Identification of the near-surface geological structure and deposits for land use planning purposes in the Doubrava Region (Czech Republic)

The objective of this paper is to highlight the importance of taking engineering geological characteristics and structures into account in land use planning. There have been a number of studies worldwide dealing with this issue. However more extensive implementation into land use planning practice still remains a task for the future in many places. A case study analyzing the geological environment in relation to the sites assigned for future development according to an existing land use plan was conducted in the Doubrava Region (north-east of the Czech Republic). Here, the geological conditions have been mostly influenced by anthropogenic processes connected with black coal mining. The engineering-geological zones, the pre- Quaternary basement and rock workability classes in the localities where future development is proposed on land use plans were evaluated using overlay analysis in a Geographic Information System (GIS). Landscape factors were also taken into account. Significant variability was identified in the investigated geological factors that have a bearing on safe cost effective development. Use of the results in future land use planning would have considerable financial benefits in implementation of future built development and these important conditions should be used by architects and designers, builders, land use planners, developers and scientists.Web of Science3621049

The use of the direct optimized probabilistic calculation method in design of bolt reinforcement for underground and mining workings

The load-carrying system of each construction should fulfill several conditions which represent reliable criteria in the assessment procedure. It is the theory of structural reliability which determines probability of keeping required properties of constructions. Using this theory, it is possible to apply probabilistic computations based on the probability theory and mathematic statistics. Development of those methods has become more and more popular; it is used, in particular, in designs of load-carrying structures with the required level or reliability when at least some input variables in the design are random. The objective of this paper is to indicate the current scope which might be covered by the new method—Direct Optimized Probabilistic Calculation (DOProC) in assessments of reliability of load-carrying structures. DOProC uses a purely numerical approach without any simulation techniques. This provides more accurate solutions to probabilistic tasks, and, in some cases, such approach results in considerably faster completion of computations. DOProC can be used to solve efficiently a number of probabilistic computations. A very good sphere of application for DOProC is the assessment of the bolt reinforcement in the underground and mining workings. For the purposes above, a special software application—“Anchor”—has been developed.Web of Scienceart. no. 26759

Properties of the loess sediments in Ostrava Region (Czech Republic) and comparison with some other loess sediments

This study deals with a methodical identification and evaluation of physical-mechanical properties of one genetic type of geological structure. This is represented by an engineering-geological zone of eolian sediments, which is regionally rather abundant. The paper contributes to a need to identify typical soil properties for widespread geological environments in a particular region and thus add to good engineering geologists and geotechnical engineers’ awareness in the region. Such information is much required as it permits comparing results of newly conducted engineering-geological investigations and research with the results characteristic for the region in question. It is vital for engineering geologists and geotechnical engineers to be sufficiently informed on the foundation soil properties of widespread geological environments because of professionalism and higher quality of their work results. Comparing other loess sediment studies worldwide it was discovered that the physical properties of the most abundant clays of low to medium plasticity, sandy clays, and sands as foundation soils vary as for the plasticity index, porosity, natural water content, and bulk density to a certain extent but not as significantly as once expected.Web of Scienceart. no. 52943

Influence of the soil genesis on physical and mechanical properties

Thepaper deals with the influence of soil genesis on the physical-mechanical properties.The presented case study was conducted in the region of theOstrava Basinwhere there is a varied genetic composition of the Quaternary geological structure on the underlying Neogeneous sediments which are sediments of analogous granulometry but different genesis. In this study, 7827 soil samples of an eolian, fluvial, glacial, and deluvial origin and their laboratory analyses results were used. The study identified different values in certain cases, mostly in coarser-grained foundation soils, such as sandy loam S4 (MS) and clayey sand F4 (CS). The soils of the fluvial origin manifest different values than other genetic types. Next, based on regression analyses, dependence was proved neither on the deposition depth (depth of samples) nor fromthe point of view of the individual foundation soil classes or the genetic types. The contribution of the paper is to point at the influence of genesis on the foundation soil properties so that engineering geologists and geotechnicians pay more attention to the genesis during engineering-geological and geotechnical investigations.Web of Scienceart. no. 47471

The effect of different types of water on the swelling behaviour of expansive clays

In the design of foundations of structures, especially light buildings, on clayey soils, the main soil behaviours to be considered are swelling properties and surface heave. Therefore, determination of swelling properties by means of swell percent and maximum swell pressure as well as estimation of the surface is very important in the investigation of such soils and light structures on them. In order to obtain the swelling parameters of clayey soils, experimental laboratory tests were carried out and standardised. Distilled water is generally used during these experimental tests; however, the soil in situ interacts with different types of water having different water chemistries. Therefore, the swelling behaviour of expansive soils tested with distilled water would naturally be different from the behaviour of expansive soils tested with different water types and chemistries. For this reason, it was anticipated that determination of the realistic swell behaviour in laboratory experiments requires the use of the same water as in the in situ condition. In this article, the effect of the water type and chemistry on the swelling behaviour of the clays was investigated by testing the clay samples with eight different types of water collected from the sea, river, lake and different rock formations. The main result of this research was that the anticipated clay swell percentages and pressures for different types of water were lower than for the distilled water routinely used in testing.Web of Science7341062104

