yellow cake. A bulldozer was used to construct a series of dams in the median and the ditch to contain the run-off water from the contaminated area. Adverse and diverse weather conditions hampered the clean up operations over the next several days. The contaminated water and soil were shipped back to the mine for reintroduction into the milling process. The equipment was decontaminated prior to being released from the site. The clean up personnel wore protective clothing and respiratory protection equipment, if necessary. All individuals were surveyed and decontaminated prior to exiting the area

  11. Tabletop Tectonics: Diverse Mountain Ranges Using Flour and Graphite

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, D. M.

    2006-12-01

    It has been recognized for some time that the frontal deformation zones where plates converge (foreland fold- and-thrust belts on continents and accretionary wedges at subduction zones) involve shortening over a decoupling layer, or decollement. A simple but successful way of explaining many aspects of their behavior is called the critical Coulomb wedge model, which regards these contractional wedges as analogous to the wedge-shaped mass of soil accreted in front of a bulldozer, or the wedge of snow that piles up in front of a snow plow. The shape and deformation history of the accreted wedge of soil or snow will depend upon the frictional strength of the material being plowed up and the surface over which it is being plowed. The same is true of `bulldozer' wedges consisting of many km thick piles of sediment at convergent plate margins. Using flour (or powdered milk), sandpaper, graphite, transparency sheets, and athletic field marker chalk, manipulated with sieves, brushes, pastry bags and blocks and sheets of wood, it is possible to demonstrate a wide variety of processes and tectonic styles observed at convergent plate boundaries. Model fold-and-thrust belts that behave like natural examples with a decollement that is strong (e.g., in rock without high pore fluid pressure) or weak (e.g., in a salt horizon or with elevated pore fluid pressure) can be generated simply by placing wither sandpaper or graphite beneath the flour that is pushed across the tabletop using a block of wood (the strong basement and hiterland rocks behind the fold-thrust belt). Depending upon the strength of the decollement, the cross-sectional taper of the deforming wedge will be thin or broad, the internal deformation mild or intense, and the structures either close to symmetric or strongly forward-vergent, just as at the analogous natural fold-thrust belts. Including a horizontal sheet of wood or Plexiglas in front of the pushing block allows generation of an accretionary wedge, outer

  12. Crevasse detection with GPR across the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delaney, A.; Arcone, S.

    2005-12-01

    We have used 400-MHz ground penetrating radar (GPR) to detect crevasses within a shear zone on the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica, to support traverse operations. The transducer was attached to a 6.5-m boom and pushed ahead of an enclosed tracked vehicle. Profile speeds of 4.8-11.3 km / hr allowed real-time crevasse image display and a quick, safe stop when required. Thirty-two crevasses were located with radar along the 4.8 km crossing. Generally, crevasse radar images were characterized by dipping reflections above the voids, high-amplitude reflections originating from ice layers at the base of the snow-bridges, and slanting, diffracting reflections from near-vertical crevasse walls. New cracks and narrow crevasses (back-filling with bulldozed snow, afforded an opportunity to ground-truth GPR interpretations by comparing void size and snow-bridge geometry with the radar images. While second and third season radar profiles collected along the identical flagged route confirmed stability of the filled crevasses, those profiles also identified several new cracks opened by ice extension. Our experiments demonstrate capability of high-frequency GPR in a cold-snow environment for both defining snow layers and locating voids.

  13. Dynamic Modeling and Soil Mechanics for Path Planning of the Mars Exploration Rovers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trease, Brian; Arvidson, Raymond; Lindemann, Randel; Bennett, Keith; Zhou, Feng; Iagnemma, Karl; Senatore, Carmine; Van Dyke, Lauren

    2011-01-01

    To help minimize risk of high sinkage and slippage during drives and to better understand soil properties and rover terramechanics from drive data, a multidisciplinary team was formed under the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) project to develop and utilize dynamic computer-based models for rover drives over realistic terrains. The resulting tool, named ARTEMIS (Adams-based Rover Terramechanics and Mobility Interaction Simulator), consists of the dynamic model, a library of terramechanics subroutines, and the high-resolution digital elevation maps of the Mars surface. A 200-element model of the rovers was developed and validated for drop tests before launch, using MSC-Adams dynamic modeling software. Newly modeled terrain-rover interactions include the rut-formation effect of deformable soils, using the classical Bekker-Wong implementation of compaction resistances and bull-dozing effects. The paper presents the details and implementation of the model with two case studies based on actual MER telemetry data. In its final form, ARTEMIS will be used in a predictive manner to assess terrain navigability and will become part of the overall effort in path planning and navigation for both Martian and lunar rovers.

  14. A method for assessing the physical recovery of Antarctic desert pavements following human-induced disturbances: a case study in the Ross Sea region of Antarctica.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Neill, Tanya A; Balks, Megan R; López-Martínez, Jerónimo; McWhirter, Judi L

    2012-12-15

    With increasing visitor numbers an understanding of the impacts of human activities in Antarctic terrestrial environments has become important. The objective of this study was to develop a means for assessing recovery of the ground surface desert pavement following physical disturbance. A set of 11 criteria were identified to assess desert pavement recovery. Assessed criteria were: embeddedness of surface clasts; impressions of removed clasts; degree of clast surface weathering; % overturned clasts; salt on underside of clasts; development of salt coatings; armouring per m(2); colour contrast; evidence of subsidence/melt out; accumulation of salt on cut surfaces; and evidence of patterned ground development. Recovery criteria were assigned a severity/extent rating on a scale from zero to four, zero being highly disturbed, and four being undisturbed. A relative % recovery for each criteria was calculated for each site by comparison with a nearby undisturbed control area, and an overall Mean Recovery Index (MRI) was assigned to each pavement surface. To test the method, 54 sites in the Ross Sea region of Antarctica were investigated including areas disturbed by: bulldozer scraping for road-fill, contouring for infrastructure, geotechnical investigations, and experimental treading trial sites. Disturbances had occurred at timescales ranging from one week to 50 years prior to assessment. The extent of desert pavement recovery at the sites investigated in this study was higher than anticipated. Fifty of the 54 sites investigated were in an intermediate, or higher, stage of desert pavement recovery, 30 sites were in an advanced stage of recovery, and four sites were indistinguishable from adjacent control sites (MRI = 100%). It was found that active surfaces, such as the gravel beach deposits at the Greenpeace World Park Base site at Cape Evans, the aeolian sand deposits at Bull Pass, and the alluvial fan deposits of the Loop Moraine field campsite, recovered relatively

  15. Bio-mechanical removing of contaminated soils: a field experiment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jouve, A.; Maubert, H.; Schulte, E.

    1992-01-01

    If, in spite of safety precautions, a major nuclear accident would occur, countermeasures should be taken to attenuate the impact of radioactive deposits. The European RESSAC program (REhabilitation of Soils and Surfaces after an ACcident) aims at studying actions for normal life return in contaminated zones. One of them, called the Decontaminating Vegetal Network (D.V.N.) associates the biological action of turfing plants, producing a dense root-network capable to trap the top contaminated soil particles, and the mechanical efficiency of a turf harvester which can remove only 1 cm of soil. This performance, not associated with other techniques of soil removal such as scrapers or bulldozers, leads to minimize the waste production. The D.V.N is a vegetal cover spread over the contaminated soil, using the hydro-seeding technique. The growing plants are forming a pleasant lawn which may have a positive impact on the public opinion compared to techniques using bitumen mixtures to cover the soil. Field experiments involving labelling solutions of stable molybdenum salts simulating the contamination of the soil have shown that this technique can be applied as well on homogeneous cultivated soil surfaces as on roughly ploughed soils. 4 refs., 3 figs., 2 tabs

  16. Metaphor and the 'Emergent Property' Problem: A Relevance-Theoretic Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robyn Carston

    2008-08-01

    Full Text Available The interpretation of metaphorical utterances often results in the attribution of emergent properties; these are properties which are neither standardly associated with the individual constituents of the utterance in isolation nor derivable by standard rules of semantic composition. For example, an utterance of ‘Robert is a bulldozer’ may be understood as attributing to Robert such properties as single-mindedness, insistence on having things done in his way, and insensitivity to the opinions/feelings of others, although none of these is included in the encyclopaedic information associated with bulldozers (earth-clearing machines. An adequate pragmatic account of metaphor interpretation must provide an explanation of the processes through which emergent properties are derived. In this paper, we attempt to develop an explicit account of the derivation process couched within the framework of relevance theory. The key features of our account are: (a metaphorical language use is taken to lie on a continuum with other cases of loose use, including hyperbole; (b metaphor interpretation is a wholly inferential process, which does not require associative mappings from one domain (e.g. machines to another (e.g. human beings; (c the derivation of emergent properties involves no special interpretive mechanisms not required for the interpretation of ordinary, literal utterances.

  17. Modelling and design of undercarriage components of large-scale earthmoving equipment in tar sand operations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Szymanski, J.; Frimpong, S.; Sobieski, R. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada). Centre for Advanced Energy and Minerals Research

    2004-07-01

    This presentation described the fundamental and applied research work which has been carried out at the University of Alberta's Centre for Advanced Energy and Minerals Research to improve the undercarriage elements of large scale earthmoving equipment used in oil sands mining operations. A new method has been developed to predict the optimum curvature and blade geometry of earth moving equipment such as bulldozers and motor graders. A mathematical relationship has been found to approximate the optimum blade shape for reducing cutting resistance and fill resistance. The equation is a function of blade geometry and soil properties. It is the first model that can mathematically optimize the shape of a blade on earth moving equipment. A significant saving in undercarriage components can be achieved from reducing the amount of cutting and filling resistance for this type of equipment working on different soils. A Sprocket Carrier Roller for a Tracked Vehicle was also invented to replace the conventional cylindrical carrier roller. The new sprocket type carrier roller offers greater support for the drive track and other components of the undercarriage assembly. A unique retaining pin assembly has also been designed to detach connecting disposable wear parts from earthmoving equipment. The retaining pin assembly is easy to assemble and disassemble and includes reusable parts. 13 figs.

  18. Aerial photography in peat production technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tervo, M.

    1998-01-01

    In this project, possibilities of using aerial photography in peat technology were studied experimentally, the frequency of self-heating in peat stockpiles was surveyed and the effect of compacting on the inner temperature in a self-heated milled peat stockpile was studied. Air photographs can be used in several sub-fields of the peat production. On the basis of these photos it is possible to draw conclusions from the environmental impacts of peat production, from conditions in the peat field, and from qualitative and moisture differences of surface peat. In addition, aerial photography can be utilised in updating bog maps. On the basis of aerial thermal photography in autumns 1987 - 1993, 29 % of milled peat stockpiles, and 4 % of sod peat stockpiles were found to be self-heated. The susceptibility to self-heating varied at different peatlands. The effect of compacting with a bulldozer was studied at three self-heated test stock-piles, two of which were compacted. The inner temperatures in the test stockpiles decreased significantly over the three-month monitoring period. The falls in the inner temperature of all three stockpiles were identical. Compacting did not have any significant effect on the temperature fall or on the rate of fall. The number of test stockpiles (3) is insufficient to give any statistical reliability. (orig.)

  19. Spatial variability of soil chemical properties after coffee tree removal Variabilidade espacial dos atributos químicos do solo após remoção de cafezal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sidney Rosa Vieira

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Assessing the spatial variability of soil chemical properties has become an important aspect of soil management strategies with a view to higher crop yields with minimal environmental degradation. This study was carried out at the Centro Experimental of the Instituto Agronomico, in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. The aim was to characterize the spatial variability of chemical properties of a Rhodic Hapludox on a recently bulldozer-cleaned area after over 30 years of coffee cultivation. Soil samples were collected in a 20 x 20 m grid with 36 sampling points across a 1 ha area in the layers 0.0-0.2 and 0.2-0.4 m to measure the following chemical properties: pH, organic matter, K+, P, Ca2+, Mg2+, potential acidity, NH4-N, and NO3-N. Descriptive statistics were applied to assess the central tendency and dispersion moments. Geostatistical methods were applied to evaluate and to model the spatial variability of variables by calculating semivariograms and kriging interpolation. Spatial dependence patterns defined by spherical model adjusted semivariograms were made for all cited soil properties. Moderate to strong degrees of spatial dependence were found between 31 and 60 m. It was still possible to map soil spatial variability properties in the layers 0-20 cm and 20-40 cm after plant removal with bulldozers.A avaliação da variabilidade espacial dos atributos químicos do solo tem se tornado importante ferramenta na determinação de estratégias de manejo que visam aumentar a produtividade agrícola com menor degradação ambiental. O presente trabalho foi realizado no Centro Experimental Central do Instituto Agronômico, localizado em Campinas/SP, com o objetivo de caracterizar a variabilidade espacial dos atributos químicos de um Latossolo Vermelho após a remoção de um cafezal, cultivado por mais de 30 anos, com trator de esteira. As amostras de solo foram coletadas em grade georreferenciada de 20 x 20 m, totalizando 36 pontos nas camadas de 0

  20. Decontamination and Decommissioning of the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perry, E.; Chrzanowski, J.; Rule, K.; Viola, M.; Williams, M.; Strykowsky, R.

