Engineering Commons^™

Experimental Study On A New Type Of Transverse Connection For Nebraska County Bridge System, Alexander Bleyhl

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Many county-owned bridges in Nebraska need replacement due to their structural deficiency. Most of the bridges needing replacement are in the 40 to 60 ft range. This span range lacks a standard design that fits Nebraska county practices in terms of speed and simplicity of construction. The current systems being used are (a) Precast 1 by 2 ft planks which can span up to 30 ft, (b) Cast-in-place slab bridges which can span up to 50 ft but require extensive field formwork, concrete placing, and curing, and are best when constructed in three-span units, and (c) Inverted tees which can …

Investigation Of A Tractor-Tank Trailer Roadside Containment Barrier, Dean L. Whitfield

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The objective of this research project was to develop a new, cost-effective, Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) Test Level 6 (TL-6) barrier. A literature review on prior Test Level 5 and Test Level 6 barriers was conducted, and the cost of current TL-5 and TL-6 barriers was established. Existing and modified design procedures for roadside barrier were reviewed as well as current TL-6 design forces. A preliminary TL-6 truck model was developed in LS-DYNA. The minimum barrier height to contain a tractor-tank vehicle was determined to be 62 in. for a rigid, vertical-faced barrier through LS-DYNA computer simulation. New …

Effects Of Moving Bottlenecks On Traffic Operations On Four-Lane Level Freeway Segments, Jianan Zhou

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) was developed to provide capacity and level of service analyses for roadway facilities. Trucks may adversely affect the quality of traffic flow on a roadway. In HCM, the passenger car equivalent (PCE) of a truck, which represents the number of passenger cars that have an equivalent effect on traffic flow, is used to account for the impacts of trucks. However, in the past ten years rural freeways in the western rural U.S. have experienced conditions that lie outside the standard HCM conditions. Also, the current HCM truck PCEs may not be appropriate for the western …

Effect Of Swine Manure Pit Additives And Facility Disinfectants On The Fate Of Antibiotics And Manure Composition During Simulated Swine Manure Slurry Storage, Jon Duerschner

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis investigates the effect of time and of swine manure slurry treatment on the physical properties, nutrient content, and the concentrations of antibiotics chlortetracycline, lincomycin, and tiamulin in simulated storage of swine manure. In one experiment the slurry was treated with six additive products. In a second experiment a set of four disinfectant products were used. Control consisted of unamended slurry. Manure was stored in 60 liter stainless steel bioreactors to simulate deep pit storage and was sampled 7 times over a 40 day incubation.

From an ANOVA of the results, it was concluded that evaporation may be contributing …

Statistical Investigation Of Road And Railway Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety, Amirfarrokh Iranitalab

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Transportation of hazardous materials (hazmat) in the United States (U.S.) constituted 22.8% of the total tonnage transported in 2012 with an estimated value of more than 2.3 billion dollars. As such, hazmat transportation is a significant economic activity in the U.S. However, hazmat transportation exposes people and environment to the infrequent but potentially severe consequences of incidents resulting in hazmat release. Trucks and trains carried 63.7% of the hazmat in the U.S. in 2012 and are the major foci of this dissertation. The main research objectives were 1) identification and quantification of the effects of different factors on occurrence and …

Shear Strength Characteristics And Failure Mechanism Of Slopes In Overconsolidated Soils Of Nebraska, Hossein Bahmyari

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Geotechnical engineers deal with some challenging problems when encountering long-term slope stability in overconsolidated clays and clayey shales. One of these problems is determining a suitable method to estimate the reliable shear strength of overconsolidated clayey soils for long-term slope stability. According to Eversol (2013), one half of the counties in Nebraska have experienced slope failure in overconsolidated soils, especially in north and east Nebraska. In this research, shear strength characteristics of overconsolidated clayey soils of Nebraska is investigated in regard to long-term stability of slopes, and the failure mechanism in such soils is examined.

Undisturbed samples from boring logs …

Measuring Landscape Performance: Case Study Investigation, Hannah Michelle Lopresto, Brandon Zambrano, Catherine De Almeida

UCARE Research Products

Participating in the Landscape Architecture Foundation’s 2018 Case Study Investigation has been an incredibly informative experience for our research team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. We are eager to shine a spotlight on the landscape performance of two Great Plains projects: P Street Corridor, a revitalized downtown streetscape in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Tom Hanafan River’s Edge Park, a waterfront redevelopment in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Working on the post-occupancy study of both projects has been extremely beneficial in understanding how reclaiming underutilized sites can create high-performing landscapes. Both are public projects in urban settings with primary goals of transforming formerly unpleasant, …

Evaluation And Development Of Cpt Based Pile Design In Nebraska Soils, Alex Silvey

