Restoration or Rehabilitation of the Faleme River Affected by Mining Activities: What Methods?

The Faleme River, a West Africa long transboundary stream (625 km) and abundant flow (>1100 million m3) is affected by severe erosion because of mining activities that takes place throughout the riverbed. To preserve this important watercourse and ensure the sustainability of its services, selecting and implementing appropriates restorations techniques is vital. In this context, the purpose of this paper was to present an overview of the actions and techniques that can be implemented for the restoration/rehabilitation of the Faleme. The methodological approach includes field investigation, water sampling, literature review with cases studies and SWOT analysis of the four methods presented: river dredging, constructed wetlands, floating treatment wetlands and chemical precipitation (coagulation and flocculation). The study confirmed the pollution of the river by suspended solids (TSS > 1100 mg/L) and heavy metals such as iron, zinc, aluminium, and arsenic. For the restoration methods, it was illustrated through description of their mode of operation and through some case studies presented, that all the four methods have proven their effectiveness in treating rivers but have differences in their costs, their sustainability (detrimental to living organisms or causing a second pollution) and social acceptance. They also have weaknesses and issues that must be addressed to ensure success of rehabilitation. For the case of the Faleme river, after analysis, floating treatment wetlands are highly recommended for their low cost, good removal efficiency if the vulnerability of the raft and buoyancy to strong waves and flow is under control.

Heritage Corridor Construction:New Idea for Protection of Heritage along the Right Bank of the Yalu River

This paper analyzed feasibility,mode,and significance of heritage corridor construction along the right bank of the Yalu River.It stated that the region along the right bank of the Yalu River conforms to characteristics of heritage corridor and is suitable for heritage corridor theory.For Liaoning and Jilin provinces integrating their tourism into the One Belt and One Road strategy,and promoting harmonious use of regional tourist resources,vigorous development of tourism,and targeted poverty alleviation through tourism,the heritage corridor construction is of profound significance.

Construction land expansion and influencing factors of typical river valley cities in Northeast China: Taking Jilin City as an example

Jilin City is a typical river valley city in Northeast China.In this paper,the authors studied the spatial and temporal expansion characteristics of the built-up areas in Jilin City from 1990 to 2020 using the analysis of expansion speed and strength,fractal dimension,barycenter coordinate transfer index and sector analysis.The ultimate-goal is to analyze the driving and restrictive factors that affect the spatial expansion of river valley cities.The results indicate that(1)the expansion speed of urban land in Jilin City has been re-latively slow in the past 30 years,while only slightly faster in 2010–2020;(2)in the spatial dimension,Jilin City mainly expanded to the south,then to the west,and extensive expansion has resulted in complex mor-phology with little stability and compactness;(3)the expansion is affected by multiple factors,of which the positive factor is industrial development,while the restrictive factors include natural factors,population loss,etc.This study provides a case for the formulation of land use policies and land space planning in river valley cities.

Evaluation of Animal and Plant Resources Status Quo after the Reservoir Construction in Turks River and Protection Measures

[Objective] The aim was to assess the status quo of animal and plant resources in Turks River after the construction of the reservoir.[Method] Through field investigation,document check and sample identification,the distribution of animal and plants resources in Turks River after the construction of the reservoir was studied and corresponding protection measures were proposed.[Result] Under the influence of reservoir,there were fifteen types of rare animals,one species of national primary protected animals,seven species of national secondary protected animals,one species of provincial primary protected animals,six species of provincial secondary protected animals;there were twenty one species of rare plants,including two species of national secondary plant,five species of national tertiary protected animals,six types of Xinjiang primary protected plants,two species of Xinjiang secondary protected plants and six types of tertiary protected plants in Xinjiang.Protective policies for the land ecological environment were proposed,including corresponding compensation according to the rules and policies of government,plans being formulated for rare species protection,construction of natural reserves and artificial breeding base,usage of the environment in the reservoir and changes of ecological situation etc.[Conclusion] The study provided basis for the protection of animal and plants resources in Turks.

Engineering Geological Study of the Active Tectonic Region for Hydropower Development on the Jinsha River,Upstream of the Yangtze River

The Jinsha River runs across the Hengduanshan north-south tectonic zone where neotectonism was relatively strong, accompanied by various geologic hazards. In this case, it seems necessary to make a quantitative assessment and grading of the engineering geological environment for the planning and development of hydropower projects on the Jinsha River.

