Geotechnical Engineering Commons^™

Design And Implementation Of Pavemon: A Gis Web-Based Pavement Monitoring System Based On Large Amounts Of Heterogeneous Sensors Data, Salar Shahini Shamsabadi

Civil Engineering Master's Theses

A web-based PAVEment MONitoring system, PAVEMON, is a GIS oriented platform for accommodating, representing, and leveraging data from a multi-modal mobile sensor system. Stated sensor system consists of acoustic, optical, electromagnetic, and GPS sensors and is capable of producing as much as 1 Terabyte of data per day. Multi-channel raw sensor data (microphone, accelerometer, tire pressure sensor, video) and processed results (road profile, crack density, international roughness index, micro texture depth, etc.) are outputs of this sensor system. By correlating the sensor measurements and positioning data collected in tight time synchronization, PAVEMON attaches a spatial component to all the datasets ...

Miniature Cone Penetration Test On Loose Sand, Sepideh Damavandinejad Monfared

University of Western Ontario - Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Considering the difficulties associated with preparing loose sand samples in large calibration chambers and wide area of research on the behavior of loose sands, miniature calibration chamber experiments are used to perform cone penetration tests on soils in different states. A miniature cone calibration chamber has been designed and developed in this study. Nineteen tests have been performed on Ottawa sand and the results are compared to the available data in the literature. The accuracy of the results is validated by comparing the results with the suggested rate for the cone resistance in sands in literature. More specifically, results are ...

Development And Use Of Moisture-Suction Relationships For Geosynthetic Clay Liners, Jacob Law Risken

Master's Theses and Project Reports

A laboratory test program was conducted to determine the moisture-suction relationships of geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs). Moisture-suction relationships were determined by combining suction data from pressure plate tests, contact filter paper tests, and relative humidity tests, then fitting water retention curves (WRCs) to the data. WRCs were determined for wetting processes and drying processes in terms of gravimetric moisture content and volumetric moisture content.

The effects of GCL type, hydration solution, wet-dry cycles, and temperature on the moisture-suction relationships were analyzed. The three GCLs of the test program consisted of configurations of woven and nonwoven geotextiles reinforced with needlepunched fibers ...

Greenhouse Gas Emission Analysis For Heated Pavement System, Weibin Shen, Kasthurirangan Gopalakrishnan, Sunghwan Kim, Halil Ceylan

Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering Conference Presentations and Proceedings

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have become significant environmental indicators in analyzing the comparative environmental impacts of conventional and newly developed alternative systems or techniques. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is considered an accepted and systematic methodology to calculate the amount of carbon released from all the processes of a system/technique, helping users select the best environmental-friendly alternative. The use of automated heating based snow removal systems is gaining attention as an alternative strategy to traditional ice and snow removal practices such as the use of anti-icing chemicals and snowplowing vehicles. Most previous studies on heated pavement systems have focused ...

Smart Airport Pavement Instrumentation And Health Monitoring, Shuo Yang, Halil Ceylan, Kasthurirangan Gopalakrishnan, Sunghwan Kim

Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering Conference Presentations and Proceedings

Realistic characterization of pavement layer properties and responses under in-situ field conditions is critical for accurate airport pavement life predictions, planning pavement management activities as well as for calibration and validation of mechanistic-based pavement response prediction models. The recent advancements in Micro-Electro-Mechanical Sensor (MEMS)/Nano-Electro-Mechanical Sensor (NEMS) technologies and wireless sensor networks combined with efficient energy scavenging paradigms provide opportunities for long-term, continuous, real-time response measurement and health monitoring of transportation infrastructure systems.

This paper presents a summary review of some recent studies that have focused on the development of advanced smart sensing and monitoring systems for highway pavement system ...

Cost Comparison Of Alternative Airfield Snow Removal Methodologies, Pritha Anand, Halil Ceylan, Konstantina Gkritza, Peter Talor, Vasiliki Dimitra Pyrialakou, Sunghwan Kim, Kasthurirangan Gopalakrishnan

Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering Conference Presentations and Proceedings

Maintaining operational safety and status of airport runways during snowfall events is a challenging issue that many airports are grappling with. Ice and snow impacts on transportation infrastructure systems add significant costs to the American economy in the form of snow removal, damaged pavement and lost productivity due to travel delays. Most transport category aircraft are prohibited from operating on runways covered by untreated ice or by more than ½ inch of snow or slush. Hence, it is imperative that both small and large airports maintain operational status during snowfall events to support the existing operations. Conventional ice and snow ...

