Sprinkler Irrigation Systems and Water Saving, A Case Study from South of Iraq

The irrigation systems modernization is a part of water resources management improvement process which requires a decision support system, the core of such system is an automated procedure for simulating the relevant processes governing the system. Simulation models have been used in two phases in this research for two specified areas within Maysan and Wasit provinces in Iraq with an area of 480×250 meters for each province, which have been taken as a case study to redesign and replace the existing open channel network with the new sprinkler irrigation system. The first phase is to find a crop water requirement and irrigation requirements for maize, wheat and barley using CROPWAT 8.0 simulation model, while the second phase includes the irrigation network design using EPANET 2.0 simulation model to perform extended period simulation of hydraulic behavior within pressurized pipe networks, in addition to, the SPAW model which have been used to evaluate soil characteristics. This study has revealed that the designed sprinkler system capacity is 113m3/hr with 5.04 mm/hr precipitation rate. The designed sprinkler system can be used to irrigate different crop types including maize, barley and wheat. Since, the sprinkler system has been designed to meet the maize irrigation water requirements which is the heights requiring water consumer crop the during the summer season, then it has the ability to meet the different winter cereals irrigation requirements. The designed system can be used in the different regions of Iraq generally and southern regions, especially because it has been designed to suit the soil that characterized by moderate, slow infiltration rates in addition to suit areas of relatively high wind speed which affecting the water distribution uniformity and slow infiltration rates of soils

Settlement Improvement of Weak Soil of Natural Moisture Content by Using Geogrid Reinforcement Under Different Dynamic Load

مقدمة: تهدف الدراسة الى تحديد تأثير ال (Geogrid reinforcement sheet) على تحسين الخواص الهندسية للتربة الضعيفة والتي تحتوي على محتوى مائي قدره 16% اثناء تعرضها الى احمال ديناميكية بأوزان مختلفة (4,5 و 7,5 و 10) كيلوغرام وبعدد ضربات (5 و 10) لكل حمل ديناميكي وبأماكن مختلفة على سطح التربة الموجودة في الموديل لايجاد قدرة تحمل التربة (bearing capacity) ومقدار التأثير على تقليل تجلس بالتربة عند تعرضها الى الاحمال المتحركة والاهتزازات الطبيعية او الحياتية. بينت نتائج الدراسة بالنسبة للفقرة (أ) ان النسبة المئوية للفرق بين النسبة المئوية للتجلس بدون استخدام (Geogrid sheet) والنسبة المئوية عند استخدام (Geogrid sheet) بالنسبة للتربة ذات الرطوبة الطبيعية (16%) للاوزان 4,5 و 7,5 و 10 كيلوغرام بتسليط عدد ضربات 5 و 10 . عند تحميل وزن ديناميكي (4,5) كان فرق النسبة المئوية (1,2 و 1,8) وفي وزن (7,5) كيلوغرام هي (2,1% و 2.7%) وفي وزن (10) كيلوغرام يكون (1,7% و 2,7%).    وتكون النتائج عن الفرق بين معدل النسبة المئوية لتجلس التربة بدون استخدام (Geogrid sheet) والنسبة المئوية عند استخدام (Geogrid sheet) للتربة النصف مشبعة هي (5,6% و 14,4% و (5,9% و 5,4%) و (4,1% و 6,7%) لنفس الاوزان وعدد الضربات على التوالي. اما بالنسبة للترب المشبعة تكون النتائج كالآتي: (12,8% و 22,9%) و (9,9% و 15,7%) و (16,6% و 5,7%) لنفس الاوزان وعدد الضربات على التوالي.One of new method to improve the bearing capacity of weak soil is  by using  geosynthetic reinforcement materials that has become more common in past 40 years for a number of applications to reduce the cost of maintences by increasing design life. This study concerned with the behavior of weak soil and the amount of settlement that happened when the soil exposed to different weight load with different number of blows . Field and laboratory tests done to calculate soil settlement. For experimental tests a model with dimension (150×75×75cm) has been manufactured, clayey silty sand soil in model exposed to different dynamic weight by using load with ( 4.5kg), load with (7.5kg) and load with (10kg). Each load strick the soil with 9 5 and 10) blows during an experiment for each dynamic load. 12 Laboretory experiments were conductedon 38 test points, 6 experiments done on soil without geogrid and 6 experiments done on soil with geogrid that included 19 test point for each case. The experiments tests show that by increasing the weight load and increasing in number of blows settlement increase in both cases ( without and with geogrid). The experiments show that by using geogrid the settlement decrease comparison with the amount of soil settlement without geogrid. By using geogrid and exposed to weight loads ( 4.5, 7.5 and 10kg.) with No. of blows = 5 the average percent in settlement decrease 1.2, 2.1,1.7%) and with No. of blows =10 for the same loads the average percent of settlement decrease (1.8, 2.7, 2.7%). &nbsp