Influence of concrete differential aging time on the construction phases analysis of the Fenghua River Bridge

The Fenghua River Bridge is a major structure on the highway between Hengzhang and Guojiachi, which is to be built with a four-span prestress concrete (PC) box girder and symmetrical cantilever castings. In this paper, a finite element method (FEM) model is set up to study the effects of concrete differential aging time on the construction phases of the Fenghua River Bridge by calculating the vertical displacement of the folding segment of the middle span and the longitudinal bending moment of Pier 12#. In the model, the girders are classified into 150 changing sections based on the desgn scheme, and their construction is to be carried in 16 phases respectively to build 12 blocks connected by a side folding segment and a middle folding segment, covered with a second dead load and in completion for 20 years. It is found that the internal forces and deformations of the concrete structures at the aging time of 60 d are quite different from those of 0 d aging time while the behaviors of the structures of 120 d aging time is nearly the same as those of 60 d aging time― the differences are so small that can be neglected, suggesting that the creep develops obviously about one month after the cement is hardened and the development fades later on.

AREAL DIFFERENTIATION AND CONSTRUCTION OF OASIS AGRICULTURAL ECOSYSTEM IN THE SHIYANG RIVER BASIN

On the basis of the study on areal differentiation of the natural environment of oasis agriculture ecosystems in the Shiyang River Basin, this paper comparatively analyzes the natural productivities, water economic benefits, production efficiency, ecological stabilities and developmental conditions of the Wuwei Oasis agricultural ecosystem in the middle reaches of the river basin and the Minqin Oasis agricultural ecosystem in the lower reaches. Under a same management level and investment of . material and energy, primary productiveness and economic benefits of the former are higher than those of the latter. Construction directions of Wuwei and Minqin oases should be different in order to alleviate the water- use contradiction between the middle and lower reaches. The construction objective of Wuwei Oasis should be efficient irrigated farming production system and Minqin Oasis should become a mixed forestry-pastoral-farming ecosystem taking ecological protection as its major function.

Effects of Tidal Channels and Roads on Landscape Dynamic Distribution in the Yellow River Delta, China

Landscape characters in estuarine regions generally controlled by tidal regimes and human activities like road construction.In this work,tidal channels and road construction in the Yellow River Delta(YRD)were extracted by visual interpretation methods so as to decipher impacts of tidal channel development and road construction on landscape patch change during 1989–2016.Spatial distribution history of three wetlands,which covered by Phragmites australis(freshwater marsh,FM),Suaeda salsa(salt marsh,SM),and mudflats(MD)were also established.Results indicated that tidal channel,number,frequency,and fractal dimension were all the maximum in 2003,and the minimum in 1998,respectively.Road length,number,and density showed increasing trend during 1989–2016.MD were the predominant landscape type,followed by FM and SM during 1989-2016.Principal component analysis implied two extracted factors,F1 and F2,which could represent 91.93% of the total variations.F1 mainly proxied tidal channel development,while F2 represented road construction.A multiple linear regression analysis showed positive effects of both F1 and F2 on FM patch numbers and negative impacts on SM patch areaes with R^2 values of 0.416 and 0.599,respectively.Tidal channels were negatively related to MD patch numbers,while roads were positively related to that.In any case,road construction showed larger impacts on landscape type shifting than that of tidal channel development in the YRD.

Analysis of Construction Technology for River Regulation and Bank Protection in Water Conservancy Projects

There are many problems and deficiencies in traditional bank protection methods,which cause certain damage to the ecological environment of river channels.Recently,the issues of river management,improving bank protection technology,formulating reasonable construction measures,and ensuring the smooth and efficient implementation of construction have been receiving increasing attention.

Activities of Urease and Phosphatase in Integrated Vertical Flow Constructed Wetland and Purification Effect of Black and Malodorous River

[Objective]The activities of urease and phosphatase in integrated vertical flow constructed wetland and purification effect of black and malodorous river were studied.[Method]Honeycomb stone and soft filler were used as matrix,the biological grid integrated vertical flow constructed wetland system was built to strengthen treatment for black and malodorous river,and the activities of urease and phosphatase of two fillers in different functional areas of constructed wetland were tested to study the film formation property of two fillers in different functional areas.[Result]Both urease and phosphatase activities on biofilm of soft filler were significantly higher than on biofilm of honeycomb stone filler;indicating that choosing soft filler was more advantageous to the growth of biofilm;and urease activity had significant correlation with total nitrogen removal rate,while phosphatase activity had no significant correlation with total phosphorus removal rate.[Conclusion]This study provided evidences for utilizing the activities of urease and phosphatase to evaluate the purification effect of black and malodorous river and choose appropriate filler.

