Socio-Economic Impact Assessment of Small Dams Based on T-Paired Sample Test Using SPSS Software

A dam is a barrier/structure that impounds water and retains it for later use. Thus, it plays an important role and offers a reserve stock of water for rural communities in remote areas. The present study was conducted to assess the socio-economic impact of small dams on local communities. The impact was analyzed based on descriptive statistics and t- paired sample tests using SPSS software to study and analyze the Nagarparkar area, Sindh, Pakistan. Primary and secondary data were used for collecting the data. The data was collected randomly from 250 people through interviews and group discussions Also, 104 sets of data were obtained through a questionnaire survey. The overall results summary of the parameters revealed that a significantly positive variation occurred in the study area after construction of the dam. The number of the packa houses and water depth were increased. The distance to collect water and water-fetching time were decreased 6% and 5.61 % respectively. The overall average area cultivated with crops was increased by 26.55%. The average yield of almost every crop in both Rabi and Kharif seasons were increased by 55% in the areas surrounding the dams. The overall number of livestock was increased by 18.08%, while the number of horses decreased by 1.5% after construction of the dam. The income, expenditure, and savings have increased significantly to 36.16%, 17.68%, and 32.15%, respectively, while the migration rate has decreased19.09% since construction of the dam. The choice of crops has also changed from inferior crops to superior and market-oriented crops. The water table and quality have improved, and wells have been recharged

Land Covers Change Assessment After Small Dam’s Construction Based on the Satellite Data

The small dams were constructed in the study area for storing the rainwater. The present study was conducted to assess the impact of small dams on the LCC (Land Cover Change) in Nangarparkar, Pakistan based on the satellite data. The ENVI (Environment for Visualizing Images) software was used for classification of the four year’s images and three classes viz. water, vegetation, and soil were taken for detection of LCC. The MLH (Maximum Likelihood) supervised method was used to classify the multispectral satellite images. The classified results of the classes were found different each year before and after dam construction. Average results of the two years before dam’s construction revealed that water availability, vegetation cover and soil cover was 3.02%, 18.52%, and 32.30% respectively. However, after the dam construction, the water availability, vegetation cover and soil cover was 8.49%, 34.33%, and 17.15% respectively. Overall results revealed that water availability and vegetation cover were increased by 5.47 % and 15.18% respectively while soil cover decreased 15.15% after the construction of dams. Hence, based on the results, it is confirmed that the constructions of small dams have a direct and indirect positive impact on the land cover changes and it can play an important role in the resettlement of the communities of the arid areas

Utilization of Rubber Powder of Waste Tyres in Foam Concrete

Foam concrete or light concrete has become increasingly recognizable in commercial and construction field. Foam concrete is not just light in its weight but also light in cost, as there is no coarse aggregate needed in its production. Application of foam concrete is limited due to the fact that it is not as strong as conventional concrete in terms of strength and rigidness. Therefore, this study is to investigate the potential of foam concrete incorporating with rubber powder of waste tire and admixture as an additive material to improve its strength and workability. Thus, the use of rubber powder in this study could enhance the strength by filling the voids in foam concrete. The amount of rubber powder added as additive in foam concrete is 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% respectively. The amount of plasticizers used is limited to less than 0.4% to the weight of cement. The mix design was set to achieve density of 1800kg/m3. The workability of foam concrete is decreasing as the percentage of rubber power was increasing. The foam concrete containing 5%of rubber powder has highest compressive strength with value of 20.6 MPa for 7 days water curing and 22.3 MPa for 28 days water curing. Significantly showing an increase of 1.7 MPa. The highest value of tensile strength for both air curing 7 and 28 days are 1.86 MPa and 1.97 MPa also held by 3% of rubber powder mix. As a conclusion the optimum rubber powder content to be used in foam concrete is 5% that gives the highest results in terms of workability and strength

Implementation of building information modeling (BIM) in Pakistan construction industry

This paper examines the implementation of building information modeling (BIM) in construction industry. Various initiatives and approaches are used in different countries to promote the BIM implementation in their construction industries. The real implementation and use of BIM remains a major concern of the construction industry. This study investigates the implantation of BIM globally, in developed countries and the percentage of implementation of BIM in constriction industry of Sindh, Pakistan. This research demonstrates 131 responses from BIM users regarding BIM implementation whose collaboration aspects produce the highest positive impact. The adopted methodology is an online questionnaire survey and literature review which was conducted to find out the implementation of BIM in construction industries of developed countries. This research reveals that BIM implementation is increasing continuously over the past few years. A Number of developed countries are emerging successful BIM implementation strategies, United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France are generally leading the way. However, according to our study findings, only 11% of industries have implemented BIM in Sindh, Pakistan

