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Peer Review Report 2010

United States Department of Transportation -- Publications & Papers

The purpose of this document is to report findings from the research peer reviews held April 14, April 15, April 27 & April 28, 2010 for PHMSA’s Pipeline Safety Research and Development Program. The findings and recommendations in this report are derived from the scoring and comments collected from the peer review panelists.

Department of Transportation (DOT) Operating Agencies (OA) are required to develop and execute a systematic process for peer reviews and for all influential and highly influential information that the OA plans to disseminate in the foreseeable future.

Through the Information Quality Act, Congress directed the Office of …

Rd&T Program Review 2010

United States Department of Transportation -- Publications & Papers

Who Is PHMSA?

Pipeline Safety R&D

Research Program Objectives

Appropriations vs. Obligations

R&D Program Management Information System (MIS)

1. External stakeholder involvement in developing research agendas: Elements

1. External stakeholder involvement in developing research agendas: Indicators

2. Merit review of proposals for competitive research grants and contracts: Elements

2. Merit review of proposals for competitive research grants and contracts: Indicators

3. Independent evaluation of significant research using some form of expert review: Elements

3. Independent evaluation of significant research using some form of expert review: Indicators

4. Performance measures for significant research programs: Elements

4. Performancemeasures for significantresearch programs: Indicators …

Estudio De Las Teorías De Arrastre De Fondo Sobre El Río Negro, En Un Tramo De 100 M Aguas Arriba Del Puente Tobia La Montaña, Mediante Un Modelo Físico, Astrid Julieth Peñalosa Olarte, Diana Cristina Arias Aldana

Ingeniería Civil

Los fenómenos propios de los ríos relacionados con el transporte de sedimentos tales como la sedimentación y la socavación han representado grandes problemas en el diseño y la construcción de estructuras a lo largo de los cauces naturales es por esto que se decide realizar este estudio en una zona donde se refleja esta problemática. La investigación comprende la cuantificación del transporte de sedimentos en la zona de estudio y su comparación con las teorías existentes mediante un modelo físico a escala. La zona de estudio escogida es el tramo del río Negro 100 metros aguas arriba del puente Tobia …

La Motocicleta Como Modo De Transporte En Bogotá, Diego Fernando Pérez Vega, Henry Alberto Caicedo Alcantara

Ingeniería Civil

No abstract provided.

Evaluación De La Dotación Para El Diseño De Acueductos Y Alcantarillados Para Municipios Colombianos Tomando Como Base De Búsqueda El Municipio De Puente Nacional Santander, Luis Fernando Rozo Gamboa

Ingeniería Civil

Para el desarrollo de la investigación se tuvo como referencia principal el RAS 2000 (Reglamento Técnico de Agua Potable y Saneamiento Básico), además se adoptaron como antecedentes algunas resoluciones con las cuales se acoge y se modifica el reglamento (RAS 2000), los cuales se presentan en la tabla 1. Para la estimación del consumo de agua de un municipio Colombiano necesario para el diseño de acueductos y alcantarillados en el país, el método de cálculo más utilizado es proporcionado por el Reglamento Técnico de Agua Potable y Saneamiento Básico. Este los explica y presenta una metodología de los parámetros de …

Beneficial Reuse Of Corrugated Board In Slurry Applications, James L. Hanson, Nazli Yesiller, Jagjit Singh, Greg M. Stone, Adam Stephens

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Use of virgin and post-consumer corrugated board as a replacement for bentonite in slurry mixes was investigated. The effectiveness of the slurry mixes was assessed using typical tests including Marsh funnel viscosity, density, and filtrate loss. Filter cake permeability was also determined. Corrugated board was fiberized for the test program. Test results indicated that corrugated board could be used to replace 9 to 27% (0.5 to 1.5% corrugate content) of bentonite in slurry mixes with a total solids content of 5.5%. Slurry applications provide a new and viable beneficial reuse alternative for paper/paperboard products, which constitute the largest weight and …

Genetic Programming To Investigate Design Parameters Contributing To Crash Occurence On Urban Arterials, Abhishek Das, Mohamed Abdel-Aty, Anurag Pande