Performance of Subsurface Constructed Wetland in River Rehabilitation

[ Objective] This study was to research the treatment effect of different media in undercurrent wetland on contamination, so as to pro- vide reference for rehabitating water body of river along small towns. [ Method ] Three different media of gravel, cobblestone and shale were used to rehabilitate water quality of contaminated river. [ Result ] Gravel, cobblestone and shale all performed well in removing TN, TP and CODw,, in contaminated water, of which gravel stuffed undercurrent wetland run best, averagely removing 49.4% TN, 34.7% and 48. 5% COD~, respectively. [ Conclusion] Undercurrent constructed wetland can effectively improve the water quality of contaminated river, and it is cheaper in cost and simpler in operation, thus suitable for generalizing in small towns of China.

Treatment Efficiencies of Constructed Wetlands for Eutrophic Landscape River Water

The efficiencies of two types of constructed wetlands for the treatment of low-concentration polluted eutrophic land- scape river water were studied in the western section of the Qingyuan River at the Minhang campus of Shanghai Jiaotong University.The first wetland was a single-stage system using gravel as a filtration medium,and the second was a three- stage system filled with combinations of gravel,zeolite,and fly ash.Results from parallel operations of the wetlands showed that the three-stage constructed wetland could remove organics,nitrogen, and phosphorus successfully.At the same time,it could also decrease ammoniacal odour in the effluent.Compared to the single-stage constructed wetland,it had better nutrient removal efficiencies with a higher removal of 19.37%-65.27% for total phosphorus (TP) and 21.56%- 62.94% for total nitrogen (TN),respectively,during the operation period of 14 weeks.In terms of removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), turbidity,and blue-green algae,these two wetland systems had equivalent performances.It was also found that in the western section of the test river,in which the two constructed wetlands were located, the water quality was much better than that in the eastern and middle sections without constructed wetland because COD,TN, and TP were all in a relatively lower level and the eutrophication could be prevented completely in the western section.

Improved ecological development model for lower Yellow River floodplain,China

In this study,a model for the development of the wide floodplain in the lower Yellow River Basin,in China was developed.This model includes flood control schemes using grading criteria,enables sediment deposition in partitioned zones,and allows free exchange between channel runoff and sediment.The wide floodplain located between the main channel and levees is divided into three typical regions:the tender,low,and high floodplains.Different ecological models should be applied when these floodplains are constructed.This paper describes the associated research ideas and methodology,and clarifies several key issues,including sediment prediction and regulation,land planning,land use,and a multi-dimensional framework of safeguard measures for industries on the lower Yellow River floodplain.A refined ecological development model is proposed for the lower Yellow River floodplain,and future work on ecological and sustainable development of the lower floodplain is suggested.To establish a comprehensive system integrating runoff and sediment resource regulation in the Yellow River Basin,future work should focus on runoff and sediment exchange mechanisms in the wandering lower reaches.Furthermore,it is necessary to improve theories on floodplain planning and ecological construction,and these theories should be integrated with the research findings on land development across the lower Yellow River floodplain.©2020 Hohai University.Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Connotations and Evaluation System of Urban Eco-River Construction

Eco-river construction is an important part of the urban river renovation, and also a hot research topic for the present river renovation. From the perspective of functional features of urban rivers, connotations of ecological river construction were further explored, evaluation index system was established on the basis of objective layer, criterion layer and index layer, so as to provide theoretical guidance and technical references for the ecological construction of urban rivers.

Surface flow constructed wetland with composite plant bed for pretreatment of micro-polluted Yellow River raw water in China

In order to investigate the feasibility of pretreating the micro-polluted Yellow River raw water by constructed wetland, an experiment was conducted using a surface flow constructed wetland with composite plant bed. The contamination removal efficiency and their trends in the wetland treatment system were studied under different hydraulic loading rates(HLR). The contamination removal efficiencies were compared according to the seasonal change under optimum HLR. The result shows that in the same season, under different hydraulic loadings ranging from 2 to 6 m3/(m2·d) at the same period, the best HLR is 4 m3/(m2·d) in the experimental system. The average removal rates of COD, TN, ammoniacal nitrogen(NH4+-N), and TP in the constructed wetland are 38.37%, 45.97%, 39.86% and 41.69%, respectively. According to China Standard for Surface Water Resources (GB3838-2002), mean effluent of COD, TN, NH4+-N and TP can nearly reach Grade Ⅲ, GradeⅤ, GradeⅠand GradeⅠ, respectively. Furthermore, treatment efficiency of the system in summer is obvious higher than that in other seasons. The expenditure of constructing the constructed wetland with the average treating capacity of 176 m3/d and lifetime of 20 years is 17075.00 RMB. The average disposal cost is summed up to 0.17 RMB/m3, which shows that the pretreatment of the micro-polluted Yellow River raw water by constructed wetland is feasible.