Evaluation Of Volatile And Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds Potentially Associated With The Gas Shale Fracturing Process In The Fayetteville And Marcellus Shale, Karl Albert Oetjen

Theses - ALL

With the recent growth of the natural gas industry coupled with technological advancements, gas shale fracturing has become an effective and highly profitable method for natural gas production. Unlike conventional natural gas extraction which may require vertical fracturing, gas shale fracturing relies on a method known as horizontal fracturing to remove gas trapped within the impermeable facies. Compared to vertical fracturing, horizontal fracturing requires larger amounts of fluids to be injected downhole under high pressure. These fracturing fluids can contain high concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons with known adverse health effects. Due to the large volumes used, the potential for groundwater ...

International Conference On Short And Medium Span Bridges, Calgary, July 15-18, 2014, Barry A. Palynchuk Phd, Christophe Deniaud Phd

Barry A. Palynchuk PhD

The Jean River near Wabush, Labrador is crossed by two railways and an access road by twin 6m diameter culverts . They are heavily strutted inside their barrels to counteract some significant shape deformation, and are deemed not suitable to sustain the increased volume of rail traffic serving the development of the Bloom Lake mines. The owner requested the design and construction of a replacement scheme for an additional design life of 20 years with a time sensitive schedule for completion of the work during the 2013 construction season. This VE concept for the design of live load relief spans over ...

Design And Construction Of Rail And Road Live Load Relief Spans Over Existing Culverts, Barry A. Palynchuk Phd, Christophe Deniaud Phd

Barry A. Palynchuk PhD

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF RAIL AND ROAD LIVE LOAD RELIEF SPANS OVER EXISTING CULVERTS

Thermal Numerical Analysis Of Vertical Heat Extraction Systems In Landfills, Michael Thomas Onnen

Master's Theses and Project Reports

An investigation was conducted to determine the response of landfills to the operation of a vertical ground source heat pump (i.e., heat extraction system, HES). Elevated landfill temperatures, reported various researchers, impact the engineering performance of landfill systems. A numerical model was developed to analyze the influence of vertical HES operation on landfills as a function of climate and operational conditions.

A 1-D model of the vertical profile of a landfill was developed to approximate fluid temperatures in the HES. A 2-D model was then analyzed over a 40 year time period using the approximate fluid temperatures to determine ...

Stability, Erosion, And Morphology Considerations For Sustainable Slope Design, Isaac Andres Jeldes Halty

Doctoral Dissertations

The construction of more natural and sustainable earth slopes requires the consideration of erosion and runoff characteristics as an integral part of the design. These effects not only result in high costs for removal of sediment, but also a profound damage to the ecosystem. In this dissertation, innovative techniques are developed such that more natural appearing slopes can be designed to minimize sediment delivery, while meeting mechanical equilibrium requirements. This was accomplished by: a) examining the fundamental failure modes of slopes built with minimum compaction (FRA) to enhance quick establishment of forest, b) investigating the geomechanical and erosion stability of ...

Geotechnical Report For Appalachian Community Health And Disaster Readiness: Interprofessional Practice, Ali Leib

University of Tennessee Honors Thesis Projects

No abstract provided.

Design And Economic Analysis Of A Geothermal Vertical Coupled Heat Pump System For The University Of Tennessee, Knoxville Campus, Joseph W. Birchfield Iv, Will Kester, Jason Cho

University of Tennessee Honors Thesis Projects

No abstract provided.

Finite Difference Modeling Of Surface-~Wave Scattering For Shallow Cavity Detection, Heston Travis Norcott

UNLV Theses/Dissertations/Professional Papers/Capstones

Data collection and analysis of scattering of Rayleigh-type surface waves are investigated for locating shallowly buried cavities. Surface-based seismic experiments conducted by others at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Engineering Geophysics Test Site (EGTS) demonstrate scattering of Rayleigh waves caused by buried empty barrels (essentially air-filled cavities). The interpretation of the data is complicated by factors such as the presence of a high-velocity geologic layer just below the cavity.

