Engineering Commons^™

Physical And Mental Health Challenges Of Construction Workforce Active In Extreme Weather Conditions, Sanjgna Karthick

Civil Engineering Dissertations

Construction sites continue to operate despite inclement weather, exposing workers to unpleasant working circumstances that can lead to various physical and mental health challenges. A thorough literature review yielded 21 challenges for hot weather conditions such as heat stroke, kidney disease, heat cramps, anxiety, depression and 20 challenges for cold weather conditions like asthma, frostbite, Musculo-Skeletal disorders, hallucination. Workers vulnerable to hot and cold weather based on demographic characteristics were identified. The study also provides 27 strategies to address the challenges experienced in hot and cold weather conditions. Some of these include ensuring that workers stay hydrated, scheduling sufficient rest …

Sustainable And Inclusive Engineering: The Use Of Mentors And Sustainable Remediation To Increase The Presence Of Underrepresented Groups In Engineering, Nathaniel L. Steadman

Civil Engineering Theses

The recruitment and retention of underrepresented groups in engineering, such as women, has been a priority for many decades to diversify the profession to meet the current demand for engineers. Unfortunately, barriers continue to inhibit the recruitment and retention of underrepresented students in engineering, thus reducing the impact of these efforts. A potential barrier is a lack of social connection to the technical problem definition, design, and decision-making that engineers utilize, prioritizing technical knowledge over social. Previous research has theorized that the incorporation of social considerations in technical engineering design increases interest in engineering for underrepresented groups. The purpose of …

Performance Evaluation And Retrofitting Options Of A Precast Prestressed Concrete Bridge With Deck Panel Failure, Ahmed Abdullah Alateeq

Civil Engineering Dissertations

Bridges play a crucial role in the worldwide transportation infrastructure. According to the 2021 America’s Infrastructure Report Card, there are more than 617,000 bridges across the Nation, of which, 42% are at least 50 years old, and 7.5% are rated as structurally deficient. Repetitive loading from heavy trucks is one of the reasons that could compromise the structural integrity of bridges. The heavy trucks have a negative impact on the bridge deck as a bridge’s first line of defense is to resist the applied load. The Las Lomas Bridge [Eastbound (EB) and Westbound (WB)] carrying IH-20 over Las Lomas Pkwy, …

On The Application Of Dynamical Measures Of Hydrologic Response To Prediction And Similarity Assessment In Watersheds, Prashanta Bajracharya

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Prediction in Ungauged Basins (PUB) initiative set out to improve the understanding of hydrological processes with an aim of improving hydrologic models for application in ungauged basins. With a majority of basins around the world essentially ungauged, this suggests the need to shift from calibration-based models that rely on observed streamflow data to models based on process understanding. This is especially important in natural infrastructure planning projects such as investments in the conservation of wetlands across the watershed, where the lack of streamflow data hinders the quantification of their benefits (such as flood attenuation), resulting in a difficulty in …

Advancing The Cyberinfrastructure For Smart Water Metering And Water Demand Modeling, Nour A. Attallah

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

With rapid growth of urban populations and limited water resources, achieving an appropriate balance between water supply capacity and residential water demand poses a significant challenge to water supplying agencies. With the recent emergence of smart metering technology, where water use can be monitored and recorded at high resolution (e.g., observations of water use every 5 seconds), most existing research has been aimed at providing water managers with detailed information about the water use behavior of their consumers and the performance of water using fixtures. However, replacing existing meters with smart meters is expensive, and effectively using data produced by …

Using Computational Fluid Dynamics To Predict Flow Through The West Crack Breach Of The Great Salt Lake Railroad Causeway, Michael Rasmussen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Great Salt Lake in Utah, USA, is a terminal, saline lake and is divided into two primary sections (northern and southern) by an east-to-west railroad causeway. Shortly after completion of the earth-fill causeway in the late 1950s, the two sections became dramatically different with differences in water surface elevation and water density. These differences cause the formation of a unique flow behavior commonly referred to as a density-driven exchange flow or bi-directional flow; a behavior observed in other lake and ocean settings where two fluids of differing densities interact. Measuring these exchange flows is a priority for lake managers …

