Civil Engineering Commons^™

Weigh-In-Motion Auto-Calibration Using Automatic Vehicle Identification, Fu Ren Zhang Zhang Durandal

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) sensors are installed on mainline lanes at highway locations to record vehicle weights, axle spacing, vehicle class, travel speed, vehicle length, and traffic volume. These data elements support effective transportation planning, infrastructure design, and policy development. Therefore, it is important that WIM sensors supply accurate data. After initial installation and calibration, WIM systems may experience measurement drifts in weight and axle detection. Recalibration takes two general forms: (a) On-site calibration involving running trucks of known weight over WIM scales and (b) Auto-calibration methods involving comparisons to assumed reference weights. Auto-calibration can be more cost and time effective than …

Impacts Of Construction Material Delay In Iraq, Omar Raad Abdullah

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

The construction industry is considered one of the most important industries in Iraq. It is well known that most construction projects in this country can experience missed deadlines and cost overruns or both. The main objectives of this study are to evaluate the impact of construction material shortages and to determine the most important problems causing these shortages in Iraq. Above objectives are achieved through a literature review and a survey, which include a questionnaire used to assess the perceptions of the main participants involved in the construction of different types of projects, such as infrastructure, residential, highways and medical …

Experimental Investigation Of Utilizing Steel Fiber As Concrete Reinforcement In Bridge Decks, Samed Al Khafaji

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Research on utilizing steel fiber vs concrete reinforcement in bridge deck to replace more traditional reinforcing bars is sparse, therefore a research into this topic is interesting to identity opportunities for speeding up of construction by avoiding laying and tying reinforcement and verifying clear cover to reinforcing bars which is one of the most time-consuming processes involved in construction. This study investigates the efforts of steel fiber on the bridge deck from the strength and economical implementation. Four concrete mix design with vary steel fiber dosages of 0.0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5% used in this study. The physical properties of …

Assembly-Scale And Whole-Building Energy Performance Analysis Of Ultra-High-Performance Fiber-Reinforced Concrete (Uhp-Frc) Façade Systems, Bahram Abediniangerabi

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The majority of building energy consumption is used to heat and cool enclosed spaces. An innovative ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHP-FRC) façade system could potentially reduce this energy consumption by utilizing UHP-FRC’s high structural strength and ductility hence more space for insulation. The energy performance assessment of innovative façade systems such as UHP-FRC panels could be misleading if the effect of building types and climate contexts on building energy consumption is not considered. Moreover, thermal bridging and hygrothermal analyses of UHP-FRC panels are needed to investigate the heat and moisture transfer within the panels. The main objectives of this study are …

Evaluation Of The Structural Performance Of Bridge Mse Retaining Walls, Zaid Sm Momani

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) walls have been used extensively since the first MSE wall constructed in California in the early 70’s. MSE walls proved that they are reliable, cost-effective, aesthetically pleasing, and easily constructible. However, the design criteria of an MSE wall does not always incorporate the comprehensive behavior. A reasonable number of MSE walls do not perform as expected; a few experienced catastrophic failure. The current study was inspired by multiple MSE walls showing excessive movement of the precast panels in Fort Worth and Hurst, Texas. Three most critical MSE walls were selected for this study. The main focus …

Effect Of Sewage Sludge And Wastewater Recirculation On The Degradation Of Municipal Solid Waste In Bioreactors, Afroza Ayub

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management is the major environmental and economical concern for the world. Among all the MSW management alternatives, sustainable Bioreactor has potential to solve environmental and economic concerns related to organic waste. This potential of Sustainable Bioreactor can be enhanced by accelerated decomposition of waste. Accelerated decomposition of organic fraction of MSW can be achieved by the addition of nitrogen rich, macro and micro nutrients such as sludge and manures. Several studies have been conducted by using sludge as inoculum for degrading organic fraction of MSW in the anaerobic digester. However, this study is to compare the …

Enhancements Of Shear Tests For Asphalt Concrete, Yazeed Suleiman Jweihan

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The measurement of the fundamental shear properties of asphalt mixes is imperative to the improvement of modelling of rutting development in asphalt concrete. The Duplicate Shear Tester (DST) is a recent device developed at the University of Texas at Arlington as a replacement to the Superpave Shear Tester (SST). It measures the average shear properties of two asphalt concrete specimens at the same time. It has ability to perform the two common SST tests: the FSCH and RSCH in according to the standard test method AASHTO T-320. Although the DST has successfully satisfied the objectives of being a reliable, inexpensive …

