Design and Construction of Circular Secant Pile Walls in Soft Clays

This paper presents design and construction aspects of two similar circular Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) impoundment basins in deep soft clays. Each basin has a design spill containment volume of 70,630 cubic feet. The inside diameter of each basin is 60 ft; bottom of the excavation is 32 ft below grade and the excavation retained permanently by concrete secant pile walls. The circular wall is constructed of 3 ft nominal diameter concrete piles overlapping adjacent piles by 6 in; the wall penetrates 60 ft below grade. Excavation stability during construction is the primary concern in soft clays; an inadequate retention system could experience large wall movements and stresses as well as excavation bottom heave often resulting in failure. A finite element analysis (FEA) was performed to evaluate overall stability of the wall and excavation using axis-symmetric model and to design an excavation-wall system which yields a minimum factor of safety of 1.3 during construction. Soil model parameters were established from back-analysis of performance data from a near-by instrumented dike. The conventional stability analyses were performed to verify the results of FEA; it appears that the method proposed by Bjerrum et al (1956) corresponds well with FEA results. The FEA demonstrated that the circular wall is in compression, in agreement with the theoretical analyses, resulting in negligible movements of wall and ground behind the wall

The Phenomenon of Staff Attrition in Sri Lanka’s Hospitality Industry

Sri Lankan Hospitality Industry has just commenced to emerge as a mainstream socio-economic sector, with acknowledgement of its job-creating significance. Undeniably, in recent times the Sri Lanka hotel industry is challenged with a comparatively high attrition rate fueled by a dearth of hospitality manpower in the imminent future. This study aims to fulfill an unidentified study on the phenomena of staff attrition, the dominant antecedents underlying an employee’s intention to exit the industry and an exploration of the realities or nature of the industry. Using a Qualitative research methodology approach, the study sought invaluable insights from hospitality industry experts and hoteliers from individual hotels to apprehend the authenticities of the phenomenon. The results revealed the predicament stemming from the bottom-rung of the employment chain with Economic factors such as; a lower compensation package and perceived alternative opportunities portraying as the key antecedents to have triggered the inception of attrition in the industry. Besides, organizational and personal factors were revealed to be supplementary antecedents. The study concludes by offering some unique recommendations to HR strategists and industry experts which would be beneficial in mitigating the phenomenon of staff attrition in the future

Landscape Based Mitigation Design for Addressing the Human Elephant Conflict in Katupotha Area in Puttalam District

The connection between Human elephant conflict (HEC) is quite old in Sri Lanka. Elephants and peoplehave some similar ecological needs therefore, conflict between the two species is unavoidable when theycoexist in the same area. Katupotha is one of the villages that has HEC in Sri Lanka belonging to thePuttalam district and located 29.2 and 4 kilometers away from the Anamaduwa and Pallama respectively.Mainly, elephants enter the village through a place in Rathambala stream where there is less depth andwidth. According to the villagers, elephants are coming there in every year during the month of August,when the rain is very low. Therefore, the landscape solution was designed mainly to fulfill the elephants’water and food requirements. To avoid the entering of elephants to the village, the landscape of theRathambala oya area was changed by creating water features, fruiting areas, and bio fences

Landscape-Based Mitigation Strategy for Addressing Human-Elephant Conflict in Horowpathana, Sri Lanka: A Comprehensive Study

Horowpathana has been identified as a hotspot of human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka's north-centralprovince, where quick intervention is required. But Sri Lanka never had a consolidated action plan toaddress the problem. This study deals with the question of how landscape architects can contribute tomitigating the problem in the area. It aims to create a design proposal that facilitates elephant requirementsand offers functions and recreation for the residents at the same time. The design is based on the method ofanimal-centred design. The study demonstrates that such conflicts can be resolved through preciselandscape design that considers the issue on the specific site. Effective implementation requires stronggovernance structures and policy support from stakeholders like governmental institutions, conservationorganizations, and academics. Collaboration between infrastructure developers and conservationists canreduce the harmful effects of development projects on wildlife by employing proper design methodologiesand undertaking further research to assure establishment efficacy

Addressing Human-Elephant Conflict in the Sinharaja Forest Reserve Area: A Comprehensive Study on Landscape Design Approaches

Human-elephant conflict is a major problem in Sri Lanka which has existed since recent past times and now it has increased. Sinharaja rainforest is a tropical rainforest and it has two male elephants who have special concerns due to the limited number of wet zone elephants in Sri Lanka. Because of roads and tea plantations their natural corridors have been blocked. Therefore those elephants tend to enter residential areas and plantations. As landscaping solutions maintaining their corridors with their favourite trees and grasses leads the elephants through only the corridors and avoid entering the other areas. To join the forest fragments onboth sides of the road, an eco-bridge can be used. To enhance tourism around the forest reserve, elephantwatching stations can be established. White colour rounded or sharp stones can be used as a buffer zone.Besides, to prevent elephants from entering roads, Citrus bio fences can be established

POTENTIAL FOR ECO- TOURISM AS A SUSTAINABLE APPROACH TO UTILIZE RESOURCES IN UP-COUNTRY TEA ESTA TES IN SRI LANKA

In the context of tea industry in Sri Lanka, ecotourism has been recognized asan economically viable, environmentally friendly, and socially acceptablenon-crop diversification mechanism to increase profits according to AsianDevelopment Bank report, 2000.The purpose of this study was to assess the potential for ecotourism inupcountry tea plantations in Sri Lanka. Six estates, namely: (1) Hellbodda;(2) Kaloogala; (3) Melfort; (4) Rothschild; (5) Sanquhar, and (6) Sogama thatare located in the Pussellawa plantation sub district have been selected as thecases.Collection of data was characterized by: (1) a field survey at each location toidentify the availability of potential resources for ecotourism (e.g. attractions,infrastructure); (2) a community survey with the estate households; (3) aseries of personnel interviews with the estate management, and (4)questionnaire-based surveys with potential local and foreign tourists to thesesites.The information collected through the field, community, and managementsurveys were used to develop an index - "Tourism Potential Index" (TPI),that explain the capacity of each estate to develop ecotourism. The resultsbased on the TPI suggest that the best location for ecotourism was theRothschild followed by Hellbodda, and Sogama. The results also show thatabout 75% of estate community was in favor of implementing an ecotourismproject, and about 84% and 78% of foreign and local tourists, respectively,are willing to visit such a project. The results highlight the necessity ofimplementing sustainable alternative projects to enhance the quality of life ofthe estate community.

