The mining industry, including hard-coal mining, has a significant and multifaceted impact on all components of the environment. One of the factors is the production of various types of waste which, due to their physico-chemical and ecotoxic properties, do not always pose a threat to the environment and can be used in various ways. Such treatment of waste perfectly fits into the concept of the circular economy through the protection of natural resources and the maximum re-use of waste. One of the wastes generated by hard-coal mines is coal sludge from the purification of underground water in surface settling tanks. The article presents the results of research on the physico-chemical and phytotoxic properties of carbon sludges from two settling tanks with regard to assessing the possibility of their re-use in the reclamation of degraded areas. These sludges contain mainly sand fractions. An analysis of their chemical composition revealed the presence of heavy metals. Leachability studies have shown that despite the high concentrations of metals, a small quantity of these metals passes into the solution. In this respect, therefore, they do not pose a threat to the environment. However, a threat may result from the presence of chlorides and sulphates, the amounts of which are influenced by, among other factors, the time of waste storage in the settling tank. Phytotoxicity tests performed on garden cress ( Lepidium sativum) did not show a toxic effect at any concentration of the water extract. In addition, for one of the sludges, water extracts with concentrations starting from 12.5 and 50% stimulated the growth of the plant’s shoots and roots, respectively. The results show that the tested coal sludges may be used in appropriate doses for reclamation work, for example, when establishing a plant cover.

The aim of the paper is to compare and contrast the metonymic mappings which motivate the construction of meaning behind denominal verbs in English and Polish. The word-formation processes that create denominal verbs involve affixation, conversion and back-formation in English and paradigmatic derivation in Polish. The conceptual metonymies underlying the meaning of denominal verbs are treated as instances of the EVENT-schema metonymies in which concepts that belong to a particular EVENT schema are used to access other concepts within the same EVENT schema. The analysis has shown that the same set of metonymies can motivate meanings of denominal verbs in various ways, giving rise to different kinds of verbs that express the same meaning in English and Polish.

From the construction made in the “white box” technology, first of all tightness is required - on the structural elements there should not be any cracks or scratches, through which water could penetrate, which in consequence may lead to deformation of structural elements and even loosing of their load-bearing capacity. Among the methods enabling the location of weakened places in watertight concrete, the ground penetrating radar (GPR) method is effective because the local occurrence of water in the structure evokes a clear and unambiguous anomaly on the radargram. In addition, the GPR method allows you to indicate places where water flows without the necessity of excluding the object from use and interference in the construction layers. The designation of such locations will make it possible to undertake technical activities that can facilitate the takeover of water and thus ensure the desired load-bearing capacity and usability of the object. Using the GPR method, you can also designate places that have already been deformed – discontinuities or breaking. The article presents a case study of investigations that determine the causes of leakage of tunnels made in the “white box” technology in: twice within the bottom slab of the tunnel (1 GHz air-coupled and 400 MHz ground-coupled antenna) and once in the case of tunnel walls (1.6 GHz ground-coupled antenna).

This study focuses to develop a new hybrid Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC) and assesses the performance of a new hybrid ECC based on the steel short random fiber reinforcement. This hybrid ECC aims to improve the tensile strength of cementitious material and enhance better flexural performance in an RC beam. In this study, four different mixes have been investigated. ECC with Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA) fiber and PolyPropylene (PP) fiber of 2.0% volume fraction are the two Mono fiber mixes; ECC mix with PVA fiber of 0.65% volume fraction hybridized with steel fiber of 1.35% volume fraction, PP fiber of 0.65% volume fraction hybridized with steel of 1.35% volume fraction are the two additional different hybrid mixes. The material properties of mono fiber ECC with 2.0 % of PVA is kept as the reference mix in this study. The hybridization with fibers has a notable achievement on the uniaxial tensile strength, compressive strength, Young’s modulus, and flexural behavior in ECC layered RC beams. From the results, it has been observed that the mix with PVA fiber of 0.65% volume fraction hybrid with steel fiber of 1.35% volume fraction exhibitimprovements in tensile strength, flexural strength, andenergy absorption. ThePP fiber of 0.65% volume fraction hybridized with steel of 1.35% volume fraction mix has reasonable flexural performance and notable achievement in displacement ductility overthe reference mix.