Engineering Commons^™

Human-Infrastructure Interfaces (Hii) Enabled Using Augmented Reality (Ar), Dilendra Maharjan

Civil Engineering ETDs

The modern industrial society is built upon the productivity of advanced computing and agile machines assisting the human workforce to perform their tasks more effectively, accurately and efficiently. The industrial revolution termed as "Industry 4.0" is based on the intelligence of machines working with humans in a collaborative work-space. Contrarily, infrastructure management has relied on the human for making day to day decisions. New emerging technologies can assist during infrastructure inspections, to quantify structural condition with more objective data. However, today's’ owners agree in trusting the inspector's decision in the field over data collected with sensors. If data collected in …

Retrofit Of Corroded Corrugated Metal Culverts Using Gfrp Slip-Liner, Rahulreddy Chennareddy

Civil Engineering ETDs

Culverts are water conveyance structures, typically used to allow water flow and maintain a balance between the flow streams without interrupting structures such as highways and bridges. Corrugated metal pipes (CMPs) have been used as culverts in North America since the 1950s because of their low cost and simple construction method. Today, the corrosion of CMPs is a major problem faced by all U.S. Departments of Transportation. There is an urgent need to provide an efficient solution, one that is corrosion-resistant, to retrofit thousands of corroded CMPs across the country. High specific strength, high strength to weight ratio, corrosion resistance, …

Source-Separated Urine Nitrification And Ion Accumulation In Sub-Irrigated Planters Using Domestic Wastewater, David A. Forrest

Civil Engineering ETDs

Wastewater reuse is a field at the crux of the food-energy-water nexus. This nexus is a modern attempt at qualifying relationships between resource availability and stewardship, and the choices and needs of market-driven culture. This study aims to develop simple low-tech systems to use domestic wastewater or source-separated urine, treated onsite, for domestic container garden water and nutrient supply. Four experiments were conducted to assess specific aspects of this technology to help develop relevant stages in this reuse chain.

The objective of the first experiment was a proof of concept to assess compatibility of sub-irrigated planters (SIP) with treated domestic …

Synthesis & Characterization Of Polymer-Modified Calcium Silicate Hydrate For Wellbore Applications, Jeremy J. Starr

Civil Engineering ETDs

Calcium Silicate Hydrate (C-S-H) acts as the primary binding material that is mainly responsible for the strength and durability of concrete. C-S-H constitutes approximately 67% of hydrated ordinary Portland cement by volume. C-S-H forms with a range of stoichiometric formula dependent on many factors such as CaO/SiO₂ ratio. The continued rise of hydrocarbon exploration in the United States has developed the need for improved wellbore cementing materials. Binders with good bond strength to steel and rock interfaces, low shrinkage, and high cracking strength are sought by the oil and gas industry. The incorporation polymers and nano materials has evolved …

Implementations Of Resilience Engineering For Natural System Disturbances: A Panarchical Perspective, Mark Charles Stone Victoria Jaramillo

Civil Engineering ETDs

This body of work seeks to advance knowledge of resilience and resilience engineering (RE) from a practical and theoretical perspective. Three distinct applications of resilience and RE that align two fundamental frameworks are presented. The first application, a vulnerability assessment, exemplifies the largest scale of panarchy and the measuring aspect of RE. The second application, a Bayesian network approach, exemplifies the intermediate scale of panarchy and the modeling aspect of RE. The third application, an engineering design project using analytical hierarchy process (AHP), exemplifies the smallest scale of panarchy and the building aspect of RE. Studying these applications enriches understanding …

The Development Of A Novel Experiment On Confined, Flattened Brazilian Disks To Correlate Damage And Permeability In Brittle Geo-Materials, Samuel H. Boyce

Civil Engineering ETDs

This research develops a novel experiment using flattened Brazilian disks under confining pressure with concurrent permeability measurements and acoustic emission monitoring. The purpose of this work is to correlate damage and permeability in brittle geo-materials. Two series of tests are performed on concrete and one series on tuff, under a range of confining stresses between 2.76 and 13.79 MPa. Tests were continued beyond peak stress conditions, capturing data in the post-peak region. The acoustic emission data (cumulative energy and counts) are used to identify damage thresholds and track the progression of microscopic damage. This quantified damage is then correlated to …