    1999-01-01

    The Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) is a one-of-a-kind, tritium-fueled fusion research reactor that ceased operation in April 1997. The Decontamination and Decommissioning (D and D) of the TFTR is scheduled to occur over a period of three years beginning in October 1999. This is not a typical Department of Energy D and D Project where a facility is isolated and cleaned up by ''bulldozing'' all facility and hardware systems to a greenfield condition. The mission of TFTR D and D is to: (a) surgically remove items which can be re-used within the DOE complex, (b) remove tritium contaminated and activated systems for disposal, (c) clear the test cell of hardware for future reuse, (d) reclassify the D-site complex as a non-nuclear facility as defined in DOE Order 420.1 (Facility Safety) and (e) provide data on the D and D of a large magnetic fusion facility. The 100 cubic meter volume of the donut-shaped reactor makes it the second largest fusion reactor in the world. The record-breaking deuterium-tritium experiments performed on TFTR resulted in contaminating the vacuum vessel with tritium and activating the materials with 14 Mev neutrons. The total tritium content within the vessel is in excess of 7,000 Curies while dose rates approach 75 mRem/hr. These radiological hazards along with the size and shape of the Tokamak present a unique and challenging task for dismantling

  1. Identification of potential hazards associated with new residential construction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Methner, M M

    2000-02-01

    There were several advantages and limitations of this observational study. The most important advantage of this study was the opportunity to observe residential construction workers performing their jobs. By observing work practices, valuable information was gathered about specific trades and their potential exposure to various chemical and physical agents. This information will be useful in guiding subsequent exposure assessments. Probably the greatest limitation of this study was the lack of participation by homebuilders. Ideally, observations of construction processes would have been more objective if the study included the participation of more than one homebuilder. Aside from one worker who was observed to wear safety glasses, leather gloves, and a dust mask, virtually no personal protective equipment (PPE) was observed onsite. Often small contractors do not have the financial resources necessary to procure the appropriate PPE and issue these items to the workers. Based on hazard prevalence, professional judgement, and the degree of hazardous product use, potential exposures that warrant quantitative sampling efforts during Phase 2 of this study are: bulldozer/backhoe operators--noise, vibration, diesel exhaust; concrete workers--naphtha, mineral spirits, Portland cement; asphalt workers--petroleum hydrocarbons, asphalt, mineral spirits; plumbers--methylethyl ketone, acetone, tetrahydrofuran, cyclohexanone; drywall finishers--total and respirable dust, hexane, acetone; painters--ethylene glycol, VOCs; masons--dust (during the preparation of mortar); floor preparation technicians--total and respirable dust; and ceramic tile installers--toluene, naphtha, silica (from grout powder).

  2. Effectiveness of the GAEC standard of cross compliance Prohibition of performing unauthorized land levelling on soil erosion control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paolo Bazzoffi

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available The GAEC standard land levelling under authorization of cross compliance prohibits farmers from levelling land through bulldozing without a specific permission issued by the proper territorial authority. The aim of the standard is to ensure the protection of soil from accelerated erosion that almost always occurs when land is levelled without conservative criteria. Land levelling prior to planting or replanting specialized crops, especially orchards, is indicated by agronomists as essential to the full mechanization of cultivation and harvesting operations and the success of economic investment. Land levelling leads to a deep modification of the hill slopes, so it may produce serious damage to the environment if carried out in the absence of a carefully planned design. In other words, a design that takes the aspects of soil conservation into account, especially for steep hill slopes where the insite and offsite environmental impacts of soil erosion may be more pronounced. With regard to the areas involved, land levelling plays a key role on a national scale, one only needs to think of the vineyards planted on the country’s hill slopes, which in 1970 covered an area of 793,000 hectares. Moreover, despite the continued reduction in areas planted with vines, from 1990 to 2002 the area devoted to DOC and DOCG wines increased by about 29% and the average size of vineyards has also increased. This is a clear sign of the current trend, with the transition from the family model to the industrial model of orchard management, with extensive use of machinery and thus the use of bulldozers for levelling. The authorization topic, on which the standard of compliance is based, is analysed in detail. In summary we can say that, according to law, the permit required by the GAEC standard is currently mandatory only for those areas subject to the Hydrogeological constraint (Royal decree 30 December 1923 No. 3267 and for parks or other areas for which the

  3. Probability mapping of contaminants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rautman, C.A.; Kaplan, P.G.; McGraw, M.A.; Istok, J.D.; Sigda, J.M.

    1994-01-01

    Exhaustive characterization of a contaminated site is a physical and practical impossibility. Descriptions of the nature, extent, and level of contamination, as well as decisions regarding proposed remediation activities, must be made in a state of uncertainty based upon limited physical sampling. The probability mapping approach illustrated in this paper appears to offer site operators a reasonable, quantitative methodology for many environmental remediation decisions and allows evaluation of the risk associated with those decisions. For example, output from this approach can be used in quantitative, cost-based decision models for evaluating possible site characterization and/or remediation plans, resulting in selection of the risk-adjusted, least-cost alternative. The methodology is completely general, and the techniques are applicable to a wide variety of environmental restoration projects. The probability-mapping approach is illustrated by application to a contaminated site at the former DOE Feed Materials Production Center near Fernald, Ohio. Soil geochemical data, collected as part of the Uranium-in-Soils Integrated Demonstration Project, have been used to construct a number of geostatistical simulations of potential contamination for parcels approximately the size of a selective remediation unit (the 3-m width of a bulldozer blade). Each such simulation accurately reflects the actual measured sample values, and reproduces the univariate statistics and spatial character of the extant data. Post-processing of a large number of these equally likely statistically similar images produces maps directly showing the probability of exceeding specified levels of contamination (potential clean-up or personnel-hazard thresholds)

  4. Probability mapping of contaminants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rautman, C.A.; Kaplan, P.G. [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States); McGraw, M.A. [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Istok, J.D. [Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States); Sigda, J.M. [New Mexico Inst. of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM (United States)

    1994-04-01

    Exhaustive characterization of a contaminated site is a physical and practical impossibility. Descriptions of the nature, extent, and level of contamination, as well as decisions regarding proposed remediation activities, must be made in a state of uncertainty based upon limited physical sampling. The probability mapping approach illustrated in this paper appears to offer site operators a reasonable, quantitative methodology for many environmental remediation decisions and allows evaluation of the risk associated with those decisions. For example, output from this approach can be used in quantitative, cost-based decision models for evaluating possible site characterization and/or remediation plans, resulting in selection of the risk-adjusted, least-cost alternative. The methodology is completely general, and the techniques are applicable to a wide variety of environmental restoration projects. The probability-mapping approach is illustrated by application to a contaminated site at the former DOE Feed Materials Production Center near Fernald, Ohio. Soil geochemical data, collected as part of the Uranium-in-Soils Integrated Demonstration Project, have been used to construct a number of geostatistical simulations of potential contamination for parcels approximately the size of a selective remediation unit (the 3-m width of a bulldozer blade). Each such simulation accurately reflects the actual measured sample values, and reproduces the univariate statistics and spatial character of the extant data. Post-processing of a large number of these equally likely statistically similar images produces maps directly showing the probability of exceeding specified levels of contamination (potential clean-up or personnel-hazard thresholds).

  5. Lithology, fault displacement, and origin of secondary calcium carbonate and opaline silica at Trenches 14 and 14D on the Bow Ridge Fault at Exile Hill, Nye County, Nevada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taylor, E.M.; Huckins, H.E.

    1995-01-01

    Yucca Mountain, a proposed site for a high-level nuclear-waste repository, is located in southern Nevada, 20 km east of Beatty, and adjacent to the southwest comer of the Nevada Test Site (NTS) (fig. 1). Yucca Mountain is located within the Basin and Range province of the western United States. The climate is semiarid, and the flora is transitional between that of the Mojave Desert to the south and the Great Basin Desert to the north. As part of the evaluation, hydrologic conditions, especially water levels, of Yucca Mountain and vicinity during the Quaternary, and especially the past 20,000 years, are being characterized. In 1982, the US Geological Survey, in cooperation with the US Department of Energy (under interagency agreement DE-A104-78ET44802), excavated twenty-six bulldozer and backhoe trenches in the Yucca Mountain region to evaluate the nature and frequency of Quaternary faulting (Swadley and others, 1984). The trenches were oriented perpendicular to traces of suspected Quaternary faults and across projections of known bedrock faults into Quaternary deposits. Trench 14 exposes the Bow Ridge Fault on the west side of Exile Hill. Although the original purpose of the excavation of trench 14 was to evaluate the nature and frequency of Quaternary faulting on the Bow Ridge Fault, concern arose as to whether or not the nearly vertical calcium carbonate (the term ''carbonate'' in this study refers to calcium carbonate) and opaline silica veins in the fault zone were deposited by ascending waters (ground water). These veins resemble in gross morphology veins commonly formed by hydrothermal processes

  6. Managing away bad habits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waldroop, J; Butler, T

    2000-01-01

    We've all worked with highly competent people who are held back by a seemingly fatal personality flaw. One person takes on too much work; another sees the downside in every proposed change; a third pushes people out of the way. At best, people with these "bad habits" create their own glass ceilings, which limit their success and their contributions to the company. At worst, they destroy their own careers. Although the psychological flaws of such individuals run deep, their managers are not helpless. In this article, James Waldroop and Timothy Butler--both psychologists--examine the root causes of these flaws and suggest concrete tactics they have used to help people recognize and correct the following six behavior patterns: The hero, who always pushes himself--and subordinates--too hard to do too much for too long. The meritocrat, who believes that the best ideas can and will be determined objectively and ignores the politics inherent in most situations. The bulldozer, who runs roughshod over others in a quest for power. The pessimist, who always worries about what could go wrong. The rebel, who automatically fights against authority and convention. And the home run hitter, who tries to do too much too soon--he swings for the fences before he's learned to hit singles. Helping people break through their self-created glass ceilings is the ultimate win-win scenario: both the individual and the organization are rewarded. Using the tactics introduced in this article, managers can help their brilliantly flawed performers become spectacular achievers.

  7. HOUDINI: RECONFIGURABEL IN-TANK ROBOT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bruce Thompson; Adam Slifko

    1997-02-12

    This report details the development of a reconfigurable in-tank robotic cleanup systems called Houdini{trademark}. Driven by the general need to develop equipment for the removal of radioactive waste from hundreds of DOE waste storage tanks and the specific needs of DOE sites such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Fernald, Houdini{trademark} represents one of the possible tools that can be used to mobilize and retrieve this waste material for complete remediation. Houdini{trademark} is a hydraulically powered, track driven, mobile work vehicle with a collapsible frame designed to enter underground or above ground waste tanks through existing 24 inch riser openings. After the vehicle has entered the waste tank, it unfolds and lands on the waste surface or tank floor to become a remotely operated mini-bulldozer. Houdini{trademark} utilizes a vehicle mounted plow blade and 6-DOF manipulator to mobile waste and carry other tooling such as sluicing pumps, excavation buckets, and hydraulic shears. The complete Houdini{trademark} system consists of the tracked vehicle and other support equipment (e.g., control console, deployment system, hydraulic power supply, and controller) necessary to deploy and remotely operate this system at any DOE site. Inside the storage tanks, the system is capable of performing heel removal, waste mobilization, waste size reduction, and other tank waste retrieval and decommissioning tasks. The first Houdini{trademark} system was delivered on September 24, 1996 to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The system acceptance test was successfully performed at a cold test facility at ORNL. After completion of the cold test program and the training of site personnel, ORNL will deploy the system for clean-up and remediation of the Gunite storage tanks.

