The Different Methods Of Flood Prevention

The Different Methods Of Flood Prevention In the sixth week of the first semester of the current academic year I was informed that I would have to write a technical report on a topic of my choice as well give a presentation on the same topic. After reading around for interesting and relevant topics as well as correspondence with my personal tutor I chose the topic of Methods of Flood Prevention for the report. Starting my research I made use of the library and internet to increase my knowledge of the subject as well as find research and discussions by experts in the subject. On the tenth week I gave short presentation on the subject that I presented to my peers this was successful. Furthermore the purpose of this report is to investigate and outline methods of both preventing and dealing with floods, primarily by restricting the places where the water is allowed to flow. This report will span though the causes of flooding, the dangers finally looking at different methods mankind have used to limit the effects of flooding wo rldwide though a range of solutions, some starting simple and overtime becoming more complex. An initial examination of flooding Cause Flooding is caused by large surges of water over a short period of time this causes existing draining systems, wither natural or manmade to become overwhelmed. This occurs because the ground becomes saturated and is no longer able to absorb more water, in addition other drainage such as rivers, drain pipes and reservoirs may be filled faster than they are able to drain, this causes the excess water to accumulate. The rapid surge of water can come from a variety of different sources as well as a combination of sources. According to J.A.A. Jones heavy rainfall is usually a prime initiator of flooding worldwide. The key characteristics may include any combination of rainfall intensity, duration, area and location relative to the drainage network. {{J.A.A Jones 2000}} Other sources include tidal surges, hurricanes, tsunamis, rapid melting of ice or snow. Blockages of drainage systems such as rivers streams and sewers can also cause flooding if water isnt able to be drained away normally. Risks Flooding causes a variety of problems ranging from the short term and more immediately evident risks to long term risks. Immediate risks are often the greatest danger in terms of risk to human life. Immediate risks pose great danger to human life. According to the world health organization {{World Health Organisation 2010}} floods greatly increase the risk of the spread of communicable diseases. Water-borne diseases, such as typhoid fever, and cholera are likely to spread during flooding due to possible contamination of water supplies especially if the floodwater becomes contaminated by sewerage. Vector -borne diseases are those spread by carriers, floods can lead to a large increase in the habitat of for example mosquitoes which are spreaders of malaria. The sheer mass of water causes risks to anyone trapped in the affected, area, bursting gas pipes, collapsing structures, and drowning. Long term risks, flooding causes millions of pounds of damage to buildings. After a major flood economic instability is likely to follow, Loss of business, damage to stock and even loss of tourism income. Some countries that have been devastated by floods may suffer the consequences long after the water has subsided, food supplies being destroyed and other economic losses may lead of widespread poverty and famine. Hence the limitation of floods is essential to the well being of any community. Flood Defences Over the last few centuries many countries have developed and put in place different measures to control the position of water a limit the effects of heavy freak or seasonal rain, tides as well as tropical storm weather. There are two main branches both closely connected to one another. One is concerned with protecting from floods by preventing or limiting their effects from occurring, the other is concerned with predicting when, how often and how severely floods will strike. Reservoirs According to Collins a reservoir can be described as A natural or artificial lake for storing water for community use {{ Collins Language 2009}} Reservoirs can be considered a useful form of flood control especially in areas of irregular rain patterns, such as high rainfall in some seasons followed by periods of drought. This way water can be stored during periods of rainfall and then released or used in the community over a longer period of time. Dams Dams are often part of a reservoir system; the advantage of dams is they are able to act as more than just a flood defence, they are good sources to be used for hydroelectric power stations. Dams however pose a flood risk caused by dam failure, if improperly built. Dams are also sometimes spanned across rivers or lakes, one example of such damn being the Wilson Damn is dam spanning the Tennessee River. The gates are used to slow or increase the rate of flow through the damn, for the purpose of controlling the water as well as generating large amounts of electricity. Sea Barriers Sea barriers are a very effective form of flood protection protecting from sea water. They are useful in places where a costal which are at great risk of flooding from high tides. These can be permanent walls or erecting barriers, examples of such would be the Thames Barrier in London and the Maeslantkering in The Nederlands. The