Civil Engineering Commons^™

Analysis Of Responder-Involved Struck-By Crashes, Jacob Wilhelm

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Emergency responders face significant risks of injury and death from struck-by crashes while operating on or near roadways. Annually, about 50 responders are killed, and hundreds more are injured, leading to operational disruptions and damage to life-saving equipment (ERSI, 2024). This study takes a data-driven approach to identify key risk factors and effective countermeasures for reducing the severity of struck-by crashes. Key findings indicate that struck-by crashes most frequently occur on weekends during late-night hours (2 AM–4 AM), often at crash scenes or disabled vehicle scenes on limited-access highways. Driver behavior – particularly “D” drivers (distracted, drugged, drowsy, disgruntled) – …

Evaluating The Impact Of Access Density On Pedestrian And Bicycle Safety, Charles Hruda

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

This study examines the impact of access density on pedestrian and bicycle crash rates in urban areas of Florida. Access management, defined as the strategic control of vehicular access points along roadways, plays a crucial role in mitigating conflicts between various roadway users. Previous research has established a positive correlation between access density and crash rates, yet limited studies have analyzed its effects on vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists.

To quantify these impacts, this study identified high-crash roadway segments using Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) data. Geometric, traffic, crash, and access management information was collected and analyzed …

Building Services Engineering March/April 2025

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Transdisciplinary Collaborations For Advancing Sustainable And Resilient Agricultural Systems, Brooke Mayer

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Feeding the growing human population sustainably amidst climate change is one of the most important challenges in the 21st century. Current practices often lead to the overuse of agronomic inputs, such as synthetic fertilizers and water, resulting in environmental contamination and diminishing returns on crop productivity. The complexity of agricultural systems, involving plant-environment interactions and human management, presents significant scientific and technical challenges for developing sustainable practices. Addressing these challenges necessitates transdisciplinary research, involving intense collaboration among fields such as plant science, engineering, computer science, and social sciences. Five case studies are presented here demonstrating successful transdisciplinary approaches toward more …

Use Of Wastewater Grit And Milorganite Chaff In Concrete, Carter Deinhammer

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Wastewater grit is a major byproduct from preliminary municipal wastewater treatment. Chaff is a collection of dried biosolids generated as a waste product from Milorganite® fertilizer production. Because landfilling is a costly and unsustainable method, the development of technologies for diverting grit from landfills to a useful product by tapping grit’s inherent values (e.g., sand and gravel) are of great interest. Chaff, consisting of fibers, provides a potential source for bolstering concrete tensile strength through internal means. This research has proposed a concept of grit and chaff additive-based concrete, an expansion of the grit-assisted patch material developed (GAP) in previous …

Drying Reduces The Total Pfas Concentration In Biosolids And Alters The Pfas Profile, Patrick J. Mcnamara, Jessica Calteux, Eric Redman, Taryn Mcknight, Lynne Moss, Webster Hoener, Scott Carr, Zhongzhe Liu

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

While per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are not actually generated at water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs), utilities are being forced to consider PFAS in biosolids management plans due to mounting political pressure and pending regulations. Emerging thermal technologies including pyrolysis, gasification, and super critical water oxidation have garnered recent attention for PFAS destruction. Drying, however, is a conventional technology that might also be a tool for utilities to manage PFAS in biosolids, but research on the impacts of drying on PFAS in biosolids is scarce. The objective of this research was to determine how drying affected the fate of PFAS …

Investigation Of Shear Modulus And Material Damping Of A Lightly Cemented Silty Sand Representing Offshore Soil, Joshua Jeanjaquet

Theses and Dissertations

Offshore structures remain highly relevant, making the dynamic characterization of offshore soils critical. Since many offshore soils are cemented, understanding their response to dynamic loads is essential for developing accurate models that improve the reliability and cost-effectiveness of offshore structure designs. This study examines the impact of cement content on shear modulus, shear modulus reduction, shear wave velocity, and material damping of lightly cemented fine silty sand. A series of Resonant Column and Torsional Shear tests were conducted. The results were analyzed and compared to existing literature. The modified hyperbolic model was proposed to characterize the shear modulus and damping …

Investigating The Influence Of Volumetric Water Content In The Upper Layer Of Soil On Embankment Factor Of Safety, Kiera Rose Hughes

