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The impact of climate change towards water surface resources is crucial, particularly in developing and non-developing countries. Groundwater as a main water resource is thus an essential. However, contamination due to hydrocarbon spills affects the groundwater as a water resource, especially as a main source of drinking water. This chapter investigates the light non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) penetrations in double-porosity soil with different moisture contents and with or without vibration impact. It also explains the LNAPL penetration phenomena by employing image analysis. The physical laboratory experiments were implemented using an acrylic cylinder, a mirror, toluene and a Nikon D90 DSLR digital camera. Prepared soil was poured in an acrylic cylinder and compressed with compressor until it became 10 cm in height. LNAPL was then poured instantaneously onto the acrylic cylinder that was filled with soil sample. The LNAPL penetration patterns were recorded and monitored using a Nikon D90 DSLR digital camera. The processing technique was conducted at predetermined time intervals using Surfer software and Matlab routine to plot the LNAPL pattern. The results showed that a higher penetration rate of LNAPL occurred with higher moisture content and without vibration impact. The penetration time for LNAPL to reach the bottom of the soil sample was found to be longer for the soil that had low moisture content and with vibration impact.

The evolution in developed countries has taken a role in global warming and natural disasters such as flash flood, El-Nino, earthquake and groundwater contamination. The underground storage tank leakage problems and spillage of hydrocarbon liquid leading to the contamination of non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) into the groundwater could reduce the quality of groundwater. This chapter is intended to investigate the behaviour and the pattern of NAPL migrations in double-porosity soil under vibration and intact conditions. The experimental model is developed by using kaolin soil type S300 and toluene as NAPLs. The kaolin soil was mixed with 25% of moisture content to produce kaolin granules in the soil column and vibrate under 0.98 Hz of frequency within 60 seconds. As a result, both specimen liquids completely migrated to the bottom of soil column: sample 1 has higher permeability compared to sample 2. This is due to the fracture in double-porosity soil under vibration effect and loosened the soil structure in sample 1 compared to good intact soil sample 2 with stronger and compact soil structure. In conclusion, this study proves that the dangerous hydrocarbon NAPL migration in fractured double-porosity soil has very harmful effect on the environment and groundwater resources.

From the first emergence of civilizations based on agriculture, variations in the nature and productive capacity of the soil were recognized by farmers, and names, usually based on colour or texture, were given to distinctive varieties. In modern times the connection between soils and the rocks which provide their parent materials was generally recognized, and the earliest attempts to classify soils systematically had a geological or petrological basis. Most of these schemes, such as those proposed by Thaer and Fallou in Germany, suffered from their limited geographical scope, and little attention was paid to the effects on soil formation of climate, vegetation, and topography. Soil was conceived primarily as an inert material composed of variously constituted mineral particles mixed with varying quantities of plant residues, and the accent on soil as a material received further emphasis following the publication in 1840 of Liebig's ‘Chemistry in its Application to Agriculture and Physiology’, which suggested that differences in soil fertility were largely determined by differences in chemical constitution.

Hydraulic conductivity is very low in saline-sodic soil, which decreases water infiltration. For saline-sodic soil, increasing infiltration water has a special meaning. Increasing infiltration water not only increases the water in the soil profile but also decreases the salinity of the soil, thus making it suitable for growing crops. This study aims to examine the effect of sand pipes on soil water and salt distribution through laboratory tests with different depths and diameters of sand pipes.

The soil water and salt distribution responses to different sand pipe depths and diameters was investigated. Treatments included sand pipes with diameters of 4 cm, 5cm, 6 cm and the same depth of 4 cm; with depths of 2cm, 6 cm and the same diameter of 5 cm, and a control with no sand pipe (with the diameter of 0 cm and the depth of 0 cm).

The results suggested that the amount of cumulative infiltration water and transport distance of the wetting front could be increased by increasing the depth and diameter of sand pipes. The soil water content in the soil profile decreased under all treatments except for the control, whereas the value of EC increased with increasing distance from the film hole center. Positive relationships were also found among the sand pipe depth, diameter and the zone of low salt content. Furthermore, salt leaching depth increased with sand pipe depth and diameter. Overall, the treatments with and without sand pipes exhibited obvious differences.

The correlation analysis proved that increasing the infiltration area through sand pipes positively affected the amount of infiltration water, wetting scope and salt leaching depth.

To investigate the effect of cement and cement by‐pass dust (CBPD) as a stabilizer on the geotechnical properties of oil‐contaminated soils resulting from leaking underground storage tanks, or soils surrounding petroleum refineries and crude oil wells.