A leaning historical monument formed by underground mining effect: an example from Czech Republic

As causes of underground mining activities, subsidences and slope deformations are very important problems in most countries. If the slope deformation or subsidence cannot be effectively controlled then it will cause damages on buildings, particularly tall buildings and even a disaster. However surface impact of underground mining activity is very well known and reasonably well understood, as a result of the effect of underground mining activities; many hazards, undesired structural and environmental problems on the surface are being addressed in many countries. In this article, deformations on the church of St. Peter of Alcantara which is one of the most dominant monuments of Karvina city (Czech Republic) were identified and discussed by means of the effect of underground mining activities on the buildings. The results of this article will be useful in order to better understand the nature and magnitude of displacements that can affect surface infrastructures.Web of Science1333-4484

Rock mass parameters based doline susceptibility mapping in gypsum terrain

Rock in nature is observed as a rock mass that is a discontinuous medium with features including joints, faults, fissures, fractures and bedding planes. Interaction of the intact rock blocks with the discontinuities mainly controls the rock mass behaviour under applied stress. Therefore a detailed description of the discontinuities in rocks, their structure and their condition can provide valuable insights into potential rock mass behaviour. Although the rock mass characteristics in terms of discontinuities are very important for the stability of underground openings, they have never been considered as a conditioning factor of doline susceptibility analyses. In this paper, preparation of a doline susceptibility map based on the rock mass parameters is proposed. Three doline susceptibility models (based on conventional affecting factors (geological, hydrological, topographical, land use factors and vegetation cover), rock mass parameters, and both sets of factors combined) were produced and their validation performances and accuracies were compared. According to the comparison of the three models, the most realistic and accurate doline susceptibility model was implemented from the combined parameters. However, the accuracy of the model obtained from the doline susceptibility map based on rock mass parameters was distinctly higher than that of the first model, which is based on conventionally used conditioning factors. Validation analyses of the maps indicated that the method and conditioning factors in terms of rock mass parameters included in the models can be considered as satisfactory. Although a precise map was obtained in this study considering the rock mass parameters, the results of this paper do not claim that the parameters considered are sufficient to construct a precise doline susceptibility map, as there may be other site-specific factors affecting doline occurrence that were not included in the analyses in this study because of the characteristics of the study area. This paper particularly points out that the rock mass parameters must be included in doline susceptibility analyses together with the other factors.Web of Science48213412

Gypsum collapse hazards and importance of hazard mapping

Collapse in gypsum terrains is a serious geological hazard and can damage engineering structures, settlement areas, natural lakes, and allow infiltration of contaminants into the groundwater. Presentation of engineering geological data in the form of a hazard map is a useful tool in urban planning. To avoid the problems and thus save property and money, detailed geoscientific data should be collected and used in urban planing. Interpretation of future collapse occurrence requires an understanding of conditions and processes controlling collapse events. To predict collapse, it is necessary to assume that collapse occurrence is determined by collapse-related factors, and that future collapses are likely to occur under the same conditions as past collapses. In this study, collapse hazard was reviewed and a method was presented for collapse susceptibility mapping in gypsum terrain in of Sivas basin (Turkey) using a statistical method (conditional probability)

An assessment on the use of bivariate, multivariate and soft computing techniques for collapse susceptibility in GIS environ

The paper presented herein compares and discusses the use of bivariate, multivariate and soft computing techniques for collapse susceptibility modelling. Conditional probability (CP), logistic regression (LR) and artificial neural networks (ANN) models representing the bivariate, multivariate and soft computing techniques were used in GIS based collapse susceptibility mapping in an area from Sivas basin (Turkey). Collapse-related factors, directly or indirectly related to the causes of collapse occurrence, such as distance from faults, slope angle and aspect, topographical elevation, distance from drainage, topographic wetness index (TWI), stream power index (SPI), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) by means of vegetation cover, distance from roads and settlements were used in the collapse susceptibility analyses. In the last stage of the analyses, collapse susceptibility maps were produced from the models, and they were then compared by means of their validations. However, Area Under Curve (AUC) values obtained from all three models showed that the map obtained from soft computing (ANN) model looks like more accurate than the other models, accuracies of all three models can be evaluated relatively similar. The results also showed that the conditional probability is an essential method in preparation of collapse susceptibility map and highly compatible with GIS operating features.Web of Science122238837