Cuo Nanoparticles Solubility As Influenced By Soil Pore Water, Native Microorganisms, And Wheat Rhizosphere Chemistry In A Sand Matrix, Dakota Sparks

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Nanoparticles (NPs) are particles less than 100 nm (~4 millionths of an inch) in a direction. NPs, due to their small size, are used in a variety of products, such as silver (Ag) NPs as an antimicrobial in clothes. Copper Oxide (CuO) NPs are used in electronics as semiconductors and other fields as antimicrobials and purposefully or accidentally end up in the environment. Copper (Cu) is a necessary nutrient for plants, but at higher amounts is toxic to plants and beneficial soil microbes.

In order to understand how the CuO NPs interacts with plants, wheat seedlings were grown in sand …

Sustain Water Conservation Behaviors Using Nonparametric Ranking And Social Marketing, Mahmudur Rahman Aveek

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Circulation of water use feedback and conservation messaging are strategies implemented to reduce water demand on a short-term (seasonal) basis. Often considered a less impactful strategy than other tactics such as price increments and usage restrictions, authorities mostly use feedback in informational campaigns with a focus to apprise users about their water use. Such conservation programs have had limited success that has been attributed to the fact that the information provided with the feedback campaigns was generic and did not motivate users enough to sustain their water-saving behaviors. However, the advent of disaggregation technologies that can provide appliance-wise water use …

Bugs Buy Steady Releases From Hydropower Producers To Encourage More Synergistic Reservoir Management, Moazzam Ali Rind

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Hydropower generated from dams has significant economic value, however, that value is achieved at the cost of native ecosystem devastation. Here, we have estimated loss in hydropower revenue due to inclusion of the steady low flow days –Bug Flow Experiments. We developed a linear optimization model and constraint method that restrict the number of steady low flow days while maximizes the hydropower revenue generation. The results suggested that increase in release volume will benefit both the objectives (win-win scenario), energy price differential between on-and off-peak periods controls the position and shape of tradeoff curves, and offset release does not have …

Pedestrian Behavior At Signalized Intersections Throughout Utah, Sadie Boyer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Pedestrians and vehicles interact with each other all over the world. Pedestrian-vehicle interactions are most likely to occur at intersections. One way to streamline these interactions and reduce the number of potential conflicts is by using traffic signals. Signalized intersections were developed to increase the overall safety and efficiency of movements involving motorists and, later, pedestrians (Clark, 2022). The number of signalized intersections is increasing across the country as vehicle volumes increase. This means that pedestrian-vehicle conflicts are also increasing. Pedestrian-vehicle conflicts can have serious, even fatal, consequences if not appropriately managed.

This study was a sponsored project by the …

Highly Variable Rainfall-Runoff Patterns Across Burned Mountainous Watersheds In The Colorado River Headwaters, Haley Anne Canham

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Wildfires can contribute to enhanced flooding, erosion, debris flows, sediment transport, and water quality changes that impact downstream infrastructure, water users, and aquatic habitat. With increasing wildfire risk in the western U.S. due to a changing climate, understanding post-wildfire rainfall-runoff patterns and controls is critical for continued water resources security. To improve understanding of post-wildfire rainfall-runoff patterns and controls, we developed a transparent, repeatable analysis framework to collect precipitation and streamflow data, identify paired rainfall-runoff events, and analyze these events to evaluate post-wildfire rainfall-runoff patterns and controls. To automate the rainfall-runoff event identification, the Rainfall-Runoff Event Detection and Identification (RREDI) …

Passage Probability Of Woody Debris Elements And Accumulations At I- And V-Shaped Rock Weirs, Kathryn Margetts

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The transport and accumulation of driftwood or large woody debris (LWD) in mountain streams is a natural part of catchment health and river connectivity. At hydraulic structures, the presence of LWD may impact flow efficiency and influence upstream water depth. LWD has been studied at a variety of spillways and weir types, however, little is known about its interaction at rock weirs. This study investigated factors affecting the passage of individual LWD elements and any LWD accumulations at rock weirs, as well as potential impacts upstream of LWD accumulations through field-informed scaled model testing. Observations of LWD at rock weirs …