Maeslantkering with its extremely impressive dimensions consists of two 210 meter wide gates that are 22meters high and is hence one of the biggest moving structures on the planet. The purpose of these gates to protect The Nederlands from storm surges. The construction of this barrier took over 6 years to build and was completed in 1997. This is advantageous versus other types of barriers as the fact that it is able to move to allow ships access into The Nederlands. It operates automatically using weather data and closes when there are surges higher than 3 meters over normal are predicted. The automatic computer systems of the Maeslantkering automatically alerts all traffic in advance to halt their course until further notice if the barrier is intended to close. The Nederlands having large portions of its land below sea level such that two-thirds of its population lives there, is at high risk of increasing sea levels and have over the last few hundred years taken many steps to re claim more and more land from the sea have some of the best flood defences in the Europe. It is hence important that barriers such as the Maeslantkering exist especially in this day and age with the uncertainty concerning rise levels and the continued treat of global climate change. The barrier and other flood defences in The Nederlands are designed to protect the country from floods of estimated frequency of 1 in 10,000 years. The Thames Barrier in London was completed in 1984 and is designed to protect the city of London from being flooded by large surges of water from the Atlantic Ocean. I consist of 4 main gates as well as several smaller gates; the barriers themselves fill with water and lay submerged when they are not in use, the water in these gates drain out when the barriers are raised. The raising of the barrier is controlled and decided upon using several checks, including predictions not only from its own forecasting systems but also those from the Met Office. Like the Maeslantkering the computer system at the Thames Barrier automatically alerts all traffic coming towards and inside London to cease course and stand by up to 9 hours before it needs to close. Levees Levees are slopes of land or walls that are to control water levels next to rivers or the coast. According to {{R. A. Guisepi 2008}} they where first built in the Indus Valley Civilisation over 4.6 thousand years ago. Around the world they are quite popular and very effective as a form of large scale flood control present in rivers both across Europe and in the United States, for example the Mississippi River as while as the Rhine which stretches across seven European counties. Although so widely used and trusted levees are not in fact that reliable when improperly secured especially when it comes to the most extreme weather, most notably during Hurricane Katrina there was wide scale failure in New Orleans. They work by controlling the size and shape of the river, as a result may even change the speed at which the river flows. Storm drains Storm drains are systems that are designed to drain rainwater from roofs, paved areas and roads. They generally consist of a series of underground pipes that lead into a reservoir. The areas to be drained are usually tilted at a small angle so that any water that fell on these areas would not remain stagnant, instead would run off into these drainage systems. This process is essential as rainwater is not able to easily penetrate paved areas, this would otherwise cause regular flooding of urbanised areas. The water that runs the tilted pavement runs along little valleys into storm drain entrances. These are usually grids to prevent too objects from falling down, although quite large holes to prevent them becoming blocked. These drains are fitted with traps much like those in a house-hold sink, in this case called a gulley-pot, like traps in sinks they are prevent rising foul gasses to be escape the sewers. As a result of accumulating sediment in these traps require regular maintenance especially during the autumn season where leaves and loose soil are likely to be washed into them, this is easily done using specially designed trucks with their own pumps to simply suck out any blockage, I minor inconvenience to road users however, necessary none the less. Storm drains date back over 4000 years ago according to {{C Michael Hogan 2007}} where evidence of them has been found in Crete. There are several building regulations connected to the storm drains. Flood plains Are pieces of land that are usually nearby rivers and are usually very prone to being flooded, this land may because of the proximity to fresh water be very fertile and good for transportation, but control and awareness of developments and usage of these pieces of land are essential for the safety of those living on these areas. Steps such as flood insurance, and evacuation procedures must be put into place to prevent great loss of life or possession. Temporary structures Temporary flood barriers are available from a large range of sources online. There are businesses which specialise in fast erecting cheap but incredibly effective flood barriers which can provide protection on a small scale for specific buildings. These types of barriers can consist of a number of things, for example inflatable barriers or strong polymer barriers that lock into alleyways or doors. Packing bags of sand may also be done as a way of protecting areas that are sensitive to flood