Ministry of Infrastructures and Transport

<strong class="journal-contentHeaderColor">Abstract.</strong> In Italy, a complete and updated database including the most relevant structural information regarding reservoirs and the characteristics of their upstream watersheds is currently missing. This paper tackles this gap by presenting the first comprehensive dataset of 528 Large Dams in Italy. Alongside structural details of the dams, such as coordinates, reservoir surface area and volume, the dataset also encompasses a range of geomorphological, climatological, extreme rainfall, land cover and soil-related attributes of their upstream catchments. The data used to create this dataset are partially sourced from the General Department of Dams and Hydro-Electrical Infrastructures, as well as from the processing of updated and standardized grid data. This dataset (Evangelista et al., 2024a. Available at: <a href="https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.12818297" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.12818297</a>), which contains information not easily available in other similar global or national data collections, is expected to be of great help for a broad spectrum of hydrological applications, ranging from modelling to water resource management.

Abstract. In Italy, a complete and updated database including the most relevant structural information regarding reservoirs and the characteristics of their upstream watersheds is currently missing. This paper tackles this gap by presenting the first comprehensive dataset of 528 Large Dams in Italy. Alongside structural details of the dams, such as coordinates, reservoir surface area and volume, the dataset also encompasses a range of geomorphological, climatological, extreme rainfall, land cover and soil-related attributes of their upstream catchments. The data used to create this dataset are partially sourced from the General Department of Dams and Hydro-Electrical Infrastructures, as well as from the processing of updated and standardized grid data. This dataset (Evangelista et al., 2024a. Available at: https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.12818297), which contains information not easily available in other similar global or national data collections, is expected to be of great help for a broad spectrum of hydrological applications, ranging from modelling to water resource management.

In this work the attenuation potential of flood peaks of 265 large reservoirs all over Italy is analysed, considering a flood management that excludes gates opening and then configures strictly unsupervised attenuation effects. Key factors of dams and related basins are considered to develop a ranking method that can emphasize the interplay between dam geometry and the hydrological processes acting in the upstream watershed. To maintain a homogeneous approach in such a wide geographic area, the attenuation index is computed applying the numerical solution of the differential equation of lakes and only two different standardized hydrograph shapes have been used. An index design flood from the rational method is used as the incoming peak value for each dam, enhancing the use of the results of a recent analysis of all Italian rainfall extremes. Even with a very simple approach, twenty-four different design incoming floods are derived, by varying the shape of the incoming hydrograph and the parameters of the rational method. Exploring the ranking results in all the alternatives, the attenuation potential obtained for all dams demonstrates to be strongly sensitive to the assumptions on the time of concentration and to some rainfall features. On the other hand, the hydrograph shape seems to exert much less influence on the ranking outcome. Results obtained can be useful to studies of wide-area flood frequency analyses, as we highlighted the sensitivity of the rank of attenuation efficiency to hydrologic parameters widely used in the assessment of the design flood peaks in ungauged basins.

Due to the increasingly frequent occurrence of extreme events related to climate change, the in-depth study of exceptional rainfall and flooding on earthen structures is essential. In particular, the associated consequences in terms of economic and human losses have caused the urgency of developing forecasting tools that can ensure a proper evaluation of expected impacts. In this regard, the paper reports the numerical modelling of a small-scale centrifuge test performed to study the hydro-mechanical response of a river embankment typical of the Alpine and Apennine tributaries of the Po River (Italy). The purpose was to set up a well-validated numerical model that may be used for fore-casting the behavior of river embankments under critical scenarios. In particular, the proposed fully coupled numerical modelling considers the partial saturation conditions of a compacted silty sand river embankment subjected to flooding. First, the numerical model parameters were carefully calibrated based on the results of laboratory tests conducted on the soils constituting the physical model. Afterwards, the model was validated by comparing the results of the simulation with the experimental data. It emerged that the numerical modelling proposed enables an accurate prediction of the pore-water pressures under various hydraulic loadings.