Study The Effect of Traditional Iraqi Stabilizers (Cement and Lime) on Some Properties of Iraqi Clay Soils

This study provides practical results in the use of the composite from sulfate resistance Portland cement (PC) and Quicklime (LQ) to improve and stabilize of soils in Al - Zaafaraniya site in Baghdad governorate and the Garma Ali site in Al Basra governorate, Iraq. PC and LQ were added in percentages of 2,4,6,8 and 10% and 2 and 4%, by dry weight, respectively. Laboratory tests to determine Atterberg,s limits, standard proctor test, USC test and UUU test (unconsolidation, undrained and unsaturated) were conducted. The results achieved a significant improvement in workability, unconfined compressive strength and shear strength. The results of the unconfinedicompressiveistrength test and UUU test for natural and improved soil reveal that the shear strength increase as lime and cement content increase and with increasing curing (0, 7 and 28)days

Comparison Between Deterministic and Stochastic Interpolation Methods for Predicting Ground Water Level in Baghdad

Surface interpolation techniques are usually used to create continuous data (i.e. raster data) from distributed set of point data over a geographical region. There are deterministic and stochastic (geostatistical) interpolation techniques can be used to create spatial raster surface. In this paper, the comparison between the Inverse Distance Weight (IDW) interpolation method as deterministic method and the Kriging interpolation method as stochastic method is done to determine the best performance for measuring levels of ground water in Baghdad Governorate. Spatial raster surface surfaces as ground water prediction maps are generated from each method by using average ground water level measured at 206 wells in the study area. These maps are shown spatial variation in the ground water levels and they have complete different. The IDW method results a refined map and lesser error than the Kriging method. Thus, the analysis shows that the IDW gives better real performance of measuring levels of ground water in Baghdad Governorate

Rheological Properties Improvement of Treated Palygorskite Drilling Mud by Adding Prepared Nano Magnesium Oxide

Attapulgite clay is a hydrated magnesium aluminum silicate mineral. Attapulgite clay stone in the Bahr al-Najaf region contains calcite and quartz minerals (43.4%. and 13.9% by weight), respectively. This work is devoted to develop the attapulgite clay found in Bahr Al-Najaf  to be suitable for oil wells drilling. The goal of this project is to develop attapulgite mud that meets the American Petroleum Institute (API) for the application of oil well drilling mud in Bahr Al-Najaf. To achieve this objective, unwanted materials (calcite and quartz particles greater than 75 µm in diameter) should be removed and the attapulgite rods dispersed. To make attapulgite mud appropriate for oil well drilling mud. Wet sieving was used to remediate Iraqi attapulgite mud in this study. XRD and SEM tests were done to determine the metals and shape of the prepared Nano MgO to improve the rheological properties. The rheological parameters of attapulgite were measured using an ofite viscometer. Nano MgO was added to attapulgite in three proportions (0.02, 0.05, and 0.08) gm wt. Magnesium oxide showed a great contribution to apparent viscosity and plastic viscosity by 16% of attapulgite aqueous suspensions. The higher viscosity will provide better cuttings carrying capability during drilling fluid circulation especial at low velocity

Response of Permeable Pavement under Wheel Truck to Rainfall Runoff and its Effects (Laboratory Model)

Good water drainage from different sources is one of the most important factors that must be considered when designing subways and highways. The research aims to study and analyze the effect of heavy, medium, and low rainfall, select suitable materials to drain rainwater from the surface and vertical drains, and evaluate the rutting that appeared on the compacted surface asphalt layer. The methodology of this research includes the laboratory model (prototype model). A laboratory model consisting of typical structure layers of flexible pavement was used in this research with a 2% slope for degradations and changes in the volumetric properties and permeability of the surface and binder layers of the highway section. A wheel truck was manufactured and used for a continuous go-and-forth with the influence of three different rain intensities to identify and simulate the actual situation of highways and roads. The rainfall duration of 30 mm/min rainfall intensity was 90 minutes, and the rain intensity of 60 mm/min had a rainfall duration of 60 minutes. For the rainfall intensity of 90 mm/min, the time of rainfall was equal to 30 minutes. The results obtained from the laboratory simulation model (box model) indicated that the average quantity of infiltrated water produced by the 30mm/min rainfall intensity in the pavement structure is 36.4 % greater than the average infiltration of this water from the 60mm/min intensity and 52% higher than the 90mm/min intensity of rain. The time of surface drainage ending and the ending time of vertical drainage increases when the rain duration is long, even if the rain intensity is low. The rut depth appeared after 2816 wheel load repetitions to increase this depth by 96% after 127 days of load passage under three different rainfall intensities of a different time. The tensile strength was significantly reduced by 17.25%. The TSR values indicate that the mixtures of the surface and binder layers have good resistance to moisture damage

