Thursday, April 11, 2019
Critical Reflection
My personal aim of this module at the start of the course is to have the ability to channel my thoughts into words and to also write confidently and expressively. Throughout the entire course, the class was tasked with different assignments which requires writing with proper tense and grammar. The class also had activities in class like summarizing, paraphrasing, etc, all of which requires proper writing. Through this platform, it instilled confidence in me to write fluently. These practices allowed me to make mistakes and I learnt from them which made me a better writer as I slowly improved, week by week. However, the learning process does not stop here. I have made a promise to myself that I will continue writing every week to maintain the standard and improve even more in the future.
...
The technical report in the project was an issue to me throughout the completion of the entire project. As writing is my weakness for this module, I have always feared that I would slow down my group’s speed or momentum in completing the project. Hence, with the group knowing each other’s strengths and weaknesses, Weijie, my group mate, and I filled in the contents of the report while Darryl, another group mate who has good writing skills edited our grammar, language and tenses. From there, I slowly picked up and learnt from my mistakes as I improved and continued writing the technical report.
The presentation of engineering problem to the class does not pose an issue to me as I strongly feel that speaking up in a crowd is one of my forte. In fact, I look forward to the presentation date. However, there were a few things that I have learnt from this presentation despite it being my forte. I have learnt the proper technique and posture of presenting in front of a crowd; things that I have not learnt before in poly or secondary school. With this, it really was a bonus to me as it made me even more confident in presenting.
I personally feel that with this skill acquired, it will help me in the long run, let’s say for a job interview in the future. Not only does this skill helps me to present better in a crowd, but it also helps to build confidence in me to speak up to anyone professionally.
...
The last time I presented in front of judges and more than a couple of professors was back then in Poly for my final year project. I could still remember how nerve-wrecking it was. However, for this presentation showcase, I genuinely felt excited and happy to present to my course mates, lectures and 2 judges who are experienced industry experts.
I felt confident throughout the entire showcase as I believe that my group mates and I have the ability to speak up and convey the message across. Also, with few rehearsals that we had, I believed that we would nail the presentation from the start which we did as we received 1st place for the presentation showcase.
However, with all this being said, there was a drawback that I feel we could improve on in the future. One of the judges gave us feedbacks and a rhetorical question which my group and I only replied with a “thank you”. With much regrets, I wish I could turn back time and replied him with a proper counter that would have probably cleared his doubt.
All in all, it was a fun experience having to present in front of a crowd as I look forward to more presentations in the future.
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Grayspace - Technical Report Final
Executive Summary
This report aims to propose to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to replace expressways with porous asphalt containing steel slag. Primary research focused on surveys and interviews revealed that flooding is a major cause of concern on expressways, especially in terms of the safety of motorists. Porous asphalt is an asphalt mix which allows water that has collected on the road and/or pavement surface to flow through the road into a water collection point below the road surface. This serves to reduce water ponding and floods that may occur by allow stormwater to flow through the porous asphalt.
There were many suggestions on the improvisation of the use of porous asphalt to turn it into a more sustainable element in road construction as the limited resources in the world progressively deplete. Substitution of materials with recycled aggregates as well as non-potable applications in buildings for the stormwater collected are suitable means of integrating sustainability into road engineering. The benefits and sustainability of this proposal would hence be used to persuade LTA to replace traditional asphalt roads with porous asphalt containing steel slag.
1. Introduction
1.1. Background Information
Flash floods are considered to be of major inconvenience to motorists, exacerbated by the limited land we have in Singapore. Singapore, being one of the most densely populated countries in the world, has seen a growing transport demand among individual road users, logistic firms and public transportation agencies in the city. These users “expect reliable and safe road infrastructure for traveling from one location to another and transporting goods and people” (Hartmann & Ling, 2016). However, due to the city’s tropical climate, Singapore receives abundant rainfall, which has been steadily rising over the years (see Appendix A). This increase in frequency and intensity of rain, in conjunction with the increase in the car population in Singapore, is a catalyst for road accidents - wet road conditions reduces the friction car tyres have against the road surface. According to a study led by Chow, Cheong and Ho (2016), this in turn leads to higher chances of causing traffic disruption due to road flooding from storms.
The same authors showed that there was a total of 212 flood events reported in Singapore from 1965 to 2015, with only seven years that were absent of recorded newsworthy flood events. According to Chow et al. (2016), 30.2% of the historical extent of flooding during the fifty-year period was categorized and defined as flash floods (Appendix B).
These floods have led to the development of alternative techniques to increase the drainage capability of surfaces, such as the use of porous asphalt. Porous asphalt is a type of asphalt that allows water to permeate through its surface into a collection pond below the pavement. Water-permeable asphalt is made possible by controlling and/or changing the amount of materials used in conventional asphalt mixes, such as the fine and coarse aggregates, along with some variations in construction methods to produce the desired outcome of reducing surface runoff. Porous asphalt has the capacity to conserve water, reduce runoff and promote infiltration which cleanses stormwater, all of which are acquired from the relatively high porosity and permeability of the porous pavement layers (Fwa, Lim & Tan, 2015). According to Hesami et al. (2013), a number of completed or ongoing studies on warm-mix asphalt and steel slag asphalt mixtures have been conducted all over the world.
Exemplifying the advantages our proposed porous asphalt would contribute toward sustainability, such as introducing recycled by-products in the production process. Our team will focus on the use of recycled steel slag. Non-potable use for the water collected from the asphalt after rain (Hammes, Thives & Ghisi 2018), together with recycled steel slag (which will be discussed in later sections), are sustainable aspects of porous asphalt that can serve to urge the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to consider porous asphalt as an alternative to the conventional road asphalt currently being used.
1.2. Problem Statement
According to a survey done by our team in SIT@Dover, flash floods have always been of major inconvenience to motorists in on expressways in Singapore (see Appendix D). With the aim of being a sustainable city, porous asphalt should be implemented on expressways not only to mitigate the occurrence of floods, but also as a sustainable measure by introducing recycled steel slag aggregates in the production process as well as providing non-potable use for the water collected from the asphalt.
1.3. Purpose Statement
The purpose of this report is to propose to LTA the implementation of porous asphalt on expressways in Singapore to reduce the occurrence of floods in areas that has a lack of thorough drainage systems. The proposed methodologies and application of porous asphalt roads would demonstrate to LTA that porous asphalt not only mitigates the occurrence of floods, it can also be presented as a sustainable approach to mitigate road flooding as it acts as a stormwater management where water will permeate through the ground surface into a collection pond below.
2. Proposed Solution
2.1. Porous Asphalt Roads
Our team’s proposed solution to mitigate the occurrence of floods is the implementation of porous asphalt on roads especially on areas where there is lack of sufficient drainage systems such as expressways. Expressways in Singapore have drains that are located only on the road shoulders. Therefore, incorporating porous asphalt can be a strategic stormwater management system - its unique functional benefits include having the capacity to conserve water, reduce runoff and promote infiltration, which cleanses stormwater simultaneously. These properties are acquired from the relatively high porosity and permeability of the porous pavement layers (Fwa, Lim & Tan, 2015).
2.1.1. Recycled Steel Slag
Our team proposes for the substitution of crushed stone aggregates with steel furnace slag. According to Ahmedzade & Sengoz (2009), steel slag, when used as coarse aggregate, improves the mechanical properties of asphalt mixtures. The results of different tests conducted with steel slag indicated that steel slag mixtures have excellent engineering properties such as greater toughness, hardness and ultimate tensile strength. Currently, steel slag is supplied by NatSteel Asia, the only steel mill in Singapore, as a by-product of reinforcement bar production. It is treated by NSL Chemicals Ltd (formerly known as NatSteel Envirotech Pte Ltd).
2.1.2. Application
Our team proposes to LTA for porous asphalt to be implemented as a pilot study on a small section (400m span) of road at the western regions of Singapore, relatively further away from the Central Business District (CBD) where traffic congestion is more likely to occur. Instead of using a traditional asphalt mix, our proposed porous asphalt mix can be used during the maintenance of roads.
3. Benefits of Proposed Solution
4.1. Case Study
According to Takahashi (2013), the number of traffic accidents on wet surface conditions in Japan since 1998 has decreased drastically because of the spread of porous asphalt used widely across the expressways (see Appendix C). Due to the wet surface caused by rain, the loss of vehicle control at high-speed travel was one of the main reasons for traffic accidents. At that time, Japan’s growing economy and with it the unexpected increase in the number of vehicles led to many surfaces of expressways in Japan being severely damaged.