Blood cancer care in a resource limited setting during the Covid-19 outbreak; a single center experience from Sri Lanka

BackgroundThe Covid-19 pandemic has caused significant morbidity and mortality among patients with cancer. Most countries employed measures to prevent spread of Covid-19 infection which include shielding, quarantine, lockdown, travel restrictions, physical distancing and the use of personal protective equipment. This study was carried out to assess the change in patient attendance and the efficacy of newly implemented strategies to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on services at the Lanka Hospital Blood Cancer Centre (LHBCC) in Colombo, Sri Lanka.MethodologyTelephone consultation, infection control, personal protective measures and emergency admission policy were implemented with the aim of having a Covid-19 free ward and to prevent cross-infections. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 1399 patient episodes (in-patient care or day-case review). We analysed patients treated as in-patient as well as day-case basis between 01st April 2020 and 31st December 2020.ResultsThere were 977 day-case based episodes and 422 in-patient based episodes. There was a 14% drop in episode numbers compared to same period in 2019. There was no cross infection and no patients with Covid-19 related symptoms or positive test results entered the LHBCC during the study period.ConclusionServices in blood cancer care were maintained to prevent late stage presentation and adverse outcome. Measures implemented to prevent Covid-19 were effective to allow continuation of treatment. This study highlights the importance of implementing strict protocols, clinical screening, use of appropriate personal protective equipment in delivering blood cancer care during the Covid-19 pandemic. This is the only documented study relating to outcome and successful applicability of measures to prevent spread of Covid-19 infection and maintaining services among blood cancer patients in Sri Lanka

Response and Survival Estimates of Patients With Plasma Cell Myeloma in a Resource-Constrained Setting Using Protocols From High-Income Countries:A Single-Center Experience From Sri Lanka

There is a significant disparity in global cancer care and outcome between countries. Progress in the treatment of symptomatic plasma cell myeloma (PCM) in high-income countries is not seen in low- and middle-income countries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is was a retrospective cohort study of all patients diagnosed with PCM between May 1, 2013, and September 30, 2021, at the first hemato-oncology center in Sri Lanka. We aimed to provide data on clinicopathologic characteristics, response, and survival estimates. RESULTS: A total of 79 patients with PCM received first-line therapy during the study period. The median age was 64 years, and approximately one third (33%) of patients were older than 70 years. There were 42 (53%) males and 37 females. Hypercalcemia, renal impairment, anemia, and bone disease were detected in 36.7%, 38%, 72.1%, and 81%, respectively. Thirty-nine, 34, and six patients received a combination of cyclophosphamide, thalidomide, and dexamethasone; bortezomib, thalidomide, and dexamethasone; and other treatments, respectively. The overall response rate (≥ partial response) was approximately 97% for both cyclophosphamide, thalidomide, and dexamethasone and bortezomib, thalidomide, and dexamethasone. Twenty-three (29%) of these patients died during the study period, but only 14 (18%) died due to PCM or associated sepsis. After a median follow-up of 40.6 months (range, 35.2-59.07 months), the median overall survival was 84.2 months (95% CI, 60.87 to not available). The 5-year estimated overall survival was 65%. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the only well-characterized study on long-term survival of patients with PCM in Sri Lanka. We have shown that it is possible to successfully apply Western treatment and supportive care protocols to the local population. These published data will help to benchmark and improve the treatment and develop blood cancer care in the local setting

NONLINEAR ANALYSIS OF POROUS SOIL MEDIA AND APPLICATION (PORE PRESSURE, TIME INTEGRATION, FINITE ELEMENTS).

The behavior of porous media subjected to any arbitrary loading is a complex phenomenon due to the coupled nature of the problem. Proper understanding of this coupled behavior is essential in dealing with many of the geotechnical engineering problems. A very general three-dimensional formulation of such a coupled problem was first reported by Biot; however, a two-dimensional idealization of the theory is used here with extension to nonlinear material behavior. A finite element computer code is developed to analyze the response of coupled systems subjected to both static and dynamic excitations. The code can also be used to solve problems involving only solid media by suppressing the presence of fluid. The generalized anisotropic hardening model is implemented into the finite element procedure to characterize nonlinear material behavior throughout the realm of its deformation process. Both drained and undrained conditions are considered in order to verify the performance of the model in capturing material behavior. Three different materials are considered for this purpose. The predictions obtained using the anisotropic model for both drained and undrained condition yield satisfactory comparison with observed behavior. The finite element procedure is verified by solving several problems involving undrained, consolidation and dynamic responses of coupled system. Good agreements are found between numerical and analytical results. Further verification of the computer code and the material model is performed by solving two boundary value problems. For this purpose, a laboratory pressuremeter test subjected to quasi-static loading condition and a building foundation system subjected to rapid earthquake excitation were analyzed. The results of this research have provided an improved understanding of coupled behavior of porous media. The procedure developed here can be effectively used under a wide range of loading conditions varying from very slow quasi-static to very rapid earthquake excitations