Engineering Commons^™

Impacts Of Climate, Land Cover And Hydrologic Changes On Stormwater Runoff In Central Florida, Mohammad S. Islam

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Changes in climate and land use/cover can cause great impacts on the hydrologic processes, especially on stormwater runoff generation. Considering the Shingle Creek Basin in Central Florida as an example of complex inland urban-natural basins, we quantified reference sensitivities of stormwater runoff to plausible scenarios of climatic, land use/cover and hydrologic changes by developing a dynamic rainfall-runoff model with the EPA Storm Water Management Model (SWMM 5.1). Potential storm runoff in the coupled urban-natural basin exhibited high and notably different seasonal sensitivities to rainfall. The total basin runoff was highly sensitive to the basin imperviousness, while showing moderate to low …

Use Of Coconut Shell As An Aggregate In Concrete: A Review, Sourav Ghosal, S. C. Moulik

Innovative Research Publications IRP India

Now-a-days, the rising cost of building materials for construction purposes is a factor of great concern. The price of building materials is rising day by day. Now, most of the researchers are paying much attention on the suitable materials which can reduce the cost of construction as well as increase the strength properties of concrete. Mainly gravel and sand are used in the preparation of conventional concrete. While the use of an agricultural by-product i.e. coconut shell as a partial replacement with conventional coarse aggregates is expected to serve the purpose of encouraging housing developers in building construction. Environmental impact …

Long-Term Trends In Magnitude And Frequency Of Extreme Rainfall Events In Florida, Tasnuva Mahjabin

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study computed trends in extreme precipitation events of Florida for 1950-2010. Hourly aggregated rainfall data from 24 stations of the National Climatic Data Centre were analyzed to derive time-series of extreme rainfalls for 12 durations, ranging from 1 hour to 7 day. Non-parametric Mann-Kendall test and Theil-Sen Approach were applied to detect the significance of trends in annual maximum rainfalls, number of above threshold events and average magnitude of above threshold events for four common analysis periods. Trend Free Pre-Whitening (TFPW) approach was applied to remove the serial correlations and bootstrap resampling approach was used to detect the field …

Work Zone Illumination Design: Guidance Stratgies To Specify Appropriatework Zone Lighting Plan, Sherine Anani

Theses and Dissertations

Night construction is frequently used because it can better satisfy the primary traffic control objectives than daytime work. If night construction is used, the design of illumination plans should be analyzed and developed as part of the project development process.

There are fewer crews out working on the road in the winter, partly because of the conditions but also because the days are shorter and there’s not a lot of light by which to work.

In fact, the days can get short enough, especially as you go farther north, that even a normal day involves some “night work.” Construction work …

Interlocking Concrete Masonry Unit Geometry Design, Raquel Avila, Nick Jensen

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

Earthquakes in Haiti and Nepal left many people devastated. Millions of people were initially displaced and forced to reside in displacement camps. Developing countries like these need a form of economical construction. Our design and manufacturing process for interlocking CMU (concrete masonry unit) blocks can help build low-cost homes quickly and efficiently. Wall construction costs are reduced because skilled masons are not needed to build the wall. Instead, unskilled homeowners and laborers can stack the interlocking blocks, which serve as forms for the subsequent placement of reinforcement and grout within some of the CMU block voids. Using a steel mold, …

Preliminary Design And Construction Planning Of A New Santa Clara University Student Fitness And Recreational Facility, Justin Matoi, Steven Sakamoto, Alex Sarr

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

The Pat Malley Fitness and Recreation Center was built in 1999. At approximately 45,000 SF, the building cost was 8.8 million dollars. Malley includes three full length basketball courts, locker rooms, 10,000 ft2 workout and cardio space, a multi-purpose room and administrative offices ("Santa Clara University" Campus Recreation). Although one of the relatively new buildings on campus; Malley fails to provide the necessary space and accommodations of an active and growing student body. When the building was designed and built, the student population/enrollment of the University was "approximately 4,200 undergraduate and 3,600 graduate students" (Santa Clara University Bulletin 1999). Since …

Sustainable Design In Ghana, Anthony Decosta, Amanda Laufer, Theresa Mcardle

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

Sustainable homes are difficult for the people of Gambibgo, Ghana to build, as there are few natural building materials in the area other than earth and water, and their subsistencefarming lifestyle leaves very little money for the purchase of sourced material like lumber, steel, or cement. Traditional homes in Gambibgo are constantly rebuilt, costing the communityaround $250 at least once every five years. Our team, with Father James Reites, S.J. and two alums, traveled to Gambibgo in March 2015 with an earthen roof design we had hoped to implement on the existing walls of thecommunity's homes. Upon our arrival we …

Bannan Pedestrian Bridge, Chris Banaga, Kevin Delos Santos, Tim Mort

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

This project focuses on the need for collaboration and unification among faculty and students in the engineering department. As it stands, the engineering department has three buildings that are not connected. This causes students and faculty of different studies to be handcuffed. Engineering is a collaborated field, that requires like minded people to come up with solutions. This is why the design team decided to implement a pedestrian bridge that would allow rapid access to both engineering buildings. The project team completed structural and construction elements for a pedestrian bridge that connects two buildings in the SCU engineering quad. This …

