Sustainable design in large-scale infrastructure projects, such as airports, is crucial for minimizing environmental impacts while ensuring long-term financial feasibility. This study focuses on selecting the most sustainable pavement solution for airport construction, using Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia as a case study. The purpose of this study is to evaluate four pavement alternatives using a multi-criteria decision-making approach to identify the optimal solution in terms of sustainability, cost-effectiveness, and feasibility. The alternatives were assessed based on nine key criteria, including environmental impact, durability, cost, and maintenance. The Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method ranks the alternatives, while the Fuzzy Analytic Network Process (FANP) calculates the criteria weights, addressing uncertainties and interdependencies. Geographic Information System (GIS) is integrated to incorporate spatial factors affecting pavement sustainability. The results show that the alternative using recycled materials (A4) is the most suitable, offering the best balance of sustainability and cost. A4 achieved the highest ranking in the evaluation, making it the recommended choice for the upcoming Tabuk Airport project. This study demonstrates the effective application of decision-making tools, such as TOPSIS, FANP, and GIS, in guiding sustainable infrastructure development and providing a replicable framework for similar projects worldwide.

Municipal management involves making decisions on various technical issues, and one such crucial aspect is the multicriteria decision-making process. When choosing suitable locations for wastewater treatment plants, it becomes necessary to consider a range of factors such as technical feasibility, economic viability, environmental impact, ecological aspects, and management requirements. However, evaluating these criteria and dealing with uncertainties can be complex. To address this challenge in the Tabuk region, a combination of two powerful analytical methods, the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) and geographical information system (GIS), were employed. The FAHP methodology allows for considering uncertainties and subjective judgements, while GIS provides spatial analysis capabilities. By combining FAHP and GIS, a thorough evaluation of potential wastewater treatment plant locations was conducted by determining the relative weights for each geospatial parameter. These weights were then used to generate a suitability map, visually representing the most favourable areas for site selection. The FAHP analysis resulted in higher importance given to the treatment plant’s distance to urban areas, followed by the distance to roads among the seven investigated parameters. The integrated FAHP-GIS model results show that the western parts of the region are most suitable for constructing wastewater treatment plants. These findings are valuable in facilitating multicriteria decision-making for identifying the optimum site in the area. In summary, integrating FAHP and GIS in the assessment process enables decision-makers to consider various technical, economic, environmental, ecological, and management aspects, thereby providing a comprehensive framework for site selection that can be replicated in other regions with different conditions. This approach enhances the decision-making process in municipal management and promotes more informed and effective planning in the Tabuk region.

The rapid urban growth in Saudi Arabia has intensified challenges in sustainable solid waste management, particularly in selecting suitable landfill sites that minimize environmental risks and protect public health. Tabuk Province, located in the northwest of the Kingdom, represents a region where arid climatic conditions, fragile ecosystems, and increasing urbanization make landfill sitting highly complex. Traditional decision-making approaches often struggle to capture uncertainties in expert opinions and spatial data, leading to less reliable outcomes. While Geographic Information Systems and Multicriteria Decision-Making have been applied to this field, the explicit integration of fuzzy logic remains limited, especially in arid regions. This study addresses this gap by combining the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process with Geographic Information Systems to establish a more robust framework for landfill site selection in Tabuk. Seven critical criteria were considered, including distance from major roads, airports, urban centers, coastlines, wetlands, and protected areas, with expert assessments analyzed through fuzzy reasoning to improve decision reliability. The results generated a spatial suitability map highlighting priority zones for landfill development, particularly in the western and southwestern areas of the province, where environmental sensitivity is lower and accessibility to infrastructure is greater. The findings emphasize that proximity to urban areas and road networks are dominant factors influencing suitability. The novelty of this study lies in its methodological integration, which enhances transparency, adaptability, and objectivity in landfill sitting. By promoting environmentally responsible waste management, the framework directly supports the Sustainable Development Goal of Good Health and Well-Being and the Sustainable Development Goal of Sustainable Cities and Communities, ensuring safer urban development and healthier living conditions. Moreover, the approach is transferable to other arid and semi-arid regions, offering valuable insights for countries facing similar challenges in sustainable urban planning.

Anchored sheet-pile walls (ASPWs) are widely used as earth-retaining structures in engineering practice. The difficulty in analyzing sheet piles arises because the loading on the wall is a function of the deformation of the soil and the sheet-pile configuration. This paper discusses the predictions of different theoretical solutions for ASPWs, and it briefly presents and discusses four main theories of ASPWs: the two distribution theories, the finite element method, and Rowe’s theory. The effect of different influencing factors on the behavior and design of ASPWs is also examined. The above theoretical solutions are evaluated experimentally through measurements of strains, deflections, tie-rod force, and tie-rod yield on a small-scale sheet-pile model tested in a sandbox. The four theories provide an acceptable analytical solution for the ASPW problem under the given conditions. However, no theory fully predicts the behavior of ASPWs over the entire range of the different design parameters: soil conditions, sheet-pile flexibility, dredge depth, anchor location, and anchor yield. This paper proposes simple charts and tables for SPW design based on extrapolation between distribution theories while accounting for sheet pile flexibility and other influencing parameters. Illustrating examples for the proposed design procedure are provided.