U. H Issa, A. Ahmed,
Volume 12, Issue 2 (Transaction B: Geotechnical Engineering April 2014)
Abstract
Driven Precast Reinforced Concrete Piles (DPRCP) is extensively used as a foundation for bridges constructed over canals
in Egypt in order to avoid the diversion of water canals. The objectives of this research include identifying the main activities
of DPRCP execution in the bridge-construction industry in Egypt and the risk factors affecting them. In addition, assessment of
the effects of these risk factors on the quality of activities of DPRCP. Four activities are identified in order to execute the
process of construction of DPRCP. These activities include: preparing and casting piles, positioning piles and steering the
driving machine, handling piles, and driving piles. Thirty one risk factors affecting the DPRCP activities execution are
identified. A survey was executed in Egypt concerning probabilities of occurrence of these factors and their impacts on the
quality of activities of DPRCP. In addition, a new membership function is introduced to represent the quality of activities and
used in a fuzzy model for factors assessment. Results showed that the proposed membership function can be used effectively to
assess the quality of activities associated with the construction of DPRCP. A list of risk factors is highlighted to show the most
critical risk factors that help in preparing the quality management plan for the upcoming similar projects. The gentile
distribution of data obtained for the different activities proved that the investigated risk factors for the DPRCP in this study
are significant.
M. Kobayashi, U. H. Issa, A. Ahmed,
Volume 13, Issue 1 (Transaction B: Geotechnical Engineering March 2015)
Abstract
The use of recycled bassanite, produced from gypsum wastes, in ground improvement projects is initiated recently in Japan to eliminate the huge quantities of gypsum wastes. Meanwhile the use of recycled bassanite has a positive effect on the environment and economy, it has many challenges. These challenges are related to the release of fluorine more than the standard limits results in contaminated fluorine soil. This research investigates the effect of the amount of bassanite, and water content on the release of fluorine from MC-clay soil stabilized with bassanite, taking in consideration their effect on the compressive strength. Recycled bassanite was mixed with furnace cement with a ratio of 1:1 to prevent the solubility of bassanite. Different amounts of this admixture were mixed with the tested soil at different water contents. Unconfined compression test was used to determine the compressive strength while the solubility of fluorine was used to represent the geo-environmental properties in term of the release of fluorine. Scan electron microscopic (SEM) test was done to identify the development of cementation compounds in the matrix of treated-bassanite soil. Test results showed that, the addition of bassanite had a significant effect on the improvement of compressive strength by increasing the amount of bassanite. Curing time had a significant effect on the increase of compressive strength, the strength increases with the increase of curing time, especially in the later curing time. The release of fluorine increases with increasing the amount of bassanite in soil mixture. The increase of water content had an indirect effect on the release of fluorine while it had a negative effect on the improvement of strength and consuming the amount of admixture. The increase of strength is associated with the decrease of the release of fluorine. Recycled bassanite, produced from gypsum wastes, had a potential to be used as a stabilizer material for MC-clay soil and meet the standards of environment.