4.2. Challenges
Porous asphalt may seem to be highly efficient and sustainable to the environment, but there are drawbacks and limitations to porous asphalt, the primary one being the lack of strength of porous asphalt as compared to regular asphalt.
4.2.1. Strength
The large amount of pore size in the porous asphalt mix allows water seepage through the surface, but significantly reduces the strength of the road surface (Mo et al., 2010).
To overcome this challenge, our team has suggested for the porous asphalt mix to be implemented on highway roads instead. The reduced congestion in traffic and a swifter road flow, as compared to road junctions, will be a good fit for the use of porous asphalt.
5. Methodology and Procedure
Our team conducted primary and secondary research to supplement our research. Primary research includes interviews with industry experts and a survey conducted by our team in SIT@Dover. Secondary research includes articles and research papers accessed from online libraries.
5.1. Primary Research
According to an interview done on March 6, 2019 with Teo Yong Boon, the Laboratory Manager for Samwoh Corporation Pte Ltd, porous asphalt is not currently being implemented on expressways on a large enough scale. Also, a survey done by our team in SIT@Dover revealed that 95.6% out of 45 responders agreed that floods caused inconveniences for them on expressways.
5.2. Secondary Research
Sources of secondary research include research articles and online journals which are relevant sources that support the contents of this proposal. An example of an article is by Fwa, Lim & Tan (2015) which discussed the characteristics of porous asphalt and pervious concrete pavement materials. Another relevant source is by Hesami et al. (2015), where the laboratory investigation discusses warm-mix asphalt mixtures containing steel slag aggregates. The figures as listed in the appendices were sourced from Meteorological Service Singapore (2018) and several other academic articles.
6. Conclusion
The upward trend of increasing annual rainfall that is expected in Singapore due to changes in the global climate will be a major cause of ponding and flooding on roads in the future. There is a compelling need to prevent ponding and flooding and hence accidents from occurring on expressways where drainage systems could only be found on road shoulders. While our proposed porous asphalt solution aims to mitigate floods by reducing ponding on expressways, it is can also be presented as a sustainable approach towards mitigating floods. Sustainable aspects of the proposed solution include the potential of stormwater collection and its various non-potable uses in buildings, and the usage of recycled steel-slag aggregates to aid in strengthening and improving the durability of the asphalt mix.
References
Ahmedzade, P., & Sengoz, B. (2009). Evaluation of steel slag coarse aggregate in hot mix asphalt concrete. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 165(1-3), 300-305.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2008.09.105
Chan, F. K. S., Chuah, C. J., Ziegler, A. D., Dąbrowski, M., & Varis, O. (2018). Towards resilient flood risk management for Asian coastal cities: Lessons learned from Hong Kong and Singapore. Journal of Cleaner Production, 187, 576-589.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.03.217
Chen, J., & Wei, S. (2016). Engineering properties and performance of asphalt mixtures incorporating steel slag. Construction and Building Materials, 128, 148–153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.10.027
Chow, W. T., Cheong, B. D., & Ho, B. H. (2016). A multimethod approach towards assessing urban flood patterns and its associated vulnerabilities in Singapore. Advances in Meteorology, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/7159132
Fwa, T. F., Lim, E., & Tan, K. H. (2015). Comparison of permeability and clogging characteristics of porous asphalt and pervious concrete pavement materials. Transportation Research Record, 2511(1), 72-80.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3141/2511-09
Hammes, G., Thives, L., & Ghisi, E. (2018). Application of stormwater collected from porous asphalt pavements for non-potable uses in buildings. Journal of Environmental Management, 222, 338–347.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.05.094
Hartmann, A., & Ling, F. Y. Y. (2016). Value creation of road infrastructure networks: A structural equation approach. Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering (English edition), 3(1), 28-36.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtte.2015.09.003
Hesami, S., Ameri, M., Goli, H., & Akbari, A. (2015). Laboratory investigation of moisture susceptibility of warm-mix asphalt mixtures containing steel slag aggregates. International Journal of Pavement Engineering, 16(8), 745-759.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10298436.2014.953502
Meteorological Service Singapore (n.d.). Past climate trends.
http://www.weather.gov.sg/climate-past-climate-trends
Public Utilities Board. (2012). Report on Key Conclusions and Recommendations of the Expert Panel on Drainage Design and Flood Protection Measures. Retrieved on March 5, 2019
https://www.pub.gov.sg/Documents/fullReport.pdf
T. L. Chow, Winston & D. Cheong, Brendan & Ho, Beatrice. (2016). A Multimethod Approach towards Assessing Urban Flood Patterns and Its Associated Vulnerabilities in Singapore. Advances in Meteorology. 2016. 1-11.
https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/7159132
Takahashi, S. (2013). Comprehensive study on the porous asphalt effects on expressways in Japan: based on field data analysis in the last decade. Road Materials and Pavement Design, 14(2), 239-255.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14680629.2013.779298
There were many suggestions on the improvisation of the use of porous asphalt to turn it into a more sustainable element in road construction as the limited resources in the world progressively deplete. Substitution of materials with recycled aggregates as well as non-potable applications in buildings for the stormwater collected are suitable means of integrating sustainability into road engineering. The benefits and sustainability of this proposal would hence be used to persuade LTA to replace traditional asphalt roads with porous asphalt containing steel slag.
1. Introduction
1.1. Background Information
Flash floods are considered to be of major inconvenience to motorists, exacerbated by the limited land we have in Singapore. Singapore, being one of the most densely populated countries in the world, has seen a growing transport demand among individual road users, logistic firms and public transportation agencies in the city. These users “expect reliable and safe road infrastructure for traveling from one location to another and transporting goods and people” (Hartmann & Ling, 2016). However, due to the city’s tropical climate, Singapore receives abundant rainfall, which has been steadily rising over the years (see Appendix A). This increase in frequency and intensity of rain, in conjunction with the increase in the car population in Singapore, is a catalyst for road accidents - wet road conditions reduces the friction car tyres have against the road surface. According to a study led by Chow, Cheong and Ho (2016), this in turn leads to higher chances of causing traffic disruption due to road flooding from storms.
The same authors showed that there was a total of 212 flood events reported in Singapore from 1965 to 2015, with only seven years that were absent of recorded newsworthy flood events. According to Chow et al. (2016), 30.2% of the historical extent of flooding during the fifty-year period was categorized and defined as flash floods (Appendix B).
These floods have led to the development of alternative techniques to increase the drainage capability of surfaces, such as the use of porous asphalt. Porous asphalt is a type of asphalt that allows water to permeate through its surface into a collection pond below the pavement. Water-permeable asphalt is made possible by controlling and/or changing the amount of materials used in conventional asphalt mixes, such as the fine and coarse aggregates, along with some variations in construction methods to produce the desired outcome of reducing surface runoff. Porous asphalt has the capacity to conserve water, reduce runoff and promote infiltration which cleanses stormwater, all of which are acquired from the relatively high porosity and permeability of the porous pavement layers (Fwa, Lim & Tan, 2015). According to Hesami et al. (2013), a number of completed or ongoing studies on warm-mix asphalt and steel slag asphalt mixtures have been conducted all over the world.
Exemplifying the advantages our proposed porous asphalt would contribute toward sustainability, such as introducing recycled by-products in the production process. Our team will focus on the use of recycled steel slag. Non-potable use for the water collected from the asphalt after rain (Hammes, Thives & Ghisi 2018), together with recycled steel slag (which will be discussed in later sections), are sustainable aspects of porous asphalt that can serve to urge the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to consider porous asphalt as an alternative to the conventional road asphalt currently being used.
1.2. Problem Statement
According to a survey done by our team in SIT@Dover, flash floods have always been of major inconvenience to motorists in on expressways in Singapore (see Appendix D). With the aim of being a sustainable city, porous asphalt should be implemented on expressways not only to mitigate the occurrence of floods, but also as a sustainable measure by introducing recycled steel slag aggregates in the production process as well as providing non-potable use for the water collected from the asphalt.
1.3. Purpose Statement
The purpose of this report is to propose to LTA the implementation of porous asphalt on expressways in Singapore to reduce the occurrence of floods in areas that has a lack of thorough drainage systems. The proposed methodologies and application of porous asphalt roads would demonstrate to LTA that porous asphalt not only mitigates the occurrence of floods, it can also be presented as a sustainable approach to mitigate road flooding as it acts as a stormwater management where water will permeate through the ground surface into a collection pond below.