Optimization Of A Lightweight Floating Offshore Wind Turbine With Water-Ballast Motion Mitigation Technology, William Ramsay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Floating offshore wind turbines are a promising technology to address energy needs utilizing wind resources offshore. The current state of the art is based on heavy, expensive platforms to survive the ocean environment. Typical design techniques do not involve optimization because of the computationally expensive time-domain solvers used to model motions and loads in the ocean environment. However, this project uses an efficient frequency domain solver with a genetic algorithm to rapidly optimize the design of a novel floating wind turbine concept. The concept utilizes liquid ballast mass to mitigate motions on a lightweight post-tensioned concrete platform, with a target …

Development Of Ultra High Performance Composite Impact Panels Using Emaa, Jeffrey Hollstein

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

UHPC with the addition of fibers is recognized for its increased impact resistance compared to typical strength concrete. To further increase the resilience, recent studies have been conducted to reinforce the UHPC with CFRTP on the front and rear face to create sandwich panels. These studies used PETg/E-glass CFRTP bonded to the UHPC using EMAA (Surlyn) in a stamp thermoforming process. Impact tests conducted on these panels have shown that delamination has been the initial and detrimental failure to the sandwich composite. Increasing the composites resistance to debonding will increase the impact energy required to debond the composite. In this …

Innovative Foundation Alternative Inspired From Tree Roots, Macie Larranaga

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

It is not easy to find a more efficient foundation system than the roots of a tree. Trees create a vast three-dimensional network of roots to support and anchor the critical above-ground trunks, leaves, and limbs. In this work, investigations are made for the feasibility of imitating such a technique and creating similar networks to support civil infrastructure, particularly those subjected to moment loads such as traffic signal posts. Some of the raised questions were: Is it feasible to have a shallow tree root-based foundation system to provide the same capacities as conventional foundation alternatives? If this is feasible: What …

A Snapshot Of Sars-Cov-2 In Wastewater Treatment Plants In Northwest Arkansas, Katie Loethen

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Because SARS-CoV-2, a coronavirus, is released in the fecal shedding of covid-positive patients, the virus enters the municipal waste stream and flows to wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The goal of this research is to quantify the effectiveness of wastewater treatment processes at removing SARS-CoV-2 from wastewater and preventing its release into the environment. Sampling at Paul R. Noland and West Side WWTPs in Fayetteville, Arkansas, took place from August 2020 to May 2021, and samples were tested for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 using N1 and N2 primers via RT-qPCR. Sampling days which returned positive detection of one or both of …

Evaluation Of Life Cycle Costs, Benefits, And Public Perceptions Of Greywater Reuse Systems For Supplementing Conventional Water Delivery, Sreeganesh Reddy Yerri

All Dissertations

The water utility industry is under enormous pressure to meet the challenges of increasing demands due to population growth, lifestyle changes, and depleting freshwater resources. The current and predicted future deficit scenarios challenge water supply managers to come up with a sustainable and reliable alternative source while making the supply infrastructure smarter and resilient. One such alternative source is the greywater that is available at the point of consumption itself. With certain limitations, there have been studies performed to evaluate the life cycle costs and expected monetary benefits of decentralized greywater reuse systems, but the public and health bureaus are …

Wind Tunnel Modeling Of Jack Rabbit Ii Mock Urban Environment Gas Concentration Measurements, Sami S. Fares

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The 2015 Jack Rabbit (JR) II field trials were conducted to improve understanding of the denser-than-air dispersion of chlorine in an urban environment. The field study involved five large-scale, outdoor release trials of chlorine in a mock urban environment (MUE) at Dugway Proving Ground (DPG). Various instrumentation was deployed, including JazTM Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-Vis) point sensors capable of measuring gas-phase chlorine concentration throughout the mock urban array.