  8. EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS OF ENERGY ACCUMULATING MECHANISM FOR TRACTOR WITH ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSMISSION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ch. I. Zhdanovich

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Dependence of tractor wheel torque on theoretical tractor motion speed has been used for comparison of tractor operation with electromechanical transmission with installation of energy accumulating mechanism and without its installation. In this case a traction asynchronous electric motor is operating under nominal and limit conditions. The paper also considers dependence diagrams of actual input power for the traction asynchronous electric motor and its losses due to theoretical tractor motion speed. Tractor wheel torque is limited during the operation of the traction asynchronous electric motor with energy accumulating mechanisms by the following factors: maximum electric motor torque at the given frequency of supply voltage; maximum value of internal combustion motor output which can be transferred to the traction asynchronous electric motor; grip of the wheels. During the operation of the traction asynchronous electric motor with energy accumulating mechanisms there is a possibility for short power consumption without regard to the second limitation because it is possible to use power not only of internal combustion motor but also the power which is stored in the energy accumulating mechanisms. Comparison of characteristics has been made when a tractor is operating at high gear and when it is operating at all gears (that is two gears. Operation of the 5th class tractors has been analyzed for all possible cases (operation with energy accumulating mechanisms and without the mechanisms while being operated at all gears and various types of work: tilling, sowing, cultivation, bulldozing work, transport mode. In this case equipment has been used which is aggregated with the 5th class tractor. 

  9. Phase 1 archaeological investigation, cultural resources survey, Hawaii Geothermal Project, Makawao and Hana districts, south shore of Maui, Hawaii

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Erkelens, C. [International Archaeological Research Inst., Inc., Honolulu, HI (United States)

    1995-04-01

    This report details the archaeological investigation of a 200 foot wide sample corridor extending approximately 9 miles along the southern portion of Maui within the present districts of Hana and Makawao. The survey team documented a total of 51 archaeological sites encompassing 233 surface features. Archaeological sites are abundant throughout the region and only become scarce where vegetation has been bulldozed for ranching activities. At the sea-land transition points for the underwater transmission cable, both Ahihi Bay and Huakini Bay are subjected to seasonal erosion and redeposition of their boulder shorelines. The corridor at the Ahihi Bay transition point runs through the Maonakala Village Complex which is an archaeological site on the State Register of Historic Places within a State Natural Area Reserve. Numerous other potentially significant archaeological sites lie within the project corridor. It is likely that rerouting of the corridor in an attempt to avoid known sites would result in other undocumented sites located outside the sample corridor being impacted. Given the distribution of archaeological sites, there is no alternative route that can be suggested that is likely to avoid encountering sites. Twelve charcoal samples were obtained for potential taxon identification and radiocarbon analysis. Four of these samples were subsequently submitted for dating and species identification. Bird bones from various locations within a lava tube were collected for identification. Sediment samples for subsequent pollen analysis were obtained from within two lava tubes. With these three sources of information it is hoped that paleoenvironmental data can be recovered that will enable a better understanding of the setting for Hawaiian habitation of the area.

  10. Houdini trademark: Reconfigurable in-tank mobile robot. Final report, June 1995 - January 1997

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thompson, B.; Slifko, A.

    1998-01-01

    This report details the development of a reconfigurable in-tank robotic cleanup system called Houdini trademark. Driven by the general need to develop equipment for the removal of radioactive waste from hundreds of DOE waste storage tanks and the specific needs of DOE sites such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Fernald, Houdini trademark represents one of the possible tools that can be used to mobilize and retrieve this waste material for complete remediation. Houdini trademark is a hydraulically powered, track driven, mobile work vehicle with a collapsible frame designed to enter underground or above ground waste tanks through existing 24 inch riser openings. After the vehicle has entered the waste tank, it unfolds and lands on the waste surface or tank floor to become a remotely operated mini-bulldozer. Houdini trademark utilizes a vehicle mounted plow blade and 6-DOF manipulator to mobilize waste and carry other tooling such as sluicing pumps, excavation buckets, and hydraulic shears. The complete Houdini trademark system consists of the tracked vehicle and other support equipment (e.g., control console, deployment system, hydraulic power supply, and controller) necessary to deploy and remotely operate this system at any DOE site. Inside the storage tanks, the system is capable of performing heel removal, waste mobilization, waste size reduction, and other tank waste retrieval and decommissioning tasks. The first Houdini trademark system was delivered on September 24, 1996 to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The system acceptance test was successfully performed at a cold test facility at ORNL. After completion of the cold test program and the training of site personnel, ORNL will deploy the system for clean-up and remediation of the Gunite storage tanks

  11. The Clearing : Heidegger’s Lichtung and the big scrub

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Garbutt, Rob

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Clearings make settlement possible. Whether on a small scale using an axe and other hand implements to make way for a dwelling and a garden, or on a large scale with a chain strung between two D9 bulldozers in preparation for a major agribusiness development, the process of clearing creates spaces for installing something new. This paper uses the idea of (the clearing, as practice, process, outcome and metaphor, to examine the installation of the locals in a settler society. Using Lismore on the far-north coast of New South Wales, Australia, as a case example, the particular work of clearing that is discussed here is a practice that enables a form of colonisation and settlement that distances itself from its history of migration. This is a history of settler locals who were 'always here', and a colonial form of clearing clears the land and the mind of troubling pasts and of troubling presences. For the locals within a place, then, clearing manages and simplifies a complex set of social and material relations, histories and identities.Using Anthony Appiah's concept the 'space clearing gesture', the paper concludes with a reflection on the space in which the idea of "the clearing" and this paper appears. Do places, in this instance rural places, provide a type of clearing in which certain ideas might appear that may not appear elsewhere? If situatedness matters then the diversity of places where thinking is done is important for our ecology of thought, and in connection with this, perhaps what 'rural cultural studies' does is clear a particular type of space for thinking.

  12. Houdini{trademark}: Reconfigurable in-tank mobile robot. Final report, June 1995--January 1997

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thompson, B.; Slifko, A.

    1998-12-31

    This report details the development of a reconfigurable in-tank robotic cleanup system called Houdini{trademark}. Driven by the general need to develop equipment for the removal of radioactive waste from hundreds of DOE waste storage tanks and the specific needs of DOE sites such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Fernald, Houdini{trademark} represents one of the possible tools that can be used to mobilize and retrieve this waste material for complete remediation. Houdini{trademark} is a hydraulically powered, track driven, mobile work vehicle with a collapsible frame designed to enter underground or above ground waste tanks through existing 24 inch riser openings. After the vehicle has entered the waste tank, it unfolds and lands on the waste surface or tank floor to become a remotely operated mini-bulldozer. Houdini{trademark} utilizes a vehicle mounted plow blade and 6-DOF manipulator to mobilize waste and carry other tooling such as sluicing pumps, excavation buckets, and hydraulic shears. The complete Houdini{trademark} system consists of the tracked vehicle and other support equipment (e.g., control console, deployment system, hydraulic power supply, and controller) necessary to deploy and remotely operate this system at any DOE site. Inside the storage tanks, the system is capable of performing heel removal, waste mobilization, waste size reduction, and other tank waste retrieval and decommissioning tasks. The first Houdini{trademark} system was delivered on September 24, 1996 to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The system acceptance test was successfully performed at a cold test facility at ORNL. After completion of the cold test program and the training of site personnel, ORNL will deploy the system for clean-up and remediation of the Gunite storage tanks.

  13. Geomorphology of the Elwha River and its Delta: Chapter 3 in Coastal habitats of the Elwha River, Washington--biological and physical patterns and processes prior to dam removal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warrick, Jonathan A.; Draut, Amy E.; McHenry, Michael L.; Miller, Ian M.; Magirl, Christopher S.; Beirne, Matthew M.; Stevens, Andrew Stevens; Logan, Joshua B.; Duda, Jeffrey J.; Warrick, Jonathan A.; Magirl, Christopher S.

    2011-01-01

    The removal of two dams on the Elwha River will introduce massive volumes of sediment to the river, and this increase in sediment supply in the river will likely modify the shapes and forms of the river and coastal landscape downstream of the dams. This chapter provides the geologic and geomorphologic background of the Olympic Peninsula and the Elwha River with emphasis on the present river and shoreline. The Elwha River watershed was formed through the uplift of the Olympic Mountains, erosion and movement of sediment throughout the watershed from glaciers, and downslope movement of sediment from gravitational and hydrologic forces. Recent alterations to the river morphology and sediment movement through the river include the two large dams slated to be removed in 2011, but also include repeated bulldozing of channel boundaries, construction and maintenance of flood plain levees, a weir and diversion channel for water supply purposes, and engineered log jams to help enhance river habitat for salmon. The shoreline of the Elwha River delta has changed in location by several kilometers during the past 14,000 years, in response to variations in the local sea-level of approximately 150 meters. Erosion of the shoreline has accelerated during the past 80 years, resulting in landward movement of the beach by more than 200 meters near the river mouth, net reduction in the area of coastal wetlands, and the development of an armored low-tide terrace of the beach consisting primarily of cobble. Changes to the river and coastal morphology during and following dam removal may be substantial, and consistent, long-term monitoring of these systems will be needed to characterize the effects of the dam removal project.

  14. HOUDINI: RECONFIGURABEL IN-TANK ROBOT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bruce Thompson; Adam Slifko

    1997-01-01

    This report details the development of a reconfigurable in-tank robotic cleanup systems called Houdini(trademark). Driven by the general need to develop equipment for the removal of radioactive waste from hundreds of DOE waste storage tanks and the specific needs of DOE sites such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Fernald, Houdini(trademark) represents one of the possible tools that can be used to mobilize and retrieve this waste material for complete remediation. Houdini(trademark) is a hydraulically powered, track driven, mobile work vehicle with a collapsible frame designed to enter underground or above ground waste tanks through existing 24 inch riser openings. After the vehicle has entered the waste tank, it unfolds and lands on the waste surface or tank floor to become a remotely operated mini-bulldozer. Houdini(trademark) utilizes a vehicle mounted plow blade and 6-DOF manipulator to mobile waste and carry other tooling such as sluicing pumps, excavation buckets, and hydraulic shears. The complete Houdini(trademark) system consists of the tracked vehicle and other support equipment (e.g., control console, deployment system, hydraulic power supply, and controller) necessary to deploy and remotely operate this system at any DOE site. Inside the storage tanks, the system is capable of performing heel removal, waste mobilization, waste size reduction, and other tank waste retrieval and decommissioning tasks. The first Houdini(trademark) system was delivered on September 24, 1996 to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The system acceptance test was successfully performed at a cold test facility at ORNL. After completion of the cold test program and the training of site personnel, ORNL will deploy the system for clean-up and remediation of the Gunite storage tanks

  15. The Clearing: Heidegger’s Lichtung and The Big Scrub

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rob Garbutt

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available Clearings make settlement possible. Whether on a small scale using an axe and other hand implements to make way for a dwelling and a garden, or on a large scale with a chain strung between two D9 bulldozers in preparation for a major agribusiness development, the process of clearing creates spaces for installing something new. This paper uses the idea of (the clearing, as practice, process, outcome and metaphor, to examine the installation of the locals in a settler society. Using Lismore on the far-north coast of New South Wales, Australia, as a case example, the particular work of clearing that is discussed here is a practice that enables a form of colonisation and settlement that distances itself from its history of migration. This is a history of settler locals who were 'always here', and a colonial form of clearing clears the land and the mind of troubling pasts and of troubling presences. For the locals within a place, then, clearing manages and simplifies a complex set of social and material relations, histories and identities. Using Anthony Appiah's concept the 'space clearing gesture', the paper concludes with a reflection on the space in which the idea of "the clearing" and this paper appears. Do places, in this instance rural places, provide a type of clearing in which certain ideas might appear that may not appear elsewhere? If situatedness matters then the diversity of places where thinking is done is important for our ecology of thought, and in connection with this, perhaps what 'rural cultural studies' does is clear a particular type of space for thinking.

