This report deals with hard surfaces and the factors which are behind the criteria for dimensioning, also dependent on the level, or volume, of traffic. A test was made on slabs of two kinds of natural stone. This was made to see if the values that were reached for breakload was transferable to the same tables that the concrete industry is using for surface dimensions of slabs and paving stones. The test showed very high values and the result, together with the written study, led to the author?s suggestion for a classification table where slabs of natural stone were divided in to different classes depending on traffic, thickness and durability..

In this essay, we have compared a conventional house to a passive house. The housesshared the same local conditions; they have the same living area and the same layout. Thedifferences between the houses were the different construction solutions for the roof, theouter walls, the floor and the heating system. Both the houses qualify the standards fromBBR and the passive house also lives up to FEBY?s special conditions.The purpose with the essay was to examine if it really is profitable to build small hoses aspassive houses.

This thesis has been developed inassociation with Strängbetong AB, Sweden.A few years backCementa AB introduced a new type of cement on the Swedish market: Byggcement,which is a Portland Limestone Cement. This type of cement is better for theenvironment and cheaper than Rapid Hardening Cement which is used today at SträngbetongAB.Strängbetong AB isvery interested in a change of cement in the factory and wants to know what ittakes to make a transition from Rapid Hardening Cement to Byggcement.This final projectaims at investigating how the workability and strength development are affectedby a transition from the existing cement to Byggcement and how we can change theproperties of the concrete by adding different types of superplasticizers. Laboratory and factoryexperiments were made, to investigate the transition..

A detailed dam safety evaluation (in Sweden called FDU) was performed in 2009 by WSP where stability control was performed for Långströmmen power plant with associated spillways. This evaluation concluded that stability could not be ensured, and risk of sliding occurred. The evaluation is based entirely on the recommendations outlined in RIDAS, the power companies guidelines for dam safety, and it is clear that extensive renovations are necessary to stabilize the dam.In this work, the stability will also be checked with guidance through new proposals on guidelines for concrete dams sliding stability, ELFORSK?s report 08:59. This report considered the guidelines in RIDAS as oversimplified, both from an international perspective, but also with regard to the current state of knowledge regarding dam safety.

In the year of 2006 I moved to South Africa for a year, a land that has fascinated me because of its history. During the time of my stay I became very surprised how strongly apartheid permeates the community where the white South Africans today are building walls around themselves. Through media we get surrounded with pictures that media creates and to find information regarding what?s happening in the world this is, most often, the primary source. Therefore I believe it?s interesting to explore how two different local newspapers from the county of Kalmar, with two different ideologies, present pictures of the same event, namely the revolt of Soweto in 1976 and how these two newspapers relates to racial policies.

This thesis discusses how the education in the Master of Engineering program can change to become more into line for the students needs, especially for the women, both directly in the education situation and later in their occupational roles. This is done using a gender perspective. Both the education and the occupation today is characterised by masculine norms and values. The education lacks gender perspective and is created by men, for men. The thesis gives concrete proposals on how to change two existing courses to better fit the students.

The purpose of my study is to contribute knowledge about how class teachers can work with students who are in mathematics difficulties. The question at issues I have is: Which methods can class teachers in grades 1-3 use to help students with mathematics difficulties? and Which obstacles and opportunities are there in this work? To get answers to my questions, I have read relevant literature and interviewed 3 class teachers in central Sweden. Through my interview I learned that education should include and build on concrete materials and methods. I also got to know that time is the biggest obstacle to helping students with mathematics difficulties. Keywords: mathematics difficulties, methods, obstacles, opportunities.

Statistics of occupational injuries show that bricklayers are among the most exposed, with heavy lifting by far the most common cause of long-term sick leave. Prefabricated brick beams create yet another risk of injuries that can be prevented by auxiliary equipment or alternative solutions. From articles, interviews with masons and from a survey carried out in conjunction with this report, it appears that there are frequently difficulties in the use of available means for lifting and handling. Previous studies on the subject of transverse reinforcement in masonry beams indicate a viable method for bridging large openings in masonry walls. This bachelor thesis delves into whether the idea could be realized in today's brick construction with a view to improving occupational health and safety.