Santa Clara University Multicultural Center Redesign, Angela Non, Isaac Raven

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

The purpose of this project is to propose a resigned structure to better suit the activities of the Santa Clara University Multicultural Center. The renovation entails proposing a preliminary structural design system that includes a new, light-weight PLN3 metal deck roofing system provided by Verco Decking, Inc. Nine deep long span 56DLH truss joists will be implemented to support the metal deck. Two large trusses comprised of member sizes HSS9x9x½ and LL3½x3½x5/16x3/8 will be used to support the nine truss joists. Four concrete columns, 15 ft in height and 2 ft in diameter, will be erected to uphold each end …

Geomorphic Restoration And Stabilization Of A Reach Of Stevens Creek, Gretchen Kayser, Nick Roby, Travis Giffen

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

This project focuses on the restoration of a 460-foot reach of Stevens Creek in Santa Clara County, California. The new design will increase the stability of stream channels, riparian system functions, and fish passage while improving or maintaining the "level of service" based on geomorphic data. This project was completed in conjunction with the Santa Clara Valley Water District's standards and design criteria. The proposed design is needed to increase the stability of stream banks and rectify stream bed incision. This will, in turn, provide greater flood protection to the residents of Santa Clara County. In addition to safety for …

Hayward Shoreline Levee Protection, Samuel Beering, Karissa Canonizado, Caleb Young

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

The area from north of the San Mateo Bridge to Hayward Landing in the city of Hayward is at risk of flooding due to thirty-six inch sea level rise in the next 50-100 years. The areas that the this flooding would have a negative environmental impact as well as impact businesses and other residents near the project area. To protect these areas new shoreline protection was proposed. To begin designing new shore protection, the existing levee was analyzed on GeoSlope after doing numerous soil testing. It was found that the existing levee would fail against overtopping. After evaluating three alternatives, …

Designing With Bamboo: Frames And Connections In Underdeveloped Areas, Andrew Spencer, Bryson Kam

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

Designing With Bamboo: Frames and Connections in Underdeveloped Areas focused on the construction and testing of specific components of a proposed structure utilizing bamboo. This structure, proposed by the Ecological Building Network, would primarily be used in Haiti and other developing countries that are prone to seismic activity. The components of this structure will consist of concrete masonry units, bamboo frames, and rebar for the connection. This project focuses specifically on the bamboo frame and it's connection to the concrete masonry wall. Tests were performed on isolated unit specimens to gain a sense of the behavior of this mechanism. Information …

Homeless Garden Project, Caroline Ruwe, Tara Pozzi, John Miller

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

The Homeless Garden Project, a non-profit organization in Santa Cruz, California, was given 15-acres to expand in 1998 by the City of Santa Cruz. The main reason they have not moved to this area is that there is no readily available water to irrigate with. In this paper, we used GPS data and WaterCAD modeling to design a gravity water distribution system in order to irrigate this new land for the Homeless Garden Project. This system used two mountain springs as a water supply in which spring diversion box retrofits were designed. Multiple 2-inch high-density polyurethane (HDPE) pipelines were used …

Santa Clara Creek Restoration, Scott Cameron

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

The Santa Clara River Valley is an area that has traditionally had a considerably high water table and that remains relatively true today as a result of a local adoption of imported surface water to meet most needs. Historically, the result of this high water table was a network of meandering waterways throughout the valley, several of which came extremely close to our own Santa Clara University. Despite this, there are no natural surface water systems that exist in this location today. In 1851, a Santa Clara county surveyor report showed one creek in particular that flowed nearly to the …

Stethoscope-Based Detection Of Detorqued Bolts Using Impact-Induced Acoustic Emissions, Joe Guarino, Robert Hamilton

Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Results of a preliminary study investigating a simple method for detecting looseness in bolted fasteners of a steel structure are presented. Extensive research by many investigators demonstrates that the frequency response of a bolted structural member changes when one or more bolts are loosened. A simple and effective method for detecting looseness can be applied to bolted joints, using inexpensive and commonly-available equipment and software. The difference between spectrograms associated with tight and loose bolts is clearly apparent due to the presence of a tell-tale mode when one or more bolts are loosened. Further, a striking difference can be elucidated …

Automatic Turning Movements Identification System: Intersection Error Analysis, Brandon Ross Orr, Joseph Thomas Lanni

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

To lessen congestion at intersections, traffic identification systems are placed at roadway intersections in order to collect vehicle data. These traffic identification systems include various types of detectors that can identify the presence of vehicles in real-time. However, these detectors can only detect their presence and not their turning movements. To fix this issue, The University of Akron has developed a program that can automatically identify vehicle turning movements and is called the Automatic Turning Movement Identification System, or ATMIS. ATMIS uses mathematical algorithms to compute the vehicle’s turning movements based on a sink and feed detector paring. During traffic …

Civil Engineering/ Graduate Students/ Johnston & Jeffryes/ University Of Minnesota/ 2012, Lisa Johnston, Jon Jeffryes

Data Information Literacy Case Study Directory

From the University of Minnesota, this case study describes the seven modules that comprise their data information literacy program for students in Civil Engineering. The modules include: data management, organization and documentation, data access and ownership, data sharing and re-use, and preservation. Materials include a book chapter describing the case study, the syllabus for the program, a template for developing a data management plan and the evaluation forms that were used.