As cities expand massively downward and underground space replaces the urban sub-surface, accurate urban water balances are systematically overlooked. The results are truncated water balance analyses with unforeseen consequences, sometimes costly and tragic. Focusing on this underappreciated but important area, this book presents a fully integrated approach to the conceptualisation and analysis of urban hydrogeology and engineering.
Management of below-ground urban areas involves both groundwater and infrastructure elements, so it is crucial to understand both elements individually and how they interact. Assistive models can provide accurate results only if they correctly reproduce hydrogeological processes and hydraulic and mechanic interactions between groundwater and infrastructure. These tools must incorporate quantitative and qualitative urban groundwater stresses and delineate critical levels of urban groundwater mismanagement as well as corresponding threshold principles. Understanding the science behind and consequences of these aspects is necessary for cities' subsurface management.
The book is for a wide range of readers interested in achieving working knowledge of the ground that cities are built on and its properties and behavior in relation to subsurface hydrology. It is essential reading for professionals, from civil engineers and infrastructure developers to geotechnical specialists and land-use planners, and upper-level graduate students in hydrogeology, geotechnics, urban geology, urban planning, and ecology.
Radu Constantin Gogu is a full professor specializing in Water Resources Engineering, with experience gained in different countries. He is the Director of the Urban Groundwater Network-International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) and Vice President of the Groundwater Management Specialist Group-International Water Association (IWA). His expertise includes urban water, groundwater resources, environmental protection, natural hazards and risk assessment. He holds a PhD in Applied Sciences from the University of Liège (Belgium) and worked as a principal investigator at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH, Zurich) and at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (Barcelona, Spain) after receiving a "Ramon y Cajal" excellence research grant from the Spanish Ministry of Research. He initiated and developed the urban groundwater model of Bucharest. His achievements include the design of the groundwater database and prototypes of the hydrogeological maps of the Walloon region, design and development of the first geospatial database concept for active volcanoes (ETHZ), design and development of the first spatial hydrogeological database of Barcelona, and development of software tools for 3D geological analysis.
Dragos Găitănaru is a researcher, associate professor at the Technical University of Civil Engineering and a groundwater specialist with over 19 years of experience. He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Bucharest and his Master's degree in Applied Climatology from the same university. His PhD thesis dealt with the impact of urbanization on groundwater. He specializes in field data acquisition and testing in hydrogeology and quantitative and qualitative groundwater monitoring.
Traian Ghibuș is a hydrogeological engineer who graduated from the University of Bucharest in 1986. Until 1989, he worked as a geologist at the Special Geological Drilling and Works Enterprise. Between 2009 and 2017, he coordinated the Department of Hydrological-Hydrogeological-Geotechnical-Topographic Studies within the National Institute for Research and Development for Land Improvement Projects. From 2017 to the present, he has worked as a scientific researcher at the Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest. He specializes in the analysis of groundwater dynamics, groundwater flow modeling and has participated in the implementation of water supply projects for urban, rural areas, agricultural and industrial objectives and drainage. He has participated in the implementation of several national and European research projects on the dynamics, management and protection of groundwater and surface waters.
Mohamed Amine Boukhemacha obtained a State Engineer degree in civil engineering and Habilitation to Conduct Research diploma in Hydraulics from the National Polytechnic School (NPS) in Algiers, Algeria, in 2006 and 2018, respectively. He holds a PhD in civil engineering from the Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest (UTCB), Romania, since 2010. He worked at the Groundwater Engineering Research Center (UTCB) as a postdoctoral fellow and consultant, developing and applying urban hydrogeological modeling approaches focused on interactions between urban groundwater and infrastructure (2011-2016). He has been a faculty member at the NPS in Algiers since 2016. His current research focuses on internal and surface soil erosion, water resources management, urban environments, and the integration of remote sensing services.