There are many old dams in Sweden and, since few dams are constructed today, the main task in risk assessment on the existing dams is often to reduce the risk of failure. RIDAS (Swedish Guidelines on Dam Safety) is used when designing new dams and assess the existing ones. The guidelines include stability requirements for different failure modes, e.g. overturning and sliding, which imply that the load effect from e.g. uplift and ice load need to be less than the resisting loads or moments.

In soundscape research, the field?s methods can be employed in combination with approaches involving sound quality attributes in order to create a deeper understanding of sound images and soundscapes and how these may be described and designed. The integration of four methods are outlined, two from the soundscape domain and two from the sound engineering domain. This study has shown that by combining these methods the understanding of both the entire soundscape and the specific sounds increase. The study also shows that when the methods are used, there is a qualitative change of the description and understanding of soundscapes and the concrete description becomes more elaborate..

The creation of Region Skåne, and the transfer of the development responsibility from the national administrative country board (Länsstyrelsen) has given the state new challenges. New structures have grown between Region and State, and also between different municipalities. These can be characterized as Policy-networks, and the goal of this study is to analyze the planning process of the regional infrastructure with these theories.This is a qualitative study of the infrastructure process in Skåne, and the actors that acts within this process. It has been studied with the eyes of the theories of Governance and Policy-networks. The main method to collect material has been through interviews with different actors within the process, and very little written material has been used.

The vizualisation and creating of places is an essential part of physical planning. The notion of places as placeless, is likewise of importance for the creating of places. Some tendencies concerning architecture like modernism, as well as constructions whome don´t fit in their landscape, have contributed to the benaming and experience of places as placeless. Phenomenon as globalization and post-industrialism have in some cases conduced to the withering of the sense of place. With starting-point in litteraturestudies, observations of places and interviews, this is a lucubration concerning the means of placelessness in physical planning.

The chosen task in this thesis is to compare two projects of importance on the impact on the approach to graffiti in Norrköping and Göteborg. My main source for empirical findings was interviews. I have examined the Norrköping project Canslit including legal graffiti walls and a graffiti school and the political process around it. This was compared to the Göteborg project kulturprojekt Röda Sten, which is a cultural center that happens to be covered in illegal graffiti. The conclusion was that due to the very detailed plans and well-functioning communications between actors in the Norrköping project, this has resulted in a creative, tolerant approach to graffiti still with low rate of illegal graffiti.

This research is about the experience educationalists have of children encountering mathematics in a preschool. What is the impact of introducing mathematics in preschool? How do educationalists work with mathematics and how do they experience the children?s interest in mathematics?  The aim of this degree project is to examine how educationalists experience children´s interest in mathematics when they encounter mathematics at an early age. The degree project is limited to educationalists and children within a preschool located north of Stockholm.This research seeks answers to the following questions at issue. Does an early encounter with mathematics in preschool lead to increased interest in mathematics among children?  How can educationalists in preschool work in a appropriate way with mathematics to stimulate children to develop within mathematics and to increase their interest? How does educationalists in preschool experience children´s interest in mathematics?Theories by Piaget, Vygotskij and Dewey were used as well as former research in this subject.To answer the aim and the questions at issue in this research, three interviews was conducted with educationalists at the preschool and recorded with a Dictaphone.

The swedish national board of housing, Building and Planning,recommends that all stakeholders in the construction industryperform a moisture control design to make sure that the buildingachieves good moisture resistance. Since June 1, 2006 there are nospecific requirements or quantitative values for air leakage.Although the swedish national board of housing does presentrequirement that the building envelope must be sealed so that theclient?s requirements for specific energy consumption and installedelectric power for heating purposes are met. Despite this, studiesfrom SP shows that few buildings meet the client?s requirements inspecific energy, which increases the risk of occurrence ofcondensation-related moisture damage.This study aims to evaluate curtain walls connections from airsecurity and moisture safety.