Physical Characterization And Evaluation Of Energy Potential For Mined Waste From Irving Landfill, Vijay Kakara

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Historically landfills have been seen as the ultimate solution for storing waste at minimum cost. But, now it is a well-known fact that these deposits have numerous implications such as long term methane emissions, local pollution and many space-related issues etc. In most parts of the world, however, landfilling is the most common method to dispose waste. Even developed countries with recycling and waste treatment facilities have been no exception in landfilling. Therefore over the years, several old and operating landfills have been accumulated with an enormous amount of obsolete materials and products. To address such issues related to waste …

Driveability Of Recycled Plastic Pin (Rpp) In North Texas, Arif Mohammad Aziz

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

The Recycled Plastic Pins (RPP) have been extensively used as an alternative to the conventional slope stabilization methods in stabilizing shallows slope failure in Texas, Missouri, Kansas, and Idaho in the United States. The RPP provides additional resistance along the potential slip surface when it is driven into the slope and increases the factor of safety. RPPs are fabricated from recycled plastics and waste materials (i.e. polymers, sawdust, and fly ash), and is nondegradable in nature. It is found to be very useful and beneficial engineering materials for civil engineering infrastructure projects. The cost-effectiveness of using any engineering material largely …

A Critical State Approach To The Mechanical Behavior Of Early-Age Cemented Paste Backfill, Amin B. Ghorbanpour

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Low plasticity to non-plastic mine tailings are typically transported to a storage area through pipelines in form of slurry or thickened tailings. The main concern with such tailings deposits is the possibility of liquefaction and the consequent failure of the tailings retaining dams. Tailings can also be used as Cemented Paste Backfill (CPB) material to fill previously mined underground voids. The state of practice to improve the mechanical properties of tailings is to add a small quantity of cementitious materials or binder agents. Portland cement (PC) is the most common binder agent that is used to improve the mechanical properties …

Effect Of Chicken Manure On Methane Production From Msw In Lab Scale Anaerobic Reactors, Md Tauhidul Islam

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

One of the major problems of urbanization is the production of a huge amount of Municipal Solid Waste. The cities and metropolitan areas are generating more and more solid waste and these wastes are filling up the landfill rapidly. Creating new landfills after a few years is not a solution as there is not much space in urban areas. Moreover, making the landfills far away from cities is not economically viable as longer hauling distance increases the cost. In this scenario, Bioreactor landfill is a viable solution to this problem. Bioreactor landfills can save a lot of space and it …

Synthesis Of Metakaolin-Based Geopolymer And Its Performance As Sole Stabilizer Of Expansive Soils, Rinu Ann Samuel

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Expansive soils have been stabilized using conventional soil stabilizers such as lime and cement for many decades. These conventional stabilizers form cementitious productions that enhance the strength properties and reduce the swelling and shrinkage potential of expansive soils. However, the energy-intensive production operations of conventional soil stabilizers release substantial amounts of harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In addition, conventional soil stabilizers are also prone to durability issues, which make them somewhat ineffective as long-term solutions. Furthermore, the use of calcium-based stabilizers cause excessive swelling and shrinkage in sulfate-bearing subgrade soils due to the formation of highly expansive minerals like …

Development Of A Flexible Pavement Design Protocol For The Uae Based On The Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide, Ammar Hassan Alalkim Alzaabi

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The Ministry of Infrastructure Development in the UAE has used the AASHTO 1993 Pavement Design Guide for the design of new flexible pavement structures for many years. An improved pavement design method, called the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) was developed by AASHTO in their effort to update the empirical method used in 1993 Guide. The project was initiated by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) 1-37A project. It is based on mechanistic-empirical analysis of the pavement structure to predict the performance of the pavements subject to pavement structure and materials, traffic and environmental conditions. The development allowed for …

Seismic Response And Deformation Analyses Of Earthen Dams, Leila Mosadegh

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Assessment of the response of earthen structures, such as dams and levees, during earthquake events, is crucially important to geotechnical engineers. It is imperative to perform seismic response analysis to assess the stability and serviceability of these structures during probable seismic events. Before performing a seismic response analysis, an engineer or a researcher needs to select between two-dimensional (2D) plane strain analysis and a computationally intensive three dimensional (3D) analysis of an infrastructure. The 3D analysis should closely capture the behavior of infrastructure seismic response than a simplistic 2D analysis. Furthermore, a dilemma remains regarding the choice of a suitable …