2. Proposed Solution
2.1. Porous Asphalt Roads
Our team’s proposed solution to mitigate the occurrence of floods is the implementation of porous asphalt on roads especially on areas where there is lack of sufficient drainage systems such as expressways. Expressways in Singapore have drains that are located only on the road shoulders. Therefore, incorporating porous asphalt can be a strategic stormwater management system - its unique functional benefits include having the capacity to conserve water, reduce runoff and promote infiltration, which cleanses stormwater simultaneously. These properties are acquired from the relatively high porosity and permeability of the porous pavement layers (Fwa, Lim & Tan, 2015).
2.1.1. Recycled Steel Slag
Our team proposes for the substitution of crushed stone aggregates with steel furnace slag. According to Ahmedzade & Sengoz (2009), steel slag, when used as coarse aggregate, improves the mechanical properties of asphalt mixtures. The results of different tests conducted with steel slag indicated that steel slag mixtures have excellent engineering properties such as greater toughness, hardness and ultimate tensile strength. Currently, steel slag is supplied by NatSteel Asia, the only steel mill in Singapore, as a by-product of reinforcement bar production. It is treated by NSL Chemicals Ltd (formerly known as NatSteel Envirotech Pte Ltd).
2.1.2. Application
Our team proposes to LTA for porous asphalt to be implemented as a pilot study on a small section (400m span) of road at the western regions of Singapore, relatively further away from the Central Business District (CBD) where traffic congestion is more likely to occur. Instead of using a traditional asphalt mix, our proposed porous asphalt mix can be used during the maintenance of roads.
3. Benefits of Proposed Solution
There are 3 benefits of the proposed solution, namely, the reduced impact of ponding and floods, stormwater management and the use of a recycled by-product: steel slag.
3.1. Reducing impact of ponding and floods
The higher porosity and hence void content of porous asphalt as compared to the conventional asphalt mix will allow the seepage of rainwater through the road surface. This will maintain a relatively dry surface with little ponding. Reduced ponding on the road surface hence allows for a safer driving experience as car tyres are less likely to skid against a wet road surface.
3.2. Stormwater management
The collection of stormwater from under porous asphalt roads can be collected for non-potable use in buildings, such as “flushing urinals and toilets” in a building, which led to savings of 53% to 54% of potable water (Hammes, Thives & Ghisi, 2018). This would make porous asphalt roads dual-purpose and sustainable due to its ability to prevent ponding and recycle water simultaneously.
3.3. Recycled by-product: Steel Slag
According to Chen and Wei (2016), the use of steel slag as a coarse aggregate substitute could improve the engineering properties of asphalt mixtures with higher durability, higher skid resistance and has longer road lifespan resulting in lesser carbon emissions. Furthermore, steel slag has angular and rough textured particles that would improve the interlocking mechanism and provide good mechanical properties such as the tensile strength and hardness of the end product.
4. Proposal Evaluation
The higher porosity and hence void content of porous asphalt as compared to the conventional asphalt mix will allow the seepage of rainwater through the road surface. This will maintain a relatively dry surface with little ponding. Reduced ponding on the road surface hence allows for a safer driving experience as car tyres are less likely to skid against a wet road surface.
3.2. Stormwater management
The collection of stormwater from under porous asphalt roads can be collected for non-potable use in buildings, such as “flushing urinals and toilets” in a building, which led to savings of 53% to 54% of potable water (Hammes, Thives & Ghisi, 2018). This would make porous asphalt roads dual-purpose and sustainable due to its ability to prevent ponding and recycle water simultaneously.
3.3. Recycled by-product: Steel Slag
According to Chen and Wei (2016), the use of steel slag as a coarse aggregate substitute could improve the engineering properties of asphalt mixtures with higher durability, higher skid resistance and has longer road lifespan resulting in lesser carbon emissions. Furthermore, steel slag has angular and rough textured particles that would improve the interlocking mechanism and provide good mechanical properties such as the tensile strength and hardness of the end product.
4. Proposal Evaluation
4.1. Case Study
According to Takahashi (2013), the number of traffic accidents on wet surface conditions in Japan since 1998 has decreased drastically because of the spread of porous asphalt used widely across the expressways (see Appendix C). Due to the wet surface caused by rain, the loss of vehicle control at high-speed travel was one of the main reasons for traffic accidents. At that time, Japan’s growing economy and with it the unexpected increase in the number of vehicles led to many surfaces of expressways in Japan being severely damaged.
4.2. Challenges
Porous asphalt may seem to be highly efficient and sustainable to the environment, but there are drawbacks and limitations to porous asphalt, the primary one being the lack of strength of porous asphalt as compared to regular asphalt.
4.2.1. Strength
The large amount of pore size in the porous asphalt mix allows water seepage through the surface, but significantly reduces the strength of the road surface (Mo et al., 2010).
To overcome this challenge, our team has suggested for the porous asphalt mix to be implemented on highway roads instead. The reduced congestion in traffic and a swifter road flow, as compared to road junctions, will be a good fit for the use of porous asphalt.
5. Methodology and Procedure
Our team conducted primary and secondary research to supplement our research. Primary research includes interviews with industry experts and a survey conducted by our team in SIT@Dover. Secondary research includes articles and research papers accessed from online libraries.
5.1. Primary Research
According to an interview done on March 6, 2019 with Teo Yong Boon, the Laboratory Manager for Samwoh Corporation Pte Ltd, porous asphalt is not currently being implemented on expressways on a large enough scale. Also, a survey done by our team in SIT@Dover revealed that 95.6% out of 45 responders agreed that floods caused inconveniences for them on expressways.
5.2. Secondary Research
Sources of secondary research include research articles and online journals which are relevant sources that support the contents of this proposal. An example of an article is by Fwa, Lim & Tan (2015) which discussed the characteristics of porous asphalt and pervious concrete pavement materials. Another relevant source is by Hesami et al. (2015), where the laboratory investigation discusses warm-mix asphalt mixtures containing steel slag aggregates. The figures as listed in the appendices were sourced from Meteorological Service Singapore (2018) and several other academic articles.
6. Conclusion
The upward trend of increasing annual rainfall that is expected in Singapore due to changes in the global climate will be a major cause of ponding and flooding on roads in the future. There is a compelling need to prevent ponding and flooding and hence accidents from occurring on expressways where drainage systems could only be found on road shoulders. While our proposed porous asphalt solution aims to mitigate floods by reducing ponding on expressways, it is can also be presented as a sustainable approach towards mitigating floods. Sustainable aspects of the proposed solution include the potential of stormwater collection and its various non-potable uses in buildings, and the usage of recycled steel-slag aggregates to aid in strengthening and improving the durability of the asphalt mix.
References
Ahmedzade, P., & Sengoz, B. (2009). Evaluation of steel slag coarse aggregate in hot mix asphalt concrete. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 165(1-3), 300-305.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2008.09.105
Chan, F. K. S., Chuah, C. J., Ziegler, A. D., Dąbrowski, M., & Varis, O. (2018). Towards resilient flood risk management for Asian coastal cities: Lessons learned from Hong Kong and Singapore. Journal of Cleaner Production, 187, 576-589.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.03.217
Chen, J., & Wei, S. (2016). Engineering properties and performance of asphalt mixtures incorporating steel slag. Construction and Building Materials, 128, 148–153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.10.027
Chow, W. T., Cheong, B. D., & Ho, B. H. (2016). A multimethod approach towards assessing urban flood patterns and its associated vulnerabilities in Singapore. Advances in Meteorology, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/7159132
Fwa, T. F., Lim, E., & Tan, K. H. (2015). Comparison of permeability and clogging characteristics of porous asphalt and pervious concrete pavement materials. Transportation Research Record, 2511(1), 72-80.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3141/2511-09
Hammes, G., Thives, L., & Ghisi, E. (2018). Application of stormwater collected from porous asphalt pavements for non-potable uses in buildings. Journal of Environmental Management, 222, 338–347.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.05.094
Hartmann, A., & Ling, F. Y. Y. (2016). Value creation of road infrastructure networks: A structural equation approach. Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering (English edition), 3(1), 28-36.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtte.2015.09.003
Hesami, S., Ameri, M., Goli, H., & Akbari, A. (2015). Laboratory investigation of moisture susceptibility of warm-mix asphalt mixtures containing steel slag aggregates. International Journal of Pavement Engineering, 16(8), 745-759.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10298436.2014.953502
Meteorological Service Singapore (n.d.). Past climate trends.
http://www.weather.gov.sg/climate-past-climate-trends
Public Utilities Board. (2012). Report on Key Conclusions and Recommendations of the Expert Panel on Drainage Design and Flood Protection Measures. Retrieved on March 5, 2019
https://www.pub.gov.sg/Documents/fullReport.pdf
T. L. Chow, Winston & D. Cheong, Brendan & Ho, Beatrice. (2016). A Multimethod Approach towards Assessing Urban Flood Patterns and Its Associated Vulnerabilities in Singapore. Advances in Meteorology. 2016. 1-11.
https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/7159132
Takahashi, S. (2013). Comprehensive study on the porous asphalt effects on expressways in Japan: based on field data analysis in the last decade. Road Materials and Pavement Design, 14(2), 239-255.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14680629.2013.779298
Reflection - Maple Tree Forum
The Mapletree Challenge Forum was an eye opener for me. I have always thought that being an entrepreneur was easy to accomplish. The forum showed me how different people from different backgrounds had to go through tough times for a successful entrepreneur life ahead of them. Not only that, but it also showed me that one has to have the desire, drive and passion to become an entrepreneur.
