Isaac River catchment, which is located within Fitzroy basin in Central Queensland, Australia is mostly a semi-arid region, sparsely populated, but rife with economic activities such as mining, grazing, cropping and production forestry. Hydro-meteorological data over the past several decades reveal that the catchment is experiencing increasing variability in precipitation and streamflow contributing to more severe droughts and floods supposedly due to climate change. The exposure of the economic activities in the catchment to the vagaries of nature and the possible impacts of climate change on the stream flow regime are to be analyzed. For the purpose, SWAT model was adopted to capture the dynamics of the catchment. During calibration of the model 12parameters were found to be significant which yielded a R2 value of 0.73 for calibration and 0.66 for validation. In the next stage, six GCMs from CMIP3 namely, CGCM3.1/T47, CNRM-CM3, GFDLCM2.1, IPSLCM4, MIROC3.2 (medres) and MRI CGCM2.3.2 were selected for climate change projections in the Fitzroy basin under a very high emissions scenario (A2), a medium emissions scenario(A1B) and a low emissions scenario (B1) for two future periods (2046-2064) and (2080-2100). All GCMs showed consistent increases in temperature, and as expected, highest rate for A2 and lowest rate for B1. Precipitation predictions were mixed-reductions in A2 and increases in A1B and B1, and more variations in distant future compared to near future. When the projected temperaturesand precipitation were inputted into the SWAT model, and the model outputs were compared with the baseline period (1980-2010), the picture that emerged depicted worsening water resources variability.

Kurdistan in northern Iraq, a semi-arid region, predominantly a pastureland, is nourished by Lesser Zab, which is the second major tributary of Tigris River. The discharge in the tributary, in recent times, has been experiencing increasing variability contributing to more severe droughts and floods supposedly due to climate change. For a proper appreciation, SWAT model has been used to assess the impact of climate change on its hydrological components for a half-centennial lead time to 2046-2064 and a centennial lead time to 2080-2100. The suitability of the model was first evaluated, and then, outputs from six GCMs were incorporated to evaluate the impacts of climate change on water resources under three emission scenarios: A1B, A2 and B1. The results showed worsening water resources regime.

SWAT model (Sediment and Water Assessment Tool) was used to evaluate the impacts of climate change on water resources in Al-Adhaim Basin which is located in north east of Iraq. Al-Adhaim River is the main source of fresh water to Kirkuk City, one of the largest cities of Iraq. Recent studies have shown that blue and green waters of the basin have been manifesting increasing variability contributing to more severe droughts and floods apparently due to climate change. In order to gain greater appreciation of the impacts of climate change on water resources in the study area in near and distant future, SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) has been used. The model is first tested for its suitability in capturing the basin characteristics, and then, forecasts from six GCMs with about half-a-century lead time to 2046-2064 and one-century lead time to 2080-2100 are incorporated to evaluate the impacts of climate change on water resources under three emission scenarios: A2, A1B and B1. The results showed worsening water resources regime into the future.

Groundwater is the most important source of water in the Halabja-Saidsadiq Basin. In this study, to generate a map of groundwater pollution vulnerability of the basin, the standard DRASTIC method has been applied. Due to the close relation between lineament density and groundwater flow and yield, the lineament density map was applied to the standard DRASTIC model in order to ensure accuracy towards the consideration of the effects of potential vulnerability to contamination. A lineament map is extracted from Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) satellite imagery using different techniques in remote sensing and GIS. The lineament density map illustrates that only six classes of lineament density can be identified ranged from (0 - 2.4). The lineament density map was rated and weighted and then converted to lineament index map. This index map is an additional parameter which was added to the standard DRASTIC model so as to map the modified DRASTIC vulnerability in HSB. The standard vulnerability map, classified the basin into four vulnerability index zones: very low (34%), low (13%), moderate (48%) and high (5%). While the modified model classified the area into four categories as well: very low (28.75%), low (14.31%), moderate (46.91%) and high (10.04%). The results demonstrate that there is no significant variation in the rate of vulnerability. Therefore, the nitrate concentration between two different seasons (dry and wet) was analyzed from (30) water wells, considerable variations in nitrate concentration from dry to wet seasons had been noted. Consequently, it confirmed that the HSB are capable to receive the contaminant because of suitability in terms of geological and hydrogeological conditions. Based on this verification, it could be claimed that the effect of lineament density is weak on the vulnerability system in HSB, because of its low density value.

Mosul Dam is an earth fill dam located on the Tigris River in North Western part of Iraq. It is 113 m in height, 3.4 km in length, 10 m wide in its crest and has a storage capacity of 11.11 billion cubic meters. It is, constructed on be- drocks which consist of gypsum beds alternated with marl and limestone, in cyclic nature. The thickness of the gypsum beds attains 18 m; they are in- tensely karstified even in foundation rocks. This has created number of prob- lems during construction, impounding and operation of the dam. Construc- tion work in Mosul Dam started on January 25th, 1981 and started operating on 24th July, 1986. After impounding in 1986, seepage locations were recog- nized. The cause of seepage is mainly due to: 1) The karsts prevailing in the dam site and in the reservoir area. 2) The existence of gypsum/anhydrite rock formations in the dam foundation alternating with soft marl layers and wea- thered and cavernous limestone beddings. 3) The presence of an extensive ground water aquifer called Wadi Malleh aquifer, which affects considerably the ground water regime in the right bank. The dissolution intensity of the gypsum/anhydrite ranged from 42 to 80 t/day which was followed by a noti- ceable increase in the permeability and leakages through the foundation. In- spection of the dam situation in 2014 and 2015 indicates that the dam is in a state of extreme unprecedentedly high relative risk. In this work, possible so- lutions to the problem are to be discussed. It is believed that grouting opera- tions will elongate the span life of the dam but do not solve the problem. Building another dam downstream Mosul Dam will be the best protective measures due to the possible failure of Mosul Dam, to secure the safety of thedownstream area and its’ population.

