Hydraulics and Hydrological Engineering

Extreme Flooding Events in Quang Nam, Vietnam

Vietnam, particularly the region of Quang Nam, are located in an area extremely vulnerable to flooding events, which devastate the mostly agricultural region, and climate change has directly resulted in these flooding events getting worst in the past twenty years. Instead of addressing changes that could actually address the issue, however, the government has focused most of its effort on reforestation and forest management, despite lack of evidence that these actions are at all likely to help mitigate disastrous flooding events.

Guoyang2023-09-10T03:50:47+00:00June 16, 2023|Categories: Case Summary|Tags: Earth Systems, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Policy and Sustainable Infrastructure, Geotechnical Engineering, Hydraulics and Hydrological Engineering|0 Comments

Istanbul Canal

In order to alleviate the traffic pressure of the Bosphorus Canal, reduce the potential risks of ships loaded with dangerous materials, and promote the country’s economic development, Istanbul Canal will be built connecting Marama Sea and the Black Sea. However this project will cause insecurity for Russia, upset environmental stability, pollute freshwater resources and deplete land for people's living.

Guoyang2023-09-10T03:59:43+00:00June 16, 2023|Categories: Case Summary|Tags: Construction Engineering and Management, Earth Systems, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Fluid Dynamics, Geotechnical Engineering, Hydraulics and Hydrological Engineering, Water Quality and Health|0 Comments

Nicaragua Canal

A new canal in Nicaragua will be built under the agreement of the Nicaragua government and Chinese businessman Wang Jing, with his company HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Company (HKND). The project is intended to lift the poor country out of poverty, just as what the Panama Canal has done to its residents, but its construction may ruin the ecosystem of Central America. Besides, there are more potential issues like political tensions, exaggerated construction speed and ambiguous finance etc

Guoyang2023-09-10T04:10:20+00:00June 16, 2023|Categories: Case Summary|Tags: Environmental Fluid Dynamics, Geotechnical Engineering, Hydraulics and Hydrological Engineering|0 Comments

Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)

A mega dam is being built in Ethiopia along the Blue Nile River. The new hydroelectric power plant is expected to generate 5GW electricity, lifting the whole country out of poverty and symbolizing the national power. However, as the river is a shared resouce with 10 other countries, it undergoes huge dispute, especially with Egypt, and the tension is escavating.

Guoyang2023-09-10T03:54:08+00:00June 16, 2023|Categories: Case Summary|Tags: Environmental Fluid Dynamics, Environmental Policy and Sustainable Infrastructure, Hydraulics and Hydrological Engineering|0 Comments

Valley Park Levee along the Meramec River

In recent years, the Meramec River has been experiencing historic flooding that may be exacerbated by the Valley Park levee that was built by the Army Corps of Engineers and protects an affluent community. Nearby communities who are less fortunate, experience frequent flooding where homes are routinely lost and rebuilt at the expense of lack of flood management in the area and the nearby levee being built on outdated models.

Guoyang2023-09-10T06:01:14+00:00June 16, 2023|Categories: Case Summary|Tags: Environmental Engineering, Hydraulics and Hydrological Engineering|0 Comments

Mega Dam on Great Bend in China

In 2022, Power Construction Corporation of China (Powerchina) announced its plan to build a mega dam along Yarlung Tsangpo River (Brahmaputra River). The dam is estimated to have 3 times the power generation as the Three Gorges Dam but it also goes along with many conerns like damage to ecosystem, future flood potential and geopolitics conflicts etc.

Guoyang2023-09-10T04:06:49+00:00June 16, 2023|Categories: Case Summary|Tags: Construction Engineering and Management, Environmental Fluid Dynamics, Environmental Policy and Sustainable Infrastructure, Environmental Politics, Geotechnical Engineering, Hydraulics and Hydrological Engineering, Structural Engineering|0 Comments

The Kinzua Dam Construction and the Effect on the Seneca People

The Kinzua Dam, built in 1965, serves the purpose of protecting the people of the greater Pittsburgh area from the flooding and pollution of the Allegany River. The construction of the dam sparked public controversy due to it flooding 10,000 acres of the Seneca Nation of Indian's Allegany Territory that is protected under a federal treaty. Legal battles ensued, pleas were made from the Seneca people, and even an alternative option to the Kinzua Dam was proposed but ultimately it's construction has resulted in the loss of indigenous homes and arising issues of upstream flooding from climate change.

Guoyang2023-09-10T05:21:52+00:00June 16, 2023|Categories: Case Summary|Tags: Construction Engineering and Management, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Policy and Sustainable Infrastructure, Hydraulics and Hydrological Engineering|0 Comments

Pollution in DC rivers at the intersection of environmental and racial injustice

Washington, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine is suing Velsicol Chemical for decades of manufacturing and distribution of the carcinogen chlordane even though the company knew of its risks to human and environmental health. The lawsuit says studies have linked long-term exposure to chlordane to liver cancer, as well as miscarriages, depression and bone-marrow diseases. Shorter-term exposure, it says, has been linked to blurred vision, headaches, tremors and insomnia, among other central nervous system symptoms. Flanked by environmentalists and representatives of the local NAACP, Racine (D) said at a news conference that the effects of Velsicol Chemical’s alleged contamination particularly hit “low-income Black and Brown” residents, in a case that bridges environmental and racial justice.

Guoyang2023-09-10T04:47:36+00:00June 16, 2023|Categories: Case Summary|Tags: Environmental Policy and Sustainable Infrastructure, Hydraulics and Hydrological Engineering, Water Quality and Health|0 Comments

Replacing lead pipes in Washington, D.C., after decades of inaction

Lead-contamination in drinking water in Washington, D.C., became a crisis in 2004, with lead concentrations exceeding those in Flint, MI. In the decades since, very few pipes were replaced. Property owners were required to share the replacement cost, resulting in replacements being concentrated in affluent areas. Lead exposure continued in under-resourced neighborhoods, disproportionately affecting D.C.'s Black residents. In 2019, a new plan was instituted in which D.C. Water will be provided with funds to cover the full pipe replacement cost and construction will proceed on a block-by-block basis. Two predominantly Black wards will be first up for replacements.

Guoyang2023-09-10T04:53:05+00:00June 16, 2023|Categories: Case Summary|Tags: Environmental Engineering, Hydraulics and Hydrological Engineering, Water Quality and Health|0 Comments

Pollution Erasing Mossville

Sasol announced a project of building gas-to-liquid facility and ethane cracker in Lake Charles Louisiana after long-term negotiation with the Louisiana government officials. However, its pollution level seems not to be as satisfying as it claims. What's more, the relocation of local residents in Mossville is insufficient and racially discriminative.

Guoyang2024-04-09T18:56:22+00:00June 16, 2023|Categories: Case Summary|Tags: Air Quality, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Fluid Dynamics, Environmental Justice, Environmental Policy and Sustainable Infrastructure, Geotechnical Engineering, Hydraulics and Hydrological Engineering|0 Comments