There were 4 distinguished speakers that were invited to speak at the forum; Mr Eugene Wong, a Venture Capitalist of Sirius Ventures, Ms Nancy Ling, Co-Founder of EcoU, Mr Zach Wilson, Managing Director of AlfaTech & DVUCA and Mr Shamir Rahim, Founder and CEO of Versafleet PTE LTD
Their successful story of how each of them became innovated and started building a business from it genuinely got me inspired and motivated to becoming an entrepreneur one day. I never thought i would be so intrigued by the thought of starting a business in the future, not for the money but for the growing passion.
I am pleased to have attended the forum as it made me believe that everything in life starts from the bottom and nothing is impossible to achieve if you place your mind and soul into it. It was really an eye-opener for me.
There were 4 distinguished speakers that were invited to speak at the forum; Mr Eugene Wong, a Venture Capitalist of Sirius Ventures, Ms Nancy Ling, Co-Founder of EcoU, Mr Zach Wilson, Managing Director of AlfaTech & DVUCA and Mr Shamir Rahim, Founder and CEO of Versafleet PTE LTD
Their successful story of how each of them became innovated and started building a business from it genuinely got me inspired and motivated to becoming an entrepreneur one day. I never thought i would be so intrigued by the thought of starting a business in the future, not for the money but for the growing passion.
I am pleased to have attended the forum as it made me believe that everything in life starts from the bottom and nothing is impossible to achieve if you place your mind and soul into it. It was really an eye-opener for me.
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Technical Report Draft 1b : Mitigating Floods with Sustainable Porous Asphalt on Expressways
1. Introduction
1.1. Background Information
Flash floods are considered to be of major inconvenience to motorists, exacerbated by the limited land we have in Singapore. Singapore, being one of the most densely populated countries in the world, has seen a growing transport demand among individual road users, logistic firms and public transportation agencies in the city. These users “expect reliable and safe road infrastructure for traveling from one location to another and transporting goods and people” (Hartmann & Ling, 2016, p. 29). However, due to the city’s tropical climate, Singapore receives abundant rainfall, which has been steadily rising over the years (Meteorological Service Singapore, 2018 (Fig 1.2)). This increase in frequency and intensity of rain, in conjunction with the increase in the car population in Singapore, is a catalyst for road accidents as wet road conditions reduces the friction car tyres have against the road surface. This in turn leads to higher chances of causing human casualties, property damage, and traffic disruption due to road flooding, landslides, or fallen trees from storms (Chow, Cheong & Ho, 2016).
According to media archives retrieved in a study led by Chow, Cheong and Ho (2016b), there was a total of 212 flood events reported in Singapore from 1965 to 2015, with only seven years that were absent of recorded newsworthy flood events. The data listed in The Straits Times categorized and defined 30.2% of the historical extent of flooding during the fifty-year period as flash floods (Fig 1).
These floods have led to the development of alternative techniques to increase the drainage capability of surfaces, such as the use of porous asphalt. Porous asphalt is a type of asphalt that allows water to permeate through its surface into a collection pond below the pavement. Water-permeable asphalt is made possible by controlling and/or changing the amount of materials used in conventional asphalt mixes, such as the fine and coarse aggregates, along with some variations in construction methods to produce the desired outcome of reducing surface runoff. Porous asphalt has the capacity to conserve water, reduce runoff and promote infiltration which cleanses stormwater, all of which are acquired from the relatively high porosity and permeability of the porous pavement layers (Fwa, Lim, Tan, 2015). According to Hesami, Ameri, Goli and Akbari (2013), several completed or ongoing studies on warm-mix asphalt and steel slag asphalt mixtures have been conducted all over the world.
Exemplifying the advantages porous asphalt would contribute toward sustainability, such as introducing recycled by-products in the production process such as steel slag. Non-potable use for the water collected from the asphalt after rain (Hammes, Thives & Ghisi 2018), together with recycled steel slag, are sustainable aspects of porous asphalt that can serve to urge the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to consider porous asphalt as an alternative to the conventional road mix.
1.2. Problem Statement
Flash floods have always been of major inconvenience to motorists in Singapore. With the aim of being a sustainable city, porous asphalt should be implemented on the roads of Singapore not only to mitigate the occurrence of floods, but also as a sustainable measure by introducing recycled by-products in the production process as well as providing non-potable use for the water collected from the asphalt.
1.3. Purpose Statement
The purpose of this report is to propose the implementation of porous asphalt on busy roads to reduce the occurrence of floods in areas that has lack of drainage system such as the Expressways. The proposed methodologies and application of porous asphalt roads would demonstrate to LTA that porous asphalt not only mitigates the occurrence of floods, it can also be presented as a sustainable approach to mitigate road flooding.
2. Proposed Solution
2.1. Porous Asphalt Roads
The team’s proposed solution to mitigate the occurrence of flood is the implementation of porous asphalt on roads especially on areas where there is lack of drainage system such as the expressways. Incorporating porous asphalt is a strategic stormwater management with its unique functional benefits of having the capacity to conserve water, reduce runoff and promote infiltration with cleanses stormwater, all of which are acquired from the relatively high porosity and permeability of the porous pavement layers (Fwa, Lim, Tan, 2015).
2.1.1. Application
• A proposal to LTA will be made to have a pilot study on a small section of road.
• Instead of using a traditional asphalt mix, our proposed porous asphalt mix can be used during the maintenance of roads
• After studies and research on the small section of road is conducted, if it is sustainable, the porous asphalt can be applied to more roads other than our pilot road
• Substituting crushed stone aggregates with steel furnace slag. According to Ahmedzade & Sengoz (2009b), steel slag used as coarse aggregate improved the mechanical properties of asphalt mixtures as the results of different tests conducted with steel slag indicated that steel slag mixtures have excellent engineering properties. Currently, steel slag is supplied by NatSteel Asia, the only steel mill in Singapore, as a by-product of reinforcement bar production. It is treated by NSL Chemicals Ltd (formerly known as NatSteel Envirotech Pte Ltd).
3. Benefits of Proposed Solution
3.1. Reducing impact of floods and ponding
The higher void content of porous asphalt as compared to the conventional asphalt mix, will allow the seepage of rainwater through the road surface, thus maintaining a relatively dry surface. Reduced ponding on the road surface allows for a safer and pleasant driving experience as the car tyres do not lose friction against a wet road surface.
3.2. Stormwater management
The collection of stormwater from under porous asphalt roads can be collected for non-potable use in buildings, such as “flushing urinals and toilets”, in a building, which led to savings of 53 to 54% of potable water (Hammes, G., Thives, L., & Ghisi, E., 2018). This would make porous asphalt roads dual-purpose and hence sustainable (preventing floods and recycling water simultaneously).
3.3. Recycled by-product: Steel Slag
According to Chen and Wei (2016), the use of steel slag as a coarse aggregate substitute could improve the engineering properties of asphalt mixtures with higher durability, higher skid resistance and has longer road lifespan resulting in lesser carbon emissions. Also, steel slag have angular and rough textured particles that would improve the interlocking mechanism and provide good mechanical properties.
4. Proposal Evaluation
4.1. Case Study
According to Takahashi (2013), the number of traffic accidents on wet surface conditions in Japan since 1998 has decreased drastically because of the spread of porous asphalt used widely across the expressways (refer to Figure 4). Due to the wet surface caused by rain, the loss of vehicle control at high-speed travel was one of the main reasons for these traffic accidents. At that time, with the growing economy and with the unexpected increase in the number of vehicles, many surfaces of expressways in Japan were severely damaged.
4.2. Challenges
Porous asphalt may seem to be highly efficient and sustainable to the environment, but there are certain traits to be forgone in exchange for such benefits.
Strength
The large amount of pore size in the porous asphalt mix, allows water seepage through the surface, but significantly reduces the strength of the road surface as well (Mo, Huurman, Woldekidan, Wu, Molenaar, 2010). This suggests that porous asphalt mix might not be feasible on roads with high occurrences of heavy traffic such as roads junctions. The sheer amount of vehicles at rest at road junctions will generate relatively large amounts of static forces which may not be suitable for porous asphalt to withstand.
