Civil Engineering Commons^™

Multi-Criteria Evaluation Of Cmip5 Gcms For Climate Change Impact Analysis, Ali Ahmadalipour, Arun Rana, Hamid Moradkhani, Ashish Sharma

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Climate change is expected to have severe impacts on global hydrological cycle along with food-water-energy nexus. Currently, there are many climate models used in predicting important climatic variables. Though there have been advances in the field, there are still many problems to be resolved related to reliability, uncertainty, and computing needs, among many others. In the present work, we have analyzed performance of 20 different global climate models (GCMs) from Climate Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) dataset over the Columbia River Basin (CRB) in the Pacific Northwest USA. We demonstrate a statistical multicriteria approach, using univariate and multivariate techniques, …

Feasibility Of Using Raman-Based Techniques For Breast Cancer Detection, Sara Mollamohammada

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

Breast cancer is one of the common types of cancer among women all over the world. Early diagnosis is an effective way that improve the treatment process and gives the patients a better chance of survival. Many of the patients infected by breast cancer choose breast conservation surgery (BCS). However, some of those will be subjected to mastectomy, and many will have tumor recurrence as there is no precise technique to show the tumor margins. Raman-based methods are powerful techniques with potential to rapidly differentiate normal from tumor tissues and provides a solution to detect tumor margin. This is because …

College Students' Perceptions Of Sustainability: A Regional Survey, Michael Myung Jeong, Younghan Jung, Dan Daehyun Koo

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Understanding college students’ perception of sustainability is paramount as today’s students will soon be driving our economy and taking on the responsibility of maintaining a sustainable society. This study conducted a survey of college students attending two regional universities in the United States to capture their current experience levels, expectations, and perceptions with regard to various aspects of sustainability utilizing a questionnaire consisting of structured questions about sustainability knowledge/familiarity levels, green product purchase behavior, attitude-behavior relationship, and sustainability education. The results reveal useful insights into the students’ views on these topics and the demographic data collected were further analyzed to …

Biochar From Pyrolysis Of Biosolids For Nutrient Adsorption And Turfgrass Cultivation, Daniel Elliott Carey, Patrick J. Mcnamara, Daniel Zitomer

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

At water resource recovery facilities, nutrient removal is often required and energy recovery is an ever-increasing goal. Pyrolysis may be a sustainable process for handling wastewater biosolids because energy can be recovered in the py-gas and py-oil. Additionally, the biochar produced has value as a soil conditioner. The objective of this work was to determine if biochar could be used to adsorb ammonia from biosolids filtrate and subsequently be applied as a soil conditioner to improve grass growth. The maximum carrying capacity of base modified biochar for NH₃−N was 5.3 mg/g. Biochar containing adsorbed ammonium and potassium was …

Ecohydrological Controls On Grass And Shrub Above-Ground Net Primary Productivity In A Seasonally Dry Climate, Anthony J. Parolari, Michael L. Goulden, Rafael L. Bras

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Seasonally dry, water‐limited regions are often co‐dominated by distinct herbaceous and woody plant communities with contrasting ecohydrological properties. We investigated the shape of the above‐ground net primary productivity (ANPP) response to annual precipitation (P_a) for adjacent grassland and shrubland ecosystems in Southern California, with the goal of understanding the role of these ecohydrological properties on ecosystem function. Our synthesis of observations and modelling demonstrates grassland and shrubland exhibit distinct ANPP‐P_a responses that correspond with characteristics of the long‐term P_a distribution and mean water balance fluxes. For annual grassland, no ANPP occurs below a ‘precipitation …

Louisville And Nashville Railroad - Horse Cave, Kentucky (Sc 2951), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2951. Correspondence, sketches, blueprints and drawings relating to the Louisville & Nashville Railroad depot at Horse Cave, Kentucky, the adjacent tracks, roads and properties, and licenses for use of railroad rights-of-way. Blueprints and drawings have been catalogued as AD 1515.

Innovative Modular High Performance Lightweight Decks For Accelerated Bridge Construction, Sahar Ghasemi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

At an average age of 42 years, 10% of the nation’s over 607,000 bridges are posted for load restrictions, with an additional 15% considered structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. While there are major concerns with decks in 75% of structurally deficient bridges, often weight and geometry of the deck further limit the load rating and functionality of the bridge. Traditional deck systems and construction methods usually lead to prolonged periods of traffic delays, limiting options for transportation agencies to replace or widen a bridge, especially in urban areas.