Purification Effect of Constructed Wetlands for Treating River Water Flowing from Phosphate Mine Areas into Fuxian Lake

[ Objective] The study aimed at discussing the purification effect of constructed wetlands for treating river water flowing from phosphate mine areas into Fuxian Lake. [Method] The running parameters of the constructed wetlands were investigated for one year, and the purification effect of the constructed wetlands for treating the sewage from phosphate mine areas was analyzed. [Result] With the aid of the constructed wet- land, the average removal rates of total nitrogen （TN）, total phosphorus （TP） and CODcr were 52%, 32% and 54%, and the removal effects were best when the designed hydraulic load was 0.67 m3/（ m2 · d）. Running stably for six years, the constructed wetlands had advantages of no power, low resistance and high removal rate. [ Conclusion] The constructed wetlands reduced the load of pollutants from phosphate mine areas into Fuxian Lake effectivelv, which Dlaved important roles in the Drotection of water aualitv of Fuxian Lake.

River Sand Characterization for Its Use in Concrete: A Revue

Despite the gradual professionalization of the construction sector as well as the abundance of sand mining sites offered by the North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo Region, ignorance of materials by local builders persists. This is the case of quarries extracting river sand used to make concrete and mortar. However, the dosages of the various constituents are most often chosen on the basis of experience without any prior characterization of this material. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the characterization of river sand for its use in concrete in DRC. The origin and global use of river sand in construction are presented in percentage terms to highlight the importance of river sand as a construction material. The physical properties of river sand, including particle size distribution, bulk density, absolute density, and cleanliness are discussed in detail. The paper examines the effect of variations in river sand properties on concrete behavior, including density and compressive strength. Overall, this paper emphasizes the need to properly characterize river sand before using it in construction to ensure durable, high-quality structures. This will avoid the problems that are observed in particular a bad behavior of the coating on the walls;cracks and crumbling of the beams, lintels, posts and even the ruin of the structures.

Efficiency and mechanism of pretreatment on water supply in reservoirs of Yellow River by subsurface constructed wetlands

In order to improve the source water quality of drinking water and mitigate the load of drinking water treatment plant, a pilot test was conducted with integrated horizontal flow constructed wetlands to pretreat the water supply in the reservoirs of Yellow River. Resuhs show that under the hydraulic loading rate of 4 m^3/（ m^2 · d）, the average removal rates of chemical oxygen demand （COD）, total nitrogen （TN）, ammonium nitrogen （ NH4 ^＋ - N）, nitrate nitrogen （ NO3 ^- - N）, nitrite - nitrogen （ NO2^ - - N） and total phosphorus （TP） in the horizontal flow constructed wetlands are 49. 68% , 53.01%, 48.48%, 53.61% , 62. 57% and 49. 56%, re- spectively. The study on purifying mechanism of the constructed wetlands indicates that the disposal of contamination by subsurface wetlands is the combined actions of physical chemistry, plants and microorganism.

Construction area expansion in relation to economic-demographic development and land resource in the Pearl River Delta of China

Since 1979, the Pearl River Delta （PRD） of China has experienced rapid socio- economic development along with a fast expansion of construction area. Affected by both natural and human factors, a complex interdependency is found among the regional changes in construction area, GDP and population. A quantitative analysis of the four phases of the regional land use data extracted from remote sensing images and socioeconomic statistics spanning 1979 to 2009 demonstrates that the proportion of construction area in the PRD increased from 0.5% in 1979 to 10.8% in 2009, accompanied with a rapid loss of agricultural land. An increase of one million residents was associated with an increase of GDP of ap- proximately 32 billion yuan before 2000 and approximately 162 billion yuan after 2000. Be- cause the expansion of construction area has approached the limits of land resource in some cities of the PRD, a power function is found more suitable than a linear one in describing the relationship between GDP and construction area. Consequently, the Logistic model is shown to provide more accurate predictions of population growth than the Malthus model, particu- larly in some cities where a very large proportion of land resource has been urbanized, such as Shenzhen and Dongguan.