Theses and Dissertations

Geohazards, including landslides and embankment failures, pose significant risks to railway infrastructure, necessitating early recognition methods for effective risk mitigation. This research explores the relationship between the volumetric water content in the upper soil layer and the embankment's factor of safety (FOS) to improve early detection and stability assessment. A parametric analysis was conducted to evaluate how variations in the soil type (shear strength and hydraulic conductivity), slope geometry (angle and height) and recharge conditions (rainfall intensity and duration) affect the FOS. Using the GeoStudio software, seepage and slope stability analyses were performed for two baseline soils, as well as …

Experimental Investigation On Metakaolin/Coal Fly Ash-Based Porous Geopolymer Grouting Material For Geotechnical Applications, Karla Sierra, Philip Park, Chu-Lin Cheng, Yong Je Kim, Jae-Hoon Hwang, Bubryur Kim, Boo Hyun Nam, Jinwoo An

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

This research investigates the development of a porous geopolymer cement grout for soil grouting applications, aiming to reduce carbon emissions associated with Portland cement while maintaining critical performance characteristics such as strength and permeability. Class F fly ash and metakaolin were used as aluminosilicate precursors, activated by sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide solutions. The addition of hydrogen peroxide served as a foaming agent to introduce porosity. Compressive strength and porosity were evaluated, with results showing that metakaolin significantly increased compressive strength due to its smaller particle size and higher reactivity. A higher molarity of sodium silicate enhanced strength by reducing …

Utilization Of Paper Sludge Ash In Geotechnical Engineering – Review, Kyungwon Lee, Hoyoung Lee, Junwoo Shin, Byounghooi Choi, Jinwoo An, Jiannan Chen, Boo Hyun Nam

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

The pulp and paper industry has grown and created tremendous volumes of byproducts (e.g., fly ash) via combustion process. Unfortunately, most of them are being landfilled; in the meantime, environmental regulations restrict the disposal in landfill because of high disposal cost and reduced land due to urbanization. Therefore, the pulp and paper industries urgently seek for its beneficial reuse and one of the most cost-effective applications is a building and construction sector, particularly its reuse as geomaterials such as stabilizing soils. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the beneficial use of the paper sludge ash (PSA) in geotechnical engineering …

Assessing Groundwater Availability And Land Subsidence Risk Associated With Anthropogenic Activities In A Complex Aquifer System, Aya Bakr Attya Mohamed

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Southern Hills aquifer system (SHAS) is the primary source of water in the Capital area of Louisiana. However, the overexploitation of freshwater-bearing aquifers and the presence of two active faults, the BR fault and the DSS fault, have resulted in groundwater depletion, saltwater intrusion, and increased the risk of land surface subsidence. Such critical issues pose substantial threats to groundwater availability and exert detrimental effects on the environment and urban infrastructures. This dissertation presents a comprehensive investigation of the SHAS for recognizing the consequences of groundwater depletion and its potential long-term impacts on groundwater availability and land stability. A …

Geotechnical Centrifuge Test Of A Pile-Supported Wharf In Silt (Test Aep01), Andrew Earl Parrott

Dissertations and Theses

There have been many documented cases in the U.S. and elsewhere of failure to ports, wharves, and bridges during seismic events due to liquefaction of soils adjacent to foundations. The major design guidelines for surface and maritime transportation structures, such as those offered in ASCE 61-14, Port of Anchorage Seismic Design Manual (POA 2017), AASHTO (2020), Caltrans (2012), and many others, differ considerably on the recommendations for combining the expected inertial and kinematic loads on the pile system. This knowledge gap becomes wider for pile foundations embedded in low plasticity silt, as varying opinions exist on the appropriate characterization of …

Impact Of Nanoparticles On Performance Of Metakaolin-Based Geopolymer Mortar, Habiba A. Mohamed, Mohamed R. Sakr, Mohamed O. R. El Hariri

Journal of Engineering Research

In response to the growing demand for sustainable construction materials, this study explores the transformative potential of nanoparticles, specifically nano silica and Nano clay, to enhance the mechanical and durability properties of metakaolin-based geopolymer mortar without heat curing. Geopolymer mortars incorporating 2.5% and 5% Nano silica and Nano clay were evaluated for compressive strength, tensile strength and water absorption. Mixture with 5% nano silica exhibited the most significant improvements, achieving compressive and tensile strengths of 36 MPa and 3.5 MPa, alongside the lowest water absorption of 4.65%. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) further confirmed the formation of …

Controlling Verticality Of High-Rise Buildings Using Gnss Techniques Integrated With Laser Plummet, Nasr Mohammady Saba, Yanqing Gao Yanqing, Salem Salama Saleh

