Civil Engineering Commons^™

Performance Rating Of De-Icing Chemicals For Winter Operations, Barbara M. Gerbino-Bevins

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

The cost of deicing chemicals is a significant part of the Nebraska Department of Road's winter maintenance budget. Many products are available for use in highway and bridge deicing and new products are introduced each year. The objectives of this research are to develop a laboratory test to evaluate the performance of chemical deicers, to investigate national, state, and local standards, and to develop best maintenance practices to optimize the use of chemical deicers.

This research project consists of two phases:

Phase 1: conduct a literature survey to find data from existing laboratory tests used to evaluate deicer performance.

Phase …

Structural Health Monitoring Of Historic Masonry Monuments, Saurabh Prabhu

All Theses

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is a well-accepted diagnostic technique being used to evaluate modern structures. This method involves monitoring the vibration response of a structure to detect changes in its structural state. The primary intention of this thesis is to address two practical and technical difficulties encountered in deploying SHM on historic masonry monuments: (i) the selection of suitable low dimensional vibration response features that are highly sensitive to the presence and extent of damage, while having low sensitivity to extraneous noise and (ii) the selection of optimal sensor locations for efficient system identification applied to Gothic Cathedrals. Both of …

Retrofit Solutions For Sealed Pervious Concrete Pavements, Gregory Bunting

All Theses

The goal of this research was to design, implement, and evaluate several retrofit solutions for sealed pervious concrete. Properly functioning pervious concrete pavements allow water to drain through the structure, eliminating the need for traditional drainage infrastructure. A recent study of South Carolina porous pavements (Putman 2010) revealed that some pervious concrete pavements are not properly draining, either because of sealing at the surface. Sealed pavements are generally a result of construction processes, and sealed pavements cannot be fixed with sediment removal techniques such as vacuuming and pressure washing. This study investigates a technique to increase infiltration of sealed pervious …

Behavior Of The Next-D Beam Shear Key: A Finite Element Approach, Armando Flores

All Theses

State Departments of Transportation have been using adjacent precast bridges for many years. A vital component of this type of bridges is the connection between the members, which is typically done with a grouted shear key. Shear keys have changed through time to adapt to the requirements of bridge design. An assessment of the Northeast Extreme Tee with integral deck (NEXT-D) was performed for the SCDOT as a development possibility for short span bridges. This research focuses on the finite element analysis study of the NEXT-D's specific shear key configuration.
A review of shear key configurations used by different DOTs …

Evaluation Of Safe Routes To School Programs: Qualitative And Quantitative Analysis Of Parental Decision-Making, Lynn Weigand, Noreen Mcdonald

TREC Final Reports

In the United States, walking to school declined from 42% of 5-18 year olds in 1969 to 16% in 20011. The US Department of Transportation has responded to this dramatic decrease by funding the Safe Routes to School program for $612 million in SAFETEA-LU. The program’s funding emphasize infrastructure improvements such as completing sidewalks and adding crosswalks by requiring between 70% and 90% of funding be allocated toward infrastructure. However, recent research shows that 2 of 3 children who currently are driven to school, but live close enough to walk, do so because it is more convenient for parents. Currently, …

Assessing The Surface Energy Balance Components In The Snake River Basin, W Thilini Ajanthik Jaksa

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the interaction of land-surface processes and vegetation in both natural ecosystems and irrigated agricultural lands in a semiarid region using the Noah land surface model (LSM) in combination with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model. This study was conducted in the semiarid Snake River plains of south central Idaho comprising of both natural vegetation and agricultural lands. This area is characterized by warm, dry summers with irrigation being the main moisture source during the growing season. In order to properly represent the conditions of agricultural lands and also to investigate the effects of irrigation on land-surface …

An Experimental And Computational Study Of Windborne Debris In Severe Storms, Arash Karimpour

All Dissertations

Abstract
This research focuses on an experimental and theoretical investigation of windborne debris emanating from loose gravel on built-up roofs. During severe storms, windborne debris can cause considerable physical harm and property damage. One of the major sources of flying debris in large commercial areas is loose gravel on built-up roofs. Such loose gravel can be responsible loss of life and significant property damage. Despite the high risk of windborne debris, their flight mechanics are poorly understood. To better understand windborne debris flight, a series of experiments were conducted in the Clemson University Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel. These experiments were …