Badush Dam is a partially completed dam and a unique case of flood reten- tion dams. Its intended main function is to perform flood protection once in its lifetime; that is if Mosul Dam would collapse. In such a case, the Badush dam would temporarily store the whole flood wave and route it safely to the downstream. For this end, the bulk of the reservoir is left dry, while the re- maining  volume  at  the  lower  part  which  is  intended  for  power  eneration does  not  give  an  economic  justification  for  building  the  full  height  of  the dam. The short duration of the intended use as a protection dam has led to relaxing many design assumptions which have raised concerns over the dam integrity.  The  current  controversy  rages  now  over  whether  to  continue  the construction of the dam as it was first designed or to change all that in view of the similar site geology of Mosul Dam. Mosul dam foundations suffer at the moment from the severe continuous dissolution of the soluble materials in its foundation  leading  to  continued  maintenance  grouting  of  that  foundation. This paper gives an overview of the history of Badush dam, its current design and what new equirements which are needed if it is to replace Mosul Damitself.

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the behavior of composite concrete beams damaged and cracked under pure torsion, and then repaired by external strengthening. This was achieved using high strength Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) laminates bonded with epoxy four composite modify reactive powder concrete (MRPC) I-beams. Different types of section (Solid & with opening) were tested to obtain the effect of amount of CFRP laminate on beams ultimate torque behavior, angle of twist and failure modes. The results obtained showed that a significant effect of external high strength CFRP laminates on effectively restore of section solid, the range of 89.8% to 91.2% of ultimate torsional strength effectively restored as well as effectively restoring of section opening by 83.48% - 86.67% of ultimate torsional strength. The repaired beams give high efficiency in ultimate torsional strength, and indicate that the adopted technique gives a good torsional strength.

A relationship between electrical conductivity (EC) and total dissolved solids (TDS) was tested for solutions of same salinity levels with respect to different artificial salts with their combinations. Results showed remarkable jumping at the order of the artificial salt sequence specially that of the magnesium type. A computer model is designed with an input of EC and TDS. The output will be the possible prevailing artificial salts. The accuracy of the model was tested by using the groundwater data of Safwan-Zubair area south of Iraq and it proved to be significant at 95% matching. The 5% unmatched results are due to the possibility of having more than one type of prevailing salt.

Solid waste management is becoming more serious problem with time especially in developing countries like Iraq. It is not regulated sufficiently in Iraq. At present, there are various techniques used for solid waste management such as landfill, thermal treatment, biological treatment, recycling etc. The landfill is the most common mode for the disposal of solid waste. There are no regulations for landfill site selection which is quite complex process. In this study, landfill site selection was performed by using Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) and Geographic Information System (GIS) for the Al-Mseiab qadaa. Even in the case of existing landfills in this qadaa, it's temporary or non-conforming to the environmental condition. In order to determine landfill site that is good for the inhabitants and the environment several criteria (e.g. as Urban centers, Land use, Airports, Pipes, Power lines, Railways, Roads, Slope, Streams, Surface water, Industrial areas, Oil pipes, Liquid gas pipes, Soil types) were used to select the proper site. The MCDA was used to measure the relative importance weighting for each criterion used. Each map layer was formed with the aid of GIS and final suitability map was created by overlay analyses of each criterion map. According to obtained results, high and low suitable areas were determined in the study area. Field checks were also performed to determine the accuracy and suitability of candidate site.

SimaPro is a software package designed to make a valuable contribution for analyzing the environmental impact on products during their whole life cycle. A huge amount of knowledge about the environment is built into the program and database, enabling to analyze a product with a minimum of specialized knowledge. In this study, SimaPro was used to analyze and evaluate the impacts that resulted from sewerage network in Al-Hilla city, Iraq. The results of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) showed that sewerage network had an impact and damage on the environment by 291 points for every cubic meter of collect wastewater. The most potential environmental impacts were global warming, respiratory inorganics and non-renewable energy, contributing to the sewerage network. The study also showed that most of the effects were as a result of energy consumption in the pumping of wastewater, pipes used and diesel using for network operation.

Solid waste management is one of the most important challenges facing the local administration in the governorate of Najaf. This paper investigates the domestic amount generated in Najaf gover- norate for period 2015-2035 and the required landfill volume for the disposal of the waste. The daily per capita waste generation in Al-Najaf is 0.42 kg, the humidity content about 43% and the ound 473 kg/m3. The total amount was about 5,914,415 ton and the required landfill volume is 11,828,829 m3.

The supply of fresh water is essential to life, socioeconomic development, and political stability in Middle East. Turkey, Syria and Iraq are the main riparian countries in the Tigris-Euphrates basin. Turkey is the riparian hegemon for a long time due to its structural power and dominant river position. Iraq and Syria are the lower countries in the basin and for this reason they always like toensure the quantity of water required to satisfy their requirements. The conflict between riparian countries is due to several factors. These are: population growth rate and food security, energy security, economic and technological development, political fragmentation, international water laws, water and management availability and public awareness. There have been a number of attempts to find a common ground on water issues between the main three riparian countries since 1920 but no agreement signed yet. Present situation is very bad in Syria and Iraq where thousands of people have no access to water and farmers are leaving their land because of draught. Such situation will definitely raise tension and might lead to war. To avoid this, a mediator that has the capability to bring all countries concerned to the negotiation table is required. In addition, Syria and Iraq are to adopt prudent strategic plan based on resources development theory to ensure good water management and minimum water loses.

Iraq is one of the Middle East and North African countries (MENA region). The country is currently facing a serious water shortage problem. This problem is expected to be more severe in the future where the supply is predicted to be 43 and 17.61 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM) in 2015 and 2025 respectively while current demand is estimated to be between 66.8 and 77 BCM. It has been estimated that the Tigris and Euphrates river discharges will continue to decrease with time, and they will be completely dry by 2040. Serious, prudent and quick measures need to be taken to overcome this problem. The government should take measures to have a strategic water management vision, including regional coop-eration and coordination, research and development, improving agriculture and sanitation sector as well as public awareness program. These measures are required in order to address the following topics: Strategic Water Management Vision, Regional cooperation and coordination, Irrigation and Agriculture, Water Supply and Sanitation, and Research and Development.

