Numerical Analysis of Twin Tunnels Lining under Different Seismic Conditions

A large part of this research was done within the Continuum Mechanics and Structural Analysis Department, Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain, in the framework of Erasmus grant mobility of 6 months. The authors appreciate the grant from the Erasmus plus Program.The last seismic events showed that tunnel lining may suffer extensive damage. Employing numerical modeling has a great importance in predicting the seismic performance of tunnels. This paper tests the tunnel lining of the Zaouit Ait Mellal (ZAM) twin tunnels located between the cities of Marrakesh and Agadir in Morocco. Dynamic analysis was adopted by FLAC 2D software using the finite-difference elements. Four soil cross-sections were chosen, with different support devices installed along the twin tunnels, such as rock bolts and steel ribs. The seismic signals introduced as input were obtained from three different earthquakes: Al Hoceima 2004 in Morocco, EL Centro 1940 in the USA, and Kobe 1995 in Japan. The numerical results show that the deformation of the tunnel lining is more noteworthy in the sections using steel ribs compared to those using rock bolts, which is observed by the large values of relative displacement, reaching 1020 (mm) and 2.29 x 105 (N.m/m) of maximum bending moment. The analysis indicates that these sections present higher vulnerability during an earthquake, which should be considered when looking at the overall safety of the tunnel.Erasmus plus Progra

MT-InSAR and Dam Modeling for the Comprehensive Monitoring of an Earth-Fill Dam: The Case of the Benínar Dam (Almería, Spain)

The Benínar Dam, located in Southeastern Spain, is an earth-fill dam that has experienced filtration issues since its construction in 1985. Despite the installation of various monitoring systems, the data collected are sparse and inadequate for the dam’s lifetime. The present research integrates Multi-Temporal Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (MT-InSAR) and dam modeling to validate the monitoring of this dam, opening the way to enhanced integrated monitoring systems. MT-InSAR was proved to be a reliable and continuous monitoring system for dam deformation, surpassing previously installed systems in terms of precision. MT-InSAR allowed the almost-continuous monitoring of this dam since 1992, combining ERS, Envisat, and Sentinel-1A/B data. Line-of-sight (LOS) velocities of settlement in the crest of the dam evolved from maximums of −6 mm/year (1992–2000), −4 mm/year (2002–2010), and −2 mm/year (2015–2021) with median values of −2.6 and −3.0 mm/year in the first periods (ERS and Envisat) and −1.3 mm/year in the Sentinel 1-A/B period. These results are consistent with the maximum admissible modeled deformation from construction, confirming that settlement was more intense in the dam’s early stages and decreased over time. MT-InSAR was also used to integrate the monitoring of the dam basin, including critical slopes, quarries, and infrastructures, such as roads, tracks, and spillways. This study allows us to conclude that MT-InSAR and dam modeling are important elements for the integrated monitoring systems of embankment dams. This conclusion supports the complete integration of MT-InSAR and 3D modeling into the monitoring systems of embankment dams, as they are a key complement to traditional geotechnical monitoring and can overcome the main limitations of topographical monitoringReMoDams project ESP2017-89344-R (AEI/FEDER, UE) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and CompetitivenessSIAGUA project PID2021-128123OB-C21PID2021-128123OB-C22MCIN/AEI/10.13039/ 501100011033/FEDER,UEPOAIUJA-2023/2024CEACTEMA from University of Jaén (Spain)RNM-282 research group from the Junta de Andalucía (Spain

Monitoring of an embankment dam in southern Spain based on Sentinel-1 Time-series InSAR

