On May 12, 2008, a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 (Ms) struck Wenchuan town, in the eastern Sichuan area of west China. Following the earthquake on May 18, the Southwest Jiaotong University organized a damage survey team and dispatched it to the affected area for the investigation into the damage and collection of information and data. This paper outlines the findings of this investigation on the earthquake disaster to mountain tunnels and geotechnical engineering. The systematic investigation, involving geological conditions, design documents, construction and maintenance records of the tunnels, has been conducted and the degree of damage to investigated tunnels has been assessed according to the width and length of cracks, the stability of the slope above the tunnel, and the condition of the groundwater inrush. The results show that the major damage of the mountain tunnels was mainly concentrated in the tunnel portals due to widespread landslides and rockfalls, and the inner part of investigated tunnels suffered moderate damages mainly due to fault displacements. It is hoped that the information shared herein could enhance the outstanding of seismic behavior of mountain tunnels and improve seismic design and construction procedures. damage investigation, wenchuan earthquake, mountain tunnels, ground failures

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

The household sector is a major driver of energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, most existing studies have only estimated households’ carbon footprint from their expenditures. Households’ daily activity time, a scarce resource that limits and determines their consumption behavior, has rarely been integrated into the estimation. Incorporating the daily time-use patterns should thus provide a more practical perspective for mitigation policies aiming at promoting sustainable household lifestyles. In this study, by linking household time-use data and expenditure data of Japan, the carbon footprint and the GHG intensity of time of 85 daily household activities constituting the 24 hours in a day are estimated. Compared to the maximal 20-activity disaggregation in existing studies, our detailed 85-category disaggregation of daily time enables unprecedented details on the discrepancies between the carbon footprint from daily activities, many of which have previous been treated as one activity. Results indicate significant carbon mitigation potential in activities with a high GHG intensity of time, such as cooking, bathing, and mobility-related and activities. Average daily GHG emissions were also found to be higher on weekends as time-use patterns shift from paid work to free-time activities, highlighting the need for mitigation strategies on a weekly scale.