To overcome this challenge, the team has suggested for the porous asphalt mix to be implemented on highway roads instead. The reduced congestion in traffic and a swifter road flow, as compared to road junctions, will be a good fit for the use of porous asphalt.
5. Methodology and Procedure
5.1. Primary Research
According to an interview done on March 6, 2019 with Teo Yong Boon, the Laboratory Manager for Samwoh Corporation Pte Ltd, porous asphalt is not currently being implemented on expressways on a large enough scale, and therefore consider proposing the implementation of porous asphalt on expressways.
5.2. Secondary Research
Sources of secondary research include research articles and online journals which are relevant sources that support the contents of this technical report. An example of an article is by Fwa, T. F., Lim, E., & Tan, K. H. (2015) which discussed the characteristics of porous asphalt and pervious concrete pavement materials. Another relevant source is by Hesami, S., Ameri, M., Goli, H., & Akbari, A. (2015), where it talks about the warm-mix asphalt mixtures containing steel slag aggregates. The figures as listed in the appendices were sourced from Meteorological Service Singapore (2018) and several academic articles.
6. Conclusion
The upward trend of increasing annual rainfall that is expected in Singapore due to changes in the global climate will be a major cause of flooding and ponding on roads in the future. There is a compelling need to prevent flooding and ponding and hence accidents from occuring on expressways where vehicles travel at a fast speed, which can also pose health and safety hazards to road users and pedestrians along such roads. While our proposed porous asphalt solution could mitigate floods and reduce ponding on expressways, it is also sustainable approach to solving our problem. Sustainable aspects include the potential of stormwater collection and its various non-potable uses in buildings and the usage of recycled steel-slag aggregates in place of traditional aggregates.
1.1. Background Information
Flash floods are considered to be of major inconvenience to motorists, exacerbated by the limited land we have in Singapore. Singapore, being one of the most densely populated countries in the world, has seen a growing transport demand among individual road users, logistic firms and public transportation agencies in the city. These users “expect reliable and safe road infrastructure for traveling from one location to another and transporting goods and people” (Hartmann & Ling, 2016, p. 29). However, due to the city’s tropical climate, Singapore receives abundant rainfall, which has been steadily rising over the years (Meteorological Service Singapore, 2018 (Fig 1.2)). This increase in frequency and intensity of rain, in conjunction with the increase in the car population in Singapore, is a catalyst for road accidents as wet road conditions reduces the friction car tyres have against the road surface. This in turn leads to higher chances of causing human casualties, property damage, and traffic disruption due to road flooding, landslides, or fallen trees from storms (Chow, Cheong & Ho, 2016).
According to media archives retrieved in a study led by Chow, Cheong and Ho (2016b), there was a total of 212 flood events reported in Singapore from 1965 to 2015, with only seven years that were absent of recorded newsworthy flood events. The data listed in The Straits Times categorized and defined 30.2% of the historical extent of flooding during the fifty-year period as flash floods (Fig 1).
These floods have led to the development of alternative techniques to increase the drainage capability of surfaces, such as the use of porous asphalt. Porous asphalt is a type of asphalt that allows water to permeate through its surface into a collection pond below the pavement. Water-permeable asphalt is made possible by controlling and/or changing the amount of materials used in conventional asphalt mixes, such as the fine and coarse aggregates, along with some variations in construction methods to produce the desired outcome of reducing surface runoff. Porous asphalt has the capacity to conserve water, reduce runoff and promote infiltration which cleanses stormwater, all of which are acquired from the relatively high porosity and permeability of the porous pavement layers (Fwa, Lim, Tan, 2015). According to Hesami, Ameri, Goli and Akbari (2013), several completed or ongoing studies on warm-mix asphalt and steel slag asphalt mixtures have been conducted all over the world.
Exemplifying the advantages porous asphalt would contribute toward sustainability, such as introducing recycled by-products in the production process such as steel slag. Non-potable use for the water collected from the asphalt after rain (Hammes, Thives & Ghisi 2018), together with recycled steel slag, are sustainable aspects of porous asphalt that can serve to urge the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to consider porous asphalt as an alternative to the conventional road mix.
1.2. Problem Statement
Flash floods have always been of major inconvenience to motorists in Singapore. With the aim of being a sustainable city, porous asphalt should be implemented on the roads of Singapore not only to mitigate the occurrence of floods, but also as a sustainable measure by introducing recycled by-products in the production process as well as providing non-potable use for the water collected from the asphalt.
1.3. Purpose Statement
The purpose of this report is to propose the implementation of porous asphalt on busy roads to reduce the occurrence of floods in areas that has lack of drainage system such as the Expressways. The proposed methodologies and application of porous asphalt roads would demonstrate to LTA that porous asphalt not only mitigates the occurrence of floods, it can also be presented as a sustainable approach to mitigate road flooding.
2. Proposed Solution
2.1. Porous Asphalt Roads
The team’s proposed solution to mitigate the occurrence of flood is the implementation of porous asphalt on roads especially on areas where there is lack of drainage system such as the expressways. Incorporating porous asphalt is a strategic stormwater management with its unique functional benefits of having the capacity to conserve water, reduce runoff and promote infiltration with cleanses stormwater, all of which are acquired from the relatively high porosity and permeability of the porous pavement layers (Fwa, Lim, Tan, 2015).
2.1.1. Application
• A proposal to LTA will be made to have a pilot study on a small section of road.
• Instead of using a traditional asphalt mix, our proposed porous asphalt mix can be used during the maintenance of roads
• After studies and research on the small section of road is conducted, if it is sustainable, the porous asphalt can be applied to more roads other than our pilot road
• Substituting crushed stone aggregates with steel furnace slag. According to Ahmedzade & Sengoz (2009b), steel slag used as coarse aggregate improved the mechanical properties of asphalt mixtures as the results of different tests conducted with steel slag indicated that steel slag mixtures have excellent engineering properties. Currently, steel slag is supplied by NatSteel Asia, the only steel mill in Singapore, as a by-product of reinforcement bar production. It is treated by NSL Chemicals Ltd (formerly known as NatSteel Envirotech Pte Ltd).
3. Benefits of Proposed Solution
3.1. Reducing impact of floods and ponding
The higher void content of porous asphalt as compared to the conventional asphalt mix, will allow the seepage of rainwater through the road surface, thus maintaining a relatively dry surface. Reduced ponding on the road surface allows for a safer and pleasant driving experience as the car tyres do not lose friction against a wet road surface.
3.2. Stormwater management
The collection of stormwater from under porous asphalt roads can be collected for non-potable use in buildings, such as “flushing urinals and toilets”, in a building, which led to savings of 53 to 54% of potable water (Hammes, G., Thives, L., & Ghisi, E., 2018). This would make porous asphalt roads dual-purpose and hence sustainable (preventing floods and recycling water simultaneously).
3.3. Recycled by-product: Steel Slag
According to Chen and Wei (2016), the use of steel slag as a coarse aggregate substitute could improve the engineering properties of asphalt mixtures with higher durability, higher skid resistance and has longer road lifespan resulting in lesser carbon emissions. Also, steel slag have angular and rough textured particles that would improve the interlocking mechanism and provide good mechanical properties.
4. Proposal Evaluation
4.1. Case Study
According to Takahashi (2013), the number of traffic accidents on wet surface conditions in Japan since 1998 has decreased drastically because of the spread of porous asphalt used widely across the expressways (refer to Figure 4). Due to the wet surface caused by rain, the loss of vehicle control at high-speed travel was one of the main reasons for these traffic accidents. At that time, with the growing economy and with the unexpected increase in the number of vehicles, many surfaces of expressways in Japan were severely damaged.
4.2. Challenges
Porous asphalt may seem to be highly efficient and sustainable to the environment, but there are certain traits to be forgone in exchange for such benefits.
Strength
The large amount of pore size in the porous asphalt mix, allows water seepage through the surface, but significantly reduces the strength of the road surface as well (Mo, Huurman, Woldekidan, Wu, Molenaar, 2010). This suggests that porous asphalt mix might not be feasible on roads with high occurrences of heavy traffic such as roads junctions. The sheer amount of vehicles at rest at road junctions will generate relatively large amounts of static forces which may not be suitable for porous asphalt to withstand.
To overcome this challenge, the team has suggested for the porous asphalt mix to be implemented on highway roads instead. The reduced congestion in traffic and a swifter road flow, as compared to road junctions, will be a good fit for the use of porous asphalt.