Iraq is facing a serious water shortage problem now, which has not been experienced before. This is because of the reduction of flow of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers which is due to the implementation of hydrological projects within the upstream part of the catchment and climate change. Mismanagement of water resources within Iraq made the problem graver. It is believed that serious discussion with all riparian countries to reach an agreement to share the water of the two rivers and their tributaries is desperately needed. In addition, a prudent scientific strategy should be implemented and put into practice to overcome this problem in Iraq. In addition, the key positions within the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources should be given to people having real experience in the water resources sector to ensure discreet and prudent management of the problem.

Jordan is located in the Middle East in the eastern Mediterranean. It has a surface area of approximately 90,000 km2 and its population reaches 6.3 million. Jordan is one of the fourth driest countries in the World and water demand exceeds Jordan's available water resources.Annual per capita water availability has declined from 3600m3/year in 1946 to 145 m3/year today. It is estimated that the population will continue to grow from about 5.87 million in 2008 to over 7.80 million by 2022. Total projected water demand will be 1673 million cubic meters by 2022.Fifteen years of complete records for water consumption was studied to see the supply and demand variation with time. It had been noticed that water demand management will address the actual needs for water. This management program will ensure further reduction in water use, reduce water loses through the distribution supply net, prevent pollution and waste water disposal in nature, efficient use of available water resources, prudent future planning for new water re-sources and finally imposing real cost for water supply that would be acceptable. In addition to the above, public awareness program is to be put in action. Such a program should be used in schools as well as the media. The public are to be aware of the problem and how they can assist to overcome the water shortage crisis.

Several springs exist at the south-western desert of Iraq in Najaf Province at latitude 31˚00' -32˚15' and longitude 43˚30' - 44˚30'. They are almost parallel to Euphrates River on the eastern edge of western desert. General direction for the distribution of springs coincides with that of faults running northwest-southeast. The Hydrogen sulfide, temperature, pH and electrical conductivity were investigated in these springs. The analyses indicated that the concentration of H2S decreased from northwest toward southeast which is attributed to the escape of this gas to the atmosphere during the flow of groundwater near or on the earth surface. The surrounding geologic conditions did not affect the temperature and pH of the springs. Electrical conductivity showed an increase from northwest towards southeast which reflects dissolving more ions from the rocks of the aquifer. The electrical conductivity and hydrogen sulfide concentration had reverse relationship.

The polluters of total suspended particles (TSP) and some heavy metals (Cd, Co, and Ni) concentrations were studied in the areas of Al-Fatha, Al-Alam and Baiji, Iraq. These concentrations were measured for selected 22 sample locations for two periods, January and July 2013. The analyzed values of (TSP) and (Cd) exceeded the limits of Iraqi National and the World Health Organization (WHO) for the two periods. Also, (Ni) values exceeded the limits for July only, while (Co) values were under the limits for the two periods. The difference between the two periods reflects the effect of the wind speed and direction, rainfall, and the intensity of the dust storms during the two months respectively. GIS technique makes optimal predictions possible by examining the relationships between all the sample points and producing a continuous surface of polluter’s concentration. Therefore, GIS was used to produce predictions and probabilities maps for the critical polluter values in the study area

Effects of using small amounts of a Petrit T, a by-product of manufacture sponge iron, to modify clayey silt soil were investigated in this study. Petrit T was added at 2%, 4% and 7% of soil dry weight. A series of unconfined compressive strength tests, consistency limits tests and pH tests were conducted at 7, 14, 28, 60 and 90 days of curing periods to evaluate the physical and mechanical properties of treated soil. Results indicated improving in the unconfined compressive strength, stiffness and workability of treated soil directly after treatment and over time. Increasing in soil density and decreasing in water content were observed, with increasing Petrit T content and curing time. The pH value was immediately increasing after treatment and then gradually decreased over time. Failure mode gradually changed from plastic to brittle behavior with increasing binder content and curing time. The outcomes of this research show a promising way of using a new by-product binder to stabilize soft soils in various engineering projects in order to reduce the costs which are associated with of excavation and transportation works.

Groundwater is one of the main resources from the earth, especially for arid or semiarid

countries. For this reason, it is very important to keep it unpolluted. Drastic

Model is one of the widely used models to detect groundwater vulnerability to the

contaminants that are found on ground surface. In this model, it is assumed that the

vulnerability of the groundwater is affected by seven hydrological parameters. They

are: depth from the surface ground to groundwater, net recharge into the aquifer

from the surface, aquifer media, soil media, area topography, impact of vadose zone

and aquifer hydraulic conductivity. In this study, the DRASTIC model was applied

on the northern part of Babylon governorate in Iraq, to predict the vulnerability of

Groundwater in that area. The results indicate that the vulnerability is very low to

low grade.

Iraq highly depends on its surface water resources. Now it is facing water shortage problems. For these reasons, the utilization of groundwater will be increasing with time. Karbala Governorate is located in the central part of Iraq. It covers an area of 5034 km² and the population exceeds one million. It is characterized by an arid or semiarid environment. Karbala Governorate lack surface water resource and consequently, groundwater is the only available resource. The main groundwater aquifer within the area is Dibdibba formation. It is composed of poorly sorted sand and sand stone with gravel. In this research hydrological and hydrogeological information were used to find out the magnitude and the direction of groundwater seepage velocity. The results indicate that groundwater flow toward the flood plain to the east of the study region. The seepage velocity ranges from 0 to 0.18 m/d, with a general increase when moving from the west to the east.

An-Najaf province is situated in south-western part of Iraq. It is 70 meters above the sea level in the dry desert environment. The city is considered as one of the most important cities in Iraq, facing a fast population growth and continuous development in constructions such as residential complexes, hotels, bridges and shopping malls. Soil investigation data for An-Najaf Province (An-Najaf and Kufa cities) from 464 boreholes drilled by the National Centre for Construction Laboratories & Researches (NCCLR)/Babylon laboratory were used in this research. The data were analysed and possessed using Excel program then represented on the Geographical Information System (GIS) program by Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) tool to create an allowable bearing capacity map for the soil at depths 0 - 2 meters. The allowable bearing capacity is one of the most important soil characteristics to be considered when making a database for An-Najaf city soil. Geographical Information System GIS program enables to create reliable database for any characteristic and it is one of the best programs to produce an accurate map and allow ease in dealing with it. Those maps cover all the studied areas and by using contour lines, approximate values for no-data areas can be obtained. The results show that the allowable bearing capacity range is 5 - 20 Ton/m² for both An-Najaf and Kufa cities. Kufa city has the range 5 - 9 Ton/m². An-Najaf city has the range 7 - 18 at the center, 8 - 10 Ton/m² at the north eastern part, 7 - 14 Ton/m² for the north western part, 6 - 12 Ton/m² at the south eastern and 12 - 19 Ton/m² at the south western.