Sentinel-1A/B data were freely provided by ESA through Copernicus Programme. Data have been processed by SARPROZ (Copyright (c) 2009-2020 Daniele Perissin). The satellite orbits are from ESA Quality Control Group of Sentinel-1. Research was supported by: (a) ESA Research and Service Support for providing hardware resources employed in this work, (b) ReMoDams project ESP2017-89344-R (AEI/FEDER, UE) from Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, PAIUJA-2019/2020 and CEACTEMA from University of Jaen (Spain), and RNM-282 research group from the Junta de Andalucia (Spain), (c) ERDF through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation -COMPETE 2020 Programme within project >, and by National Funds through the FCT -Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) as part of project UID/EEA/50014/2013, (d) The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports from the National Programme of Sustainability (NPU II) project > (Czech Republic), and (e) Slovak Grant Agency VEGA under projects No. 2/0100/20.Deformation monitoring is a common practice in most of dams to ensure their structural health and safety status. Systematic monitoring is frequently carried out by means of geotechnical sensors and geodetic techniques that, although very precise an accurate, can be time-consuming and economically costly. Remote sensing techniques are proved to be very effective in assessing deformation. Changes in the structure, shell or associated infrastructures of dams, including adjacent slopes, can be efficiently recorded by using satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar Inteferometry (InSAR) techniques, in particular, Muti-Temporal InSAR time-series analyses. This is a mature technology nowadays but not very common as a routine procedure for dam monitoring. Today, thanks to the availability of spaceborne satellites with high spatial resolution SAR images and short revisit times, this technology is a powerful cost-effective way to monitor millimeter-level displacements of the dam structure and its surroundings. What is more, the potential of the technique is increased since the Copernicus C-band SAR Sentinel-1 satellites are in orbit, due to the high revisit time of 6 days and the free data availability. ReMoDams is a Spanish research project devoted to provide the deformation monitoring of several embankments dams using advances time-series InSAR techniques. One of these dams is The Arenoso dam, located in the province of Cordova (southern Spain). This dam has been monitored using Sentinel-1 SAR data since the beginning of the mission in 2014. In this paper, we show the processing of 382 SLC SAR images both in ascending and descending tracks until March 2019. The results indicate that the main displacement of the dam in this period is in the vertical direction with a rate in the order of -1 cm/year in the central part of the dam body.ESA Research and ServiceReMoDams project (AEI/FEDER, UE) from Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness ESP2017-89344-RCEACTEMA from University of Jaen (Spain)Junta de Andalucia European Commission RNM-282ERDF through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation -COMPETE 2020 Programme POCI-01-0145FEDER-006961National Funds through the FCT -Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) UID/EEA/50014/2013Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports from the National Programme of Sustainability (NPU II) project "IT4Innovations excellence in science" (Czech Republic) LQ1602Vedecka grantova agentura MSVVaS SR a SAV (VEGA) 2/0100/20PAIUJA-2019/202

Overconsolidated flysch-type clays. Engineering considerations for the Strait of Gibraltar tunnel project

The stress-strain behaviour of 85 overconsolidated clay samples from Campo de Gibraltar Flysch Through Domain (Algeciras Unit, South Spain) is presented and discussed. The samples were identified and classified following ASTM standards while their chemical and mineralogical composition were determined by chemical and X-ray techniques. Several samples were tested under triaxial as well as oedometric conditions. Given the results, a detailed comparison was made between different theoretical constitutive models and real testing data, using the finite-elements method. The comparison indicated a good fit between experimental data and those found with finite-elements modelling when the Hardening Soil constitutive model was used. This model showed a better fit than did the Modified Cam -Clay model (historically used for modelling clayey soils), although the latter fit proved better for lower strain values (<5%) than higher ones. These results clarify this intermediate material (hard soils - weak rocks) behaviour and will help in Strait of Gibraltar tunnel project design, as these materials are widely involved in this tunnel design.Sergeyco Andalucía S.L.SECEGS

Safety-factor dataset for high embankments determined with different analytical methods

The Road department of Instituto Superior Politécnico JoséAntonio Echeverría and Universidad Central Marta Abreu de las Villas supported this investigation.Slope-stability analysis is one of the parameters in the de- sign of road embankments that the designer must consider in order to ensure stable and safe construction. The technical standards recommend slopes to heights of 12 m, depending on the soil types and the topography. In the present work, the limit equilibrium methods (Fellenius, Bishop, Janbu, Morgensten-Price) and the finite element method are used to determine the safety factor of road embankments for differ- ent slopes flanking the road. Five embankment heights were simulated: 6 m, 12 m, 18 m, 24 m, and 30 m. The dataset compiled can be used for modeling embankments