Biointerfacial Studies Of Nitrifying Biofilms On Physically And Chemically Modified Surfaces, Philip Marley Roveto

Civil Engineering ETDs

Interactions between bacteria and surfaces during the initiation of biofilm formation are complex phenomena with significant and wide-ranging implications for nutrient cycling, ecosystem and human health, and the remediation of anthropogenic pollutants. Nitrifying biofilms are currently used for ammonia removal in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) systems. As well-studied biofilms, they can serve as models towards understanding crucial aspects of biofilm engineering. The overall objective of this research was to better understand how variations in specific surface chemistries and topographical features affect nitrification rates and microbial populations in an effort to develop technologies for improved productivity. The experimental approach was to …

Recovery Of Gypsum & Magnesium Hydroxide From Brackish Water By Chemical Precipitation, Sugam Tandukar

Civil Engineering ETDs

Exhaust gases from coal combustion contain contaminants such as sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrous oxide (NO_x), and traces of other pollutants such as arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), nitrate (NO₃), and selenium (Se). Exhaust gas scrubbers are used to limit the emissions of these constituents to air. Treating exhaust gases to remove SO₂ is referred to as flue gas desulfurization (FGD), and the most common method is the use of wet scrubbers using limestone slurries. The limestone slurry is recycled multiple times in the scrubber, and to limit the concentration of dissolved constituents, a …

Multi-Year Water Quality Data Reveal Highly Variable Timing And Magnitude Of Metabolism And Physicochemical Drivers In An Aridland River Network, Betsy Marie Summers

Civil Engineering ETDs

Streams and rivers process and transport carbon to downstream systems and are important components of global and regional carbon budgets. Ecosystem functions, including gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER), can be used to improve understanding of carbon cycling and ecosystem health in lotic systems. Whole-stream metabolism (GPP and ER) has been studied extensively in headwater streams. However, we know less about the variability in GPP and ER in aridland rivers and tributary streams despite being globally abundant and vulnerable systems to changing climate. This dissertation explores temporal and spatial variation of GPP and ER in a montane stream …

An Investigation Of Runoff Sources To Headwater Streams And Implications For Hydropower Projects Using Stable Isotope Analyses, Paulina Lima

Civil Engineering ETDs

The purpose of this research is to investigate the predominant sources and processes that influence runoff in the watersheds that interact with hydraulic structures in different climate systems. The predominant sources in three basins were analyzed: The San Juan-Chama River System in the USA, the Manduriacu, and Coca Codo Sinclair hydropower systems in Ecuador. This field study is based on the identification of the predominant sources in the watershed by the comparison of the isotopic signature between the seasonal variation of water sources to the surface water samples in different stream order tributaries. The results exposed that there are three …

Organic/Inorganic Interfacial Interactions Affecting Metal Reactivity: Water Treatment And Sensor Applications, Mohamed Nabil Shaikh

Civil Engineering ETDs

The aim of this dissertation was to investigate the interactions occurring at the organic – inorganic interface between solid media and aqueous contaminants for water treatment and sensor applications. The gaps in current literature on these interfacial organic-inorganic interactions must be bridged in order to develop advanced water treatment and monitoring technologies for improving water quality and thus, restore and protect the contaminated water resources. As a part of this dissertation, manganese oxides-based composites and electrospun polymer mats were developed and investigated for gaining mechanistic insights of organic (bisphenol A and acetaminophen) and inorganic (uranium) contaminants removal, respectively. These reactions …

Effects Of Coefficient Of Thermal Expansion On Unbonded Concrete Overlay Design And Performance, Gauhar Sabih

Civil Engineering ETDs

With the deterioration of highway pavements across the country, more emphasis is being laid on the rehabilitation of existing pavements. Unbonded concrete overlay (UBCO) is a cost-effective technique used to rehabilitate damaged concrete pavements. The design and performance of UBCO rely on various properties of concrete, of which coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) is an important one. Concrete CTE has a direct impact on the design and performance of rigid pavements and overlays. CTE regulates the magnitude of curling and related stresses that impact the performance of overlays with regards to cracking, faulting and pavement roughness. Previous research revealed that …