  16. The face of things to come

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Diggins, T.

    1999-01-01

    Saving of the Franklin River in Tasmania, from inundation beneath a hydro-electric dam is chronicled. The movement to save the river begun in 1972 when Lake Pedder, an exquisite alpine lake in the rugged Tasmanian southwest wilderness, disappeared under the rising flood waters of the Serpentine Dam which, while adding only 42 MW of power to Tasmania's electricity grid, ripped the heart and soul out of the wilderness. The tragic loss of Lake Pedder laid the foundation for a new environmental movement in Australia, inspiring a whole generation of wilderness activists, gave rise to the world's first Green Party and paved the way for the success of the Franklin campaign. In the largest civil disobedience action ever witnessed in Australia, six thousand people negotiated the perilous but exhilarating course of the Franklin River Blockade travelling to the dam site to stand in front of the bulldozers. Over 1,000 people were arrested and went to jail for their beliefs. The blockade of the river was a huge logistical undertaking and generated an astounding degree of public mass action. People marched on the street in every state capital and major regional city across Australia. When the federal government refused to intervene and stop the construction of the dam, the environment movement resorted to political action by enlisting tens of thousands of sympathizers to wage a campaign against the incumbent Liberal government in the next federal election. The campaign was successful, defeating the Liberals and removing them from power. The incoming Labour government declared that the dam would not be built. In a subsequent confrontation with the Tasmania state government in the High Court of Australia, the Franklin River was saved by the narrow margin of 4 votes to 3. The campaign set the tone for future conservation campaigns everywhere

  17. Renewed mining and reclamation: Imapacts on bats and potential mitigation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brown, P.E. [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Berry, R.D. [Brown-Berry Biological Consulting, Bishop, CA (United States)

    1997-12-31

    Historic mining created new roosting habitat for many bat species. Now the same industry has the potential to adversely impact bats. Contemporary mining operations usually occur in historic districts; consequently the old workings are destroyed by open pit operations. Occasionally, underground techniques are employed, resulting in the enlargement or destruction of the original workings. Even during exploratory operations, historic mine openings can be covered as drill roads are bulldozed, or drills can penetrate and collapse underground workings. Nearby blasting associated with mine construction and operation can disrupt roosting bats. Bats can also be disturbed by the entry of mine personnel to collect ore samples or by recreational mine explorers, since the creation of roads often results in easier access. In addition to roost disturbance, other aspects of renewed mining can have adverse impacts on bat populations, and affect even those bats that do not live in mines. Open cyanide ponds, or other water in which toxic chemicals accumulate, can poison bats and other wildlife. The creation of the pits, roads and processing areas often destroys critical foraging habitat, or change drainage patterns. Finally, at the completion of mining, any historic mines still open may be sealed as part of closure and reclamation activities. The net result can be a loss of bats and bat habitat. Conversely, in some contemporary underground operations, future roosting habitat for bats can be fabricated. An experimental approach to the creation of new roosting habitat is to bury culverts or old tires beneath waste rock. Mining companies can mitigate for impacts to bats by surveying to identify bat-roosting habitat, removing bats prior to renewed mining or closure, protecting non-impacted roost sites with gates and fences, researching to identify habitat requirements and creating new artificial roosts.

  18. Hydraulic manipulator design, analysis, and control at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kress, R.L.; Jansen, J.F. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States). Robotics and Process Systems Div.; Love, L.J. [Oak Ridge Inst. for Science and Education, TN (United States); Basher, A.M.H. [South Carolina State Univ., Orangeburg, SC (United States)

    1996-09-01

    To meet the increased payload capacities demanded by present-day tasks, manipulator designers have turned to hydraulics as a means of actuation. Hydraulics have always been the actuator of choice when designing heavy-life construction and mining equipment such as bulldozers, backhoes, and tunneling devices. In order to successfully design, build, and deploy a new hydraulic manipulator (or subsystem) sophisticated modeling, analysis, and control experiments are usually needed. To support the development and deployment of new hydraulic manipulators Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has outfitted a significant experimental laboratory and has developed the software capability for research into hydraulic manipulators, hydraulic actuators, hydraulic systems, modeling of hydraulic systems, and hydraulic controls. The hydraulics laboratory at ORNL has three different manipulators. First is a 6-Degree-of-Freedom (6-DoF), multi-planer, teleoperated, flexible controls test bed used for the development of waste tank clean-up manipulator controls, thermal studies, system characterization, and manipulator tracking. Finally, is a human amplifier test bed used for the development of an entire new class of teleoperated systems. To compliment the hardware in the hydraulics laboratory, ORNL has developed a hydraulics simulation capability including a custom package to model the hydraulic systems and manipulators for performance studies and control development. This paper outlines the history of hydraulic manipulator developments at ORNL, describes the hydraulics laboratory, discusses the use of the equipment within the laboratory, and presents some of the initial results from experiments and modeling associated with these hydraulic manipulators. Included are some of the results from the development of the human amplifier/de-amplifier concepts, the characterization of the thermal sensitivity of hydraulic systems, and end-point tracking accuracy studies. Experimental and analytical

  19. Hydraulic manipulator design, analysis, and control at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kress, R.L.; Jansen, J.F.; Basher, A.M.H.

    1996-09-01

    To meet the increased payload capacities demanded by present-day tasks, manipulator designers have turned to hydraulics as a means of actuation. Hydraulics have always been the actuator of choice when designing heavy-life construction and mining equipment such as bulldozers, backhoes, and tunneling devices. In order to successfully design, build, and deploy a new hydraulic manipulator (or subsystem) sophisticated modeling, analysis, and control experiments are usually needed. To support the development and deployment of new hydraulic manipulators Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has outfitted a significant experimental laboratory and has developed the software capability for research into hydraulic manipulators, hydraulic actuators, hydraulic systems, modeling of hydraulic systems, and hydraulic controls. The hydraulics laboratory at ORNL has three different manipulators. First is a 6-Degree-of-Freedom (6-DoF), multi-planer, teleoperated, flexible controls test bed used for the development of waste tank clean-up manipulator controls, thermal studies, system characterization, and manipulator tracking. Finally, is a human amplifier test bed used for the development of an entire new class of teleoperated systems. To compliment the hardware in the hydraulics laboratory, ORNL has developed a hydraulics simulation capability including a custom package to model the hydraulic systems and manipulators for performance studies and control development. This paper outlines the history of hydraulic manipulator developments at ORNL, describes the hydraulics laboratory, discusses the use of the equipment within the laboratory, and presents some of the initial results from experiments and modeling associated with these hydraulic manipulators. Included are some of the results from the development of the human amplifier/de-amplifier concepts, the characterization of the thermal sensitivity of hydraulic systems, and end-point tracking accuracy studies. Experimental and analytical

  20. Evaluation of Management of Water Releases for Painted Rocks Rexervoir, Bitterroot River, Montana, 1985 Annual Report.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lere, Mark E. (Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Missoula, MT)

    1985-12-01

    The Bitterroot River, located in western Montana, is an important and heavily used resource, providing water for agriculture and a source for diversified forms of recreation. Water shortages in the river, however, have been a persistent problem for both irrigators and recreational users. Five major diversions and numerous smaller canals remove substantial quantities of water from the river during the irrigation season. Historically, the river has been severely dewatered between the towns of Hamilton and Stevensville as a result of these withdrawals. Demands for irrigation water from the Bitterroot River have often conflicted with the instream flow needs for trout. Withdrawals of water can decrease suitable depths, velocities, substrates and cover utilized by trout (Stalnaker and Arnette 1976, Wesche 1976). Losses in habitat associated with dewatering have been shown to diminish the carrying capacities for trout populations (Nelson 1980). Additionally, dewatering of the Bitterroot River has forced irrigators to dike or channelize the streambed to obtain needed flows. These alterations reduce aquatic habitat and degrade channel stability. Odell (personal communication) found a substantial reduction in the total biomass of aquatic insects within a section of the Bitterroot River that had been bulldozed for irrigation purposes. The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MDFWP) has submitted a proposal to the Northwest Power Planning Council for the purchase of 10,000 acre-feet (AF) of stored water in Painted Rocks Reservoir to augment low summer flows in the Bitterroot River. This supplemental water potentially would enhance the fishery in the river and reduce degradation of the channel due to diversion activities. The present study was undertaken to: (1) develop an implementable water management plan for supplemental releases from Painted Rocks Reservoir which would provide optimum benefits to the river: (2) gather fisheries and habitat information to

  1. An evolving research agenda for human-coastal systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lazarus, Eli D.; Ellis, Michael A.; Brad Murray, A.; Hall, Damon M.

    2016-03-01

    Within the broad discourses of environmental change, sustainability science, and anthropogenic Earth-surface systems, a focused body of work involves the coupled economic and physical dynamics of developed shorelines. Rapid rates of change in coastal environments, from wetlands and deltas to inlets and dune systems, help researchers recognize, observe, and investigate coupling in natural (non-human) morphodynamics and biomorphodynamics. This same intrinsic quality of fast-paced change also makes developed coastal zones exemplars of observable coupling between physical processes and human activities. In many coastal communities, beach erosion is a natural hazard with economic costs that coastal management counters through a variety of mitigation strategies, including beach replenishment, groynes, revetments, and seawalls. As cycles of erosion and mitigation iterate, coastline change and economically driven interventions become mutually linked. Emergent dynamics of two-way economic-physical coupling is a recent research discovery. Having established a strong theoretical basis, research into coupled human-coastal systems has passed its early proof-of-concept phase. This paper frames three major challenges that need resolving in order to advance theoretical and empirical treatments of human-coastal systems: (1) codifying salient individual and social behaviors of decision-making in ways that capture societal actions across a range of scales (thus engaging economics, social science, and policy disciplines); (2) quantifying anthropogenic effects on alongshore and cross-shore sediment pathways and long-term landscape evolution in coastal zones through time, including direct measurement of cumulative changes to sediment cells resulting from coastal development and management practices (e.g., construction of buildings and artificial dunes, bulldozer removal of overwash after major storms); and (3) reciprocal knowledge and data exchange between researchers in coastal

  2. CO2lonialismo y geografías de esperanza

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julianne Hazlewood

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available Este artículo nos lleva, más allá de la crisis económica, hacia el calentamiento global y nos advierte de un problema profundo: un defecto estructural en el capitalismo. Vinculando teóricamente cambio climático, colonialismo y capitalismo, se estudia a San Lorenzo como una frontera agrícola en la que el CO2lonialismo se despliega a través del cultivo de palma aceitera y la producción de agrocombustibles. Esta investigación resalta las prácticas culturales y espaciales a través de las cuales las comunidades afro-ecuatoriana, chachi, y awá construyen y sostienen “geografías de esperanza” en medio de bosques talados, ríos envenenados y conflictos sociales. A través de la exposición detallada de la deuda ecológica del Norte global con el Sur global, este artículo condena discursos y acciones que se enfocan en el mejoramiento del clima económico mientras arrasan los bosques húmedos, las prácticas culturales de vida de las comunidades y las soluciones reales al cambio climático.This paper takes us beyond the present economic crisis to where global warming warns of a much more profound problem: a structural flaw in capitalism. Theoretically linking relations between climate change, colonialism, and capitalism, San Lorenzo is investigated as an agricultural frontier where “CO2lonialism” unfolds in African oil palm cultivation and agrofuel production. This research highlights the cultural and spatial practices through which Afro-Ecuadorian, Chachi, and Awá communities construct and sustain “geographies of hope” amid landscapes of fallen forests, poisoned rivers and social conflicts. Expounding on the ecological debt of the Global North to the Global South, this paper condemns discourses and actions that solely focus on improving the economic climate while bulldozing rainforests, livelihoods, and real solutions to climate change.

