There are several factors affect the determination of the best location for schools, however, it is very difficult to satisfy by one method for location determination. These factors can be classified to environmental, economic, technical and political social demands. In this study, a frame work, depended on analytic hierarchy process, for determination of the best location an ArcGIS10.1 software was applied to deal with geographical information system and uncertainty situations. Nine sets were used in this study: distance from emergency facilities, distance from existing schools, distance from roads, distance from rivers, distance from railway, distance from land use, distance from gas pipe and population density. Four scores then were found depending on normalizing of the nine sets: Unsuitable, Less Suitable, Suitable and Most Suitable areas. This research aims to find the best locations for primary schools by creating a model which applied into construction and making digital maps and hard copy for the schools that can be updated with demanded. Using GIS will make a huge development in selecting the locations of new schools and also can be applied in different other sectors.

No abstract

No abstract

This paper experimentally investigated the effect of using nanomaterials to improve soft soils. Laboratory experimental tests were carried out on loessial soils collected from two different sites in Romania. Two different types of nanomaterials were used in this research, which is namely Nano-MgO with different percentages (0.5%, 0.75%, 1%, and 2%), and Nano-Al2O3 with percentages (0.5%,1%, and 2%), were added to the soil samples, to study their effect on the strength, consistency limits and compressibility of the soil. Treated soil samples were compacted using the modified Proctor test procedure and tested. The results of the investigations showed that the addition of nanomaterials to the soil may help to enhance the geotechnical properties. the compressibility and the strength of the treated soils increase with the increase in the amount of nanomaterials, Also, the addition of nanomaterials to the cohesive soils showed a small effect on the microstructure of the soil samples. As expected, the improvement is dependent on the type and amount of the nanomaterials. The results have been compared with 2% soil mixtures with cement.