This study presents the results of in-situ field stabilization of clay soil using Lime, Dolerite and Quartzite powders. The rock samples were collected from Oghi village and Misri Banda village of Mansehra District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. A 415m2site comprised of loose clay in village of Haripur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was selected for field stabilization. In order to implement the experimental plan, eight test pits were dug and soil samples were collected from each pit to determine their major geotechnical properties. The raw soil contained Kaolinite, Illite and Montmorillonite and hence characterized as CH type according to the Unified Classification System. Later, different amounts of Lime were added to the retrieved samples and it was found that an addition of 6% Lime causes significant impact on soil properties. Following a steady augment by 10%, a maximum of 30% Dolerite and Quartzite powder were separately mixed with each of the 6% Lime-added soil samples. The resulting mixed soils were placed back into their respective pits and compacted slightly using compaction vibrator. and Standard penetration, field density and plate load tests were performed on each test pit. Finally, soil samples were extracted from all the test pits and the values of their direct shear box and Atterberg limits were measured. The results demonstrate that the addition of Dolerite and Quartzite leads to a significant increase in the bearing capacity, dry density, penetration resistance and angle of internal friction and thus improves the performance of the formerly Lime-stabilized soil by drastically decreasing its compressibility. The resulting improvement is mainly due to the denser and less hydrophilic character of the constituents of the added rock powders as compared with the Lime and raw soil. It has also been found that the magnitude of impact on the soil properties by Dolerite and Quartzite is notably different owing to the difference in mineralogical composition and physical characteristics of individual minerals present both rock types. This study would help construction engineers for better soil treatment.
This article builds on the emerging tradition of transnationalism in migration research, which considers both migrants’ ‘making a home’ in their host societies and their continued attachments to their places of origin as parallel processes. It examines the factors that influence migrants’ simultaneous negotiation of ‘belonging’ in the home and host societies. This question is particularly significant in the ‘liquid’ context of free intra-EU mobility. The analysis is based on semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted in 2014–2016 with 41 Czech migrants who had moved to the United Kingdom in 1990–2015. Building on existing research of Central and Eastern European migration, the article shows that despite their diverse trajectories, most interviewees strive for ‘grounded’ lives with a family and a predictable future. Their sense of ‘belonging’ is affected by their reasons for coming to and staying in the UK, but especially by the presence or absence of agency; whether the migrant’s decision to stay was voluntary or dependent. Aspects of the individual’s migration situation and personal characteristics are also shown to structure migrant belonging. The concept of a ‘leap of faith’ is introduced to capture the role of a conscious commitment to settling in the host country, both physically and mentally, and thus re-gaining ‘control’ over one’s migration trajectory in cases when the decision to stay was not made independently.
This article presents the results of a 2019 rescue excavation of an Upper Palaeolithic settlement at Kouty III in Hlinsko u Lipníka in Central Moravia. The excavation took place due to a planned enlargement of the local greywacke mine. Lithic artefacts were found in Quaternary sediments redeposited by slope processes. The density of artefacts was quite low; therefore, it was not possible to recover them using a standard archaeological excavation and most of them were collected on the mounds of dirt beside the trenches excavated by a mechanical excavator, or during an excavation of the Eneolithic barrows situated in the south-western part of the site. A total of 106 lithic pieces were found during this excavation. Eighteen of the artefacts lacked a patinated surface, thus they were attributed to the Eneolithic period. A collection of 88 patinated lithics was classified as Aurignacian based on technological and typological characteristics. Most of the artefacts were made on erratic flint, however radiolarite, quartzite, spongolite and Moravian Jurassic chert were present as well. The technology was based on production of blades and bladelets from Upper Palaeolithic prismatic cores. These bladelets could have been used as components of composite tools. One tool set is similar to the neighbouring site Kouty I (Škrdla 2007) and consists of nine burins, three splintered pieces, one thick end scraper and two tool fragments. A bifacial triangular point that was found at Kouty I (Demidenko et al. 2018) and at several other surface sites in the surrounding area, were not found here. Despite this fact it is possible to classify this site as Evolved Aurignacian of the so-called Morava River type (Klíma 1978), which is quite common in this region.