Amman-Zerqa Basin (AZB) is a major basin in Jordan. The concentration of economic, agricultural and social activities within the basin makes it of prime importance to Jordan. Intensive agricultural practices are widespread and located close to groundwater wells, which pose imminent threats to these resources. Groundwater contamination is of particular concern as groundwater resources are the principal source of water for irrigation, drinking and industrial activities. A DRASTIC model integrated with, and GIS tool has been used to evaluate the groundwater vulnerability of AZB. The Drastic index map showed that only 1.2% of the basin’s total area of 3792 km2 lies in the no vulnerable zone and about 69% is classified as having low pollution potential. The results also revealed that about 30% of the catchment area is moderately susceptible to pollution potential and slightly 1% is potentially under high pollution risk. These results suggest that almost one third of the AZB is at moderate risk of pollution potential. These areas are mainly in the north-east and central parts of the basin where the physical factors like gentle slope and high water table well support the chances of getting shallow aquifer water polluted. Areas with high vulnerable pollution are mainly the central of Amman old city.

Most of Iraqi soil is classified as Quaternary deposits, especially in the Mesopotamian plain and tributaries of the River Tigris. Soil varies from north to south of Iraq. These differences in soil af-fected the process to select the suitable type of foundation. This research is to study the effect of bearing capacity on shallow foundations in different regions of Iraq. Seventy nine samples were collected from 23 boreholes at three different locations (Mosul at the North, Baghdad at the middle and Basrah at the south of Iraq). The samples were collected at varying depth between 1 to 24m. They were subjected to the following testes: Atterberg limits, sieve and hydrometers, consolidation, direct shear, unconfined compression and the filed (SPT test). The values of the bearing capacity parameters (ϕ and c) were obtained from the above tests. The results obtained were used in the application of the general equation of the bearing capacity. Then, the model of a building was designed (two floors, with mat foundation type) using STAAD Pro software. The average values of bearing capacity in each region were applied in the program (Mosul= 177KPa, Baghdad= 125KPa and Basrah= 84KPa). In addition, the worst bearing capacity values were also used for the three regions (Mosul = 77KPa, Baghdad= 68 KPa and Basrah= 24KPa). The results obtained from the average and worst bearing capacity indicated that for Mosul, we could use shallow foundation (spread and mat used if there was basement) for different areas and for buildings with many sto-ries. For Baghdad region, shallow foundation was more suitable for building not higher than five stories. Finally, for Basrah region, shallow foundations were an appropriate selection, but for most areas deep foundation was the right choice.

Sustainable design, green architecture and sustainable construction are new methods for design and construction that are employed for environmental and economic challenges. Clay and bricks proved as sustainable building materials. In this paper, crush brick in the concrete mixture instead of normal coarse aggregate will be used. STAAD Prov8i software was applied for the designed of a hypothetical building in different sites of the three locations in Iraq (Mosul at the north, Baghdad at the center and Basrah at the south). The input model data used in the software were depending on the field and laboratory tests done for twenty three sites in the three locations of Iraq. Concrete properties values were used in the software for concrete mixture with crushed bricks. The results values of base pressure obtained from the software were low for the three locations. The maximum values of base pressure under the foundation for both the average and the minimum bearing capacity values for Mosul region for the normal strength concrete and air-entrained were (94, 84) kPa and (91, 82) kPa respectively, for Baghdad region were (89, 82) kPa and (86, 81) kPa respectively. Finally, for Basrah, the results for the base pressure were (84, 77) kPa and (82, 76) kPa, respectively. The results values of the base pressure were less for all locations compared with the base pressure values obtained from a previous work for the same locations. The use of crushed brick as aggregate in the concrete mixture is economical due to its availability as local material and it is durable materials with low weight.

Foundation design must satisfy limited values of settlement. Settlement is an essential criterion in the design process of shallow foundations. To calculate the settlement under different types of shallow foundations, 79 samples were taken from twenty-three sites distributed in three regions:Mosul, Baghdad and Basrah in the northern, central and southern parts of Iraq. Field and laboratory tests were performed to obtain the strength parameters to calculate the bearing capacity. The results obtained for the bearing capacity were used in SAFE software. The software was used to design and analyze the foundation and to calculate the settlements under two types of foundations (raft and continuous) for the three regions. Average and minimum values of bearing capacity wereused. The software used subgrade reaction modules values for the design and analysis. According to the results, the suitable, safe and economical type of foundation to be used in Mosul, Baghdad and Basrah regions for the average value of bearing capacity is the continuous type for the first two regions while the raft type is recommended for Basrah region. In case that the minimumbearing capacity values are used, raft foundation is recommended for Mosul and Baghdad. While deep foundation is the suitable type of foundation for Basrah region.

Settlement is an important criterion in the design of the foundations. It is classifying into immedi-ate (or elastic) settlement and consolidated settlement (primary and secondary). The factors that affect the shallow foundation settlement are the applied loads, soil stiffness, and geometric shape of foundation. Calculations of settlement depend on the parameters of soil which can be obtained from field and laboratory tests. Field and laboratory tests were conducted for twenty three sites in three different regions in Iraq (Mosul, Baghdad, and Basrah). In this research, field and laboratory tests results adopted for two sites from each region depended on the maximum and minimum bearing capacity values. Settlement for each site was calculated using numerical (mathematical) calculations and PLAXIS software under different added loads. The results of settlements beneath the foundation were competing for the sites with maximum value of bearing capacity in Mosul; Baghdad and Basrah. Also, the comparison conducted for sites of minimum bearing capacity value and the results showed different settlement values of each site. The change of settlement values under different loads was linearly in the six sites using numerical (mathematical) calculations. While, the settlement values obtained from PLAXIS software for sites with maximum bearing ca- pacity value showed that Mosul site had the highest value due to the type of soil layers and the dif- ference models of soil used in the software. Basrah site had a settlement value higher than Bagh- dad site due to the soil layers of sand type only. PLAXIS results for sites with minimum bearing capacity showed that for Basrah site the soil went to failure. While, the settlement values for Mosul and Baghdad sites were close to each other due to have nearly same soil layers. Therefore, high rise buildings could not be used in some sites. Also, soil in some locations and under some added loads needed to be improved before the implementation of any constructions.

