The most common method used to strengthening, rehabilitation or repairing of reinforced concrete (RC) members is to use external carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets. CFRP can greatly improve the flexural and shear capacity of deteriorated members and therefore extends their useful life. The main problem of external CFRP is the debonding of the sheets from the concrete surface at some point of loading, which negatively affects the efficiency of strengthening and may consequently lead to an unanticipated failure of the strengthened members. The major reason for this early debonding is likely due to the low accuracy of the preparation and the high stress concentration at the flat contact area exists between CFRP sheets and the concrete. The problem has been extensively discussed in the literature and some CFRP application techniques such as “Externally Bonded Reinforcement on Grooves (EBROG)” and “Externally Bonded Reinforcement in Grooves (EBRIG)” have been proposed as alternatives to the conventional application methods. Although some research has been carried out, there have been few experimental investigations that provided quantitative discussion of the efficiency of the new developed techniques. This research was aimed to experimentally assess the efficiency of grooving techniques and to provide a quantitative data regarding the behaviour of bonding between CFRP and concrete. The effects of shape and direction of the grooves and CFRP layers on the load carrying capacity, mid-span deflection and failure mode of thirteen RC beams have been investigated and discussed. In general, CFRP has significantly improved the flexural capacity of strengthened beams especially when grooving technique has been employed.

Marshlands in arid and semi-arid areas are considered constantly changing environments due to unsecured water supplies as a result of high evapotranspiration and limited and highly variable rainfall. Classification of marshlands in these regions and mapping of their land cover is not an easy task and maps need to be upgraded frequently. Satellites provide enormous amounts of information and data for the continuous monitoring of changes. The aim of this paper is to introduce an approach using multispectral satellite imagery that was adopted to classify and monitor the Al Hammar Marsh (Iraq) over several years and to suggest a relationship between the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), the Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI), and the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), using Landsat 8 data with a resolution of 30 m × 30 m, validated with Sentinel-2 datasets at 10 m × 10 m. Six land cover classes were used: (1) open water, (2) dry area, (3) dense vegetation, (4) medium-density vegetation, (5) sparse vegetation, and (6) wet soil. Three indices, NDWI, NDMI, and NDVI, were chosen for the automatic classification of each pixel and the creation of a time series of land cover maps. The proposed method can efficiently classify and monitor marshlands and can be used to study different marshlands by adjusting the thresholds for NDVI, NDMI, and NDWI. Overall, the correlation for all classes (R) between Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2 is about 0.78. Thus, this approach will help to preserve marshes through improved water management.

Southern Iraq or lower Mesopotamia has a crucial role in Iraq’s economy due to its agricultural resources and unique wetland areas. Today southern Iraq, which is historically considered the birthplace of the development of early farming communities and the domestication of plants, is experiencing a drastic water resources crisis which is driven by both natural and human-induced reasons such as climate change, long periodical drought and water resources mismanagement practices. Despite the severity of the crisis, there is a lack of integrated and comprehensive assessments addressing the current state of water resources in southern Iraq. This paper aims to fill this gap by providing an in-depth review of the factors affecting water resources in the region. The current situation of water resources is analyzed using different indicators such as water availability in marshes, salinity variation along Shatt al-Arab river and surface of cultivated areas. This paper reviews previous studies, summarizes the current situation, analyzes the key challenges, and explores a range of potential solutions for further investigation. This study analysis is essential for guiding advanced research efforts that offer deeper insight into the challenges and propose practical solutions. This paper identifies key topics for future research to address the water crisis.

The brackish water of the Main Outfall Drain (MOD) is supplied to the west part of Al Hammar Marsh to overcome the shortage of water supply and prevent dryness of the marsh. However, salts started to accumulate in high concentrations in the marsh as the MOD water contains high salt concentrations. This study aims to find an optimal outlet location in the west part of Al Hammar Marsh to drain out the water of the marsh back to the (MOD). Hydrodynamic and water quality distribution mathematical models for the marsh were developed to specify the depths of water, flow velocity profiles, and the distribution of salt concentrations in the marsh. The obtained hydrodynamic properties and the quality of the water within the marsh area were used as indicators for selecting the optimal outlet location among five suggested locations at six operation conditions. Results showed that the water depth, velocity profiles, and concentration of the total dissolved solids (TDS) are affected by the location, discharge, the concentration of the TDS of the feeders, location of the outlet, the topographic characteristics at the upstream of outlet, and evapotranspiration. It is found that the third location of the outlet, located at E=699003 and N=3404760, gives the minimum deterioration in the concentration of the TDS, depending on the overall distribution of TDS concentrations.

Preserving wetlands in arid and semi-arid areas is a difficult duty because of a shortage of water to supply, and sometimes the available water is brackish. Bas Preserving wetlands in arid and semi-arid areas is a difficult duty because of a shortage of water to supply, and sometimes the available water is brackish. Bas