Design and Empirical Validation of a LoRaWAN IoT Smart Irrigation System

[Abstract] In some parts of the world, climate change has led to periods of drought that require managing efficiently the scarce water and energy resources. This paper proposes an IoT smart irrigation system specifically designed for urban areas where remote IoT devices have no direct access to the Internet or to the electrical grid, and where wireless communications are difficult due to the existence of long distances and multiple obstacles. To tackle such issues, this paper proposes a LoRaWAN-based architecture that provides long distance and communications with reduced power consumption. Specifically, the proposed system consists of IoT nodes that collect sensor data and send them to local fog computing nodes or to a remote cloud, which determine an irrigation schedule that considers factors such as the weather forecast or the moist detected by nearby nodes. It is essential to deploy the IoT nodes in locations within the provided coverage range and that guarantee good speed rates and reduced energy consumption. Due to this reason, this paper describes the use of an in-house 3D-ray launching radio-planning tool to determine the best locations for IoT nodes on a real medium-scale scenario (a university campus) that was modeled with precision, including obstacles such as buildings, vegetation, or vehicles. The obtained simulation results were compared with empirical measurements to assess the operating conditions and the radio planning tool accuracy. Thus, it is possible to optimize the wireless network topology and the overall performance of the network in terms of coverage, cost, and energy consumption.This work was funded by Xunta de Galicia (ED431C 2016-045, ED431G/01) and Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Gobierno de España (MCIU/AEI/FEDER,UE), Project RTI2018-095499-B-C31Xunta de Galicia; ED431C 2016-045Xunta de Galicia; ED431G/0

Characterization of the turbot Scophthalmus maximus (L.) myeloperoxidase. An insight into the evolution of vertebrate peroxidases

We have completed the characterization of the turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) myeloperoxidase (mpx) gene and protein, which we partially described in a previous study. The turbot mpx gene has 15 exons that encode a protein of 767 aa, with a signal peptide, propeptide and light and heavy chains, and also with haem cavities, a Ca+2-binding motif and several N- and O-glycosylation sites. The mature protein forms homodimers of about 150 kDa and is very abundant in turbot neutrophils. In addition to the mpx (epx2a) gene, another three peroxidase genes, named epx1, epx2b1 and epx2b2, were identified in the turbot genome. Epx1, Epx2b1 and Epx2b2 proteins also have signal peptides and many structural characteristics of mammalian MPO and eosinophil peroxidase (EPX). Mpx was strongly expressed in head kidney, while epx2b1 and epx2b2 were strongly expressed in the gills, and epx1 was not expressed in any of the tissues or organs analysed. In vitro stimulation of head kidney leucocytes with the parasite Philasterides dicentrarchi caused a decrease in mpx expression and an increase in epx2b1 expression over time. In turbot infected experimentally with P. dicentrarchi a significant increase in mpx expression in the head kidney was observed on day 7 postinfection, while the other genes were not regulated. However, mpx, epx2b1 and epx2b2 were downregulated in the gills of infected fish, and epx1 expression was not affected. These results suggest that the four genes responded differently to the same stimuli. Interestingly, BLAST analysis revealed that Epx1 and Mpx showed greater similarity to mammalian EPX than to MPO. Considering the phylogenetic and synteny data obtained, we concluded that the epx/mpx genes of Gnathostomes can be divided into three main clades: EPX1, which contains turbot epx1, EPX2, which contains turbot mpx (epx2a) and epx2b1 and epx2b2 genes, and a clade containing mammalian EPX and MPO (EPX/MPO). EPX/MPO and EPX2 clades share a common ancestor with the chondrichthyan elephant shark (Callorhinchus milii) and the coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) peroxidases. EPX2 was only found in fish and includes two sister groups. One of the groups includes turbot mpx and was only found in teleosts. Finally, the other group contains epx2b1 and epx2b2 genes, and epx2b1-2b2 loci share orthologous genes with other teleosts and also with holosteans, suggesting that these genes appeared earlier on than the mpx gene.This study was financially supported by grant AGL2017-83577-R awarded by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spain) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF, European Union), by grant ED431C2017/31 from the Xunta de Galicia (Spain) and by the PARAFISHCONTROL project, which received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 634429. FF-I was contracted by a grant from the Xunta de Galicia (Plan I2C)S

Coastal landslide reactivation caused by the urban development in the coastal fringe of Granada (Spain). DInSAR monitoring and damage inventory