waters such as power stations. An example of one such company which I discussed in my talk was Revetment Limited claiming to be able to erect barriers 20 meters can be erected in less than 15 minutes {{Revetment Limited 2003}} Environment Agency In the United Kingdom the Environment Agency issues flood maps which consists of area based risks assessments for the whole of England and Whales; anyone can request copies of theses maps or simply view them online. They outline which parts of the country are at risk of flooding, to what degree, and from what source. If for example I was to look at a flood map and zoom onto the area that is Loughborough I could see that there is very low risk of flooding and only river flooding, at the canals especially near the leisure centre. In addition whenever any landscaping or building work is to be done there is a requirement that a risk assessment of the area is to be carried out; not only on the area being developed but on the affect that this development would have on the surrounding area and wither it would increase the flood risk of this area. The development would have to not interfere with the drainage of the area surrounding, all this is outlines within Planning Policy Statement 25: D evelopment and Flood Risk {{The Environment Agency 2009}} Meteorological There are scientists out there who devote their entire careers to understanding and predicting the way that the weather will sway. They make use of measurements of air pressure, air temperature, weather balloons and in more recent years weather satellites. These organisations are essential and one of the frontier lines as far as flood defence goes. They provide data for the engineers to build upon, they also provide the data for certain emergency system to run for example, evacuation of high risk areas the raising for flood barriers such as the Thames and the Maeslantkering. One of the most essential qualities of such an organisation, for example the UK Met Office is making predictions clear and ahead of time then communicating with the necessary authorities and making sure the what needs to be done is carrier out. Frequency Based Risk Assessment Frequency analysis can be based either on annual maximum (AM) data or peak-over-threshold (POT) data. The AM series comprises the largest rainfall observed in each year whereas POT data consists of the time and magnitude of rainfalls exceeding a threshold. {{Duncan. F 1999}} Frequency based risk assessment is process used by meteorologists to provide estimations for governments, engineers, and insurance companies alike. Currently frequency based estimations are being used in the Netherlands to set the heights of the river dikes. Hoekstra explains so in an article for the journal Natural Hazards In the Netherlands the current dike design policy is to design flood defence structures corresponding to an agreed flooding probability with an extra safety board of at least 0.5 m. {{Hoekstra, Arjen Y. 2008}} He later goes on to explain that A problem with this strategy is that it builds on assumptions with regard to the intrinsically uncertain probably distributions for the peak discharges. {{Hoekstra, Arjen Y. 2008}}. As explained by the above quote these analyses and risk assessments are rather vital as it provides engineers and designers for a template to design other flood defences to. Without this data we would simply be building walls and would have no idea how high they would need to be and how likely it would be to be a sufficient or effective flood defence. It also sometimes hints on patterns of likely hood on when a flood is likely to occur. In years to come however these estimations become more and more unreliable as sea levels increase and climate patterns that have been observed for hundreds of years slowly change. Conclusions Floods are an unavoidable natural process caused by large surges of water in short periods of time, leaving the drainage system that is in place, wither man made or natural unable to cope regardless if it simply controls where the water is kept or even controls how to dissipate the water. Therefore we have to do everything in our powers to limit the damage caused by these floods as to ensure the livelihood of the people of the community. Wither we believe that the oncoming climate change is due to human negligence or if it simply part of longer cycle of changes we must consider the steps to prepare for the worse. Even if we do build defences and there turns out to be no massive rise in sea levels it may still be useful to prepare because when the proof arrives it may already be too late. Furthermore such a large building project could be beneficial to many communities providing not only security but employment and economic stability. In this report outlined the different measures tha t can be taken both as emergencies and on the long term, including but not limited the storing of water in reservoirs, the use of sea barriers, levees, storm drains, temporary emergency structures, and proper planning and predictions. In the light this, I would suggest that other countries follow the example of the Nederlands and attempt to provide its most sensitive areas with flood defence that is capable of protecting from one in 10,000 year storms, as it is a lifetime investment that will provide long term piece of mind regardless of wither it will be used against freak floods or used to protect people on the advent of global sea levels continuing to rise.