Building Code is a legal document provided a minimum level of safety and health for the construc-tions to make public living in safe buildings. People recognize the importance of constructing the buildings in safe conditions, since the dawn of civilization. Many countries around the world were facing different kind of disasters such as fires, earthquakes, etc. These disasters made builders to develop methods for safe construction to avoid any disaster. Later, these developments became codes and standards. Since, the middle of the last century many countries established its local codes. This research represents a review of the importance of the codes with a short history for them. Furthermore, reviews for some national codes (Egyptian, Syrian and Arabia Saudi) were done as well as comparison between load’s correction factors, geotechnical requirements and materials used in concrete. Most of the national codes were highly based on the ACI, British and Germany codes and standards. In addition, a review and comparison were presented for International codes (American (ACI) and European (EC)) through a case study. EC code is becoming more common for the world. Eurocode give more flexibility to the user to employ their own standards (national annex). To find the best suitable foundation design to be used in Iraq and the differences when using the American and European codes, a building model was designed and analyzed using STAAD Pro., and SAFE softwares for three locations (Mosul, Baghdad and Basrah). The combination loads used in the two softwares were for ACI and EC codes. Results obtained were very similar. The type of foundation to be chosen for Mosul location is spread or continuous. For Baghdad location the suitable type is raft and for Basrah the choice is raft and piles.In view of the fact that Iraq has no national code engineers and designers were depending on the ACI and British codes and standards. It is very important to have an Iraqi code because it will im-prove the quality and safety of the design and construction of buildings as well as its economic value.

A detailed field survey of discontinuity (fractures) was carried out in the proposed Abo-Hederya Quarry Site, 70 km east Missan city, south-east of Iraq, where Al-Mukdadiya Formation (Upper Miocene-Pliocene) is exposed. The discontinuity survey was carried out in 10 stations covering the study area. At each station notes were collected about beds (lithology, thickness and orientation) and discontinuities (orientation, density, spacing, persistence and aperture). The slope stability analysis suggests that there is no real hazard area that could affect the quarry in future. Tectonic analysis demonstrates that tension fractures are common in the study area, while shear fractures (okl, hko, hol and hkl) are the less. The maximum principal stress direction in the study area is N (15 - 40) E, which is compatible with the regional tectonic stress in the area.

The global impact of shale oil has revolutionized the world’s energy markets, resulting in significantly lower oil prices, higher global gross domestic product, changing geopolitics and shifted business models for oil and gas companies. Further and developed research initiative is required to fill critical gaps in knowledge at the interface of shale oil development along with environmental protection, so countries can prepare better for its energy future. This paper explores the characterization of Iraqi originated oil shale using various analytical techniques, such as mass spectrometry (MS), infrared spectroscopy (IR), and Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrography (GC/MS). Based upon analytical results, it is found that the majority of chemical structure is in aliphatic hydrocarbon forms.

Water is a basic normal asset for supporting the condition of life. Accessible water assets are feeling the squeeze because of expanding demand. Soon wa- ter,  which  we  have  epended  upon  to  be  accessible  and  an  unconditional present of nature will turn into a rare roduct. Protection and conservation of water assets are desperately required. In many parts of Victoria, water supply to communities is limited. Rainwater harvesting systems can provide water ator near the point of demand. The systems can be owner and utility operated and  managed.  Rainwater  collected  using  existing  structures,  i.e.  rooftops, parking lots, playgrounds, parks, ponds, floodplains etc., has few negative en- vironmental impacts compared to other technologies for water resources de- velopment. Rainwater is relatively clean and the quality is usually acceptablefor many purposes with little or even no treatment. The physical and chemi- cal properties of rainwater are usually superior to sources of groundwater that may have been subjected to contamination. The present study was intended to measure the rooftop rainwater harvesting potential using GIS techniques. The GIS examination utilized in this investigation was basically an efficient assess- ment  of  rooftop  water  collecting  in  the  chose  Wollert  which  is  a  suburb  in Melbourne, Victoria. With the use of GIS it was conceivable to appraise the ag- gregate sum of water harvestable at the household level. It is very tedious work to assess the catchments available for rooftop rainwater harvesting. Here the roof surfaces are the catchments and GIS is employed to calculate the area of various  types  of  roofs  and  their  potential  for  planning  for  the  area  under study.  As  a  result  Eucalypt  Estate  Wollert  has  huge  potential  and  can  makeabove 179.11 litres water available per person per day throughout the year.

The ultimate aim of using spatial  datasets and  spatial  data modelling is  fo- cused on enabling a sustainable environment by bringing the public policies into  practice.  The  consequence  will  be  sustainable  spatially  aware  strategic planning for  all  levels  of  Australian government.  Geographical  Information Systems (GIS) are the platform that can serve this aim provided that model, current process and spatial datasets are fit for purpose. To bring public policy into practice a broad range of knowledge from different disciplines is needed. Most decision making processes are pressured in terms of time and driving forces and also the process is beyond the knowledge of individuals in the var- ious  disciplines.  There  is  a  need  for  immediate  uptake  models  and  tools which are relevant to the target subject that will facilitate this decision making process. This paper focuses on realizing the utility in spatial data and spatial data handling in order to help climate change adaptation programs at local government level. Web-based mapping tools can assist planners prepare for the changing climate conditions in Bass Coast Shire Council. The GIS team has gathered data from various climate research organizations to understand projections of what different climate scenarios might look like over the next 100-year period. From this website demo it is hoped that the user will under- stand  how  the  tool  works,  background  information  on  different  GIS  plat- forms, access to interactive mapping, online geospatial analysis tools, videos, open source resource, sea level tools, modelling, 3D visualization and direct download access to various planning and natural resource data sets relating to environment  management.  Some  results  from  our  elevation  data  analysesthrough these Web map visualization tools are provided.

