Anti-seismic Value of Watchtower-like Folk Residence on the Central Plain of China by the Insinuation of Typical Cases

Through the survey of ancient residences on the Central Plain of China, several ancient residences have been selected as typical cases. By combining with residential features of watchtower, characteristics of these residences have been analyzed carefully. In order to reasonably illustrate anti-seismic value of watchtower-like residences, their characteristics have been concluded in the perspective of plane form, structural arrangement, and anti-seismic construction measures. The plane form is of tower; the plane and vertical surfaces are regular and even; the wall's thickness is reasonable, and doors and windows are few and small; and bonded stone has been set in the wall, resisting compression.

Ancient Watchtowers In Jiarong

Most of the watchtowers rise from eight to ten 0r more storeys in height.The structures are found in various designs,with some being square or octagonal,while still others assume various other shapes.

Research on the historical and cultural value of and protection strategy for rammed earth watchtower houses in Chongqing,China

Chinese watchtower houses are part of the unique human cultural heritage of the world’s vernacular architectures.Many earthen manor watchtower houses in Chongqing,China,have absorbed the characteristics of other tower houses across the country and have brought together various types of watchtower construction techniques.They are important connection points for the integrity of the Chinese watchtower house as a comprehensive architectural cultural heritage system.They can be a typical sample of Chinese Han classical towers.These buildings are indispensable parts of the Chinese residential watchtower system and have important cultural protection value.However,due to the general lack of excavation and attention to their historical and cultural value,these buildings are on the verge of disappearing.Although they have lost their original architectural functions,they have important value in terms of their building materials,technical composition and artistic modelling.They can stimulate special emotional resonance and become an important bridge that maintains the cultural connection between ancient and modern humans.Therefore,discussing the historical and cultural value of Chongqing rammed earth watchtower houses,the strategy for heritage protection and utilisation is of far-reaching signifcance for Chinese watchtower dwellings.

Geospatial Model as Strategy to Prevent Forest Fires: A Case Study

The forests of the State of Durango have been severely affected by fires in recent years. Early detection of fires through watchtowers is essential. In this work a geospatial model was generated to optimize strategic visualization points, using a GIS environment. Analysis of the area of visibility was developed by integrating a digital model of elevation and a plant cover map. The resulting distribution generates more than 50% coverage of the studied area, in points that were not always the highest. It was concluded that this strategy would permit to increase the efficiency, mainly favoring the communities of pine, whose economic importance would justify the required investment.

Territorial Resilience Through Visibility Analysis for Immediate Detection of Wildfires Integrating Fire Susceptibility,Geographical Features,and Optimization Methods

Climate change effects tend to reinforce the frequency and severity of wildfires worldwide,and early detection of wildfire events is considered of crucial importance.The primary aim of this study was the spatial optimization of fire resources(that is,watchtowers)considering the interplay of geographical features(that is,simulated burn probability to delimit fire vulnerability;topography effects;and accessibility to candidate watchtower locations)and geo-optimization techniques(exact programming methods)to find both an effective and financially feasible solution in terms of visibility coverage in Chalkidiki Prefecture of northern Greece.The integration of all geographical features through the Analytical Hierarchy Process indicated the most appropriate territory for the installment of watchtowers.Terrain analysis guaranteed the independence and proximity of location options(applying spatial systematic sampling to avoid first order redundancy)across the ridges.The conjunction of the above processes yielded 654 candidate watchtower positions in 151,890 ha of forests.The algorithm was designed to maximize the joint visible area and simultaneously minimize the number of candidate locations and overlapping effects(avoiding second order redundancy).The results indicate four differentiated location options in the study area:(1)75locations can cover 90%of the forests(maximum visible area);(2)47 locations can cover 85%of the forests;(3)31locations can cover 80.2%of the forests;and(4)16 locations can cover 70.6%of the forests.The last option is an e fficient solution because it covers about 71%of the forests with just half the number of watchtowers that would be required for the third option with only about 10%additional forest coverage.However,the final choice of any location scheme is subject to agency priorities and their respective financial flexibility.