Performance Management Plan Essay

A performance management system allows a business to maximize its efficiency through the sum of all its parts. Controlling employee’s behavior, maximizing employee efforts, and minimizing unproductive down town, is at the heart of a performance management system. In fact, according to Clardy (2013), â€Å"†¦a performance management system is the total complex of factors that trigger, channel, and maintain productive task performance.† (pg.1, para.2) Making sure employees are doing their job is no longer an efficient method of performance management. According to Cascio (2013), performance management can be thought of as a compass (pg. 332, para. 3). A compass will indicate current location and be a guide towards a desired direction. Thus, performance management helps businesses understand the current state of an employee’s performance and the desired outcome and direction in which to monitor and measure. Ensuring that an employee’s efforts are having a positive effect on business strategy becomes a key component of performance management. Moreover, human capital and performance management involves understanding how to align human capital management efforts to business strategies. Therefore, understanding how to align limo driver behaviors towards business strategy will be an indicator of the effectiveness of Landslide’s Limo performance management system. To facilitate the effort of recommending a performance management plan several issues will be addressed. First, how to align performance management to business strategy will be examined. Second, the philosophy of the organization performance will be explained. Third, a job analysis process will be conducted to identify the skills needed by employees and methods for measuring those skills will be detailed. Next, the process or processes for addressing skill gaps will be explained and lastly, the approach for delivering effective performance feedback will be determined. Aligning Performance Management to Business Strategy What becomes apparent, in maximizing employee efforts, is how human resources aligns human capital and performance management with business strategy. However, according to Schiemann (2007), â€Å"It’s a tough challenge when you consider that, on average, fewer than 20 percent of employees know their organization’s business strategy.† Therefore, what becomes a key issue is ensuring that employees have a clear understanding of the organizations business strategy. Fortunately, Landslide Limousine has a straightforward approach when it comes to business strategy, however, a few recommendations for further growth will also be included in this assessment and how to align performance management with the recommendations. Landslide Limousine has a business strategy of being comparable to other limousine services in the Austin area, hiring 25 employees, ensuring world class customer service, and achieving five percent revenue growth over the next two years. In addition, we would recommend furthering growth opportunities within a specialty limousine market, offering non-traditional fleet options for non-traditional customers. The performance management system should be clear and concise and the recommendation would be for a simple but effective performance management system. The first recommendation would be to clearly communicate the business strategy to all employees and ensure understanding through a survey of acknowledgement. It is important that all employees, especially limo drivers, understand the importance of how excellent customer service will effect business strategy and secondary benefits like pay. Second, setting smart targets for service and sales, monitoring and evaluating how employees achieve smart targets and sales. From initial contact and during limo service, upselling services and upgrades on every customer interaction, are important smart targets. Like McDonald’s, when an order is placed, employees will ask if the customer wants fries or a drink with their order, the same can be done with smart targets. When a customer orders limo service, asking if they would prefer a larger or more exotic limo would help align smart targets with strategy. Furthermore, monitoring smart targets could be completed using costumer surveys. Ensuring employees are properly supported throughout the process; evaluating performance and finally, further support through training and development. After a customer has completed their limousine service, managers will evaluate customer surveys  and offer any performance evaluation if necessary and any further training to ensure employees are attempting to upsell customers on services. Following this framework is essential in aligning performance management with business strategy and maximizing employee efforts towards business goals. Organizational performance philosophy Performance management is essential in creating an organization that is high performing and supporting employee development (Yale.edu, 2010). Therefore the organizational performance philosophy should align performance management processes towards the goals of performance planning, review, coaching, and development. First, employees are responsible for communicating about performance and ensuring that they are successful towards the development and continually striving for customer service excellence in support of organizational strategy. Next, management is responsible for ensuring that employees understand their performance goals and fully supported during and after development and assisted through performance reviews to ensure that goals are being obtained and that employees have all support and support resources. Ultimately, it will be the responsibility for the organization to provide an effective and impartial performance management system that encourages excellent performance, communication, and proper conveyance of a properly managed performance management infrastructure (Berkley.edu, 2014). Job Analysis and Necessary Employee Skills A job analysis