5. Methodology and Procedure
5.1. Primary Research
According to an interview done on March 6, 2019 with Teo Yong Boon, the Laboratory Manager for Samwoh Corporation Pte Ltd, porous asphalt is not currently being implemented on expressways on a large enough scale, and therefore consider proposing the implementation of porous asphalt on expressways.
5.2. Secondary Research
Sources of secondary research include research articles and online journals which are relevant sources that support the contents of this technical report. An example of an article is by Fwa, T. F., Lim, E., & Tan, K. H. (2015) which discussed the characteristics of porous asphalt and pervious concrete pavement materials. Another relevant source is by Hesami, S., Ameri, M., Goli, H., & Akbari, A. (2015), where it talks about the warm-mix asphalt mixtures containing steel slag aggregates. The figures as listed in the appendices were sourced from Meteorological Service Singapore (2018) and several academic articles.
6. Conclusion
The upward trend of increasing annual rainfall that is expected in Singapore due to changes in the global climate will be a major cause of flooding and ponding on roads in the future. There is a compelling need to prevent flooding and ponding and hence accidents from occuring on expressways where vehicles travel at a fast speed, which can also pose health and safety hazards to road users and pedestrians along such roads. While our proposed porous asphalt solution could mitigate floods and reduce ponding on expressways, it is also sustainable approach to solving our problem. Sustainable aspects include the potential of stormwater collection and its various non-potable uses in buildings and the usage of recycled steel-slag aggregates in place of traditional aggregates.
Monday, March 4, 2019
Technical Report Draft 1: Flood Reduction with Sustainable Porous Asphalt
1. Introduction
1.1. Background Information
Porous asphalt is a type of asphalt that allows water to permeate through its surface into a collection pond underlying soil below the pavement. This is made possible by controlling and/or changing the amount of materials used in conventional asphalt mixes, such as the fine and coarse aggregates, along with some variations in construction methods to produce the desired outcome of reducing surface runoff. Porous asphalt has the capacity to conserve water, reduce runoff and promote infiltration which cleanses stormwater, all of which are acquired from the relatively high porosity and permeability of the porous pavement layers. Due to its unique functional benefits, porous asphalt has thus been used for many years worldwide as an effective means of stormwater management.
1.2. Problem Statement
The rainfall recorded in Singapore has been steadily rising over the years (Fig 1.) (Meteorological Service Singapore, 2018). This increase in frequency and intensity of rain, in conjunction with the increase in the car population in Singapore, is a catalyst for road accidents as wet road conditions reduces the friction car tyres have against the road surface. This in turn leads to higher chances of skidding and accidents as motorists lose control of their vehicles. When the road surface allows for water seepage, it reduces ponding and will therefore provide motorists a safer and pleasant driving experience. However, there is a relatively large initial cost and work required to replace existing asphalt surfaces with its porous variant (Fig 2). Highlighting the advantages porous asphalt would contribute toward sustainability, such as introducing recycled by-products in the production process as well as providing non-potable use for the water collected from the asphalt, might greatly encourage transport engineers to consider porous asphalt as an alternative to the conventional road mix.
1.3. Purpose Statement
The purpose of this report is to propose the implementation of porous asphalt on busy roads to reduce the occurrence of floods in areas such as the Central Business District. The proposed methodologies and application of porous asphalt roads would demonstrate to Land Transport Authority (LTA) that porous asphalt not only mitigates the occurrence of floods, it can also be presented as a sustainable approach to mitigate road flooding.
Saturday, February 16, 2019
Annotated Summary
Ahmedzade, P., & Sengoz,
B. (2009). Evaluation of steel slag coarse aggregate in hot mix asphalt
concrete. Journal of hazardous materials, 165(1-3), 300-305. doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2008.09.105
This article focuses on the influences of the utilization of
steel slag as a course aggregate on the properties of hot mix asphalt. Ahmedzade’s
and Sengoz’s main aim of this article seems to be to convince readers of the great
effects of substituting coarse and fine aggregates in asphalt mix with steel
slag aggregates. Steel slag, a by-product of steel making has been utilized in
a number of applications in the civil engineering industry. For paving mixes, steel
slag should be limited to only replace either the fine or coarse aggregate
fraction, but not both. Steel slag has an angular shape, and for this reason,
hot mix asphalt containing 100% steel slag is susceptible to high void space
and bulking problems and will also be prone to over-asphalting during production
and subsequent flushing due to in-service traffic compaction. In this study, four
different asphalt mixtures containing two types of asphalt cement (AC-5 &
AC-10) and course aggregate (limestone & steel slag) were used to prepare
Marshall specimens and to determine optimum bitumen content. The limestone
aggregate was procured from quarries around Elazig while the steel slag was directly
obtained from Erdemir Steel Manufacturing Factory. Different tests were conducted
to evaluate the mechanical characteristics of all mixtures. Such tests were Marshall
stability, flow and Marshall quotient, indirect tensile stiffness modulus, creep
stiffness, indirect tensile strength and resistance to moisture damage. Electrical
resistivity of the specimens was also measured on Marshall specimens by electrical
resistivity testing apparatus and in accordance with ASTMD257-91. Scanning electron
microscope was used to observe the surface texture of steel slag and limestone
where it was seen that plenty of pores were on the surface steel slag which implies
that steel slag is a kind of porous material. From the results obtained from
the different tests conducted, it was observed that steel slag used as a course
aggregate improved the mechanical properties of asphalt mixtures. The results
indicated that steel slag mixtures have excellent engineering properties and
good electrical conductivity. AC-10/SS asphalt mixture showed the best performance among the tested mixtures. Moreover, the volume resistivity values showed
that steel slag electrical conductivity were better than that of limestone
mixtures.
Friday, February 15, 2019
Summary_Reader Response (Draft 3)
In the news release,
“Eight failures that left people of Grenfell Tower at mercy of the inferno”,
Knapton and Dixon (2017) reported the eight failures of the Grenfell Tower’s
fire incident. Until 1986, all buildings in London adhered to the London building
act which demanded that external walls have a minimum of at least 1 hour of
fire resistance. However, during the Margaret Thatcher’s government, the law
was changed which removed the critical time stipulations. Also, a coroner’s
report in 2013 following a 2009 fire in South London was responded to by
Community Secretary Eric Pickles who reassured that a government review on
building regulations would be published in 2016/17. Till the publication of
Knapton and Dixon’s article, there had been no updated regulation. The physical
aspect of the Grenfell tower was also a vital cause to the fire incident.
Firstly, the claddings were thought to be made from a flammable plastic core,
and the position of the claddings also acted as wind tunnels to spread the fire
upwards. Secondly, there was no central sprinkler system in the building, and
some of the front doors were not fireproof doors. Also, the Grenfell Tower only
had one staircase which made escaping and rescue difficult and lastly, no regular
inspection was being conducted for the building.
All in all, the Knapton and Dixon (2017) news release provides information regarding the eight failures of the Grenfell Tower’s fire incident. However, it fails to mention the critical factor that leads to the other failures. From my perspective, if regular inspections had been conducted on the building, it could have prevented this terrific incident from occurring.
"No regular Inspection" was the most vital failure which leads to the other failures. Had regular inspection be conducted, the chances of other failures occurring would have been minimal. From the Knapton and Dixon’s article, the Grenfell Tower had many fire issues that had been brought up to the relevant authorities. However, nothing had been done to address those issues. This could be supported with another article, "Grenfell fire warnings issues months before blaze, documents show"(Busby, 2018) where it stated that in June 2016, there were warnings issued by the independent assessor and actions were recommended on more than 40 "high-risk" issues within two to three weeks. It is essential and important for planning any maintenance actions to improve the condition and functionality of a building. The main purpose of an inspection is to acquire useful information about the technical performance of a building which includes “structural, physical, and well-functioning building equipment”(Bortini & Forcada, 2018).
From my standpoint, if regular inspections had been conducted for the Grenfell Tower, a fire pumping system would had been installed which Grenfell Tower failed to do as stated in the article. The presence of a fire pumping system is very important when an undesirable fire event occur. They would emit fire containment substances like foam in addition to water. In the article “Availability of fire pumping systems under periodic inspection” (Sobral & Ferreira, 2016), it stated that whenever a fire occurs, and something goes wrong, the operability of the fire pumping system is one of the first issues to be analysed by insurance companies. This demonstrates how imperative the presence of a fire pump system in a building is. It could have saved more lives in the tragic event of Grenfell Tower Inferno.
All in all, the Knapton and Dixon (2017) news release provides information regarding the eight failures of the Grenfell Tower’s fire incident. However, it fails to mention the critical factor that leads to the other failures. From my perspective, if regular inspections had been conducted on the building, it could have prevented this terrific incident from occurring.