The Marina del Este and Los Cármenes del Mar resorts, in the municipality of Almuñécar (Granada) were developed onto areas with large-dormant landslides, as they generally present a more gentle slope than adjacent stable zones. Consequently, landslides have been reactivated, as DInSAR results confirm. During the rainy winter 2009-2010, movements were accelerated. Severe damages in dwellings have been reported and some houses have been evacuated, causing a great social alarm. The present work shows the great requirement to take into account natural hazards in land-use planning and urban policy in hazardous areas in Spain, which is highly significant to protect the public from geological risksLas urbanizaciones de Marina del Este y Los Cármenes del Mar, en el municipio granadino de Almuñécar, se construyeron sobre antiguos deslizamientos costeros, aprovechando la topografía más suave que dejan las masas deslizadas. El urbanismo ha desencadenado la reactivación de los movimientos, cuyas tasas de velocidad han sido cuantificadas con técnicas DInSAR, registrando una importante aceleración durante el invierno lluvioso 2009-2010. Se han reconocido importantes daños en las viviendas, algunas de ellas ya desalojadas al presentar graves daños estructurales, lo que ha despertado una gran alarma social. El presente trabajo pone de manifiesto la imperiosa necesidad de incorporar los estudios de riesgos geológicos en la planificación urbanística y en la ordenación del territorio, asignatura pendiente de la legislación español

Wireless Channel Assessment of Auditoriums for the Deployment of Augmented Reality Systems for Enhanced Show Experience of Impaired Persons

[Abstract] Auditoriums and theaters are buildings in which concerts, shows, and conferences are held, offering a diverse and dynamic cultural program to citizens. Unfortunately, people with impairments usually have difficulties in fully experiencing all the provided cultural activities, since such environments are not totally adapted to their necessities. For example, in an auditorium, visually impaired users have to be accompanied to their seats by staff, as well as when the person wants to leave the event in the middle of the show (e.g., to go to the toilet), or when he/she wants to move around during breaks. This work is aimed at improving the autonomy of disabled people within the mentioned kinds of environments, as well as enhancing their show experiences by deploying wireless sensor networks and wireless body area networks connected to an augmented reality device (Microsoft HoloLens smart glasses). For that purpose, intensive measurements have been taken in a real scenario (the Baluarte Congress Center and Auditorium of Navarre) located in the city of Pamplona. The results show that this kind of environment presents high wireless interference at different frequency bands, due to the existing wireless systems deployed within them, such as multiple WiFi access points, wireless microphones, or wireless communication systems used by the show staff. Therefore, radio channel simulations have been also performed with the aim of assessing the potential deployment of the proposed solution. The presented work can lead to the deployment of augmented reality systems within auditoriums and theaters, boosting the development of new applications.Xunta de Galicia; ED431C 2016-045Xunta de Galicia; , ED431G/01Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades; RTI2018-095499-B-C3

Building Decentralized Fog Computing-Based Smart Parking Systems: From Deterministic Propagation Modeling to Practical Deployment

[Abstract] The traditional process of finding a vacant parking slot is often inefficient: it increases driving time, traffic congestion, fuel consumption and exhaust emissions. To address such problems, smart parking systems have been proposed to help drivers to find available parking slots faster using latest sensing and communications technologies. However, the deployment of the communications infrastructure of a smart parking is not straightforward due to multiple factors that may affect wireless propagation. Moreover, a smart parking system needs to provide not only accurate information on available spots, but also fast responses while guaranteeing the system availability even in the case of lacking connectivity. This article describes the development of a decentralized low-latency smart parking system: from its conception, design and theoretical simulation, to its empirical validation. Thus, this work first characterizes a real-world scenario and proposes a fog computing and Internet of Things (IoT) based communications architecture to provide smart parking services. Next, a thorough analysis on the wireless channel properties is carried out by means of an in-house developed deterministic 3D-Ray Launching (3D-RL) tool. The obtained results are validated through a real-world measurement campaign and then the communications architecture is implemented by using ZigBee sensor nodes. The implemented architecture also makes use of Bluetooth Low Energy beacons, an Android app, a decentralized database and fog computing gateways, whose performance is evaluated in terms of response latency and processing rate. Results show that the proposed system is able to deliver information to the drivers fast, with no need for relying on remote servers. As a consequence, the presented development methodology and communications evaluation tool can be useful for future smart parking developers, which can determine the optimal locations of the wireless transceivers during the simulation stage and then deploy a system that can provide fast responses and decentralized services.Xunta de Galicia; ED431G2019/01Agencia Estatal de Investigación of Spain; TEC2016-75067-C4-1-RAgencia Estatal de Investigación of Spain; RED2018-102668-TAgencia Estatal de Investigación of Spain; PID2019-104958RB-C42Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades; RTI2018-095499-B-C3