allows an organization to clearly understand a position and the necessary skills employees must possess in order to functionally manage the position. In fact according to hrcouncil.ca (2014) Job analysis is a process for systematically collecting information to help you fully understand and describe the duties and responsibilities of a position as well as the knowledge, skills and abilities required to do the job. The aim is to have a complete picture of the position – what is actually done and how. With the knowledge and understanding of the expectations of a position, surmising the skillset necessary to competently fulfill positions becomes critical. Having a clear picture of the skills needed will be the frontline in aligning performance management with business strategy. First we must  define and identify necessary positions for Landslide Limousines. The necessary positions will be limousine drivers, customer service agents or office administration, fleet vehicle detailers or individuals who will be responsible for stocking limousines and detailing vehicles before and after customer use. Lastly, job analysis for supervisor and management positions must be ascertained for future purposes and to clarify the skill set necessary to help initiate the organizations performance management. Each position will require a broad spectrum of specific skills necessary, however, in general a job analysis will consist of: Summary of duties Details of most common duties Supervisory responsibilities Educational requirements Special qualification Experience Equipment/tools used Frequency of supervision Others the incumbent must be in contact with Authority for decision making Responsibility for records/reports/files Working conditions Physical demand of the job Mental demands of the job To identify the skills necessary for a limousine driver a few position details must be examined. First, drivers will be required to have the ability to drive limousine type vehicles such as stretch limousines and all over-sized limousines. Drivers must also be able to safely drive vehicles that can transport over fifteen people and have their Texas commercial driver’s license to accompany. Having the ability to clarify job duties as a driver will help ascertain the skills necessary to be a driver for Landslide. Support and administration positions must have the ability to communicate effectively and have attention to detail. Clarifying how support and administration positions will work in tangent with drivers will also be essential in understanding the skills necessary for both positions. Lastly, clearly defining management and supervisory so it becomes incumbent to have  a full understanding of how the entertainment and transportation industry works so that the individual can identify performance management aspects and how to properly align them to organizational strategy. Methods of Measuring Employees Skills and Addressing Skills Gap Having the ability to measure employee skills at initial hire and during employment can help in development and training and allocated support. Furthermore, understanding how to address any preexisting skills gap and any skills gap after training, can be critical for further employee development and maximizing human capital efforts. One method of measuring employee skills is to benchmark skills against a numerical formula that can translate skills into a measureable system. This measurable system can be done at initial hire or during an employee’s tenure. A team skills metric can be developed with the goal of benchmarking overall skills. A chart can be implemented with the Y axis and different job codes or specific work instructions across the top of the chart. A measurement of each can be labeled from A through C. The letter A would equal to being an expert and assigned negative three points, B would be classified as good, or trained in job and can work independently with minimum supervision and be assigned negative two points, finally, C would be classified as good or trained but needs moderate supervision (new) and assigned one point. From this numerical system score, each employee would have an average from all their skills and an assessment would be ascertained. Moreover, employees who were cross-trained or who possessed higher skills raised the score, therefore helping identify each employees overall score in relation to their skill set. Another method for measuring employee skills is to use a skills inventory management system. The skills inventory system can be deployed at initial hire or during employment. The skills inventory system would be an online assessment. According to brainbench (2002), A skills inventory begins with a skills measurement system that enables employees to access online skills assessments through the company intranet. When a company implements a new technology, for example, managers may have their employees take a test for skills related to that new technology. Furthermore, once the online test is taken the results are gathered and a numerical score system is assessed in which management can assess whether or  not further training is necessary and what skill gaps are still or continuously lingering. Both methods of measuring employees skills can be measured against a skills benchmark and addressing skills gap can begin. Addressing skill gaps can be addressed by training, development, and peer-mentoring. Further training to address driving issues can be done using defensive driving courses and customer service skills gaps can be addressed with more training as well. However, understanding how to develop better training to hinder further skill gaps is critical for further development. Development of skills should be addressed References Clardy, A. (2013). A General Framework for Performance Management Systems: Structure, Design, and Analysis. Performance Improvement, 52(2), 5-15. doi:10.1002/pfi.21324 Schiemann, W. A. (2007). Aligning people. Leadership Excellence, 24(8), 20. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/204619577?accountid=458 University of Berkley. (2014). Berkley HR. Retrieved from http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/about/philosophy/performance-management Yale.edu. (2010, July). Yale University’s Performance Management System. Retrieved from http://www.yale.edu/hronline/focus/documents/2010JulyYALEPERFMGMNTGUIDERev6-7-10final.pdf