Journal of Engineering Research

Maintaining vertical alignment is crucial in the construction of high-rise buildings (HRBs). Traditionally, construction teams use laser plummets to transfer reference point coordinates from the foundation to each floor through openings in the concrete slabs. However, as building height increases, the accuracy of the laser beam can be affected, necessitating verification. In an urban development project in Al Alamein, Egypt, the use of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) was proposed to monitor verticality during construction. For the 270-meter-tall T-TOWER, nine monitoring points were established on the foundation to define the building’s axes for each slab. These points were transferred …

Using Sheet Piles To Control Contaminant Transport From Different Sources Through The Soil, Eslam Kashef Elgmmal Eslam K. Elgmmal, Ibrahim Mohamed Rashwan, H. Omara

Journal of Engineering Research

Contaminants can reach the excavation site and lead to groundwater contamination. The present research investigates the effect of using sheet piles for controlling the migration of contaminants to excavation sites that require high-quality groundwater, taking into consideration changing concentrations of contaminants and changing soil surface depth downstream of the sheet piles. The arrival time of contamination to reach under the sheet piles and the time for reaching contamination to the excavation site were studied. Additionally, the effect of using two different sources of contaminants with different concentrations on the mixing time between them through groundwater was investigated. Two modules, SEEP/W …

Numerical Study For Strengthening Hexagonal Castellated Steel Beams Using Hexagonal Ring Stiffeners, Amany M. Morad, Omnia F. Kharoub, Nashwa Yossef

Journal of Engineering Research

This paper investigates numerically how the castellated steel beams are affected by the addition of hexagonal stiffeners around hexagonal web openings. Increasing the CSBs' load-bearing capacity and improving their overall structural behavior are the main objectives of this strengthening technique. Although there are different failure modes as a result of castellation, the main emphasis of this study is web post-buckling. Using ABAQUS software, a 3D finite element model is created to analyze the beam's behavior. The model's accuracy was validated by comparing its results with those from previous experimental studies. Failure loads, failure modes, and load-deflection curves of CSBs are …

Influence Of High Temperature On Geopolymer Powders Concrete, Hesham W. Monier, Elsaid A. Maaty Professor Doctor, Mohammed Elsayed Elsharkawy Assis. Prof.

Journal of Engineering Research

A recent advancement in building construction is geopolymer concrete (GP), which uses pozzolanic materials like fly ash in place of cement and is activated by an alkaline solution. This study evaluates the impact of various parameters on the compressive strength of geopolymer concrete (GP) by analyzing experimental results from nine GP mixtures. In this study, the effects of two different fibers—steel and polypropylene—were used to calculate the impact of additional fibers on geopolymer concrete following exposure to temperatures of 200 , 400 , and 600° C.

Examining the impacts of two ratios of silica fume (10 and 20%)

The durability …

Bayesian Network-Based Framework To Uncover Social Inequities In Flood Risk: Application To East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, Fuad Hasan

LSU Master's Theses

Regional flood risk assessment requires understanding the complex interplay of sociodemographic, socioeconomic, hydrogeologic, built environment, and climatic variables that impact flood vulnerability. Traditional studies often focus on large-scale units, overlooking localized variations and disproportionate exposure within populations. To address these gaps, a methodological framework of flood risk assessment using the Bayesian network was proposed and applied to East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, for the August 2016 flood event to identify relationships between flood risk variables at the housing unit level. Flood exposure representativeness (FER) was determined using the Bayesian network's inference capabilities to identify over- or under-represented groups. This study …

The Evolution Of Traffic Signal Detection Technology, Carly Schiene, Haydn Malackowski

Purdue Road School

How has traffic signal actuation changed over time? Originally, a traffic signal’s main purpose was to assign the right-of-way to vehicles for collision avoidance, and now they are crucial tools to manage traffic flow, alleviate congestion and provide safety for pedestrians and bicyclists. This presentation will explore early detection methods, evaluate current technology, and explore the future of detection technology

Preserve Your Hma Pavements From The Start, Tim Zahrn, Andrew Eicher

Purdue Road School

This presentation will review sustainable preservation treatments and their application timeline to extend the life of asphalt pavement. We will discuss how pre-preservation treatments like a void reducing asphalt membrane, early-life preservation treatments such as rapid penetrating emulsion, and topical rejuvenators can reduce future maintenance and delay reconstruction. We will also look at mid-life treatments, such as micro-surfacing, fit into a preventative maintenance preservation plan. And finally cover end of life cold pavement recycling alternatives.