With time concrete / reinforced concrete has become the popular material for construction. Modern industry utilizes this material a lot and has produced various beautiful, eye catching and amazing structures. Due to modern requirements for living and developed construction industries, the old buildings (usually constructed with brick masonry) are demolished and are replaced with new modern buildings. Demolition of buildings results in waste materials which can create waste related problems and environmental issues. By using recycled aggregates weight of concrete can also be reduced, which can also solve problems related to self-weight of concrete. In this paper attempt has been made to use local used bricks from vicinity of Nawabshah, Pakistan, as coarse aggregate. Concrete cubes made with local recycled bricks are cast and tested for overall weight of concrete, moisture content, dynamic modulus of elasticity and compressive strength (nondestructive and destructive methods). The results showed that concrete derived from recycled aggregates attained lower strength than regular concrete. More detailed elaborated work is recommended with different mix ratios and different proportions recycled aggregates for better conclusions.

Selecting a landfill site is an optimal solution for the disposal of solid waste inAl-Mahawil Qadhaa, both to fulfill the environmental and scientific requirements,and to comply with regulations and restrictions in this Qadhaa. Presently,there is no landfill site in the area that meets the scientific site selection criteria.Therefore, in this study, two methods of multi-criteria decision-makingand Geographic Information System (GIS) were used to produce a map ofcandidate sites for landfill. Fifteen criteria were entered within GIS: groundwaterdepth, rivers, soil types; agriculture lands use, land use, elevation, slope,gas pipelines, oil pipelines, power lines, roads, railways, urban centers, villagesand archaeological sites. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is the firstmethod that was applied to derive criteria weightings using the matrix of pairwisecomparisons. The second method was the Ratio Scale Weighting (RSW),which is based on experts’ opinion, in order to identify the criteria weightingsby giving a ratio score value for each criterion relative to the other criteria.Accuracy assessment (Kappa and Overall Assessment) methods were used tocompare the two raster maps which resulted from the two models, and to determinethe percentage value of matching pixels for the two maps. Two suitablecandidate sites for landfill were identified that satisfy the requirementswith an area of 2.218 km2 - 2.950 km2 in order to accommodate the solidwaste generated from the Qadhaa in the period 2020 to 2030.

Babylon Governorate covers an area of 5315 km2 with a population that reaches about 1,974,490 inhabitants in the central part of Iraq. Iraq produced 31,000 tons/day solid waste in 2013. The Governorate of Babylon produces annual 483,221 tons of solid waste. Management of collection and disposal of waste in Babylon Governorate is done through open dumping of waste and poor collection process. These sites do not conform to the scientific and environmental criteria applied in the selection of landfill sites. To find out how much solid waste is expected in the future, two methods were used to calculate the population growth in Babylon Governorate to the year 2030. The results showed that the total waste in 2030 will be 761,104 tons and 943055 tons while the cumulated quantity of solid waste expected till 2030 was 12,494,521 tons and 14,095,437 tons according to the first and second methods respectively.

The selecting of a site for landfill is considered as a difficult process because many criteria should be involved. The main aim of establishing a landfill is to protect the human and environment. Al-Qasim district is considered as the study area in this work. It is one of the main districts in Babylon Governorate, Iraq. There is no systematic site as landfill that fulfil the environmental and scientific criteria in this area. Therefore, the most important fifteen criteria that suited the environmental requirements were selected in the current study. These criteria are: groundwater depth, urban centers, rivers, villages, soil types, elevation, roads agricultural land use, slope, land use, archaeological sites, power lines, gas pipelines, oil pipelines and railways. Two methods of multi criteria decision making AHP (analytical hierarchy process) and SRS (straight rank sum) were applied to obtain the weights of criteria in dissimilar styles. The raster maps of the selected criteria were prepared and analyzed within the GIS software. Then, the change detection method was implemented to compare the two output raster maps resulted from AHP and SRS methods. Two appropriate candidate sites for landfill were selected to accommodate the cumulative solid waste until the year 2030 in Qasim district. The areas of these sites were 2.766 km² and 2.055 km² respectively.

Kicks are the result of under balance drilling operation. Time consumed to control the kicks will be different in depending on the controlling technique. Drilling fluid considered as a first barrier to control formation pressure and well kicks. Any advance in drilling fluids leads to more controlled operation in term of time. This paper will follow the general increasing profile of pressure before entering the reservoir. Both methods of well controlling technique; circulating techniques and non-circulating have been implemented in many oil blocks. The process of designing and casing selection, setting depth and many other issues is predominately dependent on the utilization of accurate values of formation pressure. Formation pressures used to design safe mud weights to overcome fracturing the formation and prevent well kicks. Hence the emphasis has been placed on the practical utilization of kicks pressure near the reservoir. The presented relationships will help the engineer to better understand lithological columns and reduce potential hole problems during the kick appearance. Selecting the best well controlling practical method can lead to not harming the reservoir and more production later. Changes in some drilling fluid properties have been proposed with increasing the depth without damaging the reservoir. Suggestions in relation to the casing setting point of the intermediate section are also proposed. Standard equations with proper modification for gases and safety margin have been proposed for the future drilling operation in oil fields above the reservoir.

Well control techniques are used in oil and gas drilling operations to control bottom hole pressure and avoid any fluid influx from formation to the well. These techniques are highly important near the pay zone in term of time. Controlling formation fluid pressure and thereby the formations behavior in a predictable fashion will help toward more optimized environmental friendly drilling operation. Time consumed to control the formation fluid pressure will range between few hours to many days. This paper discusses hydrostatic pressure distribution and changes near the pay zone for one oil blocks in Kur- distan, in the northern part of Iraq. Obtaining homogeneous increase in some drilling fluid properties will help the engineer to better interpret sampling of the lithological columns and reduce potential hole problems and operationtime.