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Nonlinear models were developed to estimate crash frequency on urban arterials with partial access control. These multilane arterials consist of midblock segments joined by signalized and unsignalized intersections (or access points). Crashes included in the analysis are of three major types: rear-end, angle, and head-on. Each crash type is further sorted into mutually exclusive categories on the basis of the roadway element responsible for the crashes: midblock segment, signalized intersection, and access point. Genetic programming (GP) is adopted for predicting crash frequency. GP, which is primarily based on genetic algorithms, uses the concept of evolution to develop models through the …

Developing A Cloud Integrated Life Cycle Costing Analysis Model Through Bim, Alan Redmond, Alan V. Hore, Roger West

Conference papers

Advancing interoperability between design team applications has been a major challenge for advocates of open standards. The buildingSmart alliance and Open Geospatial Consortium Inc in the U.S. have developed and implemented an Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Owner Operator, Phase 1 Testbed that streamlines communications between parties at the conceptual design phase to establish an early understanding of the tradeoffs between construction cost and energy efficiency. The results of this Testbed combined with an on-going collaborative R&D project ‘Inpro’ co-funded by the European Commission to identify business and legal issues of Building Information Modeling in construction were used as theoretical propositions underlying …

Studies Of Dynamic Crack Propagation And Crack Branching With Peridynamics, Youn Doh Ha Ph.D., Florin Bobaru Ph.D.

Department of Engineering Mechanics: Faculty Publications

In this paper we discuss the peridynamic analysis of dynamic crack branching in brittle materials and show results of convergence studies under uniform grid refinement (m-convergence) and under decreasing the peridynamic horizon (δ-convergence). Comparisons with experimentally obtained values are made for the crack-tip propagation speed with three different peridynamic horizons.We also analyze the influence of the particular shape of themicro-modulus function and of different materials (Duran 50 glass and soda-lime glass) on the crack propagation behavior. We show that the peridynamic solution for this problem captures all the main features, observed experimentally, of dynamic crack propagation and branching, as well …

2010 Civil And Environmental Engineering Department News, Department Of Civil And Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological University

Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering Newsletters

Table of Contents

• New Faculty
• Strategic Hiring Initiative
• Faculty awards
• Student Awards
• Student Competitions
• Academy of Civil and Environmental Engineers
• CEE Donor Recognition
• Department Information

Characterizing The Effects Of Turbulence On Sediment Oxygen And Sediment Nitrate Demand Using Flow-Through Reactors, Brandon J. Ellefson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Onondaga Lake has received the municipal effluent and industrial waste from the city of Syracuse for more than a century. Historically, 75 metric tons of mercury were discharged to the lake by chlor-alkali facilities. These legacy deposits of mercury now exist primarily in the lake sediments. Under anoxic conditions, methylmercury is produced in the sediments and can be released to the overlying water. Natural sedimentation processes are continuously burying the mercury deeper into the sediments. Eventually, the mercury will be buried to a depth where it no longer has an impact on the overlying water. In the interim, electron acceptor …

Characterization Of Legacy Organic Carbon In A Culturally Eutrophic Lake : The Role Of The Historic Carbon Deposition In The Time Course And Extent Of Lake Recovery , Phillip A. Depetro

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The time course of lake recovery after a reduction in external loading of nutrients is often controlled by conditions in the sediment. Remediation of eutrophication is hindered by the presence of legacy organic carbon deposits, that exert a demand on the terminal electron acceptors of the lake and contribute to problems such as internal nutrient recycling, absence of sediment macrofauna, and flux of toxic metal species into the water column. Being able to quantify the timing of a lake’s response requires determination of the magnitude and lability, i.e., the susceptibility to biodegradation, of the organic carbon within the legacy deposit. …

Use Of Hydroclimatic Forecasts For Improved Water Management In Central Texas , Wenge Wei

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Accurate seasonal to interannual streamflow forecasts based on climate information are critical for optimal management and operation of water resources systems. Considering most water supply systems are multipurpose, operating these systems to meet increasing demand under the growing stresses of climate variability and climate change, population and economic growth, and environmental concerns could be very challenging. This study was to investigate improvement in water resources systems management through the use of seasonal climate forecasts. Hydrological persistence (streamflow and precipitation) and large-scale recurrent oceanic-atmospheric patterns such as the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the …

Risk Analysis Of Light-Frame Wood Construction Due To Multiple Hazards , Yue-Jun Yin

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Light-frame wood buildings are widely built in the United States (U.S.). Natural hazards cause huge losses to light-frame wood construction. This study proposes methodologies and a framework to evaluate the performance and risk of light-frame wood construction.