The purpose of this study was to develop a new generation of …

Effect Of Pavement-Vehicle Interaction On Highway Fuel Consumption And Emission, Xin Jiao

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Vehicle fuel consumption and emission are two important effectiveness measurements of sustainable transportation development. Pavement plays an essential role in goals of fuel economy improvement and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction. The main objective of this dissertation study is to experimentally investigate the effect of pavement-vehicle interaction (PVI) on vehicle fuel consumption under highway driving conditions. The goal is to provide a better understanding on the role of pavement in the green transportation initiates.

Four study phases are carried out. The first phase involves a preliminary field investigation to detect the fuel consumption differences between paired flexible-rigid pavement sections with …

Use Of Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composite Cable For Post-Tensioning Application, Xiong Yang

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Corrosion of steel tendons is a major problem for post-tensioned concrete, especially because corrosion of the steel strands is often hard to detect inside grouted ducts. Non-metallic tendons can serve as an alternative material to steel for post-tensioning applications. Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP), given its higher strength and elastic modulus, as well as excellent durability and fatigue strength, is the most practical option for post-tensioning applications.

The primary objective of this research project was to assess the feasibility of the use of innovative carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) tendons and to develop guidelines for CFRP in post-tensioned bridge applications, …

Robust Modeling And Predictions Of Greenhouse Gas Fluxes From Forest And Wetland Ecosystems, Khandker S. Ishtiaq

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The land-atmospheric exchanges of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) are major drivers of global warming and climatic changes. The greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes indicate the dynamics and potential storage of carbon in terrestrial and wetland ecosystems. Appropriate modeling and prediction tools can provide a quantitative understanding and valuable insights into the ecosystem carbon dynamics, while aiding the development of engineering and management strategies to limit emissions of GHGs and enhance carbon sequestration. This dissertation focuses on the development of data-analytics tools and engineering models by employing a range of empirical and semi-mechanistic approaches to robustly …

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 …

Cultural Change Through Bim: Driving Lean Transformation In Education, Avril Behan, Malachy Mathews, Kevin Furlong, Ciara Ahern, Una Beagon, Peter Brennan, Colin Conway, Lee Corcoran, Pierce Fahy, Alan Hore, Barry Mcauley, Trevor Woods

Conference papers

This paper presents a case study of how the adoption of BIM-based practices in the AECO industry is being reflected by cultural change in higher education in Ireland. The silo-mentality that has dominated the AECO sector for more than a century has, despite numerous reorganisations, been replicated in the structures of educational institutions, including in Dublin Institute of Technology since the inception of its founding colleges in the late 1800s. Most AECO programmes must include content that is external to the programme’s specific discipline. Through the School structures of the Institute, delivery of such content is known as "service teaching" …

Practitioner Interview, Jayantha Obeysekera

All ECSTATIC Materials

Phone interview with Jayantha Obeysekera from South Florida Water Management District by David Watkins, Jr., and Ali Mirchi. Interview questions asked inquired about (i) practitioner’s professional background, (ii) practitioner’s personal experience with systems analysis techniques and software in their job, (iii) role, benefits, and challenges in using systems analysis concepts in the water resources engineering profession, and (iv) recommendations for improving education of environmental and water resources systems analysis in universities.

Stochastic Rainfall-Runoff Model With Explicit Soil Moisture Dynamics, Mark Bartlett, E. Daly, Jeffrey Mcdonnell, Anthony J. Parolari, Amilcare Porporato

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Stream runoff is perhaps the most poorly represented process in ecohydrological stochastic soil moisture models. Here we present a rainfall-runoff model with a new stochastic description of runoff linked to soil moisture dynamics. We describe the rainfall-runoff system as the joint probability density function (PDF) of rainfall, soil moisture and runoff forced by random, instantaneous jumps of rainfall. We develop a master equation for the soil moisture PDF that accounts explicitly for a general state-dependent rainfall-runoff transformation. This framework is then used to derive the joint rainfall-runoff and soil moisture-runoff PDFs. Runoff is initiated by a soil moisture threshold and …

Weighting The Perceived Importance Of Minimising Economic, Social, And Environmental/Cultural Risks In Flood Risk Management, Zeinab Bedri, John O'Sullivan

Reports

A new national flood policy adopted in Ireland in 2004 set out that a range of flood-related impacts should be taken into account in planning flood risk management strategies and projects, including impacts on people, properties, the environment and cultural heritage. This was reinforced by the 2007 EU 'Floods' Directive that is aimed at the reduction of adverse consequences of flooding for human health, the environment, cultural heritage and economic activity.

