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In today's urbanizing world, home of 28 megacities, there is a growing need for tools to assess urban policies and support the design and implementation of effective development strategies. Unsustainable practices of urbanization bring major implications for land and environment, and cause a dramatic increase of urban vulnerability to natural hazards. In Istanbul megacity, disaster risk reduction represents a challenging issue for urban managers. In this paper, we show the relevance of the space-borne Differential SAR Interferometry (DInSAR) technique as a tool for supporting risk management, and thus contributing to achieve the urban sustainability. To this aim, we use a dataset of high resolution SAR images collected by the TerraSAR-X satellite that have been processed through the advanced (multi-temporal) Small BAseline Subset (SBAS)-DInSAR technique, thus producing spatially-dense deformation velocity maps and associated time-series. Results allow to depict an up-to-date picture of surface deformations occurring in Istanbul, and thus to identify urban areas subject to potential risk. The joint analysis of remotely sensed measurements and ancillary data (geological and urban development information) provides an opportunity for city planners and land professionals to discuss on the mutual relationship between urban development policies and natural/man-made hazards.

In this study, a series of laboratory tests on 100‐mm‐diameter high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) 100 PE flexible pipe buried in poorly graded Sile quartz sand with different relative densities are described. The laboratory tests were performed in a 40‐mm‐thick plexiglass fronted test tank that replicated a classical trench section in field conditions. The HDPE flexible pipe was positioned against the glass with its longitudinal axis perpendicular to the glass. This allowed direct observation of the backfill–pipe interactions. Three high‐definition photogrammetric cameras were used to capture the photogrammetric images through the glass allowing the discrete measurement and image processing of the deformation patterns of the pipe conduit during the pipe installation and incremental surcharge loading. Vertical loads were applied in increments of 10–150 kPa using air pressure membranes. Electric resistant strain gauges measured the bending moments of the pipe walls under vertical surcharge loadings. For each loading step, the vertical deformation of the pipe crown was also measured using linear position transducers. According to the test results, it is understood that the installation technique and backfill relative density have an important effect on circumferential strains, performance, and deformation characteristics of HDPE pipes. It was also observed that close‐range image processing is a very simple and appropriate method for measuring three‐dimensional pipe deformations under various conditions.

Alibey Dam is located near Istanbul in Turkey on the Alibey Stream, 4.5 km north of its point of confluence with Golden Horn, an ancient submerged river mouth. It was constructed as an earthfill dam over 30-m-thick soft valley sediments. Before the construction of the dam, field and laboratory tests were performed to determine the geotechnical characteristics of the foundation soils. During the construction and many years after the construction of the earthfill embankments, including the cofferdams and the intermediate fills, the response of the foundation soils was monitored by extensive field instrumentation generating a unique long-term ͑over 25 years͒ database. With proper instrumentation and careful monitoring of the collected data, field construction rates could be adjusted and the earth dam was safely constructed on the thick soft deposits. Approaches to settlement prediction were evaluated in a historical context, starting with the simplified one-dimensional approach available at the time of construction to more sophisticated analyses including the employment of modern numerical methods, in terms of the recorded data. Standard subsurface exploration and field testing supplemented with conventional laboratory testing provided the relevant material parameters that were used in the finite element method. The only exception to this was the overall hydraulic conductivity of the deposit, which controlled the rate of consolidation. Early field observations were used to assign the appropriate hydraulic conductivity. An elastoplastic soil model in a coupled analysis of consolidation was employed in the analysis that yielded realistic predictions of field behavior in response to the complex construction history. The accurate prediction and monitoring of the behavior of soft and thick soil layers subjected to staged construction, as in the case of Alibey Dam, is very important for planning of the construction as well as the expected behavior after construction.

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