The Conservation of Ground Water Levels in the Peat Swamp Forest at Ayer Hitam North Forest Reserve, Muar in Johor, Malaysia

The management of peat swamp forests in Malaysia contends with two major issues: forest fires and the effects of abandoned forest-logging drainage systems or canals. Forest fire occurs during low rainfall season related to the local people activities. The drainage networks change the hydrological function of the intact forest ecosystem. A key function of the hydrological system in the undisturbed forest is to absorb water during rainfall season, thus delaying downstream runoff and preventing flash floods. The objective of the project described here is to restore the hydrological function of peat swamp forest (PSF) at Ayer Hitam North Forest Reserve (AHNFR) in Muar, Johor, Malaysia. The oil palm plantations, especially in the southern part of the area affect the forest reserve. Water flows out of the forest reserve through the drainage system constructed for managing these plantations. In 2016 and 2017, two water block structures or check dams were constructed near the boundaries of the forest reserve to hold the water and raise the groundwater level in the forest reserve. The implementation of the check dams at the two locations has conserved the groundwater level and subsequently, about 1.2 million m3 of water was saved annually from leaving the forest reserve from each of the check dam. This project is also part of the Coca-Cola Company’s sustainability commitment for water strategy with the global that is to replenish 100% of the equivalent volume of water consumed in their products and production by 2020. Replenishment is the key sustainability commitment for the Company.

Influence of Seasonal Ground Water Level Fluctuations on the Stability of the Rohingya Refugee Camp Hills of Ukhiya, Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh—A Threat for Sustainable Development

Bangladesh is a south Asian Monsoonal Country and the recent precipitation pattern in the Cox’s Bazar area of Bangladesh is changing and increasing the number of monsoonal slope failures and landslide hazards in the Kutubpalong & Balukhali Rohingya camp area. An attempt has been made to see the influence of seasonal variation of ground water level (G.W.L.) fluctuations on the stability of the eco hills and forests of Ukhiya Teknaf region. Ukhiya hills are in great danger because of cutting trees from the hill slopes and it is well established that due to recent change of climate, short term rainfall for few consecutive days during monsoon might show an influence on the factor of safety (Fs) values of the camp hill slopes. A clear G.W.L. variation between dry and wet seasons has an influence on the stability (Fs) values indicating that climate has a strong influence on the stability and threatening sustainable development. A stable or marginally stable slope might be unstable during raining and show a variation of ground water level (G.W.L.). The generation of pore water pressure (P.W.P.) is also influenced by seasonal variation of ground water level. During wet season negative P.W.P. called suction plays an important role to occur slope failures in the Ukhiya hills. Based on all calculated factor of safety values (Fs) at different locations, four (4) susceptible landslide risk zones are identified. They are very high risk (Fs = 0.18 to 0.46), high risk (Fs = 0.56 to 0.75), medium risk (Fs = 0.76 to 1.0) and marginally stable areas (Fs ≈ 1). Proper geo-engineering measures must be taken by the concerned authorizes to reduce P.W.P. during monsoon by installing rain water harvesting system, allowing sufficient drainage & other geotechnical measures to reduce the risk of slope failures in the Ukhiya hills. Based on the stability factor (Fs) at different slope locations of the camp hills, a risk map of the investigated area has been produced for the local community for their safety and to build up awareness & to motivate them to evacuate the site during monsoonal slope failures. The established “Risk Maps” can be used for future geological engineering works as well as for sustainable planning, design and construction purposes relating to adaptation and mitigation of landslide risks in the investigated area.

Use of Geosynthetic Access Mats in Construction

A stable surface to move manpower and equipment is a key for the construction operations. To create a stable road surface, the road construction techniques are time-consuming and expensive for a traditional construction which requires compaction of soil, aggregate base, sub-base and asphaltic layers. A Geosynthetic Access Mat (GAM) system can serve as an alternative to other traditional construction techniques to accommodate temporary construction. Due to its rigidity, the mat system can provide substantial vertical resistance to the applied load under a large deflection subject to soil conditions. This paper provides details of GAM specifications, soil conditions, applications, installation procedure, comparison with other soil stabilization methods and Aramco experience for deployments of these mats.

3-D rheologic model of earthquake prepa-ration (III): Precursor field

On the basis of the theory of viscoelastic displacement and strain field for the three-dimensional rheologic model of earthquake preparation, this paper mainly studies the theoretical solution of precursor field for the three-dimensional rheologic model of earthquake preparation. We derive the viscoelastic analytical expressions of the ground tilt, underground water level, earth resistivity at an arbitrary point （x, y, z） in the rheologic medium, and analyzed the earth resistivity preliminarily, providing a certain theoretical basis for the precursor analysis of seismogenic process.