In 2006, the Office of Public Works (OPW) began the National Catchment-based Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) Programme through a series of pilot studies. A Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) …

Influence Of Dynamic Factors On Nonwetting Fluid Snap-Off In Pores, Wen Deng, Matthew Balhoff, M. Bayani Cardenas

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Snap-off is an important dynamic multiphase flow phenomenon which occurs in porous media. It plays a dominant role in the residual trapping and mobilization/immobilization of nonwetting fluids such as hydrocarbons or CO₂. Current studies, applications, and threshold criteria of snap-off are mostly based on static or equilibrium conditions. Thus, the dynamics of snap-off which is relevant for many real world applications has rarely been systematically studied. While a static criterion indicates the snap-off potential for nonwetting fluids, the competition between the time required for snap-off and the local pore throat capillary number determines whether snap-off actually occurs. Using a theoretical …

How To Estimate Pedestrian Demand, Kelly Clifton, Patrick Allen Singleton, Christopher D. Muhs, Robert J. Schneider

TREC Project Briefs

There is growing support to improve the quality of the walking environment and make investments to promote pedestrian travel. Such efforts often require analytical non-motorized planning tools to estimate levels of pedestrian demand that are sensitive to environmental and demographic factors at an appropriate scale. Despite this interest and need, current forecasting tools, particularly regional travel demand models, often fall short.

To address this gap, Oregon Metro and NITC researcher Kelly Clifton worked together to develop a pedestrian demand estimation tool. For generations, planners have been using statistical models to forecast travel demand, but these models have traditionally been auto-centered. …

Towards Effective Design Treatment For Right Turns At Intersections With Bicycle Traffic, David Hurwitz, Mafruhatul Jannat, Jennifer Warner, Christopher M. Monsere, Ali Razmpa

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The overall goal of this research was to quantify the safety performance of alternative traffic control strategies to mitigate right-turning vehicle-bicycle crashes at signalized intersections in Oregon. The ultimate aim was to provide useful design guidance to potentially mitigate these collision types at the critical intersection configurations. This report includes a comprehensive review of more than 150 scientific and technical articles that relate to bicycle-motor vehicle crashes. A total of 504 right-hook crashes were identified from vehicle path information in the Oregon crash data from 2007-2011, mapped and reviewed in detail to identify the frequency and severity of crashes by …

Gc/Ms Analysis Of Some Extractives From Eichhornia Crassipes, Héctor A. Fileto-Pérez, O. Miriam Rutiaga-Quiñones, Mark D. Sytsma, Isabelle M. Lorne, Wentai Luo, James F. Pankow, José G. Rutiaga-Quiñones

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Eichhornia crassipes (water hyacinth) is an invasive weed that causes serious issues for rivers, lakes, and other reservoirs around the world, although it can be an excellent source for bioactive compounds such as phytosterols and some steroids found in many plants. In this study, water hyacinth samples from both Durango and Distrito Federal in Mexico were collected. Ascendant extracts (cyclohexane, hexane, acetone, and methanol) from their leaves, stems, and roots were analyzed. Using boron trifluoride (similar to 10% [similar to 1.3 M] in 1-butanol), all extracts were derivatized. Twenty-four derivatized samples were analyzed using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) method. …

Practitioner Interview, Ron Anderson

All ECSTATIC Materials

Phone interview with Ron Anderson from LCRA by Paul Block and Ali Mirchi. Interview questions asked inquired about (i) practitioner’s professional background, (ii) practitioner’s personal experience with systems analysis techniques and software in their job, (iii) role, benefits, and challenges in using systems analysis concepts in the water resources engineering profession, and (iv) recommendations for improving education of environmental and water resources systems analysis in universities.

Practitioner Interview, Eric Loucks

All ECSTATIC Materials

Phone interview with Eric Loucks from CDM Smith by Marcio Giacomoni and Meghna Babbar-Sebens. Interview questions asked inquired about (i) practitioner’s professional background, (ii) practitioner’s personal experience with systems analysis techniques and software in their job, (iii) role, benefits, and challenges in using systems analysis concepts in the water resources engineering profession, and (iv) recommendations for improving education of environmental and water resources systems analysis in universities.

Spatial Variability Of Subsurface Soil Conditions Causing Roadway Settlements, Ömer Bilgin, Kevin Arens, Mark Salveter, Alexander Dettloff

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Faculty Publications

Settlement of problematic soils constituting the roadway subgrade may result in pavement distress and structural failure, requiring periodic pavement patching and resurfacing. Many of these problems occur as a result of the settlement of soft cohesive and organic soils. Due to the extent of roadway projects and the limited frequency of boring locations, spatial variability of subsurface soil conditions, and sometimes due to an inadequate extent of exploration, these problematic soils may not be identified suitably during subsurface explorations. An extensive subsurface exploration program was implemented for detailed characterization of subsurface conditions for a relatively short section of an existing …

Engineering Optimization: Methods/Applications - Colorado State University, John Labadie

All ECSTATIC Materials

This course provides a comprehensive treatment of methods of optimization with focus on linear programming and its extensions, network flow optimization, integer programming, quadratic programming, and an introduction to nonlinear programming. The goal is to maintain a balance between theory, numerical computation, problem setup for solution by computer algorithms, and engineering applications. Course taught at Colorado State University.