Numerical model to predict the settlement response of two nearby foundations due to geotextile slippage

In this paper, a numerical study is undertaken on the settlement response of two nearby flexible loads resting on a reinforced granular bed underlain by a soft soil, considering plain strain loading conditions. The finite element code PLAXIS-8 has been used. The granular fill, soft soil and geosynthetic reinforcements are considered as linear elastic materials. The geosynthetic reinforcement is modeled with interface elements for allowing slip between the soil and reinforcement. When no interface elements were used, the geosynthetic reinforcement was modeled as if there were no slip. It appears that allowing slip has a negligible effect on the settlement predicted. The results obtained from the present investigation showed that as the number of reinforcement layers increase up to three layers, the vertical stresses in the loaded region decreases causing maximum settlement reduction at a decreasing rate of 16% and 20% for 3-layers without and with slippage respectively. A parametric study has been carried out to bring out the effect of slippage of the reinforcement layer on the settlement response in dry and saturated soils. The increase in the settlement is not significant when the slippage of the reinforcement is considered. An interesting observation in this note is that the settlement was about 10% less when there were two nearby footings compared to when there was only one. The interaction between the footings resulted in reduction in the settlements, possibly due to reduced confining pressures

Compressibility of soft Iraqi soil stabilized with traditional Iraqi stabilizers (cement and lime)

This study shows an improvement of two types of clay soil brought from different parts of Iraq. The first soil (A) from Al - Zaafaraniya site in Baghdad governorate. The second soil (B) from Garma Ali site in the Al Basra governorate, Iraq. Soft clayey soils were treated by a combination of sulphate resistance Portland cement (PC) and Quicklime (LQ) to modify and stability. PC was added in percentages of 2,4,6,8 and 10%, as well as, LQ was added to 2 and 4%, of dry weight. Laboratory tests to determine specific gravity, Atterbergs limits and standard proctor test were conducted. Also, the main objective of this research is the concentrating on compression ratio (CR), the Rebound (Swelling) ratio (RR) and the stiffness during the modulus of elasticity (Es) for treated and natural soils procreation from consolidation test. The results from laboratory tests shows high ability on the enhancing in terms of reduction in plasticity index (greatly increased workability), reduction in compression ratio (CR), reduction in the Rebound (Swelling) ratio (RR), increase in the modulus of elasticity (Es). The change in moisture-density relationships resulting in lower maximum dry densities, higher optimum water content, and less variation of dry density from the maximum over a much wider range of water contents

Drainage investigation of surface runoff for highway pavement

The aim of this study is to establish the effect of heavy rainfall and the chosen pavement layers on the drainage design, material selection and rutting resistance of the flexible pavement. The test in present study was started with wheel track passing without load and without rain falling on the pavement for a period of time, and it was noticed that no distress appeared on the surface of the pavement. Then, the load is gradually added by using wheel track load of 106 psi for five tests without rain falling and five other tests with gradually increasing rain fall duration and intensity. Deterioration and distresses appeared on the pavement when increasing the wheel track load to (150 psi) under high intensity rain and long term duration of rain fall. By increasing the number of days, which is 103 days of study, when the pavement is saturated, the extra amount of the water will runoff. The clogging material which caused a decrease in the water seepage, increases the time of runoff ending. The clogging materials of fine particles that get deposited on the surface of the pavement resulted by passing the wheel track loading and wear & tear of the pavement surface, and other clogging materials such as salt in the water will penetrate to the pavement and seal the voids and decrease its water seepage. The water seepage decreases by increasing number of days, so the amount of the absorbed water decreases by 89% after 71 days of testing for high rain intensity (116 ml/min.)

Compressibility of soft Iraqi soil stabilized with traditional Iraqi stabilizers (cement and lime)

This study shows an improvement of two types of clay soil brought from different parts of Iraq. The first soil (A) from Al - Zaafaraniya site in Baghdad governorate. The second soil (B) from Garma Ali site in the Al Basra governorate, Iraq. Soft clayey soils were treated by a combination of sulphate resistance Portland cement (PC) and Quicklime (LQ) to modify and stability. PC was added in percentages of 2,4,6,8 and 10%, as well as, LQ was added to 2 and 4%, of dry weight. Laboratory tests to determine specific gravity, Atterbergs limits and standard proctor test were conducted. Also, the main objective of this research is the concentrating on compression ratio (CR), the Rebound (Swelling) ratio (RR) and the stiffness during the modulus of elasticity (Es) for treated and natural soils procreation from consolidation test. The results from laboratory tests shows high ability on the enhancing in terms of reduction in plasticity index (greatly increased workability), reduction in compression ratio (CR), reduction in the Rebound (Swelling) ratio (RR), increase in the modulus of elasticity (Es). The change in moisture-density relationships resulting in lower maximum dry densities, higher optimum water content, and less variation of dry density from the maximum over a much wider range of water contents