  3. Bacterial Viability within Dental Calculus: An Untrodden, Inquisitive Clinico-Patho- Microbiological Research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gupta, Swati; Jain, P K; Kumra, Madhumani; Rehani, Shweta; Mathias, Yulia; Gupta, Ramakant; Mehendiratta, Monica; Chander, Anil

    2016-07-01

    Chronic inflammatory periodontal diseases i.e. gingivitis and periodontitis are one of the most common afflictions faced by human beings. Dental plaque, which is a pool of pathogenic microorganisms, remains to be current mainstay in etiopathogenesis. Dental calculus, which is a mineralized product of this plaque remains ignored and is considered merely as an ash heap of minor significance. However, the intriguing array in disease etiopathogenesis bulldozed researchers to suspect the role of calculus in disease chrysalis but still the viability of bacteria inside calculus and thus its pathogenicity remains an intricacy; the answer to which lies in the Pandora's Box. The present study was undertaken to investigate the viability of bacteria within dental calculus along with their identification. Also, to classify dental calculus on the basis of mineralization and to observe the variation of viable microflora found in dental calculus with the extent of mineralization and disease severity. A total of 60 samples were obtained, by harvesting two samples of supragingival calculus from each patient having chronic inflammatory periodontal disease. These samples were divided into two groups (Group A and Group B). Samples of Group A were kept non-irradiated and samples of Group B were exposed to UV radiation. The samples were categorized into less, moderately and highly mineralized according to the force required for crushing them. All the crushed calculus samples were then divided into three parts. These were used for dark-field microscopy, gram staining and bacterial cultures. Bacterial identification of the cultures obtained was also carried out by performing various biochemical assays. The present study revealed the presence of motile spirochaetes within the samples under dark-field microscope. Gram staining revealed presence of numerous gram positive cocci and gram negative bacilli. Bacterial cultures showed growth of variety of aerobic and capnophilic microorganisms. The

  4. Inferred Early Permian Arc Rifting in Bogda Mountain, Southernmost of the Central Asia Orogenic Belt: Evidence from a Peperite Bearing Volcano-Sedimentary Succession

    Science.gov (United States)

    Memtimin, M.; Guo, Z.

    2017-12-01

    Late Paleozoic tectonic history, especially Carboniferous-Permian periods, of the Central Asia Orogenic Belt (CAOB) is considered to be the turning point for the termination of terrane amalgamation and closure of the Paleoasian Ocean. However, the debate about the paleoenvironment and tectonic setting of the region during the period is still not resolved. In this study, we report a set of volcano-sedimentary sequence in the Bogda Mountain of the southernmost of CAOB, which is associated with contemporaneous subaqueous emplacement of and interaction between mafic lava and carbonate sediments. The succession contains four distinct facies including closely packed pillow basalts, pillow basalts with interstitial materials, hyaloclastites and peperites. We discuss their formation and emplacement mechanism, interaction between hot magma-water/unconsolidated sediments and thermal metamorphism during the interaction. Textural features of the sequence, especially hyaloclastites and peperites, provide clear evidence for in situ autofragmentation of lava flows, synvolcanic sedimentation of carbonates, fuel coolant interaction when hot magma bulldozed into wet unconsolidated sediments, and represent autochthonous origin of the succession. Lateral transition of the lithofacies indicate a progressively deepening subaqueous environment, resembling a stepwise evolution from early stage of volcanic intrusion with lower lava flux in shallower water level to increasingly subsiding basin with more lava flux in greater depth. Previous studies determined that the mafic magma was intruded around the Carboniferous-Permian boundary ( 300Ma), and geochemical studies showed the magma was originated from dry depleted mantle with little crustal contamination. Nevertheless, the succession was thought to be fault related allochthones formation which was transferred in as part of a Carboniferous intraplate arc. Combining our findings with the previous study results, we propose a new model to

  5. DETERMINATION AND ANALYSIS OF CHANGE POWER CHARACTER AND POWER PARAMETERS OF EARTHMOVING- TRANSPORT WORKING PROCESS MACHINES OF CYCLIC ACTION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    KHMARA L. A.

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Summary. Raising of problem. Efficiency of implementation working process an earthmoving-transport machine on digging of soil depends on complete realization of power equipment and hauling properties working equipment during implementation this operation. Most effective will be the mode of digging when from his beginning to the final stage a power equipment will realize nominal power, and working equipment maximal KKD at that skidding of mover does not exceed the defined possible value. However, for the traditional constructions of earthmoving-transport machines cyclic action, for such, as a drag shovel, bulldozer, realizing these terms is heavy. The feature of process digging consists in the increase of resistance to digging soil from the ego of the initial stage to eventual when hauling possibilities of machine will be maximally realized. Therefore the calculation of power equipment takes into account the power indexes of machine on the final stage of digging. Thus the unstationarity of working process results in the under exploitation of power equipment machine and hereupon appearance her bits and pieces. The size of bits and pieces power depends on the stage digging of soil, his physical and mechanical properties, terms cooperation of working equipment with the surface of motion. One of methods realization surplus power, this use it for the drive intensifiers working process of earthmoving-transport machines. Therefore for the effective choice parameters of intensifier, his office hours it is necessary to know the size of bits and pieces of power and character her change during digging of soil. The purpose of the article. Development of methodology determination remaining power equipment an earthmoving-transport machine on the example self-propelled drags hovel, character her change at digging of soil taking into account physical and mechanical properties of soil and terms cooperation working equipment with the surface of motion. Conclusion

  6. MacDonald Dam reconstruction : using roller-compacted concrete

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    O' Neil, E. [AMEC Earth and Environmental Ltd., Sydney, NS (Canada)

    2007-04-01

    Located in Nova Scotia, the MacDonald Dam was commissioned in 1928. The dam consists of a 122 metre-long, 16 metre-high concrete structure comprised of an intake structure, stoplog openings, and a 34 metre-long free-overflow spillway. A 488 metre-long power canal was added as an upgrade in the 1950s. This paper provided details of the roller-compact concrete (RCC) used in the dam's recent rehabilitation following a dam failure analysis in 2003 by Nova Scotia Power Inc. RCC was chosen to help keep the dam's construction project on schedule. The layout and cross-section of the spillway was selected with consideration given to the RCC placing operation. A lift thickness of 0.20 m was selected. A formed ogee crest consisting of conventional reinforced concrete was constructed on top of the RCC. The downstream steps of the spillway were also covered with cast-in-place concrete. A low level sluice was designed to resist the weight of the wet RCC. The design compressive strength of the RCC was 20 MPa. The forms used to support the cast-in-place facing concrete on the upstream face of the dam were constructed full height and were braced back to the downstream face of the existing concrete structure prior to the start of RCC placement. Formwork inserts were placed in the facing concrete as construction progressed. Crack inducers were pre-placed on the forms. Aggregates from a local source were transported to a pug mill as the RCC construction progressed. The RCC was spread into 0.20 m lifts using a small bull-dozer, and the facing concrete was vibrated into the lift below. RCC lifts were compacted using a 9 tonne vibratory drum roller. The RCC placing operation was completed over a period of 10 days. Following the completion of the RCC portion of the dam, the remainder of the cast-in-place concrete was completed. It was concluded that the RCC provided a durable, low-maintenance structure that was completed at a lower price and in a shorter time-frame than

  7. The paradox of uranium development: A Polanyian analysis of social movements surrounding the Pinon Ridge Uranium Mill

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malin, Stephanie A.

    Renewal of nuclear energy development has been proposed as one viable solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and impacts of climate change. This discussion became concrete as the first uranium mill proposed since the end of the Cold War, the Pinon Ridge Uranium Mill, received state permits in January 2011 to process uranium in southwest Colorado's Paradox Valley. Though environmental contamination from previous uranium activity caused one local community to be bulldozed to the ground, local support for renewed uranium activity emerges among local residents in communities like Nucla, Naturita, and Bedrock, Colorado. Regionally, however, a coalition of organized, oppositionbased grassroots groups fights the decision to permit the mill. Combined, these events allow social scientists a natural laboratory through which to view social repercussions of nuclear energy development. In this dissertation, I use a Polanyian theoretical framework to analyze social, political-economic, and environmental contexts of social movements surrounding PR Mill. My overarching research problem is: How might Polanyian double movement theory be applied to and made empirically testable within the social and environmental context of uranium development? I intended this analysis to inform energy policy debates regarding renewable energy. In Chapter 1, I found various forms of social dislocation lead to two divergent social movement outcomes. Economic social dislocation led to strong mill support among most local residents, according to archival, in-depth interview, and survey data. On the other hand, residents in regional communities experienced two other types of social dislocation -- another kind of economic dislocation, related to concern over boom-bust economies, and environmental health dislocations related to uranium exposure, creating conditions for a regional movement in opposition to PR Mill. In Chapter 2, I focus on regulations and find that two divergent social movements

  8. Preparations for Retrieval of Buried Waste at Material Disposal Area B

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chaloupka, A.B.; Criswell, C.W.; Goldberg, M.S.; Gregory, D.R.; Worth, E.P.

    2009-01-01

    Material Disposal Area B, a hazard category 3 nuclear facility, is scheduled for excavation and the removal of its contents. Wastes and excavated soils will be characterized for disposal at approved off-site waste disposal facilities. Since there were no waste disposal records, understanding the context of the historic operations at MDA B was essential to understanding what wastes were disposed of and what hazards these would pose during retrieval. The operational history of MDA B is tied to the earliest history of the Laboratory, the scope and urgency of World War II, the transition to the Atomic Energy Commission in January 1947, and the start of the cold war. A report was compiled that summarized the development of the process chemistry, metallurgy, and other research and production activities at the Laboratory during the 1944 to 1948 time frame that provided a perspective of the work conducted; the scale of those processes; and the handling of spent chemicals and contaminated items in lieu of waste disposal records. By 1947, all laboratories had established waste disposal procedures that required laboratory and salvage wastes to be boxed and sealed. Large items or equipment were to be wrapped with paper or placed in wooden crates. Most wastes were placed in cardboard boxes and were simply piled into the active trench. Bulldozers were used to cover the material with fill dirt on a weekly basis. No effort was made to separate waste types or loads, or to compact the wastes under the soil cover. Using the historical information and a statistical analysis of the plutonium inventory, LANL prepared a documented safety analysis for the waste retrieval activities at MDA B, in accordance with DOE Standard 1120-2005, Integration of Environment, Safety, and Health into Facility Disposition Activities, and the provisions of 29 CFR 1910.120, Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response. The selected hazard controls for the MDA B project consist of passive design

  9. Phase I Archaeological Investigation Cultural Resources Survey, Hawaii Geothermal Project, Makawao and Hana Districts, South Shore of Maui, Hawaii (DRAFT )

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Erkelens, Conrad

    1994-03-01

    This report details the archaeological investigation of a 200 foot wide sample corridor extending approximately 9 miles along the southern portion of Maui within the present districts of Hana and Makawao. A total of 51 archaeological sites encompassing 233 surface features were documented. A GPS receiver was used to accurately and precisely plot locations for each of the documented sites. Analysis of the locational information suggests that archaeological sites are abundant throughout the region and only become scarce where vegetation has been bulldozed for ranching activities. At the sea-land transition points for the underwater transmission cable, both Ahihi Bay and Huakini Bay are subjected to seasonal erosion and redeposition of their boulder shorelines. The corridor at the Ahihi Bay transition point runs through the Moanakala Village Complex which is an archaeological site on the State Register of Historic Places within a State Natural Area Reserve. Numerous other potentially significant archaeological sites lie within the project corridor. It is likely that rerouting of the corridor in an attempt to avoid known sites would result in other undocumented sites located outside the sample corridor being impacted. Given the distribution of archaeological sites, there is no alternative route that can be suggested that is likely to avoid encountering sites. A total of twelve charcoal samples were obtained for potential taxon identification and radiocarbon analysis. Four of these samples were subsequently submitted for dating and species identification. Bird bone from various locations within a lava tube were collected for identification. Sediment samples for subsequent pollen analysis were obtained from within two lava tubes. With these three sources of information it is hoped that paleoenvironmental data can be recovered that will enable a better understanding of the setting for Hawaiian habitation of the area. A small test unit was excavated at one habitation site

  10. Airborne asbestos concentrations associated with heavy equipment brake removal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madl, A K; Gaffney, S H; Balzer, J L; Paustenbach, D J