James Town

During 1607-1611 of Early Jamestown, Why Were So Many Colonists Dead? King James I sent 110 people over for a new start of life. The Englishmen arrived to Jamestown believing that they would find gold and a new way of freedom with government and religion. Most of the colonist died during the early years of 1607-1611. No skills for the New World later made the colonist have a hostile relationship with the Native Americans and the environment that they weren’t immune for lead to their deaths. Many colonists died because they had no skills to survive in a new place.According to the â€Å"First and Second Jamestown Ship List† in Document C, 47 of the 110 colonist were Gentlemen in May 1607. These Gentlemen came to Jamestown with the belief that they would find wealth. The Gentlemen, including other colonists, didn’t know how to farm or hunt. They traded with the Powhatan Confederacy for food but that got old, and the Indians later put a stop to the trade for the Engl ishmen to â€Å"Starving Time† in 1609. Also, there was only 1 doctor. Therefore, if someone got sick they would have a way bigger chance of dying than seeing that 1 doctor.The evidences helped explain why so many colonists died because the inexperience of the colonist led to them not being able to support themselves. The Native Americans were antagonistic to the colonists. â€Å"The Virginia Adventures† in document D says, â€Å"Though West was able to load his (small ship) with grain, the success involved some harsh and Crewell dealinge by cutting towe of the Salvages heads and other extremetyes. † Instead of the colonist finding and growing their own food they killed 2 Indians. This was probably one reason why the Indians would attack the colonists.On document E, â€Å"Chronology of English Mortality in Virginia, 1607-1610† there was a first ever Indian attack at Fort James and 2 people died. If the colonists and the Indians had a different start of re lationship, there wouldn’t be that many people dead. The Englishmen could’ve learned skills from the tribes. The Englishmen and the Indians would perhaps have a different relationship. The environment had a big effect on the death of many colonists in early Jamestown. In â€Å"The Lost Colony and Jamestown Droughts† in document B it shows that there was a drought around 1605-1615.There wasn’t enough water to drink, let alone grow crops or livestock. People also died because of diseases including malaria, scurvy, and dysentery. There were also other sicknesses that the Englishmen weren’t immune to. When illness struck the colonists, there was only one doctor and that was the same as not having any. The water was really filthy. Document A states that, â€Å"Because of the adjacent river and creeks became brackish as water levels rose, reliable sources of fresh water would have been scarce by the seventeenth century†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This made the risk o f getting a disease higher than not having water at all.The environment was a major death factor even if they learned how to plant or grow livestock. If the colonists were able to support themselves then more would have survived. The death of so many colonists in early Jamestown was mostly cause by the environment and the unfriendly relationship between the early settlers and the Native Americans that was triggered by the colonists not being able to support themselves.

The Dinner Table Debate Is Ethical Or Ethical - 2000 Words

â€Å"The Dinner Table Debate† is ethical because â€Å"The Dinner Table Debate† follows the major elements of ethical argument. The â€Å"Dinner Table Debate† was a debate against Brown and Savage. Savage is an American gay activist, author, median pundits and also a journalist. The other individual is Brown. He is an American cofounder of the National Organization for Marriage, and had served as its president. The â€Å"The Dinner table debate† is about marriage; and Savage is for marriage equality. Brown’s side of this argument is that he believes more in traditional marriage. These two individuals argue about what they believe is true about marriage and what it should be like. â€Å"The Dinner Table Debate† covers some of the major elements of the ethical†¦show more content†¦There are time when some of these element don’t apply to arguments, but in the â€Å"Dinner Table Debate† some of these element did apply. Each of these ethical elements make an important contribution to our understanding of ethical argument. The book the Shape of Reasons: Argumentative Writing in College by John T. Gage. â€Å"you can acknowledge that although you disagree with an idea you do not want to consider a person bad or even unjustified for holding it†( Gage 53). What this quote is saying is that even if someone disagrees with you; and your ideas, they don’t think you are bad. There will always be disagreement, but no argument will be able to eliminate an idea or disagreements. â€Å"The Dinner Table Debate† certainly covered this ethical element because, Savage is for the rights of gay marriage; so he is for fairness and equality. Which means, expecting the world to be treated fairly because you are a good person no matter if you are straight or gay. Just on account of a person being understanding towards others, does not essentially mean that others have to be understanding towards th em. Fairness is nothing but a word that defines a perfect world, a world that is possibly true. Fairness is a difficult achieve sometimes. Just like in the â€Å" Dinner Table Debate† this is really hard for Savage because he is trying to tell Brown about his ideas on how happy he is with his child even though he is gay;