"No regular Inspection" was the most vital failure which leads to the other failures. Had regular inspection be conducted, the chances of other failures occurring would have been minimal. From the Knapton and Dixon’s article, the Grenfell Tower had many fire issues that had been brought up to the relevant authorities. However, nothing had been done to address those issues. This could be supported with another article, "Grenfell fire warnings issues months before blaze, documents show"(Busby, 2018) where it stated that in June 2016, there were warnings issued by the independent assessor and actions were recommended on more than 40 "high-risk" issues within two to three weeks. It is essential and important for planning any maintenance actions to improve the condition and functionality of a building. The main purpose of an inspection is to acquire useful information about the technical performance of a building which includes “structural, physical, and well-functioning building equipment”(Bortini & Forcada, 2018).
From my standpoint, if regular inspections had been conducted for the Grenfell Tower, a fire pumping system would had been installed which Grenfell Tower failed to do as stated in the article. The presence of a fire pumping system is very important when an undesirable fire event occur. They would emit fire containment substances like foam in addition to water. In the article “Availability of fire pumping systems under periodic inspection” (Sobral & Ferreira, 2016), it stated that whenever a fire occurs, and something goes wrong, the operability of the fire pumping system is one of the first issues to be analysed by insurance companies. This demonstrates how imperative the presence of a fire pump system in a building is. It could have saved more lives in the tragic event of Grenfell Tower Inferno.
In conclusion, these failures could
have been avoided with regular reviews. Regular inspections are essential to a
building’s general maintenance and it should have been carried out for Grenfell
Tower. Knowing the existing and potential issues is crucial to ensuring the
safety, aesthetics and value of a building. If the potential failures of
Grenfell Tower had been predicted with regular building inspections, corrective
measures or actions could have been implemented, preventing other failures from
occurring. It is also crucial to have mentioned the importance or severity of
each failure to allow future engineers or designers to delve into and learn
from them, preventing such incident from happening again in the future.
Reference:
Knapton, R. &
Dixon, H. (2017, June 16). Eight failures that left people of Grenfell Tower at
mercy of the inferno. Retrieved January 22,2019, fromhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/15/eight-failures-left-people-grenfell-tower-mercy-inferno/
Busby, M. (2018, August 08). Grenfell fire warnings issued months before blaze, documents show. Retrieved February 10, 2019, fromhttps://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/aug/08/grenfell-fire-warnings-issued-months-before-blaze-show-documents
Bortini, R. & Forcada, N. (2018,
October 05). Building Inspection System for Evaluating the Technical
Performance of Existing buildings. Retrieved February 03, 2019, fromhttps://ascelibrary-org.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/doi/full/10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0001220
Sobral, J. & Ferreira, L.A. (2016, December). Availability of fire pumping systems under periodic inspection. Retrieved February 3, 2019, fromhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352710216301693
Sobral, J. & Ferreira, L.A. (2016, December). Availability of fire pumping systems under periodic inspection. Retrieved February 3, 2019, fromhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352710216301693
Sunday, February 10, 2019
Summary_Readers Response (Draft 2)
In the news release, “Eight failures that left people of Grenfell Tower at mercy of the inferno”, Knapton and Dixon (2017) reported the eight failures of the Grenfell Tower’s fire incident. Until 1986, all buildings in London adhered to the London building act which demanded that external walls have a minimum of at least 1 hour of fire resistance. However, during the Margaret Thatcher’s government, the law was changed which removed the critical time stipulations. Also, a coroner’s report in 2013 following a 2009 fire in South London was responded by Community Secretary Eric Pickles who reassured that a government review on building regulations would be published in 2016/17. Till today, there is still no updated regulation. The physical aspect of the Grenfell tower was also a vital cause to the fire incident. Firstly, the claddings were thought to be made out of a flammable plastic core, and the position of the claddings also acted as wind tunnels to spread the fire upwards. Secondly, there was no central sprinkler system in the building, and some of the front doors were not fireproof doors. Also, the Grenfell Tower only had one staircase which made escaping and rescue difficult and lastly, no regular inspection was being conducted for the building.
All in all, the Knapton and Dixon (2017) news release provides information regarding the eight failures of the Grenfell Tower’s fire incident, however it fails to mention the critical factor that leads to the other failures. From my perspective, if regular inspection was conducted on the building, it could have prevented this terrific incident from occurring.
"No regular Inspection" was the most vital failure which leads to the other failures. Should regular inspection be conducted, the chances of other failures occurring are minimal. From the article, the Grenfell Tower had many fire issues that were brought up to the relevant authorities, however nothing was done to address those issues. This could be supported with another article, "Grenfell fire warnings issues months before blaze, documents show" (Busby, 2018) where it stated that in June 2016, there were warnings issued by the independent assessor and actions were recommended on more than 40 "high-risk" issues within two to three weeks. It is essential and important for planning any maintenance actions to improve the condition and functionality of a building. The main purpose of an inspection is to acquire useful information about the technical performance of a building which includes “structural, physical, and well-functioning building equipment”(Bortolini, Forcada, 2018).
From my standpoint, if regular inspection was conducted for the Grenfell Tower, it would have been known to install a fire pumping system in the building which Grenfell Tower failed to do as stated in the article. The presence of a fire pumping system is very important when an undesirable fire event occur. They would emit fire containment substances like foam, in addition to water. In the article “Availability of fire pumping systems under periodic inspection” (Sobral, Ferreira, 2016), it stated that whenever a fire occurs, and something goes wrong, the operability of the fire pumping system is one of the first issues to be analysed by insurance companies. This proves how imperative the presence of a fire pump system in a building is. It could have saved more lives in the tragic event of Grenfell Tower Inferno.
All in all, the Knapton and Dixon (2017) news release provides information regarding the eight failures of the Grenfell Tower’s fire incident, however it fails to mention the critical factor that leads to the other failures. From my perspective, if regular inspection was conducted on the building, it could have prevented this terrific incident from occurring.
"No regular Inspection" was the most vital failure which leads to the other failures. Should regular inspection be conducted, the chances of other failures occurring are minimal. From the article, the Grenfell Tower had many fire issues that were brought up to the relevant authorities, however nothing was done to address those issues. This could be supported with another article, "Grenfell fire warnings issues months before blaze, documents show" (Busby, 2018) where it stated that in June 2016, there were warnings issued by the independent assessor and actions were recommended on more than 40 "high-risk" issues within two to three weeks. It is essential and important for planning any maintenance actions to improve the condition and functionality of a building. The main purpose of an inspection is to acquire useful information about the technical performance of a building which includes “structural, physical, and well-functioning building equipment”(Bortolini, Forcada, 2018).
From my standpoint, if regular inspection was conducted for the Grenfell Tower, it would have been known to install a fire pumping system in the building which Grenfell Tower failed to do as stated in the article. The presence of a fire pumping system is very important when an undesirable fire event occur. They would emit fire containment substances like foam, in addition to water. In the article “Availability of fire pumping systems under periodic inspection” (Sobral, Ferreira, 2016), it stated that whenever a fire occurs, and something goes wrong, the operability of the fire pumping system is one of the first issues to be analysed by insurance companies. This proves how imperative the presence of a fire pump system in a building is. It could have saved more lives in the tragic event of Grenfell Tower Inferno.
In conclusion, these failures could have been avoided with regular reviews and better-fireproofing standards. Regular inspections are essential to a building’s general maintenance and it should have been carried out for Grenfell Tower. Knowing the existing and potential issues is crucial to ensuring the safety, aesthetics and value of a building. If the potential failures of Grenfell Tower were predicted with regular building inspections, corrective measures or actions could have been implemented, preventing other failures from occurring. It is also crucial to have mentioned the importance or severity of each failure to allow future engineers or designers to delve into and learn from them, preventing such incident from happening again in the future.