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Cone penetration testing (CPT) is a well established geotechnical subsurface investigation technique commonly used for site characterization and soil classification. The CPT gives real time end resistance, side friction, and pore pressure readings. Axially loaded piles also share these two resistance mechanisms, suggesting the cone can be considered similar to a miniature pile. This study focused on evaluating eight CPT methods prediction of pile bearing capacity. The Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) conducts dynamic load tests (PDA) of driven pile to verify pile capacity for bridge foundations. 91 comparisons of CPT logs and PDA data were evaluated. CPT prediction methods …

Integration Of Remote Sensing And Proximal Sensing For Improvement Of Field Scale Water Management, Foad Foolad

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Water is one of the most precious natural resources, and sustainable water resources development ‎‎is a significant challenge facing water managers over the coming decades. Accurate estimation of ‎‎the different components of the hydrologic cycle is key for water managers and planners in order ‎‎to achieve sustainable water resources development. The primary goal of this dissertation was to ‎investigate techniques to combine datasets acquired by remote and proximal sensing and in-situ ‎sensors for the improvement of monitoring near surface water fluxes. This dissertation is ‎separated into three site-specific case studies. First study, investigated the feasibility of using ‎inverse vadose zone …

Road Weather Impact Based Decision Support Applications: Developing A Department Of Transportation Winter Severity Index, Curtis Louis Walker

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Adverse weather conditions are responsible for millions of vehicular crashes, thousands of vehicular deaths and billions of dollars in economic and congestion costs. Many transportation agencies utilize a performance or mobility metric to assess how well they are maintaining road access. This research focuses on the development of a winter severity index for the State of Nebraska (NEWINS). NEWINS is an event-driven index that was derived for the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) and its districts across the state. The NEWINS framework includes a categorical storm classification framework and climatological aspect to capture atmospheric conditions more accurately across diverse spatial …

Road Diet Feasibility Analysis For Nebraska, Brandon L. Purintun

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Many rural towns and cities throughout Nebraska have experienced consistent population decline over the past 50 years, and the highway system once built to accommodate hoped-for growth is not serving the population as well as it could. These towns and cities would benefit from implementing a road diet conversion on their main highways. Within rural communities, road diets are an increasingly popular method of improving safety along major arterials through the reduction of excess capacity in favor of increasing refuge areas for turning vehicles. A typical application might be the restriping of a four-lane undivided highway into a three-lane highway …

Finite Element Modeling And Updating Of A Five-Tiered Pagoda Style Temple, Linh Maytham Abdulrahman

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Historical pagoda style temples demonstrate different dynamic behavior than traditional unreinforced masonry (URM) structures due to the unique construction practices and ornate architectural detailing. Recently, the 2015 Gorkha M_w 7.8 earthquake resulted in widespread structural damage and collapse of similar historic temples in Nepal. However, one temple did not collapse. This is the five-tiered pagoda style Nyatapola temple built in 1702 and located in Bhaktapur, Nepal. Understanding the seismic vulnerability and structural behavior of these pagoda-style temples can lead to more efficient retrofit solutions and conservation practices for similar heritage structures.

This study developed and calibrated the pre- and …

A Review Of The Seismic Isolation Design Procedure, Francisco Garcia

Honors Theses

The current design procedure for seismic isolation bearings for bridges is a simplified method that assigns the bearings with an elastic stiffness. Bridges subjected to ground motions actually act in a hysteric, nonlinear fashion when force is plotted against displacement. The goal of this research was to gain further insight as to whether simplifying seismic isolation bearings to a simplified stiffness is adequate or not. Design procedures were followed in the modeling of a bridge with seismic isolation. Linear modal time history analyses and with nonlinear direct integration time history analyses of ground motions were compared. At the conclusion of …

Rainwater Harvesting System Scenario Analysis On Runoff Reduction Potential In Surabaya, Indonesia: A Geospatial Analysis For Brantas Hilir Watershed, Putri Sukmahartati

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Global warming has become an environmental concern over the past several decades and its impact on the water cycle is very crucial to the well-being of the human population. In the hydrological cycle, water evaporates by the heat of the sun and atmosphere, where it is accumulated in the atmosphere via clouds and it then falls as rain. With warmer temperatures, more intensive evaporation and downpours occur. In addition, impervious surfaces are increasing as a result of urban development. Those surfaces cause more water to flow faster into open water bodies, creating more extensive flooding, and additionally reducing water quality. …

Structural Identification And Assessment Of The Inverted Tee Girder Bridge System, Garrett P. Martindale