Environmental Sustainability Assessment Of Small Nebraska Mechanical Water Resource Recovery Facilities: Impacts Of Construction And Operations, Sussan Moussavi

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

Many small, rural communities struggle with aging or inadequate water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs), and face challenges in constructing and operating such systems. Although existing literature has provided insight into the environmental sustainability of large systems including both the construction and operational phases, these studies have not examined small systems in adequate depth or breadth. The environmental impacts associated with construction may be notable for small WRRFs since the initial construction can be a larger share of the total life cycle environmental impact.

The goal of this work is to provide the environmental sustainability profiles of 12 mechanical WRRFs in …

Electrocoagulation As A Pretreatment For Electroxidation Of E. Coli, William Lynn, Joe Heffron, Brooke K. Mayer

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Insufficient funding and operator training, logistics of chemical transport, and variable source water quality can pose challenges for small drinking water treatment systems. Portable, robust electrochemical processes may offer a strategy to address these challenges. In this study, electrocoagulation (EC) and electrooxidation (EO) were investigated using two model surface waters and two model groundwaters to determine the efficacy of sequential EC-EO for mitigating Escherichia coli. EO alone (1.67 mA/cm², 1 min) provided 0.03 to 3.9 logs mitigation in the four model waters. EC alone (10 mA/cm², 5 min) achieved ≥1 log E. coli mitigation in all …

Model Block Press Design, Ben Todd Van Hamersveld, Chester Wong, Alexander Wing-Jon Giannousis

Mechanical Engineering

This project’s goal is to redesign the Center for Vocational Building Technology (CVBT) BP9 earth block press, which makes 1/3 scale compressed earth blocks to build demonstration model homes in Thailand. The full-scale block press, the BP6, provides a sustainable and affordable technique for constructing habitable homes in Thailand. The BP9 serves as a tool to inform the public of the advantages of human-powered earth block presses through demonstration. The BP9 press design has multiple problems: it is too expensive to manufacture, there is too much friction when used, it has several weak points due to users unintentionally applying excessive …

Evaluation Of Fire-Affected Concrete Structures By Non-Destructive Testing Methods, Upal Mohammad Towfiqul Quadir

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Fire hazard on concrete structures has been a significant concern around the world. After a fire hazard, the crucial part is the evaluation of the fire-affected concrete for strengthening or demolition. For evaluation of a fire-affected concrete structure, Non-destructive Testing (NDT) methods would certainly be a more viable option than the destructive testing methods. Until now, no specific code was developed for quantifiable evaluation of fire-affected concrete with NDT. To develop the method for Non-destructive Evaluation (NDE) of fire-affected concrete, 8 small-sized (4 in x 4 in x 15 in) and 32 medium-sized (8 in x 8 in x 36 …

Development Of A Machine Learning-Based Prediction Model For Construction And Environmental Costs Of Trenchless Spray-Applied Pipe Linings, Cured-In-Place Pipe, And Sliplining Methods In Large Diameter Culverts, Ramtin Serajiantehrani

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

According to U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration there are more than 4.1 million miles of road in total length, making it the world’s longest and biggest road network with millions of culverts hidden underneath the road in the United States. The development of underground infrastructure, concerns about environmental impacts, and economic trends are influencing society, resulting in the advancement of technology for more environment-friendly and cost-effective pipeline rehabilitation. Trenchless technologies employ innovative methods, materials, and equipment that require minimum surface excavation and access area for rehabilitation of old and deteriorated culverts. Trenchless technologies can be used when other …

Thin-Walled Steel Tubular Circular Columns With Uniform And Graded Thickness Under Bidirectional Cyclic Loading, Qusay Al-Kaseasbeh, Iraj H.P. Mamaghani

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Thin-walled steel tubular circular columns are becoming an increasingly attractive choice as cantilever bridge piers due to their architectural, structural and constructional advantages. This paper aims to evaluate the strength and ductility of thin-walled steel tubular circular columns with uniform thickness (BC) and graded thickness (BGC) under bidirectional cyclic lateral loading in the presence of constant axial force. The analysis is carried out using a finite-element model (FEM) which is substantiated based on the experimental results in the literature. Then, the proposed BGC column with size and volume of material equivalent to the BC column is investigated. As a part …