Stormwater Observation Report: Fill & Download for Free

A lot of it is the complexity of the locals’ technologies and knowledge, a very intentional assumption that they were too primitive to be treated as equals to whoever was invading that particular region that justified horrible behaviors, and how quickly their societies were collapsed, burned, and scattered so much of the advanced stuff was lost or quite obscured. The Romans, Alexander’s Greeks, the Mongols, Cyrus’s Persians, and many others also deliberately and consistently reported those neighbors they conquered as less advanced if not backward savages lucky to be violently incorporated into a much greater regime. Few were honest enough to say “we came across a substantially more sophisticated and better run community so we wrecked it, stole what we could, killed whoever resisted no matter what their knowledge and skills were, burned what was left and continued on smug that the victory proved we were superior to them.”American history textbooks focused far too much on wars, politics, and very erratically on everything else (the histories of invention and the economy are full of significant holes and wrong chronology for the most part, separate histories fix that but don’t get incorporated much into the general ones.)The locals who vary substantially on every measure rather than a fairly uniform “Native American” or “American Indian”, even neighbors or groups that split in half to follow very different paths as recently as the 1700’s such as permanent village farmers in large trade networks becoming always moving hunter/gatherers probably in reaction to disease epidemics or 10–70 year long droughts.Much of the advancement is in the life sciences both knowledge and applied instead of metallurgy, chemistry, domesticated animals to pull cargo, shipbuilding, and that’s about it. The locals were 300–500 years ahead of European agriculture, particularly in soil chemistry and soil building, plant breeding, vast irrigation systems like the ancient Middle East but not Renaissance Europe, advanced food processing and storage processes, better human nutritional needs understanding, and much of what we eat today comes from their sciences.The locals were around 500 years ahead of the Europeans in many areas of medicine and surgery including anesthetics, brain surgery, surgical tools, accurate body function and charts, medical training, nutritional supplements, salves, antidotes to local toxins, water quality’s importance, etc.It’s assumed by old and current authors more often than not that the locals simply adapted to their environment living in some splendid no-impact way. In fact it turns out they constantly changed their ecosystems both to their convenience and better functioning overall, generally better than current wildlands managers do. Controlled forest and prairie fires, changing the courses of waterways (only recently have we been noticing how straight some “natural” rivers are and how they conveniently connect for water passage), building floating islands for productive agriculture in vast swamps in the Amazon Patanal and in Tenochtilan. That large predator animals were systematically exterminated as policy for millennia is considered a mysterious die-off although obvious to anyone who’s worked on predator control like a game warden and the vast growth of tasty bison, elk, deer, ducks, geese, sage hens, etc. considered lucky chance rather than millennia of deliberate interventions and management.Mathematically the Mayans were centuries ahead of the Europeans which carried over to very advanced astronomy with thousands of years of recorded, consistent data rather than the much more chaotic and short European observation records available.Engineering practices and technologies (water management including stormwater and reservoirs, road networks, cities larger than European ones of the time which is not easy, a hundred thousand large earth mounds in North America alone some as big as the world’s largest pyramids like those in Mexico, large scale mining (the Inka’s had bronze, copper tools were common and quite advanced, obsidian is better than steel for cutting as is a natural rock in the Mayan region, and we don’t know much of their alloying and heat-treating technologies.)We’ve assumed they were restricted to overland travel or at best very small, fragile canoes, kayaks, and bullboats for traveling rivers but that ignores what Spanish explorers saw in 100-man ships in the Caribbean (explaining the populated islands in continual trade with each other and the continents) and those on the Western coast of South America that Balboa and others saw just as trade goods show continual contact throughout the continents and beyond rather than the isolated pockets generally declared in the textbooks.

