Investigation of the Generic, Structural and Engineering Factors of a Site (Case Study Sample)

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Investigation of the Generic, Structural and Engineering factors of a site
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Introduction
Kushma is major municipality and also Parbat District’s headquarters which is found in Nepal. Kushma was transformed into a municipality after the merging of the following eight village development committee; Khurkot, Pakuwa, Pang, Shivalaya, Chaupari, Chuwa, Pipaltri and Durlung. Kushma city is situated approximately 57km from Pokhara, a renowned city in the western area of Nepal. It is mapped under the Western Development Area and Dhaulagiri Region of Nepal. It is a hilly region that stretching along two rivers. This case study intends to investigate the viability of constructing a rainwater multi-use system on the Kushma region.
Investigation of Generic Factors
Looking at the case study from a revenue perspective, setting up a rainwater multi- use system is very expensive ranging from purchasing drums, pumps, pipes, labour recruitment and the pre- requisites of purchasing or leasing a parcel of land. With all these considerations, a lion share of resources would be needed to start the entire project.
The monetary benefits of the rainwater multi- use system project is limited by the sole reason that revenues collected will mainly be coming from water tariffs and other minor charges, which would not have a huge positive impact on the society at large. Ordinarily, revenue emanating from the rainwater multi- use system project non-potable is insubstantial: quite a small number of applications would normally qualify, and the motivation to pay for them is inadequate (Yang and Abbaspour, 2007). This is as a result of the fact that the total price of the rainwater multi- use system does not reflect its entire cost and that it is valued less by the inhabitants of the area where the system has been installed.
Nelson (2010) is of the view that tight, existing regulations meant to safeguard the environment and public health have led to numerous adverse repercussions; an opposition to practical and technological innovation, an unavoidable habit of standard one-size-fits-all systems that normally over-protect or under- protect the habitat. This tendency will have a domino effect in regards to setting up of a functional system; because the rainwater multi- use system has a greater probability of mechanical failure compared to the conventional systems.
Rainwater multi- use system requires the coordination of various actors; including property developers and technological suppliers. The responsibilities between municipalities who have the mandate of providing water, property owners who invest in the rainwater multi- use system, technology suppliers providing the equipments and the service providers who are solely responsible for the operation and maintenance of these equipments. All this makes the relationship between the above players to be blurred.
Acceptability of the project by the local community is an important pre- requisite for the success of the system. The locals would not be at ease to incur excessive costs and the intrusive nature of the inspections of the system. The current policy directions are not aiding any strong predictable arrangements for laying down policy decisions in civic groups for the acceptability of such systems. Cultural practices and beliefs of the inhabitants of the area, in particular the local beliefs that are associated with water, will also pose as a problem to setting up the system.
Investigation of Surveying Factors
Water supply
The amount and patterns of rainfall throughout the year will determine the environmental feasibility of the project .As a rule of thumb; rainfall should be above 50 mm/ month for approximately half a year or 300 mm/ year. The tropical climate found in Kushma region characterised with short dry seasons and numerous high- intensity rainstorms, gives the optimal conditions for water harvesting. Rainfall distribution in Kushma region is well distributed and spread out all along, owing to the presence of two major rivers running along the area. This adequate distribution of rain will influence positively the construction of the rainwater multi- use system in the area.
Land
It ought to be confirmed that site proposed has suitable land coverage for the project set up. The general acceptable land conformation ought to be an area having slopes of not more than 2% steeper slopes. In instances where a wasteland that is rendered not fit for agriculture is chosen, the general cost of acquiring the land parcel will be cheaper. Important factors to be considered when picking a suitable land for the deployment of the system project are the flood level and land elevation of the region.
Construction of the rainwater multi- use system will involve clearing of vegetation to facilitate its deployment. This would have a negative impact on the flora and fauna of the surrounding environment. Animals habiting the natural vegetation will be displaced also. Underground utilities like oil pipelines that would cross the site may force good sites to be unsuitable for the whole project. To avoid the risks of these negative impacts, it is cheaper and advisable to opt for abandoned wet paddy fields, grasslands, open woodland, swampy areas and scarcely populated land areas. This is because such areas have less vegetation and inhabitants, therefore also reducing the entire process and cost of clearing the land for the construction of the rainwater multi- use system.
Availability of energy
Electricity availability is core in the whole project as it will be the main source of energy to power the pumps used by the equipments and to control the systems. Buildings that use harvested rainwater basically increase the effects of greenhouse gas emissions as opposed to the convectional systems. This functional energy use, primarily used for pumping, contributes to a large proportion of the carbon footprint in the system, with the eventual remainder seen as embodied carbon in the system materials, and emanating from the transportation of system maintenance and delivery. According to Defra (2009), it was noted that an operational energy use of ~0.6 – 5 kWh/ m3 for rainwater systems is required. This is without the inclusion of UV disinfection that increases the upper band of reported energy intensity to 7.1 kWh/ m3.
Part B3 - Investigation of Civil & Structural Engineering Factors
The storage tanks to be used for this project would be the on-ground, in-slab rainwater storage tanks. An Edge beam design and reinforcing bar position ought to be specifically applied. Additional processes will be needed to filter rainwater and safeguard slab tanks from the build- up of sediment. It is important to install the storm water overflow connectivity and the backflow protection from it ought to be above finished ground level which will have an inclusion of insect and vermin control.
Locality of the site should be near a suitable road network to facilitate easier and efficient off- loading and on- loading of equipment to be used in the construction, maintenance purposes and services. The roads should be all- weather roads, built to stand any harsh climatic conditions, with proximity to the site situation.
An important indicator of the type of soils and of the water table elevation is vegetation. The density and type of vegetation, the root systems and the size of trees greatly influence the process of clearing the land site and, thus, the time and cost of construction. Grassland areas, abandoned paddy regions, open woodland areas or land filled with bushes and low shrubs permit cheaper construction as compared to land containing thick jungle or swampy regions with very high trees.
Part B4 -Investigation of Electrical Engineering Factors
Availability of the rain water collected as a green ...