The Chemical Hazards Research Center (CHRC) was tasked by the Chemical Security Analysis Center (CSAC) with the Mock Urban Wind Tunnel (MUWT) program to study the 2015 JR II Trials at wind tunnel scale. …

Inspection Of Flexible Fillers In Post-Tensioned Bridges, Carley Gonzalez

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is currently pushing toward the use of flexible fillers (FF) in new post-tensioned (PT) bridges. Flexible fillers have several advantages compared to the currently used cementitious grouts (CG) and can offer longer-lasting structures by providing better corrosion protection and allowing for replaceable tendons, which reduces the overall maintenance costs over the structure’s lifespan. Due to these fillers being used in new bridges, FDOT needs effective nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods to employ in their biennial inspections. There are currently numerous NDE methods available to inspectors that have been used to identify defects in PT bridges …

Use Of A Trial Function Method To Semi-Analytically Simulate Matrix Diffusion In Heterogeneous And Fractured Media, Kien Trung Pham

All Dissertations

A semi-analytic trial function model is applied to simulate matrix diffusion in systems of parallel fractures, 2-D/3-D discrete fracture networks, and in 3-D heterogeneous media. The trial function model gives low normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) when compared to the parallel fracture analytical solution over a range of fracture spacing, with considerations for retardation and decay. The semi-analytic trial function model is efficient in time and maintains less than 6% NRMSE when it simulates matrix diffusive transport in 2-D/3-D discrete fracture networks (DFN). The model can predict DFN plume within a few meters of accuracy compared to fine-grid DFN …

Influence Of Specimen Geometry And Anisotropy On Dynamic Modulus Of Asphalt Mixes In South Carolina, Srinivasan Nagarajan

All Dissertations

The objective of this study was to characterize the variability of dynamic modulus of asphalt mixes in South Carolina on the basis of geometry and anisotropy. High priority mixes Surface Type B, and C; Intermediate Type B and C and Base Type A from three different days of production were collected from seven different contractors each having a different aggregate source and the dynamic modulus was measured using the Asphalt Mixture Performance Tester (AMPT) at temperatures of 40, 70, 100 and 130℉ (4.4, 21.1, 37.8, and 54.4℃) and at frequencies of 25, 10, 5, 1, 0.5, and 0.1 Hz. One-way …

Tree Ring Reconstructions Of Streamflow For The Lower Rio Grande Valley Of Texas, Adedolapo Mutiyat Adeyanju

Theses and Dissertations

The Rio Grande River is a major water source for people living within the USA-Mexico border. The Rio Grande River has its headwaters in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado and the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico before flowing into Texas through El-Paso. The water supply issues facing the Lower Rio Grande Basin (LRGB) are extremely complex from international restrictions to severe climate change. The river shares its flow between the U.S.A and Mexico based on the provisions of the 1944 treaty between the U.S.A and Mexico. The LRGB flow is regulated by releases from Falcon and Amistad Reservoirs managed …

Towards Sustainable Cities: Life Cycle Cost Analysis Of The Construction Of A Novel Wastewater Management System, Bibhas B. Tanmoy

Theses and Dissertations

Wastage of water is one of the most common environmental issues in the modern era. However, if this level of usage can be controlled, or recirculated properly, the wastage can be lowered down to a very minimum. In the conventional residential plumbing system, blackwater and greywater gets mixed and goes through the same sewage pipe. This mixture turns the whole wastewater amount into blackwater, which requires complex treatment before discharge. Greywater on the other hand can be discharged to waterbodies requiring almost zero treatment. In this study, a new wastewater management method is proposed where the plumbing system is split …

Tap Water Disinfection In The Electrochemical Precipitation Process By Using Novel Conductive Concrete, Md Shoriful Islam

Theses and Dissertations

Electrochemical precipitation (EP) is tested to learn about its impact on disinfectants in tap water. The EP process involves applying electricity through electrodes submerged in water to precipitate dissolved metals like water hardness out without chemical additives. In the study, tap water was tested to learn about EP’s impact on disinfectants. Tap water contains not only hardness but also residual disinfectants. It is very essential for the safety of drinking water against the potential ingress of pathogens before the water reaches the end-users. USEPA mandates that the free chlorine level in drinking water should be 0.2mg/L to 4 mg/L. …