This research uses a finite-difference seismic wave propagation code to compute time histories for a model that represents the Engineering Geophysics Test Site. By adding cavities to a background ...

Drilled Shaft Design & Construction-Integrity Testing Issues, Mir A. Zaheer, David Latka

Purdue Road School

This presentation will provide an overview of the design and construction of drilled shafts in Indiana, including construction monitoring issue, discussion of CSL, PIT and TIP testing, and comparisons with cores taken.

Static And Seismic Performance Of Geosynthetics-Strengthened Pile Foundations, Ahmed M. Taha

University of Western Ontario - Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Geosynthetic reinforcement in earth structures has been used extensively over the last two decades. Extensive research has been carried out to investigate solutions to enhance the lateral stability of pile foundations. This research is motivated by the need to install piles in sites characterized by soft subsurface soil conditions, and often times, in seismic active areas. This research work explores an innovative use of geosynthetics to enhance the lateral performance of pile foundations. The static and seismic soil-structure-interaction behaviors of geosynthetics-reinforced pile foundation systems were evaluated using a series of reduced scale physical model tests performed on a shaking table ...

Analiza Rozwoju Fragmentu Zabudowy Miasta Torunia Na Podstawie Zdjęć Z Landsat7 Z Wykorzystaniem Map Granulometrycznych., Andrzej Szeszko

Andrzej Szeszko

Głównym celem niniejszej pracy było określenie rozwoju części zabudowy miasta Torunia

w latach 1999-2005, oraz sprawdzenie, jakie wyniki w takim zadaniu można uzyskać stosując mapy

granulometryczne wygenerowane ze zdjęć panchromatycznych o rozdzielczości przestrzennej rzędu

kilkunastu metrów. Analizę przeprowadzono na podstawie fragmentów scen satelitarnych Landsat7

zarejestrowanych przez skaner ETM+ w kilku zakresach spektralnych.

Analiza składała się z trzech następujących etapów:

· wyodrębnienia zabudowy w latach 1999 i 2005

· określenie zmian w zabudowie na podstawie zasięgu zabudowy w latach 1999 i 2005

· określenie dokładności wyznaczenia zabudowy i zmian w zabudowie

Do wyodrębnienia zabudowy posłużono się klasyfikacją map granulometrycznych. Wybór map granulometrycznych

najwierniej oddającej ...

Using Geographic Information Systems To Analyze Accessibility In The West Bank, Jacob Elliott

All Theses

With the recent failure of another highly publicized peace talks, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains a polarizing and contentious geopolitical crisis. Following the Israeli victory in the Six Day War of 1967, the West Bank and its substantial Palestinian population have lived under Israeli occupation. In response to the First Palestinian Intifada (uprising), lasting from1987 to 1993, the Israeli military imposed varying degrees of regulations to limit Palestinian mobility within the West Bank. The mobility constraints, most notably in the form of checkpoints, roadblocks, and physical obstructions, dramatically increased in volume and scale during the Second Intifada from 2000 to 2005 ...

Simulation Of Bedrock Motion To Obtain Pga Values, Shyanaka Dananjaya, Ranjith Dissanayake, Nimal Senevirathne, Kushan K. Wijesundara

International Institute for Infrastructure Resilience and Reconstruction (I3R2) Conference

This study is focused on producing the Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) values for important cities in Sri Lanka, which would provide the base to develop the national annex to the Euro Code, the current guideline in designing structures. In order to find out the magnitude and the epicenter distance of a 475-year return period earthquake, an earthquake catalog was developed. To simulate the bedrock motion FLAC Software, which uses the Finite Difference approach, was used. Five 2-D FLAC models representing five cross sections of Sri Lanka were developed. Due to the lack of local data records, a dataset of seven ...

Managing Geotechnical Risk On Us Design-Build Transport Projects, Kevin Mclain, Douglas D. Gransberg, Michael Loulakis

Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering Publications and Papers

Awarding design-build (DB) contracts before a complete subsurface investigation is completed, makes mitigating the risk of differing site conditions difficult, if not impossible. The purpose of the study was to identify effective practices for managing geotechnical risk in DB projects, and it reports the results of a survey that included responses from 42 of 50 US state departments of transportation and a content analysis of DB requests for proposals from 26 states to gauge the client’s perspective, as well as 11 structured interviews with DB contractors to obtain the perspective from the other side of the DB contract. A ...