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This investigative study aims to study the mechanical and morphological properties of fly ash (FA)-based geopolymer paste as a repair material when applied on ordinary Portland cement (OPC) overlay concrete. The first part of this study investigates the optimal mix design of FA-based geopolymer paste with various NaOH concentrations of 8, 10, 12, and 14 M, which were used later as a repair material. The second part studies the bonding strength using a slant shear test between the geopolymer repair material and OPC substrate concrete. The results showed that a shorter setting time corresponds to the higher NaOH molarity, within the range of 53 and 30 min at 8 and 14 M, respectively. The compressive strength of FA-based geopolymer paste was found to reach 92.5 MPa at 60 days. Also, from the slant shear test results, prism specimens with 125 mm length and 50 mm wide have a large bond strength of 11 MPa at 12 M. The scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray (SEM/EDX) analysis showed that the OPC substrate has a significant effect on slant shear bond strength, where the presence of free cations of Ca2+ on the OPC substrate surface contributed to the formation of calcium alumina-silicate hydrate gel (C-A-S-H) by building various cross-links of Ca-O-Si.

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We evaluate the spatiotemporal trends of recent suspended sediment conditions in Japanese rivers. Statistical and spatiotemporal trend analysis is conducted on the 92 major rivers in Japan based on water quality monitoring data from 1992 to 2005. The Mann-Kendall non-parametric method was used to investigate the spatial and temporal trends for the suspended sediment indicator. Results show that the mean concentration of suspended sediments in Japanese rivers has generally declined in recent years, although there are still water quality problems at some monitoring sites (Kanto, Chubu, Kinki and Kyushu regions). A positive relationship between observed yearly discharge and suspended sediment load was found. Land use maps with 100 meter spatial resolution were used to apply an empirical model and develop a regression model for estimating annual suspended sediment loads directly from land use and hydrologic data. Rivers were assigned to three groups according to statistical cluster analysis of suspended sediment (SS) concentration. The correlation between the simulation result from the empirical model and the observed data had R(2) values of 0.62 and 0.71 for groups 2 and 3, and the correlation between the simulation result from the regression model and the observed data had R(2) values of 0.48 and 0.34 for groups 2 and 3. Results show that the proposed simulation technique can be used to predict the pollutant loads to river basins in Japan. Results also suggest prioritization methods and strategies that policy-makers can use to address suspended sediment pollution in rivers and water quality management in general.