Wind Flow Characteristics Of Multi-Vortex Tornadoes And Their Wind Effects On Residential Houses, Yi Zhao

Doctoral Dissertations

"Tornadoes strike the USA very frequently, with an average of 1200 reports per year, and the average annual tornado-induced property loss has reached $10B. The devastation from recent tornadoes have prompted a renewed interest in better understanding tornado dynamics, their interactions with the built environment, and the performance of civil structures during tornadoes. In the past, the wind effects caused by single-vortex tornadoes have been widely studied, while the multi-vortex tornadoes were rarely considered. In fact, many previous deadly, costly tornadoes involved multiple vortices. Therefore, it is important to understand the wind flow characteristics of multi-vortex tornadoes in order to …

Utilizing Prefabrication In Order To Achieve Leed Credits, Phillip E. Waldman

Construction Management

This paper is a dissertation on the concept and benefits of utilizing panelization in construction to achieve LEED credits. Panelization is the process of prefabricating construction framing materials, such as walls, floors, and roof systems, to streamline and improve the construction process. This dissertation aims to examine: (1) how prefabrication can optimize construction through effective waste management (2) how prefabrication manufacturing plants are more efficient, cost-effective, and better for the environment with regard to material use and recycling than traditional construction methods (3) how prefabrication can be used to obtain LEED credit points for the Construction and Demolition Waste Management …

An Evaluation Of Energy Consumption Comparing Conventional Water Treatment Plants To Microfiltration And Ultrafiltration Water Treatment Plants, Danielle Larsen

All Theses

The use of low-pressure, hollow fiber microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) membranes has become increasingly prominent in drinking water treatment plant configurations over the past 30 years. At the same time, the topics of energy efficiency and sustainability in industry are becoming progressively more important. Although MF and UF are highly successful in filtration, they are generally thought of as significant energy consumers; however, the data have not yet been available to compare multiple plants in various contexts to determine the factors that most affect energy use. This research compares the energy use of MF and UF treatment plants to …

Application Of A 14c-Assay To Assess Methanotrophic Biodegradation Of Tce In Low Ph Groundwater, Evan Groome

All Theses

Current biological strategies for remediating trichloroethylene (TCE) in low pH aquifers (i.e., pH14C-TCE assay was developed to determine pseudo first-order rate constants for the degradation of TCE in microcosms containing soil and groundwater from the Boeing Michigan Aeronautical Research Center (BOMARC) superfund site, where the pH ranges from 4.1 to 4.9. The ¹⁴C-TCE assay was also adapted to calculate soil-normalized rate constants for data from this site, as well as data that Szwast²¹ collected from the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC). In addition to natural attenuation, biostimulation through amendments of methane and nutrients were also assessed. This treatment …

Rapidly Deployable Structures For Disaster Relief And Military Use, Jayson Leonard

All Theses

Rapidly deployable structures currently play a vital role in the recovery aspect of disaster-stricken areas and the safety of military personnel in hostile zones. More recently there has also been a need for the structures to deal with unforeseen disruptions caused by the COVID pandemic, such as COVID testing centers or backyard pop-up offices. These structures could be used in different environments and serve many other purposes. Along with the structural performance of these shelters, they need to integrate into systems set in place effortlessly. For that reason, four key factors were taken into consideration, namely (1) deployability (how difficult …

The Evacuation Simulation Of Wheelchair Users In A Building Fire: An Initial Dynamic Characterization Of Structural Egress Components, Haley Hostetter

All Theses

People with disabilities are one of the most vulnerable groups involved in building fires. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, in the United States alone, an estimated 700 home fires involve people with physical disabilities each year while over 1700 involve those with mental health disorders. Despite this, the current body of literature shows few studies focused on the evacuation of disabled people. This is a direct result of past and present social injustice on people with disabilities and has resulted in high injury and death rates during fires. To combat this, enrich the literature, and improve their experiences in …