Non destructive testing techniques based on the application of dynamic loads on the surface of a soil deposit or a pavement system, and the measurement of the resulting deflection basins or the phase difference between the motions recorded at various receivers have become powerful tools in civil engineering. In many cases, however, the interpretation of the recorded data relies on static analys...

Poplars (Populus spp.) are among the fastest growing trees raised in temperate regions of the world. Testing of newly developed cultivars informs assessment of potential planting stock for local environments. Initial rooting by nine poplar clones was tested in moist and saturated soil conditions during an 18-day greenhouse experiment. Clones responded differently to soil moisture, particularly ...

Soil depth is an important input parameter in hydrological and ecological modeling. Presently, the soil depth data available in national soil databases (STATSGO, SSURGO) is provided as averages within generalized land units. Spatial uncertainty within these units limits their applicability for spatially distributed modeling. This work reports a statistical model for prediction of soil depth in ...

In this study the characteristics and extent of the smear zone are investigated using a large, undisturbed sample. The aim of using such a sample is to capture the realistic characteristics of the smear zone in relation to the in situ soil structure during the installation of prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) using a mandrel. The extent of the smear zone for Bulli clay (New South Wales, Aust...

The shear strength parameters of soil such as cohesion (C) and angle of internal friction (φ )govern the bearing capacity of shallow or deep foundations, the stability of the hill slopes as well as slopes of dams and embankments, design of retaining structures etc. in most of the civil engineering practices. In this study, artificial neural network (ANN) with the feed-forward back-propagation a...

This study presents a robust evolutionary computational technique, called multi-expression programming (MEP), to derive a highly nonlinear model for the prediction of compression index of fine-grained soils. The proposed model relates the soil compression index to its liquid limit, plastic limit and void ratio. The experimental database used for developing the models was established upon 108 co...

a methodology of soil moisture assessment around a levee based on a backpropagation neural network and using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data is developed. Soil moisture changes along a levee over a period of time can help to monitor and find potential failure indicators such as slides and sand boils around the levee. Several analytical and empirical models have shown relationships between S...

Urea is the most commonly used nitrogen fertilizer worldwide. The overused urea in agricultural fields may affect the soil organisms especially, the earthworms which are known well for their role in soil fertility. Earthworms are typically inferred as soil indicators without which soil fertility cannot be measured directly. An acute toxicity test of urea to earthworm (Eisenia fetida) was perfor...

The “Old Rotation” experiment was initiated in 1966 at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Research Centre at Swift Current, Saskatchewan. The overall objectives were to evaluate the influence of rotation length, fallow substitute crops, and nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilizers on crop yields, grain protein, N and P uptake, moisture conservation, nutrient use efficiency, incidence of di...

Soil phosphorus (P) availability was compared with Mehlich-1 soil testing and P fractionation at a research farm (RF) and 32 private farms (PFs) in north Florida. The environmental risks caused by P release were evaluated using the P saturation ratio (PSR). Soil Mehlich-1 P at the RF and the PFs was 41.9 4.1 and 278 13 mg/kg, respectively. The dominant inorganic P fraction for all farms was NaO...