Building construction labour productivity in arid climate environment

Productivity is a significant aspect of construction industry that plays vital role for success and failure of any construction project. This industry generates 11% to 13% of GDP all around the globe and the cost of labour in any building project is 20% to 35% of the cost of Building. On daily basis labour utilizes 30% of time on productive activities rest 70% of the time is ruined in non-productive activities, there are multi factors which are affecting the labour production in construction industry hence this study provides an overview of productivity, Total Factor productivity, method used to measure accurate productivity in construction projects. The objective of this study is find out percentage up to what extent labour production is affected due to weather conditions, however this study is carried out in arid climate region in Month of June 2018, where minimum temperature was recorded 26.0 Celsius degree at 7:30 AM and Maximum was 47.80 Celsius degree at 3:00 PM. A descriptive survey research design approach was adopted using continuous observation method of study. Project work study manual served as the research instrument to collect the data on selected building sites for 30 working days. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statics. The results show that average monthly production of mason gang was recorded with less production of 28.759%, Carpentry gang with average monthly loss of production 16.74% & steel fixer gang had average monthly loss of production was 12.188. This concludes that prior to signing the contract for construction project. The location, environment, topography of region, capacity of construction operatives must be kept in mind to decide the proper timeline for the successful of project

Impact of Watercourse Lining on Water Conservation in the Gadeji Minor Command, Sindh, Pakistan

Looming water scarcity could be curtailed with intelligent water losses control. Present study was designed to assess the relative effect of watercourse lining in prospect of seepage minimization. Qualitative as well as quantitative analysis was undertaken using water conveyance efficiency, annual water saving, increase in cropping intensities, time and land saving along with labor saving indictors over Gadeji minor in Sindh, Pakistan. Primary data was collected from field measurements while secondary data was gathered from NPIW (National Program for Improvement of Watercourses), Irrigation Department, personal interviews and site survey. The analysis revealed that lining of 30% initial portion of watercourses resulted average annual water saving of 10.32 hectare-m. Similarly, the cropping intensity increased 15% in Rabi and 14% in Kharif seasons. Crop yield increased by 17% for wheat crop, 14% for cottoncrop, 12% for sugarcane, 17% for chilies, 11% for onion crop and 20% for rice crop after lining the selected watercourses. Thus, it is concluded that watercourse lining has noticeable effect for seepage control which yielded a significant water saving. In future, economic viability of watercourse lining may be assessed for obtaining optimum benefits

Estimation of irrigation water requirement and irrigation scheduling for major crops using the CROPWAT model and climatic data

The world is facing an acute water shortage. The present irrigation techniques used in the Hyderabad district, Pakistan, are not demand-driven. The present study was carried out to determine the crop water requirement (CWR), irrigation water requirement (IWR), and irrigation scheduling for major crops grown in the Hyderabad district using the CROPWAT model based on climatic, soil, and crop data. The analysis revealed that the total CWR for the entire growing season for sugarcane, banana, cotton, and wheat were 3,127.0; 2,012.3; 1,073.5; and 418.9 mm, respectively. However, the IWR for sugarcane, banana, cotton, and wheat for the entire growing season was found to be 2,964.0; 1,966.7; 1,052.7; and 407.6 mm, respectively. However, the contribution of rainfall was 163.0, 45.6, 20.8, and 11.3 mm during sugarcane, banana, cotton, and wheat, respectively. The CWR and IWR were higher during the dry season due to high temperatures and low relative humidity. However, the IWR of each crop was low in the initial stage which increased with the growing stage until the peak at the full growth stage. The study recommends the use of CROPWAT to investigate the irrigation water requirements with accuracy. HIGHLIGHTS Investigation for crop water requirement (CWR) for wheat, cotton, banana, and sugarcane.; Investigation for irrigation water requirement (IWR).; Investigation for irrigation scheduling.; Use of climatic, soil, and crop data.; Use of scientific tools, i.e., CROPWAT and CLIMAT models.