Oil‐contaminated soil (untreated soil) and a soil treated by bio‐remediation (treated soil) as well as a natural soil were obtained from Northern Oman. These soils were stabilized with cement and cement by‐pass dust at 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 percent, by dry weight of the soil, and cured for seven, 14 and 28 days. Compaction, compressive strength, direct shear, permeability and leaching tests were carried out on the stabilized soils.

The results indicate that cement and cement by‐pass dust improve the properties of oil‐contaminated soils. Traces of arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium and lead were found in the oil soils, but none of them exceeded the EPA limits.

Reuse in construction applications provides a safe and useful solution for the problem of the disposal of oil‐contaminated soils.

The paper addresses an environmental problem facing many oil companies in disposing of or treating contaminated soil. The approach presented in the paper offers a beneficial, safe and economical solution to this problem.

A soil information system was developed to manage soil survey data and to ensure that soil information is readily available to support land use planning and development. The Soil Information System combined spatial information management of a Geographical Information System (GIS) with the textural information management of a relational database management system. The GIS is capable of manipulating and displaying area and point data with the logical framework of a database to store data for interpretation. The main objective of this paper was to demonstrate one of the approaches to utilize and interpret data from the soil information system for identifying soil suitable for irrigated agriculture. The design and implementation of the soil information system are discussed, and an example of system output, such as mapping soils suitable for irrigated agricultural, is presented in this paper. For mapping these areas, a criterion was defined to select potential areas for irrigated agriculture. The criterion was applied to each of the soil property classes and subclasses to determine the most limiting rating for each soil. The rating was applied to map units and was allocated by the geographic soil map units in the GIS to produce a suitability map for irrigated agricultural areas in Kuwait. The soil information for the State of Kuwait provided information in a digitized format that can be further extended to interpret other land uses.

Introduction Although the soil as a corrosive environment is probably of greater complexity than any other environment, it is possible to make some generalisations regarding soil types and corrosion. It is necessary to emphasise that corrosion in soils is extremely variable and can range from the rapid to the negligible. This can be illustrated by the fact that buried pipes have become perforated within one year, while archaeological specimens of ancient iron have probably remained in the soil for hundreds of years without significant attack.

The estimation of bearing capacity for shallow foundations in swelling soil is an important and complex context. The complexity is due to the unsaturated swelling soil related to the drying and humidification environment. Hence, a serious study is needed to evaluate the effect of swelling potential soil on the foundation bearing capacity. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the bearing capacity of a rough square foundation founded on a homogeneous swelling soil mass, subjected to vertical loads.

A proposed numerical model based on the simulation of the swelling pressure in the initial state, followed by an elastoplastic behavior model may be used to calculate the foundation bearing capacity. The analyses were carried out using the finite-difference software (FLAC 3 D) with an elastic perfectly plastic Mohr–Coulomb constitutive model. Moreover, the numerical results obtained are compared with the analytical solutions proposed in the literature.

The numerical results were in good agreement with the analytical solutions proposed in the literature. Also, reasonable capacity and performance of the proposed numerical model.

The proposed numerical model is capable to predict the bearing capacity of the homogeneous swelling soil mass loaded by a shallow foundation. Also, it will be of great use for geotechnical engineers and researchers in the field.

Explore the development trend of chemically-improved soil in railway engineering.

In this paper, the technical standards home and abroad were analyzed. Laboratory test, field test and monitoring were carried out.

The performance design system of the chemically-improved soil should be established.

On the basis of the performance design, the test methods and standards for various properties of chemically-improved soil should be established to evaluate the improvement effect and control the engineering quality.

Soil is a non-renewable and increasingly deteriorating resource, yet it is barely protected by European Union (EU) legislation. This constitutes a puzzling gap within the otherwise encompassing and progressive environmental policy of the EU. To explain the integration resistance of soil protection, I draw on insights from rationalist and sociological institutionalist theory. The institutional rigidity of the community method of environmental decision-making limits policy change to favorable interest constellations, but this constraint is usually compensated by agenda competition among the national environmental pioneers. However, successful agenda-setting depends on the skillful combination of political venues and issue frames. Matters of land politics, such as soil protection, are difficult to frame in terms that make them suitable for European policy venues. The theoretical argument is illustrated using an in-depth case study of the agenda-setting, negotiation, and eventual withdrawal of the ill-fated proposal for an EU soil framework directive, with a focus on the changing role of Germany. Reframing of soil politics as locally bound and as essentially national affair, subnational actors extended the conflict to include the German federal chamber as policy venue. As a result, Germany turned from “pusher by example” and first mover to “defensive front-runner,” successfully pursuing a blocking strategy.