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Go to Editorial ManagerWadi Houran is one of the largest valleys in Iraq. Although it is discharging billions of rainfall water over/during many years to Euphrates river, it's almost devoid of agricultural investment. The current study aims to focus on this important valley water resource and study the possibility of constructing a series of small dams to store rainfall water and planting forestry and establishing a natural reserve that is able to sustain and improve ecology system. Target area of 4000 km2 is selected in the midstream of the valley. In general, it is about one billion m3 of rainwater flowing to Euphrates River during some years with yearly average values about 400 Mm3. Four dams were constructed to store about 46 Mm3 of rainwater. It is possible to construct small-dam-series of optimal height and location to expand the rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharging. A Current study was done and aimed to establish of oases and natural reserves in order to improve climate conditions, minimize the dust and CO2, mitigation of summer high temperature and decrease the soil erosion due to torrents. This study recommended constructing 13 optimal height dams that store about 303 Mm3 of water, and increase the water surface area of reservoirs in this valley from 15 to 90 km2which leads increase the water volume that is recharging ground water from 4.7 Mm3 to 28 Mm3 per year.
Deep excavations in urban areas require reliable retaining systems to ensure stability and prevent damaging adjacent infrastructure. Contiguous pile walls (CPWs) are widely used in space-constrained projects, although their behavior in silty soils under staged excavation conditions is less well explored. This study experimentally investigates the lateral displacement behavior of CPWs using a physical model, focusing on four governing parameters: pile spacing, surcharge load, soil unit weight, and moisture content. A rigid model chamber was constructed with instrumented CPWs, where dial gauges measured the lateral displacement during sequential excavation. Results show that surcharge load and moisture content are the most adverse parameters: lateral displacement increased by up to 200% under a 50 kPa surcharge and by more than 50% with higher moisture content. In contrast, increased soil unit weight had a substantial effect on decreasing lateral displacement by more than 50%. Pile spacing regulated the efficiency of soil arching with the closer spacing mobilizing stronger load transfer and limiting deflection and wider spacing weakening the arching and increasing movement. These findings offer practical recommendations for the design and monitoring of excavation support systems in urban settings, where displacement control is critical for maintaining the stability of the walls and preventing damage to adjacent infrastructure.