Environmental Systems Analysis - Hong Kong University Of Science And Technology, Hong Kong, Ng Tze Ling

All ECSTATIC Materials

Undergraduate course in environmental systems analysis offered at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong in Fall 2015.

Water Resource Systems Analysis - University Of Kentucky, Lexington, Lindell Ormsbee

All ECSTATIC Materials

Graduate course in water resource systems analysis offered at University of Kentucky, Lexington in Fall 2015.

Water Resources Systems Analysis - University Of Texas San Antonio, Marcio Giacomoni

All ECSTATIC Materials

Systems Analysis methods use algorithmic and mathematical approaches for problem-solving. These are powerful methods that can be applied to solve complex design and management problems for water resources systems and other engineering areas. This class will focus on optimization methods, such as linear programming, integer programming, nonlinear programming, genetic algorithms, and dynamic programming, and their application to water resources systems. Advanced Systems Analysis methods, including sensitivity analysis, alternatives generation, and multi-objective optimization will be introduced to address the complexities associated with public sector decision-making. Course taught at University of Texas San Antonio.

Recent Progress In Performance Evaluations And Near Real-Time Assessment Of Operational Ocean Products, Fabrice Hernandez, Edward Blockley, Gary B. Brassington, Fraser Davidson, Prasanth Divakaran, Marie Drévillon, Shiro Ishizaki, Marcos Garcia-Sotillo, Patrick J. Hogan, Priidik Lagemaa, Bruno Levier, Matthew Martin, Avichal Mehra, Christopher Mooers, Nicolas Ferry, Andrew Ryan, Charly Regnier, Alistair Sellar, Gregory C. Smith, Sarantis Sofianos, Todd Spindler, Gianluca Volpe, John Wilkin, Edward Zaron, Aijun Zhang

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Operational ocean forecast systems provide routine marine products to an ever-widening community of users and stakeholders. The majority of users need information about the quality and reliability of the products to exploit them fully. Hence, forecast centres have been developing improved methods for evaluating and communicating the quality of their products. Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) OceanView, along with the Copernicus European Marine Core Service and other national and international programmes, has facilitated the development of coordinated validation activities among these centres. New metrics, assessing a wider range of ocean parameters, have been defined and implemented in real-time. An …

The Importance Of The “Local” In Walkability, Cynthia Carlson, Semra Aytur, Kevin Gardner, Shannon Rogers

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Transportation infrastructure and transportation behaviors consume significant natural resources and are costly to municipalities, states, and the federal government. Small cities, in particular, may find themselves with high costs. Although transportation has been extensively investigated, methods that may enable small cities to act are still lacking. To investigate the influence that neighborhood-level built environment characteristics have on adult personal transportation decisions within small cities, this study combined community-based research, a multi-level analysis of residents, and a case study approach in two (North-Eastern United States) New Hampshire cities, Portsmouth and Manchester. Neighborhood-level physical characteristics were determined using Geographic Information Systems and …

Characterize Behavior Of Geogrid Reinforced Ballast At Different Levels Of Degradation Through Triaxial Shear Strength Test And Discrete Element Modeling, Yu Qian, Debakanta Mishra, Erol Tutumluer, Hasan A. Kazmee

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Recent research efforts at the University of Illinois have aimed at studying geogrid applications in railroad track structures, specifically focusing on ballast and subballast reinforcement. Ballast, typically comprising large sized aggregate particles with uniform gradation, is an essential layer in the railroad track substructure to facilitate load distribution and drainage. The primary mechanism of load transfer within the ballast layer involves inter-particle contact between ballast particles. Similarly, the effectiveness of ballast reinforcement with geogrids is primarily governed by the geogrid-aggregate interlock. Such interaction and the effectiveness thereof can change significantly as the level of grain size and shape degradation or …

Concrete-Filled-Large Deformable Frp Tubular Columns Under Axial Compressive Loading, Omar I. Abdelkarim, Mohamed Elgawady

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The behavior of concrete-filled fiber tubes (CFFT) polymers under axial compressive loading was investigated. Unlike the traditional fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) such as carbon, glass, aramid, etc., the FRP tubes in this study were designed using large rupture strains FRP which are made of recycled materials such as plastic bottles; hence, large rupture strain (LRS) FRP composites are environmentally friendly and can be used in the context of green construction. This study performed finite element (FE) analysis using LS-DYNA software to conduct an extensive parametric study on CFFT. The effects of the FRP confinement ratio, the unconfined concrete compressive strength …