Social Sustainability Considerations During Planning And Design: A Framework Of Processes For Construction Projects, Rodolfo Valdes Vasquez

All Dissertations

With increased awareness of issues such as global resource shortages and climate change, sustainability efforts are becoming more common in the construction industry. While these efforts often consider economic and environmental factors, a truly sustainable construction project also needs to include such social considerations as its impact on the surrounding community and the safety, health, and education of the workforce. For the construction industry, social sustainability requires integrating processes for improving safety, health and well-being over the project life cycle. However, an empirical and comprehensive framework defining these social sustainability processes in construction projects has yet to be clearly delineated. …

Investigation Into The Role Of Airfield Pavement Deicer In Concrete Pavement Deterioration, David Wingard

All Dissertations

Premature deterioration of concrete due to materials-related distresses has been observed with increased frequency in airfield pavements across the United States in the past two decades. The use of a new breed of deicing chemicals based on alkali-acetates and alkali-formates, starting in the early 1990s, has been suspected to be one of the significant reasons for the increase in the observed deterioration. Previous laboratory-based studies have found that the early-age deterioration in concrete is associated with exposure to deicers causing acceleration of the Alkali Silica Reaction (ASR) deterioration mechanism and consequent failure. However, no systematic forensic studies on the impact …

The Effects Of Fundamental Mixture Parameters On Hot-Mix Asphalt Performance Properties, Wenbin Zhao

All Dissertations

Asphalt pavements are composed of three components: aggregate, asphalt binder, and air. In the process of plant production and on-site construction, the construction quality can vary in the three component and the variability can further affect a pavement's future performance.. This research identifies aggregate gradation, binder content, and air voids content as the fundamental parameters. Understanding the fundamental parameters' influence on the HMA mixture's performance properties can provide valuable information on how to improve the current quality insurance practice. The objective of this study is to conduct well-controlled experiments to investigate how mix gradation, air voids and small range binder …

Comparison Of Design-Build And Design-Bid-Build Performance Of Public University Projects, James David Fernane

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With an unsure market and scarce work, owners across the United States, especially universities, are finding themselves in situations where they are unable to complete their projects within cost and schedule using the traditional delivery method: Design-Bid-Build (DBB). Under the DBB project delivery method, many competent contractors are electing to send low bids on projects just to keep work on their books, with plans to receive change orders once the project is underway; this practice is leading to cost and schedule overruns. Public universities across the United States are beginning to elect to use Design-Build (DB) as an alternate project …

A Three-Dimensional Hydro-Environmental Model Of Dublin Bay, Zeinab Bedri, Michael Buen, Aodh Dowley

Articles

This paper compares a 3-dimensional hydro-ecological model with a 2-dimensional model simulating the distribution and fate of Escherichia Coli (E.Coli) discharges from a sewage treatment plant discharging into Dublin Bay, Ireland. Before being discharged, the effluent from the sewage treatment plant is mixed with cooling water from a thermal generation plant resulting in a warm buoyant sewage plume that can be 7 − 9oC higher than the ambient water in the Bay. The mixing of the stratified plume is complicated by the tidal currents which transport the plume into and out of the estuary. These processes have a direct impact …

Sensitivity Analysis Of Load Distribution In Light-Framed Wood Roof System Due To Typical Modeling Parameters, Ranjith Shivarudrappa

All Theses

Since failure of roof systems in past high wind events have demonstrated the consequences of not maintaining a continuous load path from the roof to the foundation, many studies have been conducted to better understand this load path, including how loads are distributed in the system. The present study looks to add to the current knowledge of the vertical load path by focusing on uplift loads and by considering the sensitivity of different modeling parameters. This is done by developing and assessing load influence coefficients for various roof-to-wall (RTW) connections. An analytical model of a light-framed wood structure using finite …

Evaluation Of Warm Mix Open Graded Friction Course Mixtures, James Wurst

All Theses

The goal of this study was to evaluate EvothermTM (a chemical package) and foaming (a water-injection method) warm mix asphalt (WMA) technologies to determine their effectiveness in producing high quality open graded friction course (OGFC) mixes. Specifically, this study focused on the effect of the removal of stabilizing additives (fibers and polymers) on the optimum binder content and performance of WMA OGFC mixtures. By focusing on additive removal, this study attempted to evaluate practical production concerns and the possible benefits of WMA technologies combined with OGFC.
The EvothermTM WMA and foaming WMA mixes were compared to traditional HMA OGFC by …