    2009-11-01

    Asbestos-containing brake linings were used in heavy-duty construction equipment such as tractors, backhoes, and bulldozers prior to the 1980s. While several published studies have evaluated exposures to mechanics during brake repair work, most have focused on automobiles and light trucks, not on heavy agricultural or construction vehicles. The purpose of this study is to characterize the airborne concentration of asbestos to workers and bystanders from brake wear debris during brake removal from 12 loader/backhoes and tractors manufactured between 1960 and 1980. Asbestos content in brake lining (average 20% chrysotile by polarized light microscopy) and brake wear debris [average 0.49% chrysotile by transmission electron microscopy (TEM)] was also quantified. Breathing zone samples on the lapel of mechanics (n = 44) and area samples at bystander (n = 34), remote (n = 22), and ambient (n = 12) locations were collected during 12 brake changes and analyzed using phase contrast microscopy (PCM) [National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) 7400] and TEM (NIOSH 7402). In addition, the fiber distribution by size and morphology was evaluated according to the International Organization for Standardization method for asbestos. Applying the ratio of asbestos fibers:total fibers (including non-asbestos) as determined by TEM to the PCM results, the average airborne chrysotile concentrations (PCM equivalent) were 0.024 f/cc for the mechanic and 0.009 f/cc for persons standing 1.2-3.1 m from the activity during the period of exposure ( approximately 0.5 to 1 h). Considering the time involved in the activity, and assuming three brake jobs per shift, these results would convert to an average 8-h time-weighted average of 0.009 f/cc for a mechanic and 0.006 f/cc for a bystander. The results indicate that (i) the airborne concentrations for worker and bystander samples were significantly less than the current occupational exposure limit of 0.1 f/cc; (ii

  11. Relating rock avalanche morphology to emplacement processes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dufresne, Anja; Prager, Christoph; Bösmeier, Annette

    2015-04-01

    The morphology, structure and sedimentological characteristics of rock avalanche deposits reflect both internal emplacement processes and external influences, such as runout path characteristics. The latter is mainly predisposed by topography, substrate types, and hydrogeological conditions. Additionally, the geological setting at the source slope controls, e.g. the spatial distribution of accumulated lithologies and hence material property-related changes in morphology, or the maximum clast size and amount of fines of different lithological units. The Holocene Tschirgant rock avalanche (Tyrol, Austria) resulted from failure of an intensely deformed carbonate rock mass on the southeast face of a 2,370-m-high mountain ridge. The initially sliding rock mass rapidly fragmented as it moved towards the floor of the Inn River valley. Part of the 200-250 x 106 m3 (Patzelt 2012) rock avalanche debris collided with and moved around an opposing bedrock ridge and flowed into the Ötz valley, reaching up to 6.3 km from source. Where the Tschirgant rock avalanche spread freely it formed longitudinal ridges aligned along motion direction as well as smaller hummocks. Encountering high topography, it left runup ridges, fallback patterns (i.e. secondary collapse), and compressional morphology (successively elevated, transverse ridges). Further evidence for the mechanical landslide behaviour is given by large volumes of mobilized valley-fill sediments (polymict gravels and sands). These sediments indicate both shearing and compressional faulting within the rock avalanche mass (forming their own morphological units through, e.g. in situ bulldozing or as distinctly different hummocky terrain), but also indicate extension of the spreading landslide mass (i.e. intercalated/injected gravels encountered mainly in morphological depressions between hummocks). Further influences on its morphology are given by the different lithological units. E.g. the transition from massive dolomite

  12. Sequential resuspension of biofilm components (viruses, prokaryotes and protists) as measured by erodimetry experiments in the Brouage mudflat (French Atlantic coast)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dupuy, Christine; Mallet, Clarisse; Guizien, Katell; Montanié, Hélène; Bréret, Martine; Mornet, Françoise; Fontaine, Camille; Nérot, Caroline; Orvain, Francis

    2014-09-01

    , and eroded quantity of chlorophyll a was lower than expected from chlorophyll a vertical distribution, suggesting that areas with low chlorophyll a were preferentially eroded. Such erosion patterns when biofilm growth decreased probably resulted from the bulldozing activity of a surficial sediment bioturbator, the gastropod Peringia ulvae. Our study did not directly prove this horizontal distribution but it should be further discussed. This distribution needs to be studied to acquire real evidence of patchy distributions.

  13. Design and test on 4B-1200 type bulbus fritillariae ussuriensis medicinal material harvester%4B-1200型平贝母药材收获机的设计与试验

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    宋江; 邱胜蓝; 王新忠

    2015-01-01

    at the above problems, the research team has been dedicated to the research on the fritillaria mechanical harvesting, focusing on the two key technologies containing level screening and mining technology of bulbus fritillariae ussuriensis. Sectional terms of mechanized harvesting method had been proposed in the past, and correspondingly level screening machinery and excavator of bulbus fritillariae ussuriensis had been developed, but the efficiency was low and the production cost was relatively high, so in order to solve these problems above, the fritillaria harvester matched with a walking tractor is designed in this study. The machine mainly consists of a scraping mechanism, a digging shovel, a vibration screen, below-sift separate shellfish and soil mechanism, bagging apparatus, transmission system, frame, land wheels and other key components. It is obtained by formula derivation that the width of bulldozing shovel is 1400 mm, the height of bulldozing shovel wing is 500 mm, the shovel wing surface radius is 400 mm, the shovel wing plane width is 120 mm, the shovel wing angle is 120°, the breaking ground angle is 65°, and the forward turning angle is 75°;and the shovel surface width of digging shovel is 1200 mm, the level inclination of shovel surface is 26°, the shovel surface is 140 mm long, the spacing of digging shovel’s end grid is 8 mm, and the grid length is 40 mm. By analyzing the four-bar mechanism based on analytical graphic method, it is determined that the speed range of vibration sieve crank is 240-535 rad/min and within this range the mixture of bulbus fritillariae ussuriensis and soil can pass successfully. It is shown by the force analysis of the reverse spiral blade that the spiral blade speed of soil separating part below sieve is less than 4 m/s. By means of UG (Unigraphics NX) software, the three-dimensional model of bulbus fritillariae ussuriensis medicinal materials harvester is programmed to assemble the parts and analyze the

  14. 拆迁普店街:二十世纪末中国都市小说中摧毁和复兴主题的含混 (Bulldozing Pudian Street: Destruction or Renewal? Ambiguities in Big City Novels in Late 20th Century Chinese Literature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xia Li

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available There is little doubt that the most cogent literary representation of the experience of modernity has been realised in big city fiction and cinematographic masterpieces such as Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1926. Despite the formal and aesthetic incompatability of early twentieth century (predominantly Western works of this literary genre and more recent ones, East and West, the underlying dialectic tension between progressive optimism and disorientation, existential up-rootedness, alienation and angst (Rilke's loss of soul as archetypal manifestation of mega-city reality and its social structure and organisation, constitutes a generic hallmark, regardless of time and place. Significantly, the relevance of this problem is reinforced, theoretically and practically, by the eminent scholar and architect Rem Koolhaas whose reflections have China as a principal reference point of the global "out-of-control process of modernisation". This paper focuses on the literary representation of the complexity and universality of the problem and the social implications of the blurred and ambiguous vision of urban reality with particular reference to contemporary Chinese literature.

  15. Short term recovery of soil physical, chemical, micro- and mesobiological functions in a new vineyard under organic farming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Costantini, E. A. C.; Agnelli, A. E.; Fabiani, A.; Gagnarli, E.; Mocali, S.; Priori, S.; Simoni, S.; Valboa, G.

    2014-12-01

    Deep earthwork activities carried out before vineyard plantation can severely upset soil profile properties. As a result, soil features in the root environment are often much more similar to those of the underlying substratum than those of the original profile. The time needed to recover the original soil functions is ecologically relevant and may strongly affect vine phenology and grape yield, particularly under organic viticulture. The general aim of this work was to investigate soil resilience after vineyard pre-planting earthworks. In particular, an old and a new vineyard, established on the same soil type, were compared over a five year period for soil chemical, physical, micro and mesobiological properties. The investigated vineyards (Vitis vinifera L., cv. Sangiovese) were located in the Chianti Classico district (Central Italy), on stony and calcareous soils and were not irrigated. The older vineyard was planted in 2000, after slope reshaping by bulldozing and back hoe ploughing down to about 0.8-1.0 m. The new vineyard was planted in 2011, after equivalent earthwork practices carried out in the summer of 2009. Both vineyards were organically managed and fertilized only with compost every autumn (1000 kg ha-1 per year). The new vineyard was cultivated by periodic tillage, while the old vineyard was managed with alternating grass-covered and tilled inter-rows. Soil samples were collected at 0-15 cm depth from the same plots of the new and old vineyards, during the springtime from 2010 to 2014. The old vineyard was sampled in both the tilled and the grass-covered swaths. According to the results from physical and chemical analyses, the new vineyard, during the whole 2010-2014 period, showed lower TOC, N, C/N and EC values, along with higher silt and total CaCO3 contents than the old vineyard, suggesting still evolving equilibrium conditions. The microarthropod analysis showed significantly different abundances and communities' structures, in relation to both

  16. MaMiCo: Software design for parallel molecular-continuum flow simulations

    KAUST Repository

    Neumann, Philipp

    2015-11-19

    The macro-micro-coupling tool (MaMiCo) was developed to ease the development of and modularize molecular-continuum simulations, retaining sequential and parallel performance. We demonstrate the functionality and performance of MaMiCo by coupling the spatially adaptive Lattice Boltzmann framework waLBerla with four molecular dynamics (MD) codes: the light-weight Lennard-Jones-based implementation SimpleMD, the node-level optimized software ls1 mardyn, and the community codes ESPResSo and LAMMPS. We detail interface implementations to connect each solver with MaMiCo. The coupling for each waLBerla-MD setup is validated in three-dimensional channel flow simulations which are solved by means of a state-based coupling method. We provide sequential and strong scaling measurements for the four molecular-continuum simulations. The overhead of MaMiCo is found to come at 10%-20% of the total (MD) runtime. The measurements further show that scalability of the hybrid simulations is reached on up to 500 Intel SandyBridge, and more than 1000 AMD Bulldozer compute cores. Program summary: Program title: MaMiCo. Catalogue identifier: AEYW_v1_0. Program summary URL: http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AEYW_v1_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen\\'s University, Belfast, N. Ireland. Licensing provisions: BSD License. No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 67905. No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 1757334. Distribution format: tar.gz. Programming language: C, C++II. Computer: Standard PCs, compute clusters. Operating system: Unix/Linux. RAM: Test cases consume ca. 30-50 MB. Classification: 7.7. External routines: Scons (http:www.scons.org), ESPResSo, LAMMPS, ls1 mardyn, waLBerla. Nature of problem: Coupled molecular-continuum simulation for multi-resolution fluid dynamics: parts of the domain are resolved by molecular dynamics whereas large parts are covered by a CFD solver, e.g. a lattice Boltzmann automaton

  17. Real-world emissions of in-use off-road vehicles in Mexico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zavala, Miguel; Huertas, Jose Ignacio; Prato, Daniel; Jazcilevich, Aron; Aguilar, Andrés; Balam, Marco; Misra, Chandan; Molina, Luisa T

    2017-09-01

    Off-road vehicles used in construction and agricultural activities can contribute substantially to emissions of gaseous pollutants and can be a major source of submicrometer carbonaceous particles in many parts of the world. However, there have been relatively few efforts in quantifying the emission factors (EFs) and for estimating the potential emission reduction benefits using emission control technologies for these vehicles. This study characterized the black carbon (BC) component of particulate matter and NOx, CO, and CO 2 EFs of selected diesel-powered off-road mobile sources in Mexico under real-world operating conditions using on-board portable emissions measurements systems (PEMS). The vehicles sampled included two backhoes, one tractor, a crane, an excavator, two front loaders, two bulldozers, an air compressor, and a power generator used in the construction and agricultural activities. For a selected number of these vehicles the emissions were further characterized with wall-flow diesel particle filters (DPFs) and partial-flow DPFs (p-DPFs) installed. Fuel-based EFs presented less variability than time-based emission rates, particularly for the BC. Average baseline EFs in working conditions for BC, NOx, and CO ranged from 0.04 to 5.7, from 12.6 to 81.8, and from 7.9 to 285.7 g/kg-fuel, respectively, and a high dependency by operation mode and by vehicle type was observed. Measurement-base frequency distributions of EFs by operation mode are proposed as an alternative method for characterizing the variability of off-road vehicles emissions under real-world conditions. Mass-based reductions for black carbon EFs were substantially large (above 99%) when DPFs were installed and the vehicles were idling, and the reductions were moderate (in the 20-60% range) for p-DPFs in working operating conditions. The observed high variability in measured EFs also indicates the need for detailed vehicle operation data for accurately estimating emissions from off

  18. Deep Vs Profiling Along the Top of Yucca Mountain Using a Vibroseis Source and Surface Waves

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stokoe, K.; Rosenblad, B.; Wong, I.; Bay, J.; Thomas, P.; Silva, W.