Application Of Cation Exchange And Nanofiltration To Treat Flue Gas Desulfurization Wastewater, Ayush R. Shahi

Civil Engineering ETDs

Application of Cation Exchange and Nanofiltration to Treat Flue Gas Desulfurization Wastewater

Ayush Raj Shahi

Bachelor’s in engineering in Civil Engineering

Master of Science in Civil Engineering

ABSTRACT

Flue gas emitted from coal-fired power plants is one of the major sources of sulfur and nitrogen oxides emissions to the atmosphere. Flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) is a pollution prevention method that is employed to meet regulatory requirements using scrubbers.

FGD wastewater contains high concentrations of dissolved salts which limit options for recycling and reuse. This thesis focused on treating FGD wastewater with a combination of ion exchange (IX), precipitation, and nanofiltration (NF) …

Application Of Cation Exchange And Nanofiltration To Treat Flue Gas Desulfurization Wastewater, Ayush R. Shahi

Civil Engineering ETDs

Flue gas emitted from coal-fired power plants is one of the major sources of sulfur and nitrogen oxides emissions to the atmosphere in the world today. Although coal use has decreased, it is still a major contributor to such emissions. The Clean Air Act in the United States established regulations for coal-fired power plants to limit SO_x and NO_x emissions into the atmosphere. To meet regulatory requirements, power plants have been using scrubbers to limit their air emissions. Flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) is a pollution prevention method that is employed to limit sulfur dioxide emissions directly in the environment …

Evaluating Sustainable & Equitable Financing For Pedestrian Infrastructure Maintenance And How The Quality Of Pedestrian Infrastructure Affects The Choice To Walk, Alexis Corning Padilla

Civil Engineering ETDs

In many communities, pedestrian infrastructure is poorly maintained. One challenge is finding sustainable and equitable funding since many municipalities across the country require adjacent property to maintain and repair sidewalks adjacent to their property. These policies are difficult to enforce, may place a high cost on lower-income households, and may be partly responsible for the poor condition of many sidewalks. Therefore, in the first part of this research, we evaluated three alternatives for financing the maintenance of sidewalks in Albuquerque, New Mexico: increasing the gross receipts tax, the gasoline excise tax, or the property tax. We concluded that any of …

Is Transportation Planning Effective? A Critical Review Of Long-Range Regional Transportation Planning In The United States, Razieh Nadafianshahamabadi

Civil Engineering ETDs

The Federal-Aid Highway Act requires urban areas with a population greater than 50,000 to create Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) to ensure that funding for transportation projects and programs are based on a continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive planning process. A major responsibility of each MPO is the creation of a long-range transportation plan (LRTP) that addresses the transportation needs of a metropolitan region over the next twenty years or more. While long-range regional transportation planning goals have grown to include a wide range of concerns and technical methods for evaluating planning scenarios have advanced substantially over the past 50 years, there …

Low Loading Gold Vapor Deposited Electrode For High Sensitivity As (Iii) Detection, Tybur Casuse

Civil Engineering ETDs

The objective of this thesis is to develop a method for detection of arsenite, As (III), using a thin film of gold (Au) vapor deposited onto carbon paper as an electrode. Currently, availability of drinking water arsenic (As) concentration information for rural communities is diminished due to high cost per sample analysis and limited access to analytical laboratories which can accurately determine concentrations near the 10 maximum contaminant level (MCL) set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The use of a minimal amount of gold aids in decreasing the cost of an electrode. …

Assessment Of Project Risks In Fast-Track Construction Projects, Claudia Garrido Martins

Civil Engineering ETDs

Fast-tracking has been extensively used to respond to demands for reduced construction project delivery times. Unique risks arising from the overlapping of activities can threaten the project. A framework is proposed to assess project risks in fast-track construction projects to better understand the intersection of fast-track, risks, and construction. The research used a commercial construction renovation project as a case study, semi-structured interviews, simulation and optimization methods to identify risks of overlapping activities, classify the risks, evaluate the impact of risks and risk mitigation actions, and optimal combinations to minimize the risk impact and mitigation costs. This study resulted in …

