System behaviour in prestressed concrete T-beam bridges

About 70 prestressed concrete T-beam bridges, constructed in the Netherlands between 1953–1977, are still in use today with many located in the main highway network. This type of bridge consists of prefabricated and prestressed T-shaped beams, with an integrated deck slab, cross-beams and transverse prestressing. Even if these bridges are well...

Estimating the impacts of urban growth on future flood risk: A comparative study

The unprecedented growth of cities has a significant impact on future flood risk that might exceed the impacts of climate change in many metropolitan areas across the world. Although the effects of urbanisation on flood risk are well understood, assessments that include spatially explicit future growth projections are limited. This comparative...

Exergy and Sustainability: Insights into the Value of Exergy Analysis in Sustainability Assessment of Technological Systems

A major challenge in striving for a more sustainable society is the selection of technological systems. Given the capital intensity of industrial production plants, power generation systems and infrastructure, investment decisions create path dependencies for decades to come. It is difficult to know which technological system is preferable when...

Performance Modelling of Timber Facade Elements

Windows and doors are essential elements of buildings. These seemingly simple components have become increasingly complex over the last decades. They have to fulfil an increased number of functions which ask for contradictory solutions and need to comply with more and more severe requirements. Windows and doors need to be transparent to allow...

Connecting reason to power: Assessments, learning, and environmental policy integration in Swedish energy policy

The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to understanding what makes a policymaking system better at integrating sustainability concerns into its processes. Three questions are in focus. First, how can policy integration be understood analytically and what is its actual status in sector policy? Second, what conditions have facilitated or...

Dynatrack: A survey of dynamic railway track properties and their quality