Dear Steve,Yours is a very interesting question. I should start with saying that there is no definitive answer as it all depends on where you live, the local authority/council and the insurance policy.My experience suggests that you should arm yourself with a great deal of patience and try to have an elucidative discussion with your car insurer as it all has to do with semantics, that is how the interpretation of certain words may differ from person to person. First and foremost, I recommend asking them ‘what is your definition of flood damage to a vehicle? And what can cause it?’I saw in the past a client who claimed damages caused to his vehicle by a severe storm event. A preliminary investigative hydrological report was prepared for the client; the document described the rainfall event with all certified weather data available at the time (i.e. inference of rainfall intensity from rainfall radar images and rainfall amount by the cumulation of individual time-steps, return interval, photographic evidence of damages, etc.) along with flooding caused by a nearby creek of which embankments were overtopped with overflow caused in large proportion by the same storm event surcharging the river drainage catchment.A lengthy correspondence with the insurer concluded that specific policy covers flood damages meant as the damage caused by water falling from the sky (literal words used), that is e.g. hailstones, wind onset, potential airborne debris, lightning strike and damage by the shockwave thereof, tree branches falling and similar. However, the insurance policy does not cover damages caused by water rising from the ground (literal words), that is incremental ground inundation caused by rainfall runoff accumulation of any kind (e.g. depression storage), flooding from a nearby river overflowing or failure of its levees and embankments, failure of any kind of both the public and private stormwater drainage system (e.g. pipe breaching, surcharging, failure of pumping stations, etc.) and even groundwater rising and being exposed to the surface!In another instance, you can claim damages to your local authority/council if the vehicle is flooded because of a failed stormwater drainage system or that it did not work as intended due to, say, neglected maintenance, with the condition that you must be able to prove conclusively (and at your own cost) that was the case. An investigation of such kind is not only quite expensive to conduct and complete but may encounter all sorts of rebuts due to lack of observed and surveyed data, along with many other components of the investigation that may result unavailable, inferred (and therefore potentially questionable) or simply unknown altogether. This is a rather difficult engineering branch because of its many variables, some of which are known and others are unknown.That was quite an experience! Again, please note that mine is just an example which is specific of a given client, country, location and time and it does not reflect (or imply) a standard for interpreting insurance terms. I highly recommend having a detailed conversation with your insurer and agree and apply policy adjustments where possible and suited.Hope this helps.

The world’s production industries have generated tremendous amounts of economic growth since the 1800s, but the industrialization of cities has also led to significant challenges such as overcrowding and extreme pollution. Because urban environments are often home to many industrial facilities, people come to the city seeking employment, but large metropolitan hubs are running out of space to house their residents. With overcrowding, resource demands are increased, and as cities grow, urban environments may face more pressure in their attempts to provide large urban populations with sustainable supportive infrastructures like food, water, and safe roads. Advanced civil engineers are needed now more than ever to provide solutions to these critical issues; below are several developing innovations currently being used around the world to improve socio-environmental sustainability.Plastic RoadsAs a response to massive local waste and plastic pollution within their country, India’s government began experimenting with plastic roads during the early 2000s, with waste plastic being used as a construction material. An early report by India’s Central Pollution Control Board discovered that even after four years of use, Jambulingam Street in Chennai—one of the first plastic roads—had not sustained much damage. The board cited that no potholes, rutting, raveling, or edge flaws were discovered during the evaluation. This level of performance attracted the interests of local governments, who were looking to rid the Tamil Nadu region’s urban environments of the discarded shopping bags, foam packaging, and other unrecyclable plastic products that litter the streets. As of 2015, any Indian city with a population of at least 500,000 is required to construct their roads using waste plastic as a core material, in efforts to promote greater pollution control and environmental sustainability for Indian communities.Although the concept of using waste plastic in roads is still in its early stages, with very few plastic roads currently existing in the Western world, civil engineering researchers in countries like the United Kingdom and the United States are working to design new technologies to support the safe implementation of waste plastic in road construction. One such development involves converting waste plastics into small balls that, when combined with asphalt or other common road components, create a strong, permeable surface that features hollow spaces that allow stormwater to seep through the road and more effectively recharge groundwater.Transitioning to the use of plastic roads will lead to more manageable plastic waste and potentially, safer roads, but there are still some concerns regarding hazards thataccompany plastic roads as they age. As these roads gradually deteriorate due to heat and light, they may dissolve into micro-plastics that give off harmful pollutants, affecting the functionality and biodiversity of soil and water resources. Creative civil engineers play a significant role in ensuring that the science behind using waste plastic for roads is accurate, and that future iterations of this concept are carried out with consideration for environmental health and safety.Green Roof SystemsThe Environmental Protection Agency defines a green roof as a “vegetative layer grown on a rooftop.” Today, green roof systems have become popular all over the world, not only for their beauty, but also for the benefits they provide toward environmental sustainability. Germany is currently leading the world in green roof technologies, and they have implemented green roofing systems on approximately 10% of German homes since the technology emerged in the early 1970s. Civil engineers are responsible for ensuring that the green roof’s supportive infrastructure—for instance, a comprehensive watering system—is