The first exploration oil well in any oil block consumes in general more time and cost than the other wells in the same block. Evaluating the drilled wells serves to improve the future operations. This paper evaluates the drilled surface section through real field data for the first exploration oil well drilled in one of the oil blocks, in Kurdistan north of Iraq. The surface section of the well was drilled with the conventional method to penetrate many different geological formations with tight intervals. Drilling efficiency and the difficulties encountered are discussed and explained using various data sources. All daily drilling reports concerning a specific interval were studied. This includes weight on bit, string rotation, mud pump flow and penetration rate. Evaluation was carried out by analyzing the used controllable drilling parameters with the formations features. Penetration of the Pila Spi formation (Middle Eocene) was the most difficult formation in the drilled section. Microsoft Office 365 Pro Plus used in making graphs and Excel tables. Evaluations showed that the conventional technology used left many negative effects, like increase in None Productive Time NPT, cost and ground water pollution. Simultaneous Casing Drilling method proposed as an alternative method for the future campaign.

The Dukan Dam Reservoir (DDR) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has been studiedto determine the characteristics and nature of the reservoir and the deposited sedimentson its bottom surface. This study was achieved by doing a field survey andgrain size analyses of the collected sediment samples at 32 locations representing thewhole reservoir area that had been created when the Lesser Zab River was dammedin 1959. The Dukan Dam, which is a multi-purpose concrete arch dam, was built onthe Lesser Zab River for controlling its flood during high rainfall seasons, irrigationand power generation. The catchment area is 11,690 km2. The surface area of the reservoiris 270 square kilometers and the volume is 6.870 × 106 m3 at normal operationlevel (El. 511.00 m. a.s.l.). The minimum drawdown level is at elevation 469 mabove sea level (a.s.l.). The live storage is 6.14 × 106 m3 while the remainder is deadstorage. The reservoir has a surface area that reaches 270 square kilometers and iscomposed of two sub-reservoirs connected by a narrow channel that has a length of 5kilometers. The relatively bigger reservoir is located in the north and has a triangularshape with a surface area approximately 250 square kilometers. The smaller sub-reservoiris located down south where the dam exists and it has irregular rectangularshape. Thirty-two sediment samples were collected from the bottom of Dukan reservoir.The bed of the reservoir is mainly composed of 15% gravel, 14% sand, 48%silt and 23% clay respectively. Most of the sediments are very fine grained, verypoorly sorted, strongly coarse skewed and mesokurtic.

This study describes the performance of concrete in fresh state, intended for sealing deep boreholes in the host rock of radioactive repositories. Set of different paste volumes, combinations of water-to-powder ratios and fine aggregate contents have been performed within the frame of this study. The main objective was to search for tendencies, logical connections and phenomena that occur for different combination of materials regarding the fluidity and segregation and mainly the effect from the (paste) or fine aggregate content. It shall be pointed out that this investigation is a suggestion on how concrete can be optimized using two simple test methods based on changing the paste content. The results highlighted the importance of having sufficient amounts of filler and cement paste for separate and carry larger particles, which gives the concrete good workability and fluidity at casting. It was concluded that the slump behaviors can be optimized based on the adjustments of the superplastisizer dosage.

Fractured, very permeable rock hosting repositories for radioactive waste will require grouting. New grout types of possible use where long-term performance is needed should have a small amount of cement for minimizing the increase in porosity that will follow from the ultimate dissolution and erosion of this component. They have to be low-viscous and gain strength early after injection and packing theory can assist designers in selecting suitable proportions of various grout components. Optimum particle packing means that the porosity is at minimum and that the amount of cement paste needed to fill the voids between aggregate particles is very small. Low porosity and microstructural stability must be guaranteed for long periods of time. Organic additives for reaching high fluidity cannot be used since they can give off colloids that carry released radionuclides and talc can be an alternative superplasticizer. Low-pH cement reacts with talc to give high strength with time while Portland cement gives early but limited strengthening. The clay mineral palygorskite can be used for early gelation because of its thixotropic properties. Once forced into the rock fractures or channels in soil it stiffens and serves as a filter that prevents fine particles to migrate through it be lost. However, its hydrophilic potential is too high to give the grout a high density and high strength. According to the experiments carried out most of the investigated grouts are injectable in fractures with apertures down to 100 μm.

The rheological properties of cement-based grouts containing talc or palygorskite were investigated for optimizing fluidity and quick strengthening at injection. The fluidity controls the ability of grout to penetrate fractures and can be determined by pipe flow tests, Marsh funnel tests, mini-slump cone tests and rheometer tests. The grouts were 1) Talc for fluidity and strength by reacting with cement, 2) Palygorskite (attapulgite) for early gelation by being thixotropic, and 3) Powdered quartz for chemical integrity. The freshly prepared grouts behaved as Bingham fluids with viscosities from 0.151 to 0.464 Pas and yield stresses 5.2 Pa to 36.7 Pa. Statistical analysis of the flow test data converted Marsh flow time into viscosity. The pipe flow tests gave 26.5% higher values than the viscometer for grout with Portland cement and talc, and about 13.7% lower than the viscometer data for the grout with low-pH cement and talc. The big Marsh funnel gave valuesdiffering by 5.2% - 5.3% from those of the viscometer for grout with talc and Portland, and Merit 5000 cements. For grout with palygorskite the viscosity was at least twice that of the other grouts. Grout fluidity was positively affected by talc and negatively by palygorskite and early cement hydration

A review of the main mechanisms influencing turbulent modulation in the presence of spherical and non-spherical particles is presented. The review demonstrates the need for more numerical and experimental work with higher accuracy than obtained so far and the need to resolve the flow near the surface of particles with the aim to re-evaluate the quantitative effect of different parameters on turbulent modulation. The review reveals that non-spherical particles have more adverse effect on turbulence as compared to spherical ones, for the same ambient conditions

