Climate resilient earthwork design using green infrastructure

使用绿色基础设施进行气候适应性土方设计

• 批准号: 2743684
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Imperial College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2743684
• 关键词: Climate; resilient; earthwork; design; using

There are tens of thousands of miles of vegetated infrastructure slopes, i.e. man-made embankments and cut slopes which support railways and highways, in the UK. Network Rail alone owns 52,000 hectares of land on which there are nearly 6.3 million trees. As earthworks are known to demonstrate poor serviceability when interacting with vegetation, Engineers tend to perceive it as a liability rather than to appreciate it as a national asset. Well-maintained vegetation, however, has the potential to enhance slope stability and has undeniably positive environmental outcomes. It is estimated that hundreds of millions of pounds will be spent over the next 20 years to manage vegetation while complying with safety and operational standards. Interaction between atmosphere and soil as an engineering material has only recently attracted significant interest. Serviceability problems arise in densely vegetated slopes during dry periods, as the soil shrinks excessively. Shrinkage is not fully recovered when water from precipitation percolates into the earthworks' soils causing swelling, hence shrinkage accumulates year on year. This cycle of swelling and shrinkage is expected to intensify, as climate change projections show a substantial increase in rainfall extremes, followed by long periods of intensified drought. On the other hand, vegetation establishment on earthworks can increase slope stability via its roots, reduce the infiltration rate in the soils, protect the soil against erosion. To properly understand and quantify the problems as well as to propose solutions for best greening strategies, we need to develop robust models integrating water transport from the soils to vegetation and the atmosphere, and soil hydro-mechanical behaviour. Detailed data are needed to validate these models, which upon successful implementation and validation can be used to inform new-generation geotechnical engineering standards for modern construction as well as maintenance of existing earthworks. The project aims to bridge ecohydrological, soil and geotechnical modelling, with the scope of enhancing the resilience of vegetated infrastructure earthworks to climate change.The project will be organised in the following tasks:1 Analyse with the aid of the CASE partner Geotechnical Observations field data from selected infrastructure slopes and identify representative case studies;2 Generate new data though field and laboratory studies (data of soil mechanical and hydraulic properties and field data monitoring the behaviour of existing infrastructure);3 Develop a unique soil-plant-atmosphere model that integrates geotechnical modelling with all necessary ecohydrological processes. The model development will integrate modelling expertise between the Hydrology and Geotechnics sections at Imperial College London;4 Perform risk analysis under a changing climate using the last generation CMPI6 climate model projections for the UK.

英国有数万英里的植被基础设施斜坡，即支持铁路和高速公路的人造路堤和路堑斜坡。仅英国铁路网就拥有 52,000 公顷的土地，其中种植着近 630 万棵树。众所周知，土方工程在与植被相互作用时表现出较差的适用性，因此工程师倾向于将其视为一种责任，而不是将其视为国家资产。然而，维护良好的植被有可能增强边坡稳定性，并且无可否认地具有积极的环境成果。据估计，未来 20 年将花费数亿英镑来管理植被，同时遵守安全和运营标准。大气与土壤作为工程材料之间的相互作用最近才引起了人们的极大兴趣。在干旱时期，由于土壤过度收缩，植被茂密的斜坡会出现使用性问题。当降水渗入土方工程土壤引起膨胀时，收缩并未完全恢复，因此收缩逐年累积。由于气候变化预测显示极端降雨量大幅增加，随后将出现长期加剧的干旱，这种膨胀和收缩的循环预计将加剧。另一方面，土方工程上植被的建立可以通过其根系增加边坡的稳定性，减少土壤的入渗率，保护土壤免受侵蚀。为了正确理解和量化这些问题并提出最佳绿化策略的解决方案，我们需要开发强大的模型，将水从土壤到植被和大气的输送以及土壤水力学行为结合起来。需要详细的数据来验证这些模型，在成功实施和验证后，这些模型可用于为现代建筑以及现有土方工程的维护提供新一代岩土工程标准。该项目旨在架起生态水文、土壤和岩土建模的桥梁，旨在增强植被基础设施土方工程对气候变化的抵御能力。该项目将完成以下任务：1 借助 CASE 合作伙伴岩土观测现场数据进行分析从选定的基础设施斜坡中确定代表性案例研究；2 通过现场和实验室研究生成新数据（土壤力学和水力特性数据以及监测现有基础设施行为的现场数据）；3 开发独特的土壤-植物-大气模型，将岩土工程建模与所有必要的生态水文过程相结合。该模型开发将整合伦敦帝国理工学院水文学和岩土工程部门之间的建模专业知识；4 使用英国最新一代 CMPI6 气候模型预测在气候变化下进行风险分析。