The investigation of earth dams under significant earthquake loads, such as catastrophic earthquakes, is a critical subject in dynamic evaluation. Damage mitigation and structural performance during an earthquake are crucial considerations for an earthen dam. However, Iraq and its neighbors have experienced frequent earthquake activity, including the 2017 Halabja Earthquake, which may have damaged some existing earth dams, posing a higher risk of severe earthquake-induced damage than a cyclic shock. Therefore, assessing the dam’s safety is crucial for protecting downstream communities and determining the best strategies to prevent slope stability failure in the face of frequent seismic activity. Nevertheless, the seismicity map of Iraq is being adjusted to reflect the high magnitude of earthquakes, hence; highlighting the need for urgent action to prevent further consequences of seismic activity. Stone columns are a ground improvement technique that utilizes compacted stone columns to improve soil strength by increasing shear strength and reducing excess pore water pressure in non-cohesive soil. It is worth mentioning that prop stone columns on the upstream and downstream slope under the influence of static and dynamic load were not yet well addressed. Thus, the aim includes the study of the impact of stone columns on the stability of the slopes of the Al-Adhaim Earth Dam in Diyala governorate in Iraq, subjected to static and dynamic loads influenced by four earthquakes with a peak ground acceleration of 0.15g for 30 seconds and for different cases, utilizing the Geo Studio program (Seep/w, Slope/w, Quake/w). The results showed that the stone column led to a marginal enhancement in the safety factor of both the upstream and downstream slopes under static load. However, the inclusion of the stone column led to a clear improvement in the safety factor during all earthquakes relative to its exclusion.
An environmental study conducted on diatoms in Al Yusifiya river beyond its branching from Euphrates river. Four sites were selected along the river for the period from march 2013 to September 2013. The present study involved the measurement of physicochemical parameters, also the qualitative and quantities of diatoms. The studied parameters values ranged as follows: 19-44Cº and 16-30 Cº for air and water temperature respectively, 6.9-8.7, 595-1248 µS/cm, 6.4-8.0 mg/l for pH, electric conductivity and dissolved oxygen respectively. A total of 74 taxa were recorded for diatoms, where the pinnate diatom was the predominant and recorded 64 taxa while 10 taxa for centric diatoms. The total number of diatoms was 1197.55*104 cell /l. The tota
... Show MorePhytoplankton assemblage in relation to physical and chemical characteristics of water in Al-Auda marsh of Maysan province southern Iraq was assessed from November 2012 to July 2013. Six sampling sites were chosen to examine all phytoplankton species in the study area. A total of 246 species and seventy-five genera have been recognized belonging to twelve phytoplankton classes as follows: Bacillariophyceae (106 taxa), Chlorophyceae (34 taxa), Euglenophyceae (29 taxa), Cyanophyceae (29 taxa), Conjugatophyceae (19 taxa), Mediophyceae (10 taxa), Cryptophyceas (5 taxa), Coscinodiscophyceae (4 taxa), Chrysophyceae (4 taxa), Dinophyceae (3 taxa), Trebouxiophyceae (2 taxa) whereas Compsopogonophyceae record
This study aims to evaluate drinking water quality at the Al Wahda plant (WTP) in Baghdad city. A conventional water treatment plant with an average flow rate of 72.82 MLD. Water samples were taken from the influent and effluent of the treatment plant and analyzed for some physicochemical and biological parameters during the period from June to November 2020. The results of the evaluation indicate that treated water has almost the same characteristics as raw water; in other terms, the plant units do not remove pollutants as efficiently as intended. Based on this, the station appears to be nothing more than a series of water passage units. However, apart from Total dissolved solids, the mean values of all parameters in th
... Show MoreThis study was done to determine the concentration of several heavy metals in the water of Al-Saddah agricultural drainage in Al-Saddah District in Babylon Province/Iraq. The concentrations of six heavy metals were measured (Pb, Cd, Cu, Hg, Fe, Zn). It was found that Pb concentration ranged from 0.06 mg/L at St.2 in autumn to 0.13 mg/L at St.2 in winter. Fe concentrations ranged from 0.04 mg/L at St.2 in autumn and winter to 0.41 at St.2 in Summer. Cd concentrations ranged from 0.008 mg/L at St.2 in summer to 0.05 mg/L at St.2 in winter. Cu concentrations ranged from 0.01 mg/L at St.1 in both autumn and winter to 0.63 mg/L at St.2 in winter. Hg concentrations was ranged from 0.002 mg/
The earth's surface comprises different kinds of land cover, water resources, and soil, which create environmental factors for varied animals, plants, and humans. Knowing the significant effects of land cover is crucial for long-term development, climate change modeling, and preserving ecosystems. In this research, the Google Earth Engine platform and freely available Landsat imagery were used to investigate the impact of the expansion and degradation in urbanized areas, watersheds, and vegetative cover on the land surface temperature in Baghdad from 2004 to 2021. Land cover indices such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Water Index, and Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDVI, NDWI, an
... Show MoreThe study is carried out by using personal dosimeters (film badge). The films are irradiated to absorbed dose of range (0.01-10000 rad). The calibration curves are drawn by using the ordinary method taking into account the filtration effects in three regions (D (Pb/Sn),D(Du),D(300). The calibration films are stored in ambient condition. It is found that the optical density increases, which is attributed to the photodegradation of the films may induce localized states in the energy gap causing increasing in optical absorption, but optical density decreases, which attributed to the photodegradation of the films may cause some cracks at the film surface during the first month, whereas at the rest months we see clear stability in optical d
... Show MoreThe general assumption of linear variation of earth pressures with depth on retaining structures is still controversial; investigations are yet required to determine those distributions of the passive earth pressure (PEP) accurately and deduce the corresponding centroid location. In particular, for rigid retaining walls, the calculation of PEP is strongly dependent on the type of wall movement. This paper presents a numerical analysis for studying the influence of wall movement on the PEP distribution on a rigid retaining wall and the passive earth thrust location. The numerical predictions are remarkably similar to existing experimental works as recorded on scaled test models and ful
Due to the easily access to the satellite images, Google Earth (GE) images have become more popular than other online virtual globes. However, the popularity of GE is not an indication of its accuracy. A considerable amount of literature has been published on evaluating the positional accuracy of GE data; however there are few studies which have investigated the subject of improving the GE accuracy. In this paper, a practical method for enhancing the horizontal positional accuracy of GE is suggested by establishing ten reference points, in University of Baghdad main campus, using different Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observation techniques: Rapid Static, Post-Processing Kinematic, and Network. Then, the GE image for the study
... Show More