Applied And Mechanistic Studies Of Microbial 17beta-Estradiol Degradation, Zhongtian Li

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

The presence of natural estrogens, a class of endocrine disrupting compounds, in water has caused increasing concerns over their adverse impacts on the health of aquatic eco-systems and human beings. In this study, adsorption characteristics of two natural estrogens, 17β-estradiol (E2) and estrone (E1), on granular activated carbon (GAC) were investigated in isotherm tests and in a GAC column. The GAC column was then converted to a biologically active carbon (BAC) column and the removal efficiency of E2 and its primary biodegradation intermediate E1 were monitored. During BAC operation, the impacts of various reactor operation parameters, such as the carbon …

Roadside Grading Guidance, Kevin D. Schrum

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

Provisions for the design of roadside foreslopes are not readily available, and as a result, engineering judgment is often employed. Unfortunately, this can lead to inconsistent designs, where, inevitably, some designs will be too costly and other designs will be too dangerous. Therefore, a design guide was created to lend consistency to the design of these foreslopes while maintaining the most economical and safe design.

This design guide was prepared after conducting a benefit-cost analysis using the Roadside Safety Analysis Program (RSAP). A large test matrix was developed in an attempt to simulate the most possible scenarios, leaving interpolation to …

Relating Climatic Attributes And Water Resources Allocation: A Study Using Surface Water Supply And Soil Moisture Indices In The Snake River Basin, Idaho, David J. Hoekema, Venkataramana Sridhar

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Climate change forced by anthropogenic activities has been ongoing since at least the beginning of the industrial revolution. Part of the recent warming in the western United States has been attributed to anthropogenic climate change. This research seeks to answer the basic question of how declining streamflow, increasing temperatures, and fluctuation in precipitation have impacted water resource allocation in the Snake River Plain over the past 35 years (1971-2005). Understanding how changes in climatic attributes have historically impacted water allocation should help water managers better understand how projected climate change may influence allocation. Annual and monthly diversion trends from 62 …

Theoretical And Numerical Research On Sediment Transport In Pressurized Flow Conditions, Zhaoding Xie

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

Research of river bed erosion is an important part of designing bridges and transportation networks since the stability and hydrodynamic response of bridges critically depends on river bed scour. The engineering designers traditionally focus on the local scour around hydraulic structures, such as piers and abutments, in open channel flow. The pressurized scour under a submerged bridge deck is seldom researched.

In this study, the commercial CFD codes, FLOW3D and STARCCM+, are adopted to simulate pressure scour under a bridge deck with six girders. Several limitations for FLOW3D are found during its application of sediment transport model: a) the scour …

Fourier Finite Element Analysis Of Laterally Loaded Piles In Elastic Media Internal Geotechnical Report 2011-1, William Higgins, Dipanjan Basu

Technical Reports

Laterally loaded piles are analyzed using the Fourier finite element method. Pile response was observed to be a function of the relative stiffness of pile and soil and of the pile slenderness ratio. The analysis is mostly performed for piles embedded in elastic soil with constant and linearly varying modulus although the pile response in two-layer soil profiles is also investigated. Equations describing pile head deflection, rotation and maximum bending moment are proposed for flexible long piles and stubby rigid piles. The design equations were developed after plotting the pile responses as functions of pile-soil stiffness ratio and pile slenderness …

Sustainability In Geotechnical Engineering Internal Geotechnical Report 2011-2, Aditi Misra, Dipanjan Basu

Technical Reports

The built environment serves as a dynamic interface through which the human society and the ecosystem interact and influence each other. Understanding this interdependence is key to understanding sustainability as it applies to civil engineering. There is a growing consensus that delivering a sustainable built environment starts with incorporating sustainability thoughts at the planning and design stages of a project. Geotechnical engineering is the most resource intensive of all the civil engineering disciplines and can significantly influence the sustainability of infrastructure development because of its early position in the construction process. In this report, a review is made of the …