Reservoirs are usually exposed to sediment accumulation problems that will lead to reduction in their storage capacity. This problem directly affects the performance of the dams and causes shortage of their useful life. The simplest technique to estimate sediment deposition rate is using sediment rating curve with sediment trapping efficiency (TE) of the reservoir. Many empirical and semi-empirical approaches have been suggested for to determine this term depending on the annual inflow rate, reservoir characteristics and features of the catchments area. In this study six different empirical methods depending on the residence time principle (water retention time) were used. These approaches were reviewed and applied to determine TE of Mosul dam reservoir (MDR) for period 1986 to 2011. The monthly operating data for inflow, outflow and water elevations for MDR were used to determine monthly TE and long-term TE for whole period of MDR using the mentioned methods. Furthermore, the monthly inflow rate for River Tigris upstream MDR, its sediment rating curve and sediment feeding from valleys around MDR were used to estimate the amount sediment coming to the reservoir. The results provided by these methods for TE withsediment coming to MDR were used to compute the amount of sediment deposited in MDR on monthly bases during this period. The results obtained were evaluated using observed bathymetric survey data that had been collected in 2011 after 25 years of the operation of the dam. The results showed all the mentioned methods gave convergent results and they were very close to bathymetric survey results for estimating the volume of sediment deposited especially that proposed by Ward which gave 0.368% percentage error. Furthermore, the result computed using monthly TE gave good agreement if compared with that long-term TE where the percentage error was ranging between −3.229% to 1.674% for monthly adopted data and −4.862% to −2.477% for whole period data. It is believed that this work will help others to use this procedure on other reservoirs.

The sedimentation process is the most important problems that affect directly the performance of reservoirs due to the reduction of the storage capacity and possible problems effecting the operation. Thus periodic assessment of the storage capacity and determining sediment deposition patterns is an important issue for operation and management of the reservoirs. In this study, bathymetric survey results and an analytical approach had been used to assess the characteristics of sedimentation and estimate the useful life of Mosul Reservoir. It is located on the Tigris River in the north of Iraq. The water surface area of its reservoir is 380 km2 with a designed storage capacity of 11.11 km3 at a maximum operating level (330 m a.s.l). The dam started operating in 1986. No detailed study was yet carried out to assess its reservoir. The present study indicated that the annual reduction rate in the dead and live storage capacities of the reservoir is 0.786% and 0.276% respectively. The observed results (bathymetric survey) and algebraic formula show approximately that the useful life of Mosul dam reservoir is about 125 years. Furthermore, the stage-storage capacity curves for the future periods (prediction curves) were established using bathymetric survey data.

Waste impoundments are usually not protected by any growing crops, soil roughness, or wind barriers, and dust due to wind erosion of the surface waste material can be a major environmental problem. The tailings dam in Aitik is highly susceptible to wind erosion when it is dry and windy. Strong dust storms may occur during dry seasons. These events are short-lived but may transport a huge amount of particulate matter and adversely impact air quality in downwind areas. This study estimated material loss from the Aitik tailings dam using SWEEP model. The simulated total material loss, saltation and creep loss, suspension loss and PM10 loss were 4.4941kg/m2, 0.042 kg/m2, 4.4559 kg/m2, 0.264057 kg/m2 respectively. To control the dust generation wind breaks could be suggested to be installed at 800m downwind the upwind edge of the tailings dam to reduce the saltation and creep and it would in turn reduce suspended emission. The measured total suspended material for five days by exposure profiling method was 0.475kg/m2, which had a big difference with simulate a value of 4.4559 kg/m2. Many reasons contributed to the disagreement of simulated value and measured value in this study. In order to use the model for mining industry more tests are needed to validate the modeling result and calibration methods could be useful in adjusting the internal coefficients and empirical equations.

Iraq is located in the Middle East with an area that reaches 437072 km2 and a population of about 36 million. This country is suffering from severe electricity shortage problems which are expected to increase with time. In this research, an attempt is made to minimize this problem by combining the borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) with a heat pump, the indoor temperature of a residential building or other facility may be increased or reduced beyond the temperature interval of the heat carrier fluid.Due to the relatively high ground temperature in Middle Eastern countries, the Seasonal thermal energy storages (STES) and Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) systems have a remarkable potential, partly because the reduced thermal losses from the underground storage and the expected high COP (ratio of thermal energy gain to required driving energy (electricity)) of a heat pump, partly because of the potential for using STES directly for heating and cooling. In this research, groundwater conditions of Babylon city in Iraq were investigated to evaluate the possibility of using GSHP to reduce energy consumption. It is believed that such system will reduce consumed energy by about 60%.

Estimation of runoff volume and sediment load is the main problem that affects the performance of dams due to the reduction in the storage capacity of their reservoirs and their effect on dam efficiency and operation schedule. The simulation models can be considered for this purpose if the continuous field measurements are not available. Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) andWater Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) models were applied to estimate the annual runoff volume and sediment load for Duhok Dam Reservoir in north of Duhok/Iraq for the period 1988-2011. The estimated annual runoff volume varied from 2.3 to 34.7 MCM for considered period.Those values were affected by rainfall depth, intensity and runoff coefficient. The resultant annual runoff coefficient for the studied area ranged from 0.05 to 0.35 (average was 0.18) causing an average runoff volume of about 14 MCM. The results of sediment routing indicated that the values of sediment yields varied from 50 to 1400 t/km2/year depending on sub basin properties. The average annual sediment load from the whole watershed is about 120 × 103 ton. The estimated total sediment arrived to Duhok Reservoir for the considered period 1988-2011 was about 2.9 × 106 ton. The results indicate that both models gave reasonable results in comparison with measured values. Based on statistical criteria, the results of both models are close to gather.

The Middle East (ME) is characterized by its water shortage problem. This region with its arid climate is expected to be the most vulnerable in the world to the potential impacts of climate change. Iraq (located in ME) is seriously experiencing water shortage problem. To overcome this problem rain water harvesting can be used. In this study the applicability of the long-term weather generator model in downscaling daily precipitation Central Iraq is used to project future changes of precipitation based on scenario of seven General Circulation Models (GCMs) outputs for the periods of 2011-2030, 2046-2065, and 2080-2099. The results indicated that December-February and September-November periods, based on the ensemble mean of seven GCMs, showed an increasing trend in the periods considered; however, a decreasing trend can be found in March, April, and May in the future.