In the phase III PAOLA-1 study, the addition of maintenance olaparib to bevacizumab in patients with newly diagnosed high-grade ovarian cancer (HGOC) resulted in prolonged progression-free survival (PFS), particularly for homologous recombination deficiency-positive tumors, including those with a BRCA mutation (BRCAm). The magnitude of benefit from olaparib and bevacizumab according to the location of mutation in BRCA1/BRCA2 remains to be explored. Patients with advanced-stage HGOC responding after platinum-based chemotherapy+ bevacizumab received maintenance therapy bevacizumab (15 mg/kg q3w for 15 months)+ either olaparib (300 mg b.i.d. for 24 months) or placebo. PFS was analyzed in the subgroup of patients with BRCA1m/BRCA2m according to mutation location in the functional domains of BRCA1 [Really Interesting Gene (RING), DNA-binding domain (DBD), or C-terminal domain of BRCA1 (BRCT)] and BRCA2 [RAD51-binding domain (RAD51-BD); DBD]. From 806 randomized patients, 159 harbored BRCA1m (19.7%) and 74 BRCA2m (9.2%). BRCA1m in RING, DBD, and BRCT domains was detected in 18, 40, and 33 patients, and BRCA2m in RAD51-BD and DBD in 36 and 13 patients, respectively. After a median follow-up of 25.5 months, benefit from maintenance olaparib+ bevacizumab was observed irrespective of location of BRCAm. The benefit was particularly high for those with BRCA1m located in the DBD, with 24-month PFS estimated to be 89% and 15% [olaparib+ bevacizumab versus placebo+ bevacizumab hazard ratio= 0.08 (95% confidence interval 0.02-0.28); interaction P= 0.03]. In BRCA2m patients, 24-month PFS rates for those with mutations located in the DBD were 90% and 100% (olaparib+ bevacizumab versus placebo+ bevacizumab), respectively. Advanced-stage BRCA-mutated HGOC patients reported PFS benefit from maintenance olaparib and bevacizumab regardless of mutation location. The benefit is particularly high for patients with mutations located in the DBD of BRCA1. Mutations located in the DBD of BRCA2 are also associated with excellent outcome.

This session will discuss the trends, challenges and opportunities for decarbonising transport including electrification of freight (shipping and air).

Although the design of jointed plain concrete pavements could be solved by commercial software, there is still a need for simple tools to be used in feasibility studies and preliminary cost–benefit analyses. This paper analyzed and verified jointed plain concrete pavements for airports composed of square slabs without tie and dowel bars. The examined slabs are laid on a cement-treated base layer and a stabilized granular subbase layer. The finite element software FAARFIELD was used to design the JPCP pavements when they are subjected to the design of the airplane (i.e., turboprop C-130J Hercules) under different conditions. Seven subgrade load bearing capacity values, twenty traffic levels, and two construction hypotheses (i.e., constant or variable thickness of the two deeper layers) were designed and then verified with the Westergaard theory in order to present a proposal for a catalogue. Finally, the construction cost per unit surface area was calculated for different construction methods of paving (by slip form paver or by fixed form). The obtained results provide a simple and fast procedure to design preliminary airport JPCPs.

The current research focuses on a numerical and analytical study aimed at investigating the efficiency of a steel-based reinforcement system suitable for existing masonry walls. The application of such a retrofitting technique, which consists of glued thin steel grids applied on both faces of a masonry panel, is reversible, cheap and easy to be executed and appears to be suitable especially for buildings with concrete slab or inter-stories beams to which the steel elements could be anchored. The study is based on a reference experimental test carried out at the “Politehnica” University of Timisoara (Romania), within the European FP6 project PROHITECH. The reference test provided the application of a constant vertical compression and cyclic horizontal displacements to an unreinforced brick-cement mortar wall in full-scale (1500 × 1500 × 250 mm), to which was conferred a double-fixed constraint condition. Based on the experimental evidences, a reference numerical model has been implemented in ABAQUS, by adopting a plastic-damage material and a macro-element approach for the masonry modelling. Hence, in order to determine a design criterion of the studied system, a comparison with the analytical formulations available in the current Italian and European codes for the unreinforced configuration is presented in this study. Then, a wide parametric study on the investigated retrofitting technique has been carried out by varying thickness and spacing of steel grid elements, as well as the geometrical ratio of the panel (height/length). On the basis of the numerical results, a capacity formulation has been proposed, which takes into account the steel distribution in the masonry panel. The obtained outcomes revealed that the strength increase achievable by adopting the studied reinforcement system could be compared to the efficiency of a reinforced masonry wall of new construction and it is strongly influenced by the geometrical ratio of the wall, as well as the steel distribution.

The dynamics of lock-release Intrusive Gravity Currents (IGCs) generating Internal Solitary Waves (ISWs) are investigated by three-dimensional large eddy simulations. We set the numerical, laboratory-scale domain in order to release a uniform fluid in multi-layer, stratified ambient, exciting pycnocline displacements. By adopting different initial settings, we analyzed the influence of the ambient stratification on both IGCs and ISWs features. We present the main flow dynamics and the time evolution of IGC and ISW front and trough positions, respectively. During the simulations, the ISW is allowed to reach the vertical wall at the end of the domain, and it undergoes reflection. We then analyzed the interaction between the IGC and the reflected ISW: the wave is observed to accelerate as it is pushed upwards by the intrusion, which, in turns, flows below the ISW, decelerating. By analyzing instantaneous velocity fields and flow rates, we found that during this interaction, the ISW increases its celerity in response of the reduced area available for its propagation, partially occupied by the intrusion, and because the velocity field in the IGC interface surroundings acts to facilitate the ISW passage.