Performance-based engineering (PBE) aims to ensure that a building achieves the desired performance objectives when subjected to hazard loads. In this study, the collapse risk of a typical one-story light-frame wood building is determined using the Incremental Dynamic Analysis method. The collapse risks of buildings at four sites in the Eastern, Western, and Central regions of U.S. are evaluated. Various sources of uncertainties …

Considering Sustainability Factors In The Development Project Life-Cycle : A Framework For Increasing Successful Adoption Of Improved Stoves , Travis K. Ostrom

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Indoor air pollution from combustion of solid fuels is the fifth leading contributor to disease burden in low-income countries. This, and potential to reduce environmental impacts, has resulted in emphasis on use of improved stoves. However, many efforts have failed to meet expectations and effective coverage remains limited. A disconnect exists between technologies, delivery methods, and long-term adoption.

The purpose of this research is to develop a framework to increase long-term success of improved stove projects. The framework integrates sustainability factors into the project life-cycle. It is represented as a matrix and checklist which encourages consideration of social, economic, and …

Human And Embodied Energy Analysis Applied To Water Source Protection And Household Water Treatment Interventions Used In Mali, West Africa , R. Brendan Held

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

As water quality interventions are scaled up to meet the Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of the population without access to safe drinking water by 2015 there has been much discussion on the merits of household- and source-level interventions. This study furthers the discussion by examining specific interventions through the use of embodied human and material energy. Embodied energy quantifies the total energy required to produce and use an intervention, including all upstream energy transactions. This model uses material quantities and prices to calculate embodied energy using national economic input/output-based models from China, the United States and Mali. …

Post-Project Assessment And Follow-Up Support For Community Managed Rural Water Systems In Panama , Ryu Suzuki

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The Environmental Health (EH) program of Peace Corps (PC) Panama and a non-governmental organization (NGO) Waterlines have been assisting rural communities in Panama gain access to improved water sources through the practice of community management (CM) model and participatory development. Unfortunately, there is little information available on how a water system is functioning once the construction is complete and the volunteer leaves the community. This is a concern when the recent literature suggests that most communities are not able to indefinitely maintain a rural water system (RWS) without some form of external assistance (Sara and Katz, 1997; Newman et al, …

Improving The Reliability Of Aquatic Biogeochemical Models: Integrating Information And Optimizing Complexity, Cory P. Mcdonald

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

No abstract provided.

Effects From Filtration, Capping Agents, And Presence/Absence Of Food On The Toxicity Of Silver Nanoparticles To Daphnia Magna, H. Joel Allen, Christopher A. Impellitteri, Dana A. Macke, J. Lee Heckman, Helen C. Poynton, James M. Lazorchak, Shekar Govindaswamy, Deborah L. Roose, Mallikarjuna N. Nadagouda

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Staff Publications

Relatively little is known about the behavior and toxicity of nanoparticles in the environment. Objectives of work presented here include establishing the toxicity of a variety of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) to Daphnia magna neonates, assessing the applicability of a commonly used bioassay for testing AgNPs, and determining the advantages and disadvantages of multiple characterization techniques for AgNPs in simple aquatic systems. Daphnia magna were exposed to a silver nitrate solution and AgNPs suspensions including commercially available AgNPs (uncoated and coated), and laboratory-synthesized AgNPs (coated with coffee or citrate). The nanoparticle suspensions were analyzed for silver concentration (microwave acid digestions), size …

Persistent Organic Pollutants In Fish Tissue In The Mid-Continental Great Rivers Of The United States, Karen A. Blocksom, David M. Walters, Terri M. Jicha, James M. Lazorchak, Theodore R. Angradi, David W. Bolgrien

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Staff Publications

Great rivers of the central United States (Upper Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio rivers) are valuable economic and cultural resources, yet until recently their ecological condition has not been well quantified. In 2004– 2005, as part of the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program for Great River Ecosystems (EMAPGRE), we measured legacy organochlorines (OCs) (pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs) and emerging compounds (polybrominated diphenyl ethers, PBDEs) in whole fish to estimate human and wildlife exposure risks from fish consumption. PCBs, PBDEs, chlordane, dieldrin and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) were detected in most samples across all rivers, and hexachlorobenzene was detected in most Ohio River …