    2004-01-01

    Yucca Mountain, Nevada, was approved as the site for development of the geologic repository for high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel in the United States. The U.S. Department of Energy has been conducting studies to characterize the site and assess its future performance as a geologic repository. As part of these studies, a program of deep seismic profiling, to depths of 200 m, was conducted along the top of Yucca Mountain to evaluate the shear-wave velocity (V s ) structure of the repository block. The resulting V s data were used as input into the development of ground motions for the preclosure seismic design of the repository and for postclosure performance assessment. The noninvasive spectral-analysis-of-surface-waves (SASW) method was employed in the deep profiling. Field measurements involved the use of a modified Vibroseis as the seismic source. The modifications allowed the Vibroseis to be controlled by a signal analyzer so that slow frequency sweeps could be performed while simultaneous narrow-band filtering was performed on the receiver outputs. This process optimized input energy from the source and signal analysis of the receiver outputs. Six deep V s profiles and five intermediate-depth (about 100 m) profiles were performed along the top of Yucca Mountain over a distance of about 5 km. In addition, eleven shallower profiles (averaging about 45-m deep) were measured using a bulldozer source. The shallower profiles were used to augment the deeper profiles and to evaluate further the near-surface velocity structure. The V s profiles exhibit a strong velocity gradient within 5 m of the surface, with the mean V s value more than doubling. Below this depth, V s gradually increases from a mean value of about 900 to 1000 m/s at a depth of 150 m. Between the depths of 150 and 210 m, V s increases more rapidly to about 1350 m/s, but this trend is based on limited data. At depths less than 50 m, anisotropy in V s was measured for surveys conducted

  19. TECTONIC POSITION OF MARBLE MELANGES IN THE EARLY PALEOZOIC ACCRETION-COLLISIONAL SYSTEM OF THE WESTERN PRIBAIKALIE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. S. Fedorovsky

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The Early Paleozoic collisional system located in the Olkhon region at the western shores of Lake Baikal resulted from collision of the Siberian paleocontinent and a complex aggregate composed by fragments of a microcontinent, island arcs, back-arc structures and accretionary prisms. The main events were associated with complete manifestation of shear tectogenesis initiated by oblique collision. The current structure includes tectonically displaced components of ancient geodynamic systems that used to have been located dozens and hundreds of kilometres apart. Horizontal amplitudes of tectonic displacement seem to have been quite high; however, numerical data are still lacking to support this conclusion. Information about the structure of the upper crust in the Paleozoic is also lacking as only deep metamorphic rocks (varying from epidote-amphibolite to granulite facies are currently outcropped. Formations comprising the collisional collage are significantly different in composition and protoliths, and combinations of numerous shifted beds give evidence of a 'bulldozer' effect caused by the collisional shock followed by movements of crushed components of the ocean-continent zone along the margin of the Siberian paleocontinent. As evidenced by the recent cross-section, deep horizons of the Early Paleozoic crust comprise the collisional system between the Siberian craton and the Olkhon composite terrain. A permanent inclusion in the collisional combinations of rocks are unusual synmetamorphic injected bodies of carbonate rocks. Such rocks comprise two groups, marble melanges and crustal carbonate melted rocks. Obviously, carbonate rocks (that composed the original layers and horizons of stratified beds can become less viscous to a certain degree at some locations during the process of oblique collision and acquire unusual properties and can thus intrude into the surrounding rocks of silicate composition. Such carbonate rocks behave as protrusions

  20. Short-term recovery of soil physical, chemical, micro- and mesobiological functions in a new vineyard under organic farming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Costantini, E. A. C.; Agnelli, A. E.; Fabiani, A.; Gagnarli, E.; Mocali, S.; Priori, S.; Simoni, S.; Valboa, G.

    2015-06-01

    Deep earthwork activities carried out before vineyard plantation can severely affect soil profile properties. As a result, soil features in the root environment are often much more similar to those of the underlying substratum than those of the original profile. The time needed to recover the original soil functions is ecologically relevant and may strongly affect vine phenology and grape yield, particularly under organic viticulture. The general aim of this work was to investigate soil resilience after vineyard pre-planting earthworks. In particular, an old and a new vineyard, established on the same soil type, were compared over a 5-year period for soil chemical, physical, micro- and mesobiological properties. The investigated vineyards (Vitis vinifera L., cv. Sangiovese) were located in the Chianti Classico district (central Italy), on stony and calcareous soils, and were not irrigated. The older vineyard was planted in 2000, after slope reshaping by bulldozing and back-hoe ploughing down to about 0.8-1.0 m. The new vineyard was planted in 2011, after equivalent earthwork practices carried out in the summer of 2009. Both vineyards were organically managed, and they were fertilized with compost only every autumn (1000 kg ha-1 per year). The new vineyard was cultivated by periodic tillage, while the old vineyard was managed with alternating grass-covered and tilled inter-rows. Soil samples were collected at 0-15 cm depth from fixed locations in each vineyard every spring from 2010 to 2014. The old vineyard was sampled in both tilled and grass-covered inter-rows. According to the results from physical and chemical analyses, the new vineyard, during the whole 2010-2014 period, showed lower total organic carbon, total nitrogen, carbon to nitrogen ratio and electrical conductivity, along with higher silt and total CaCO3 contents than the old vineyard, suggesting still-evolving equilibrium conditions. The microarthropod analysis showed significantly different

  1. THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF FORMING THE PRODUCT QUALITY CONTROL STRATEGY OF ROAD-BUILDING ENGINEERING ENTERPRISES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mariia Sadova

    2017-11-01

    of roads is impossible without the organization of effective operation of the road for mechanical engineering – heavy construction and earthmoving machinery. Currently in our country present its own engineering manufacturers of road construction equipment (among large – JSC "Kredmash", however, the domestic production of road is significantly inferior in terms of domestic consumption of products of foreign manufacturers of the road. Despite the fact that the price of domestic producers less than of imported ones an average in three times, including bulldozers, scrapers, cranes, crawler cars more than 50% (Komatsu, Hitachi, Mitsubishi and others.. Practical implications. The practical significance of the results of the study identifies opportunities to improve the efficiency of traffic control products quality enterprises construction and road engineering. Value/originality. Implementation of the proposed methods and approaches to the formation of the quality of the machine-building enterprise management strategy for road construction will improve the efficiency of quality control processes and the level of enterprise competitiveness.

  2. Cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al exposure ages of tors and erratics, Cairngorm Mountains, Scotland: Timescales for the development of a classic landscape of selective linear glacial erosion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips, W.M.; Hall, A.M.; Mottram, R.; Fifield, L.K.; Sugden, D.E.

    2006-01-01

    The occurrence of tors within glaciated regions has been widely cited as evidence for the preservation of relic pre-Quaternary landscapes beneath protective covers of non-erosive dry-based ice. Here, we test for the preservation of pre-Quaternary landscapes with cosmogenic surface exposure dating of tors. Numerous granite tors are present on summit plateaus in the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland where they were covered by local ice caps many times during the Pleistocene. Cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al data together with geomorphic relationships reveal that these landforms are more dynamic and younger than previously suspected. Many Cairngorm tors have been bulldozed and toppled along horizontal joints by ice motion, leaving event surfaces on tor remnants and erratics that can be dated with cosmogenic nuclides. As the surfaces have been subject to episodic burial by ice, an exposure model based upon ice and marine sediment core proxies for local glacial cover is necessary to interpret the cosmogenic nuclide data. Exposure ages and weathering characteristics of tors are closely correlated. Glacially modified tors and boulder erratics with slightly weathered surfaces have 10Be exposure ages of about 15 to 43 ka. Nuclide inheritance is present in many of these surfaces. Correction for inheritance indicates that the eastern Cairngorms were deglaciated at 15.6 ?? 0.9 ka. Glacially modified tors with moderate to advanced weathering features have 10Be exposure ages of 19 to 92 ka. These surfaces were only slightly modified during the last glacial cycle and gained much of their exposure during the interstadial of marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 5 or earlier. Tors lacking evidence of glacial modification and exhibiting advanced weathering have 10Be exposure ages between 52 and 297 ka. Nuclide concentrations in these surfaces are probably controlled by bedrock erosion rates instead of discrete glacial events. Maximum erosion rates estimated from 10Be range from 2.8 to 12.0 mm/ka, with

  3. Rangelands management in Spanish Natura 2000 sites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hernando Gallego, A.; Tejera Gimeno, R.; Velázquez Saornil, J.; Núñez Martí, V.; Grande Vega, M.

    2009-04-01

    features such as vital functions, restoration, floral richness and structure. Finally, the implemented management plan proposes a sustainable solution to restore the habitat and maintain the livestock. Conversion by thinning on coppice forest to high forest is a popular recommendation by expert managers. It is proposed in high polewood (with B: inconvenient conservation status), sapling (A) and coppice tall shrubs (C) during the first fifteen years. Low-intensity thinning on sprouts, less than 35% of the basal area. Besides, the cattle will be led to these areas to control the sprouts. Low polewood (C) is left to grow with livestock and only the best trees will survive. Oak shrubland will be tested. The main purpose is avoiding the whole forest to become a coppice forest (C) without acorn regeneration. Therefore oak shrubland will be fenced and different measures tested (brush out, bulldozer scalping, intensive and medium thinning and no treatment) in order to choose the most suitable one for future management. In conclusion, the proposed selvicultural measures use the livestock as a part of the solution to ensure biodiversity.

  4. Short term recovery of soil biological functions in a new vineyard cultivated in organic farming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Costantini, Edoardo; Agnelli, Alessandro; Fabiani, Arturo; Gagnarli, Elena; Mocali, Stefano; Priori, Simone; Simoni, Sauro; Valboa, Giuseppe

    2014-05-01

    Deep earthwork activities carried out before vineyard plantation completely upset soil profile and characteristics. The resulting soil features are often much more similar to the underlying substratum than original soil profile. The time needed to recover soil functions is ecologically relevant and affects vine phenology and grape yield, particularly in organic viticulture. The general aim of this research work was to investigate the time needed to recover soil functions after the earthworks made before vine plantation. This study compared for a four years period physical and chemical properties, microbial and mesofauna communities, in new and old vineyards, cultivated on the same soil type. The experiment was conducted in a farm of the Chianti Classico district (Central Italy), on hills of high altitude (400-500 m a.s.l.) on clayey-calcareous flysches, with stony and calcareous soils (Haplic Cambisol (Calcaric, Skeletic)). The reference vine cultivar was Sangiovese. The older vineyard was planted in 2000, after slope reshaping by bulldozing and back hoe ploughing down to about 0.8-1.0 m. The new vineyard was planted in 2011 after an equivalent earthwork carried out in the summer of 2009. Both vineyards were organically managed and only compost at the rate of 1,000 kg ha-1 -a was added every year. The new vineyard was periodically cultivated by mechanical tillage, while the older only at alternate rows. Soil samples from the first 15 cm depth were collected in 4 replicates in the younger as well as in the older vineyard during the springtime of 2010-2013; in the older vineyard, two samples were from the periodically cultivated swaths and two under permanent grass cover. Samples were analysed for physical (particle size, field capacity, wilting point), chemical (pH, electrical conductivity, lime, active lime, organic carbon, total nitrogen), microbiological (soil respiration, microbial biomass, DGGE), and mesofauna features (abundance, taxa richness, BSQ index and

  5. A tale of two fires

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swearingen, Gary L.