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The Inverted Tee (IT) girder bridge system was originally developed in 1996 by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) and Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) engineers. This bridge system currently accounts for over 110 bridges in Nebraska used for both state highways and local county roads. Excessive transverse and longitudinal deck cracking has been observed and noted in numerous bridge inspection reports. Since the IT girder bridge system is relatively new, limited data and knowledge exist on its structural performance and behavior. This study evaluates the IT girder bridge system by conducting twenty field observations as well as recording accelerometer time …

Investigation Of Rapid Remote Sensing Techniques For Forensic Wind Analyses, Yijun Liao, Richard L. Wood, Mohammad Ebrahim Mohammadi, Peter J. Hughes, J. Arn Womble

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Perishable damage data resulting from severe windstorms require efficient and rapid field collection techniques. Such datasets permit forensic damage investigations and characterization of civil infrastructure. Ultimately, observed structural damage serves as a proxy approach to estimate wind speeds for storms that include hurricanes, tornadoes, straight-line winds, etc. One of the more common methods to collect, preserve, and reconstruct three-dimensional damage scenes is the use of an unmanned aerial system (UAS), commonly known as a drone. Onboard photographic payloads permit scene reconstruction via structure-from-motion; however, such approaches often require direct site access and survey points for accurate results, which limit its …

Behavior Of Cold-Formed Steel Metal Industrial Buildings, Adrianna M. Early, Mohammad Ebrahim Mohammadi, Richard L. Wood, Kara D. Peterma

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

This paper presents research focused on understanding the observed behavior of cold-formed steel (CFS) metal buildings during Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall Friday, August 25, 2017 between Port Aransas and Port O’Connor, Texas. Through the Geotechnical Extreme Event Reconnaissance (GEER) association (funded by the National Science Foundation) a team of structural engineers and researchers performed rapid and detailed assessments of structural damage caused by the hurricane. The National Science Foundation gathered photographs, damage assessments sheets, and three-dimensional laser point cloud data of severely damaged cold-formed steel industrial buildings. The Port Aransas County Airport experienced severe damage to several cold-formed steel …

Post-Earthquake Structural Damage Assessment Through Point Cloud Data, Mohammad Ebrahim Mohammadi, Richard L. Wood

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Structural damage assessment following an extreme event can provide valuable information and insight into unanticipated damage and failure modes to improve design philosophies and design codes as well as reduce vulnerability. Oftentimes, structural engineers create finite element models (FEM) of the structure in which numerous model parameters require calibration to simulate the current state. This information may include structural plan details (geometry), material characteristics (strength and stiffness parameters), as well as observed damage patterns (cracks, spalling, etc.). Ground-based lidar (GBL) scans and Structure-from-Motion (SfM) can rapidly capture dimensionally accurate point clouds of the structure or facility of interest. Furthermore, point …

Damage Assessment Of Built-Up Areas Via Uas-Sfm Derived Point Cloud Data, Mohammad Ebrahim Mohammadi, Richard L. Wood

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

In the aftermath of extreme events (e.g., earthquakes, tsunami, tornados, etc.), rapid and reliable identification of the damage in a built-up area are crucial in to rescue, recovery, and reconstruction operations. While it is critical to conduct efficient emergency response management, lack of classified or tagged damaged regions due to communications and accessibility limitations can further delay recovery operations, rescue efforts, and resource management. Furthermore, critical and perishable damage scenes can also be lost during recovery and cleanup operations immediately following the event. In recent decades, advances in remote sensing technologies demonstrate a great potential to perform rapid reconnaissance and …

Land Suitability Analysis For Emergency Medical Services Posts Along State Highways: A Case Study Of California, Ernest Tufuor, Laurence Rilett, Yunwoo Nam, Antonio Hurtado Beltran

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

The response time of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to road accidents can be the difference between life and death. The California strategic highway safety plan highlight the need to improve the response time and recognizes that: 37% and 8% of the fatal crashes are 30 or more miles away from a trauma center in rural and urban areas respectively.

The paper seeks to: (1) demonstrate the viability of using spatial multi-criteria analysis in road safety management, and (2) provide a good scientific justification in selecting optimal counties for EMS posts. The goal is to propose areas that are close to …

Analysis Of Low-Cost Bluetooth-Plus-Wifi Device For Travel Time Research, Ernest Tufuor, Laurence Rilett

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

MOTIVATION • Collecting real-time travel data via intelligent transportation systems (ITS) rely heavily on technologies that are expensive and challenging to maintain. • Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are the most popular low-cost communication protocols that can give a good understanding of spatial and temporal nature of travel.

USEFULNESS: This will be important for two main reasons: • Allow research to be conducted in a cost effective manner on all types of facilities. • Offers the opportunity to undertake comprehensive empirical studies on link and path travel time distributions especially for arterial roads

gBT COMPONENTS AND COST • A unit of the …