References
M. Busby. (2018, August 08). Grenfell fire warnings issued months before blaze, documents show. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/aug/08/grenfell-fire-warnings-issued-months-before-blaze-show-documents
References
M. Busby. (2018, August 08). Grenfell fire warnings issued months before blaze, documents show. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/aug/08/grenfell-fire-warnings-issued-months-before-blaze-show-documents
Rafaela. Bortini., & Nuria. Forcada. (2018, October 05). Building Inspection System for Evaluating the Technical Performance of Existing buildings. Retrieved February 03, 2019, from https://ascelibrary-org.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/doi/full/10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0001220
J. Sobral & L.A Ferreira (2016, December). Availability of fire pumping systems under periodic inspection. Retrieved February 3, 2019, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352710216301693
J. Sobral & L.A Ferreira (2016, December). Availability of fire pumping systems under periodic inspection. Retrieved February 3, 2019, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352710216301693
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Summary_Readers Response (Draft 1)
In the news release, “Eight failures that left people of Grenfell Tower at mercy of the inferno”, Knapton and Dixon (2017) reported the eight failures of the Grenfell Tower’s fire incident. Until 1986, all buildings in London adhered to the London building act which demanded that external walls have a minimum of at least 1 hour of fire resistance. However, during the Margaret Thatcher’s government, the law was changed which removed the critical time stipulations. Also, a coroner’s report in 2013 following a 2009 fire in South London was responded by Community Secretary Eric Pickles who reassured that a government review on building regulations would be published in 2016/17. Till today, there is still no updated regulation. The physical aspect of the Grenfell tower was also a vital cause to the fire incident. Firstly, the claddings were thought to be made out of a flammable plastic core, and the position of the claddings also acted as wind tunnels to spread the fire upwards. Secondly, there was no central sprinkler system in the building, and some of the front doors were not fireproof doors. Also, the Grenfell Tower only had one staircase which made escaping and rescue difficult and lastly, no regular inspection was being conducted for the building.
All in all, the Knapton and Dixon (2017) news release provides information regarding the eight failures of the Grenfell Tower’s fire incident, however it fails to mention the severity or importance of the failures or the critical factor that could have possibly been the reason to the other failures.
"No regular Inspection" was the most vital failure which leads to the other failures. Should regular inspection be conducted, the chances of other failures occurring are minimal. From the article “Building Inspection System for Evaluating the Technical Performance of Existing buildings” (Bortolini, Forcada, 2018), it stated the importance of building inspection and how it is essential for planning any maintenance actions to improve the condition and functionality of a building. It also stated that the main purpose of an inspection is to acquire useful information about the technical performance of a building which includes “structural, physical, and well-functioning building equipment”.
Therefore, regular inspections are essential to a building’s general maintenance and it should have been carried out for Grenfell Tower. Knowing the existing and potential issues is crucial to ensuring the safety, aesthetics and value of a building. If the potential failures of Grenfell Tower were predicted with regular building inspections, corrective measures or actions could have been implemented, preventing other failures from occurring.
Another critical failure is that the Grenfell Tower failed to install a fire pumping system in the building. The presence of a fire pumping system is very important when an undesirable fire event occur. They would emit fire containment substances like foam, in addition to water. In the article “Availability of fire pumping systems under periodic inspection” (Sobral, 2016), it stated that whenever a fire occurs, and something goes wrong, the operability of the fire pumping system is one of the first issues to be analysed by insurance companies. This proves how imperative the presence of a fire pump system in a building is. It could have saved more lives in the tragic event of Grenfell Tower Inferno.
All in all, the Knapton and Dixon (2017) news release provides information regarding the eight failures of the Grenfell Tower’s fire incident, however it fails to mention the severity or importance of the failures or the critical factor that could have possibly been the reason to the other failures.
"No regular Inspection" was the most vital failure which leads to the other failures. Should regular inspection be conducted, the chances of other failures occurring are minimal. From the article “Building Inspection System for Evaluating the Technical Performance of Existing buildings” (Bortolini, Forcada, 2018), it stated the importance of building inspection and how it is essential for planning any maintenance actions to improve the condition and functionality of a building. It also stated that the main purpose of an inspection is to acquire useful information about the technical performance of a building which includes “structural, physical, and well-functioning building equipment”.
Therefore, regular inspections are essential to a building’s general maintenance and it should have been carried out for Grenfell Tower. Knowing the existing and potential issues is crucial to ensuring the safety, aesthetics and value of a building. If the potential failures of Grenfell Tower were predicted with regular building inspections, corrective measures or actions could have been implemented, preventing other failures from occurring.
Another critical failure is that the Grenfell Tower failed to install a fire pumping system in the building. The presence of a fire pumping system is very important when an undesirable fire event occur. They would emit fire containment substances like foam, in addition to water. In the article “Availability of fire pumping systems under periodic inspection” (Sobral, 2016), it stated that whenever a fire occurs, and something goes wrong, the operability of the fire pumping system is one of the first issues to be analysed by insurance companies. This proves how imperative the presence of a fire pump system in a building is. It could have saved more lives in the tragic event of Grenfell Tower Inferno.
In conclusion, these failures could have been avoided with regular reviews and better-fireproofing standards. It is also crucial to have mentioned the importance or severity of each failure to allow future engineers or designers to delve into and learn from them, preventing such incident from happening again in the future.
References
References
R. B., & N. F. (2018, October 05). Building Inspection System for Evaluating the Technical Performance of Existing buildings. Retrieved February 03, 2019, from https://ascelibrary-org.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/doi/full/10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0001220
S. J. (2016, December). Availability of fire pumping systems under periodic inspection. Retrieved February 3, 2019, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352710216301693
S. J. (2016, December). Availability of fire pumping systems under periodic inspection. Retrieved February 3, 2019, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352710216301693
Thursday, January 31, 2019
Summary, Thesis and Reader's Response: Eight Failures Of Grenfell Tower
In the news release, “Eight failures that left people of Grenfell Tower at mercy of the inferno”, Knapton and Dixon (2017) reported the eight failures of the Grenfell Tower’s fire incident. Until 1986, all buildings in London adhered to the London building act which demanded that external walls have a minimum of at least 1 hour of fire resistance. However, during the Margaret Thatcher’s government, the law was changed which removed the critical time stipulations. Also, a coroner’s report in 2013 following a 2009 fire in South London was responded by Community Secretary Eric Pickles who reassured that a government review on building regulations would be published in 2016/17. Till today, there is still no updated regulation. The physical aspect of the Grenfell tower was also a vital cause to the fire incident. Firstly, the claddings were thought to be made out of a flammable plastic core, and the position of the claddings also acted as wind tunnels to spread the fire upwards. Secondly, there was no central sprinkler system in the building, and some of the front doors were not fireproof doors. Also, the Grenfell Tower only had one staircase which made escaping and rescue difficult. Also, no regular inspection was being conducted for the building. These failures could have been prevented with regular reviews and better-fireproofing standards.
Supporting Statement 2: There should be a fire pumping system in the building. This is another vital failure. It is essential to have a fire pumping system in case of a fire event occurring. If this was installed in the Grenfell Tower, more lives could have been saved.
Supporting Statement 3: Mentioning the severity or importance of each failure would allow engineers or designers in the future to look into the problem, learn from it and make necessary improvements.
All in all, the Knapton and Dixon(2017) news release provides information regarding the eight failures of the Grenfell Tower’s fire incident, however it fails to mention the severity or importance of the failures or the critical factor that could have possibly been the reason to the other failures.
Supporting Statement 1: "No regular Inspection" was the most vital failure which leads to the other failures. Should regular inspection be conducted, the chances of other failures occurring are minimal. Supporting Statement 2: There should be a fire pumping system in the building. This is another vital failure. It is essential to have a fire pumping system in case of a fire event occurring. If this was installed in the Grenfell Tower, more lives could have been saved.
Supporting Statement 3: Mentioning the severity or importance of each failure would allow engineers or designers in the future to look into the problem, learn from it and make necessary improvements.
Monday, January 28, 2019
Summary & Thesis: Eight Failures Of Grenfell Tower
In the news release, “Eight failures that left people of Grenfell Tower at mercy of the inferno”, Knapton and Dixon (2017) reported the eight failures of the Grenfell Tower’s fire incident. Until 1986, all buildings in London adhered to the London building act which demanded that external walls have a minimum of at least 1 hour of fire resistance. However, during the Margaret Thatcher’s government, the law was changed which removed the critical time stipulations. Also, a coroner’s report in 2013 following a 2009 fire in South London was responded by Community Secretary Eric Pickles who reassured that a government review on building regulations would be published in 2016/17. Till today, there is still no updated regulation. The physical aspect of the Grenfell tower was also a vital cause to the fire incident. Firstly, the claddings were thought to be made out of a flammable plastic core, and the position of the claddings also acted as wind tunnels to spread the fire upwards. Secondly, there was no central sprinkler system in the building, and some of the front doors were not fireproof doors. Also, the Grenfell Tower only had one staircase which made escaping and rescue difficult. Also, no regular inspection was being conducted for the building. These failures could have been prevented with regular reviews and better-fireproofing standards.
All in all, the Knapton and Dixon(2017) news release provides information regarding the eight failures of the Grenfell Tower’s fire incident, however it fails to mention the severity or importance of the failures or the critical factor that could have possibly been the reason to the other failures.
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