    2001-01-01

    conclusions reached by the Board led to the development of four primary judgments of need - managerial controls and safety measures required to minimise the probablity or severity of the recurrence of such an event. The judgments of need recommend that the DoE: (1) Evaluate existing emergency response processes related to Hanford events affecting state and national systems, as well as state and national events affecting Hanford systems. (2) Review and revise sitewide and protracted emergency and recovery operations, including emergency communications and resource readiness. (3) Assess the Federal Radiological Emergency Response Plan for inclusion of independent radioactivity monitoring by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during events and for limited deployment of the Federal Radiological Monitoring and Assessment Center whenever the EPA has been deployed. (4) Improve the corrective action management system to ensure that improvement actions are managed adequately. More than 900 firefighters from multiple agencies were involved in the event. They used 200 pieces of firefighting apparatus, including dozens of bulldozers, two helicopters and five air tankers. The efforts of hundreds of DoE and Hanford site contractor personnel focused on emergency response, radiological control and monitoring, and ensuring security and safety for site personnel and assets.

  6. Efeito da colheita seletiva de madeira sobre algumas características físicas de um latossolo amarelo sob floresta na Amazônia Central Effect of selective logging on some physical characteristics of a yellow latosol under rainforest in Central Amazonia State

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Walane Maria Pereira de Mello-Ivo

    2006-10-01

    objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of selective logging on some soil physical characteristics. The study area lies about 80 km north of Manaus and the vegetation is a humid tropical rainforest. Seven to ten trees/ha (DAP > 55 cm were felled and removed by a D6 bulldozer, in 1993. Six disturbance classes were defined in the logged plots, with three replicates each: tractor track, center of clearing, edge of clearing, edge of forest, remaining forest and control forest. Soil under tractor tracks represented 13.8 % of the exploited area, and showed higher values of bulk density, and penetration resistance, and lower macroporosity and available water for plants than the other disturbance classes. The other classes were less affected and no significant differences were observed between their soil properties and the control forest, indicating selective logging as a practice that causes less impact on soils of Amazon forest ecosystems.

  7. Nabarlek Traditional Owners' perspective on the current state of revegetation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lewis, B.

    2001-01-01

    , which was then disposed through a tender process which in retrospect must be considered lacking in compulsion. But this is a more or less tractable matter compared to the revegetation strategy. Traditional Owners are of the view that the solution is much simpler than the re-establishment of vegetation on highly disturbed ground - essentially as simple as digging a pit and bulldozing the rubbish in. The NLC has stated that the success or failure of the present revegetation effort has not been satisfactorily determined. It is most unfortunate that the original operators of the minesite were not directly involved in the rehabilitation effort as this would have ensured a more continuous presence on the ground, and some of the apparent problems might not have arisen To Traditional Owners this transferral of responsibility is most unsatisfactory, the process off encumbrance has no ready counterpart, lines of responsibility relating to country are onerous and compelling and it confirms their perception of the inherent weakness of Western law. In their view, the responsible party is the company which conducted the mining. But in the end, it is a valid component of the Deed to which the NLC is party on their behalf, and a usual feature of commercial agreements. However, it is something that they will no doubt adjust to

  8. Using tracer-based sediment budgets to quantify erosion and deposition within harvested forests in south-east NSW, Australia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wallbrink, P.J.; Roddy, B.P.; Olley, J.M.

    1998-01-01

    Full text: The total impact of forest operations on the store of soil material within harvested coupes can be difficult to quantify. A study was recently undertaken in a small (∼12 ha) basin near Bombala, south-east NSW to measure both the net amount of soil erosion from the basin, and the redistribution of eroded soils and sediments within it. The dry sclerophyll study area was divided into several distinct elements: log landings, snig tacks, general harvest area (GHA), cross banks, and the filter strip of native vegetation left adjacent to the major streamline Measurements of two radionuclide tracers ( 137 Cs and 210 Pb-excess) in each of these locations were then integrated into budgets describing the movement of soil within and between the various landscape elements. The 137 Cs budget showed that no net loss of soil material had occurred from within the study area, with retention of 109 ± 14 %. Conversely, the 210 Pb-excess budget showed a total retention of 78 ± 12 %. The deficit of 2 10 Pb compared to that of 137 Cs was explained by a combination of analytical and sampling uncertainties, losses of 2 10 Pb associated with combustion and/or transport of litter and organic matter from the site, and some small loss of surface soil (to a depth of 2 mm). However, no evidence of surface-derived topsoil material was found in sediments currently being transported from the site. Both tracer budgets showed that a net loss of soil from the snig tracks and log landings had occurred. This was quantified to be 28 ± 13 mm and 48 ± 29 mm depth from these land forms respectively. Up to 30 % of this loss could be directly attributable to the creation of the cross banks by bulldozer blading. The remainder was associated with mechanical losses due to export on truck tyres and bark, dust during the dry summer harvesting phase, and losses associated with sheet and rill erosion during storm events over the intervening years. Soil material eroded from the log landings was

  9. A New Perspective on Mount St. Helens - Dramatic Landform Change and Associated Hazards at the Most Active Volcano in the Cascade Range

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramsey, David W.; Driedger, Carolyn L.; Schilling, Steve P.

    2008-01-01

    south of the 1980-86 lava dome. The erupting lava cleaved Crater Glacier in half and bulldozed it aside, causing thickening, crevassing, and rapid northward advance of the glacier?s east and west arms. Intermittent steam and ash explosions, some generating plumes that rose up to 11 kilometers, preceded and accompanied extrusion of the new lava dome, but ceased by early 2005. As the new dome grew, a series of large fins or spines of hot lava rose, some more than 100 meters high, and then crumbled producing sometimes spectacular rock falls. The largest of these rock falls generated dust or steam plumes that rose high above the crater rim. By February 2006, the new dome had grown to a volume similar to that of the 1980-86 lava dome; and by July 2007, the new dome had grown to a volume of 93 million cubic meters, exceeding the volume of the 1980-86 lava dome. The height of the new dome also exceeded that of the 1980-86 lava dome, and at its highest point (before collapse in 2005) reached to within 2 meters of the lowest point on the south crater rim. At this height, the new dome was taller than the Empire State Building in New York City. The new lava dome initially grew very quickly, at rates of 2 to 3 cubic meters (one small dump truck load) per second. If it had continued to grow at these rates for about 100 years, it would have replaced the volume of rock removed from the volcano during the May 18, 1980, eruption. However, the lava extrusion rate slowed throughout the eruption, and, by July 2007, it was oozing at a rate of 0.1 cubic meters per second. At that rate, it would take over 700 years to replace the volume of rock lost in 1980. Lava dome extrusion has continued into early 2008.

  10. Response of roseate tern to a shoreline protection project on Falkner Island, Connecticut

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogers, C.J.; Spendelow, J.A.; Guilfoyle, Michael P.; Fischer, Richard A.; Pashley, David N.; Lott, Casey A.

    2007-01-01

    Construction was initiated following the 2000 tern breeding season for Phase 1 of a planned two-phase ?Shoreline Protection and Erosion Control Project? at the Falkner Island Unit of the USFWS Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge located in Long Island Sound off the coast of Guilford, CT. When the Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) and federally endangered Roseate Tern (S. dougallii) arrived in spring 2001, they encountered several major habitat changes from what had existed in previous years. These changes included: a rock revetment covering most of the former nesting habitat on the beach from the northwestern section around the northern tip and covering about 60% of the eastern side; an elevated 60- ? 4-m shelf covering the beach and lower bank of the southwestern section; and about 2,000 sq m of devegetated areas on top of the island on the northeast side above the revetment, and about one-third of the southern half of the island. The southwest shelf was created by bulldozing and compacting extra construction fill and in situ materials. This shelf differed in internal structure from the main revetment on the north and eastern sections of the island because it lacked the deep internal crevices of the revetment. The deep internal crevices were created from the large stones and boulders (up to 2 tons) used in the construction of the main revetment. Small rock and gravel was used to fill the crevices to within 3 feet (0.9 m) of the surface of the revetment. Because half-buried tires and nest boxes for the six Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii) sub-colony areas were deployed in similar patterns on the remaining beach, and nest boxes were placed on the newly elevated shelf areas several meters above previous locations on the now-covered beach areas, the distribution of Roseate Tern nests did not change much from 2000 to 2001. However, the movements of Roseate Tern chicks ? in many cases led by their parents towards traditional hiding places ? into the labyrinth of

  11. Detailed sedimentology and geomorphology elucidate mechanisms of formation of modern and historical sequences of minor moraines in the European Alps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wyshnytzky, Cianna; Lukas, Sven

    2016-04-01

    moraines here formed as push moraines in two groups separated by a former proglacial basin and are composed dominantly of pre-existing proglacial outwash gravel through efficient bulldozing of the glacier front (Lukas, 2012). These findings show a range of mechanisms responsible for moraine formation. Furthermore, basal freeze-on processes incorporating subglacial sediment (till) have not been recorded in high-mountain moraine formation, suggesting a commonality of seasonal climatic controls between the glacier dynamics of high-mountain glaciers and those in more lowland, maritime settings. References Andersen, J.L., and Sollid, J.L., 1971, Glacial Chronology and Glacial Geomorphology in the Marginal Zones of the Glaciers, Midtdalsbreen and Nigardsbreen, South Norway: Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift - Norwegian Journal of Geography, v. 25, no. 1, p. 1-38, doi: 10.1080/00291957108551908. Beedle, M.J., Menounos, B., Luckman, B.H., and Wheate, R., 2009, Annual push moraines as climate proxy: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 36, no. 20, p. L20501, doi: 10.1029/2009GL039533. Boulton, G.S., 1986, Push-moraines and glacier-contact fans in marine and terrestrial environments: Sedimentology, v. 33, p. 677-698. Evans, D.J.A., and Benn, D.I., 2004, A Practical Guide to the Study of Glacial Sediments: Hodder Education, London, United Kingdom. Hewitt, K., 1967, Ice-Front Deposition and the Seasonal Effect: A Himalayan Example: Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, v. 42, p. 93-106. Kjær, K.H., and Krüger, J., 2001, The final phase of dead-ice moraine development: processes and sediment architecture, Kötlujökull, Iceland: Sedimentology, v. 48, p. 935-952. Krüger, J., 1995, Origin, chronology and climatological significance of annual-moraine ridges at Myrdalsjökull, Iceland: The Holocene, v. 5, no. 4, p. 420-427. Lukas, S., 2012, Processes of annual moraine formation at a temperate alpine valley glacier: insights into glacier dynamics and climatic controls: Boreas, v

  12. The coral reef of South Moloka'i, Hawai'i - Portrait of a sediment-threatened fringing reef

    Science.gov (United States)

    Field, Michael E.; Cochran, Susan A.; Logan, Joshua; Storlazzi, Curt D.

    2008-01-01

    finally washed out of the system—and that only happens if there is no more new mud washing onto the reef.I saw this myself a few years ago in Pila‘a Bay on Kaua‘i, where a bulldozed hillside of abandoned sugar cane fields had slumped right on top of a coral reef following exceptional rains. Years later, the algae species were zoned in a way that clearly mapped the distribution of nutrients washed into the bay, most likely from fertilizers bound to the eroded soils. That pattern closely mimics, on a small scale, that shown in Moloka‘i in this volume, where the inner reef is covered with algae, zoned by species in a way that points to land-based sources of nutrients, while the outermost reef slope is still coral dominated, and the deep algae seem to indicate deep-water nutrient upwelling.What of the future? The Hawaiian Islands have been exceptionally fortunate to be spared the worst coral heatstroke death from high temperatures, at least to date. So far, the worst global warming impacts have luckily been small in this region, and the small number of people on Moloka‘i has kept population densities, and sewage pollution, low compared to the more developed islands. Nutrients from years of sugar and pineapple fertilization, and the washing of this soil onto the reefs, show clear influences on the pattern of algae on the reef. Even at very low levels of nutrients, well below that which drives algae to smother and kill coral reefs, more algae is present. Soil erosion control is therefore the key to better management of both nutrients and turbidity on Moloka‘i reefs. To that end land management actions mentioned in this book, such as suppressing wild fires and eliminating wild goats and pigs, could be made even more effective if supplemented by active erosion control using plants whose roots bind the soil effectively in place. Through all of these efforts, Hina and the people of Moloka‘i could be happy again!