engineered to consistently deliver an appropriate amount of resources, and the roof itself must be designed to effectively provide working improvements to environmental sustainability.However, civil engineers still face some obstacles when planning the installation and maintenance of green roof systems, like high costs and harsh climates, but innovations in modern engineering techniques for green roofing systems have allowed the industry to consistently offer the following environmental benefits to urban communities:Enhanced Urban Biodiversity: Green roofs accommodate new flora, which may act as new habitats for different species of plants and animals.Cooling of Buildings: The vegetation on the roof acts as thermal insulation, storing excess heat and decreasing peak temperatures within the building. This means less energy must be consumed to heat the building, resulting in decreased energy costs and lower pollutant emissions.Reduced Runoff Quantity: On average, green roofs retain 40-60% of total rainfall. Storing this rainwater as it falls has been shown to result in runoff reduction of 34% between September and February, and 67% between March and August. By reducing runoff, civil engineers that design green roof systems can limit strain on sewage systems and mitigate the costs of roof damage.Pollution Control: Green roofs are composed of plants that absorb nitrogen, lead, zinc, and airborne pollutants like carbon dioxide. This absorption also reduces the negative effects of acid rain by raising the pH values of acid rainwater before it becomes runoff water.Eco Floating HomesAffordable housing and overcrowding in cities are putting pressure on urban populations to make changes. To combat these issues, civil engineers are designing floating homes—practical living spaces that sit upon the water. The homes are designed to resist floods by floating on top of water using a foundation of concrete and Styrofoam, which makes them virtually unsinkable. This approach means that homes can be built in spaces that were previously off-limits, like rivers, lakes and other bodies of water. Civil engineers predict that modern floating home technology will lower the costs of flood damage in urban cities, while also providing compact inner-city populations with more diverse housing options.The concept of floating buildings is not new, as they can be found all over the world, especially in traditional Asian villages. Although with modern civil engineering knowledge, these structures—and the infrastructure needed to make them sustainable—are gradually becoming more reliable and easier to maintain. However, introducing this concept in urban environments with large populations will prove to be somewhat tricky, as structures being built within or on above-ground water sources could impact environments negatively by disturbing the natural state of the land beneath bodies of water (e.g. lake bottoms or the ocean floor). The effect of humans on the environment should not be underestimated either, so civil engineers will need to remain focused on creating systems that inhibit floating houses and their residents from disrupting local water ecosystems, while improving the viability of this technology for use in low-income areas.Vertical FarmingUsing multistory high-rises to grow food is known as “vertical farming,” and The Association for Vertical Farming has found that, when compared with traditional agricultural methods, growing food indoors uses 98 percent less water and 70 percent less fertilizer on average. To generate the amount of light and water necessary to keep plants healthy, while remaining as cost-effective as possible, vertical farmers use a combination of energy efficient LED lights and hydroponic technology (plumbing, irrigation, filtration). By implementing modern automation techniques to regulate these systems, civil engineers can also limit the cost of labor required to maintain these farms. The costs associated with vertical farming are still quite high, but as science in this field advances, civil engineers will be able to provide the populations of un-farmable regions with opportunities to grow their own natural produce.Many entrepreneurs and scientists are currently evaluating how growing food inside of buildings coincides with improving social and environmental sustainability. Vertical farms also have higher yields than traditional farms, allowing the production of more food, using far less urban space. Significant progress in the study of vertical farming could lead to improved food diversity, especially for residents of population-dense urban areas and in places that are normally unable to grow produce using traditional methods.Rainwater HarvestingHarvesting rainwater is a climate adaptation strategy that has been used in many ancient and modern societies. The antiquated rainwater harvesting techniques of the past were attempts to cope with severe climate conditions by storing the water as it fell, allowing populations to drink the water or prevent oversaturation of the land during extreme precipitation. Modern rainwater harvesting is fundamentally the same in theory, but advancements in science and engineering have introduced sophisticated filtration and rain-capturing technologies that boost the efficiency of the process.Dutch engineers and researchers have observed that effective large-scale implementation of rainwater harvesting infrastructure can reduce stormwater runoff by 20 to 50 percent, mitigating the strain that excess storm precipitation usually places on sewers and drainage systems. This is made possible by mounting rainwater catchment devices on the roofs of buildings, then routing the rainwater that is collected by the catchment through a treatment system and into a storage tank. To ensure the effectiveness of these rainwater-harvesting systems, the contents of each storage tank must be depleted before significant rainfall events occur. Therefore, civil engineers must obtain the knowledge and experience necessary to analyze the precipitation patterns and water usage rates of a region before installing any rainwater harvesting systems. With cost-effective approaches to the catchment, storage, and filtration technology used in rainwater harvesting currently being implemented and improved, large-scale rainwater collection is poised to become a widely used, economically viable solution to urban potable water shortages and stormwater management.Large cities often come with many social benefits, but there will always be disadvantages to having large populations that are constricted to a finite amount of space. Ensuring that humans can live sustainably in highly populated urban environments requires creative solutions to infrastructural issues like road safety, housing crises, and food and water shortages. An advanced degree in civil engineering will provide an individual with an in-depth understanding of the environmental, structural, and infrastructural engineering knowledge required to work with the civil engineering innovations listed above.