The Collison Floating Evaporation Pan: Design, Validation, And Comparison, Jacob William Collison

Civil Engineering ETDs

Accurate tracking of open-water evaporative losses, one of the largest consumptive uses of water in the Southwestern USA, is increasingly important with anticipated climate shifts toward longer and more severe droughts. A new open-water evaporation technique, the Collison Floating Evaporation Pan, (CFEP), was tested on Cochiti Lake, New Mexico, USA for one year with objectives being: identify the limitations and potential solutions to evaporation techniques; deploy, test the reliability, and validity of the CFEP and evaluate uncertainties in standard evaporation techniques; and improvements over prior evaporation techniques. The CFEP provided reliable evaporation measurements during sustained winds greater than 20 m/s. …

Validation Of The State Based Peridynamic Lattice Model, Anima Bista

Civil Engineering ETDs

This thesis presents a study performed to validate the State-based Peridynamic Lattice Model (SPLM) using results obtained from laboratory experiments. The SPLM is capable of modeling cracking of solids using particle lattices. We use a plane stress, elastic-plastic damage SPLM model for the simulations. The SPLM model is appropriate for computational simulations of cementitious materials as it automatically allows cracks to develop. In this study, the lattices are rotated through different angles and the variations of the cracking patterns are studied. In the laboratory, we performed nine Brazilian split cylinder tests, three anchor pullout/direct tensile tests, and eight compression tests …

Quantification Of Sediment Yields From Semi-Arid Watersheds Using Unmanned Aerial Systems And Photogrammetry Techniques, Jared L. Romero

Civil Engineering ETDs

Sediment has long been considered an environmental pollutant, causing physical and ecological impairments linked to the detachment and transport of sediments from the land surface to downstream communities. Additionally, aging flood control and water storage detention facilities have suffered the effects of sediment accumulation, spurring new research in the field of soil erosion and sediment yield estimation. Recent advances in technology have stimulated the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and photogrammetric techniques for near-surface data collection and monitoring, with such techniques being used previously to achieve centimeter-level accuracy reconstruction of the land surface. This study seeks to apply UAS …

Nitrate Dynamics In An Arid Irrgation Network: Can Nutrient Loops Be Closed With Management Techniques?, Kelsey B. Bicknell

Civil Engineering ETDs

Nutrients are the third leading cause of impairment in aquatic ecosystems, yet they remain necessary to support our growing agriculture system. Mining (as with phosphorus) and manufacturing (as with synthetic nitrogen) fertilizers deplete non-renewable resources and consume large amounts of energy. We have opportunities to optimize food-energy-water (FEW) resources, particularly in arid regions where wastewater, rather than agriculture, is the number one contributor of nutrients. This study evaluates the capacity of three unique channels (i.e., the Drain canal, the Delivery canal, and the Rio Grande River) within the agriculture system of the Middle Rio Grande Valley to process nutrients from …

Development Of Actionable Metrics For Water Loss Reduction In Water Distribution Systems, James R. Markham

Civil Engineering ETDs

Many water utilities lose significant amounts of treated water (and the revenue that does with it) through pipe breaks or undetected leaks in their underground distribution networks. To help utilities understand their water loss, the American Water Works Association developed a Water Audit Software program which calculates lost volumes and system performance indicators based on input supplied by the water utility.

To make the Water Audit Software a more useful tool for a greater number of utilities and the states that mandate auditing, additional fields should be added to the Water Audit Software to collect data about system pipe materials, …

Drivable Space Datasets Created By Airborne Lidar And Aerial Imagery, Ryan E. Dow

Civil Engineering ETDs

The civil engineering and construction industries are currently using geo browsers such as Google Earth to access satellite and aerial imagery to create and update design drawings for roadway construction, which leads to inaccuracies in the construction phase and in effect, delays the time, and increases the cost of a project. Technological advancements in the civil engineering and construction industries have enabled the design processes to be more efficient and accurate. This research focuses on using the cutting-edge technology of airborne LiDAR and aerial imagery to extract roadway network information from an urban area, which can be used to enhance …