Civil Engineering Commons^™

Enhanced Bioretention Modeling At The Catchment-Scale: An Integrated Drainmod-Urban And Swmm Approach, Ghada Diab

Doctoral Dissertations

Bioretention systems are increasingly being adopted in stormwater management as an effective measure to promote infiltration and restore more natural hydrology in urbanized watersheds. Given the significant financial investment in these practices, reliable bioretention models are necessary to predict the effectiveness of these practices prior to installation. One such model, DRAINMOD-Urban (DM-Urban), was recently developed to produce hydrographs with a high temporal resolution at the site-scale, showing substantial promise during initial testing. However, the dataset used for initial testing was limited, consisting of one bioretention area with minimal occasions of overflow. Additionally, DM-Urban is an input-heavy model and there is …

3d Experimental Studies Of Temperature And Crystallographic Effects On Creep And Strength In Rock Salt, Amirsalar Moslehy

Doctoral Dissertations

Salt domes utilization as storage reservoirs in the energy sector has led to extensive studies on rock salt’s mechanical and geothermal behavior. These important facilities’ safety and serviceability rely on understanding rock salt’s compressive strength and creep behavior under various loading directions, water contents, in-situ stresses, and temperatures. Despite numerous studies on rock salt’s mechanical behavior in the literature, there are still many unanswered questions about rock salt’s behavior. This dissertation was aimed at utilizing state-of-the-art experimental techniques such as 3D synchrotron micro-computed tomography (SMT) and 3D x-ray diffraction (3DXRD) along with hundreds of compression and creep experiments to enhance …

Effect Of Seawater And Temperature Upon Carbon Fiber/Vinyl Ester (Cfve) Composites And Its Constituents, Vivek Chawla

Doctoral Dissertations

An experimental and computational investigation has been carried out to: (1) develop micromechanical characterization techniques for polymeric composites and (2) evaluate the effects of seawater and temperature upon the micro- and macro-response of the carbon fiber vinyl ester composites (CF/VE). Compression properties degradation due to short-term and long-term exposure to seawater is evaluated. A 12-16 % reduction in compression strength is observed due to long-term exposure to seawater, which is attributed to a decrease in interfacial shear strength (IFSS) due to long-term exposure to seawater. The developed Push-out methodology is used to characterize the IFSS. The presented approach consistently yields …

Functional Cementitious Composites With Micro-Sized Particulate Fillers For Additive Construction And Energy-Efficient Buildings, Adam Brooks

Doctoral Dissertations

With a growing energy demand, the development of sustainable and energy efficient building materials is growing rapidly. Numerous researches have focused on low carbon footprint construction materials, high-performance thermal insulations, high-performance façade, and thermal energy storage. Among these, the development of functional cementitious composites has attracted significant attention due to its potential utilities in building energy reduction and decarbonatization efforts. For example, fly ash cenospheres have been used as micro-size lightweight fillers to achieve low density and thermal conductivity. The use of phase change materials (PCM) in concrete has been studied to answer energy demands. While their inclusion into concrete …

Decoding Usage And Adoption Behavior Of The Low-Carbon Transportation Market: An Ai-Driven Exploration, Vuban Chowdhury

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The transportation sector stands as a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, with its environmental impact steadily escalating over the past few decades. This has prompted government agencies to facilitate the adoption and usage of low-carbon transportation (LCT) options as alternatives to fossil-fuel-powered transportation. LCTs include modes of transportation that minimize the overall carbon footprint of the transportation sector by relying on energy sources that are environmentally sustainable. These sustainable transportation options have also garnered significant interest in the transportation research community. For government agencies and researchers alike, a comprehensive understanding of the adoption and usage …

Determining The Effect Of The Presence Of Food Deserts On The Number Of Crashes In Census Tracts In Arkansas, Lizbeth Juarez-Bartolo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food deserts, areas with limited access to grocery stores which sell fresh produce, dairy, and meats, are a growing concern in many communities. The presence of a food desert is known to cause great impacts on the physical health of the people residing within them, but there is little to no research on a food desert’s influence on the traffic safety of the location in which it encompasses. Based on previous studies into food deserts, studies suggest that food inaccessibility is mostly felt by rural residents. Since rural residents must travel farther distances on more hazardous rural roadways to access …

Gravel Conveyance System: An Evaluation On E. Coli Removal Capabilities, Madison Grace

<strong> Theses and Dissertations </strong>

In many rural, low-income communities such as the Black Belt of Alabama, there is a lack of wastewater infrastructure and solutions leaving homeowners non-compliant to state and federal law and with potential health risks on their property. New regulations have allowed for onsite, surface discharge for single family homes that are not connected to a centralized sewer or large flow development. These new regulations also contain strict disinfection criteria for the treated wastewater that will be discharged. A low-cost and low-maintenance treatment system that provides adequate disinfection is necessary to allow homeowners to take advantage of the new opportunity for …

The Tidal Prism, Viable Eelgrass Habitat, And The Effects Of Sea Level Rise In Morro Bay, Kaden A. Caliendo

Master's Theses

The tidal prism, or the volume of water exchanged from the sea to an estuary from mean low to mean high tide, influences system hydrodynamics and ecological functioning. Since 1884, the tidal prism in Morro Bay, California has been estimated to be decreasing over time due to sedimentation from upstream practices. What is the current tidal prism in Morro Bay and how will that change with sea level rise? How will eelgrass respond to rising sea levels?

For this study, inexpensive tidal gauges were deployed at four locations in Morro Bay from March to August 2023 to measure spatially varying …

Self-Consolidating Concrete Design For Drilled Shaft Structural Applications, Grady S. Caton

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Self-consolidating concrete (SCC) is a relatively new concrete technology which allows the concrete to be placed without the need for manual or machine vibration. This innovation reduces labor costs, construction times, and can provide a smooth, finished surface. However, this technology is used in the United States primarily in the precast and prestressed concrete industry. The utility of SCC in structural applications, such as areas of dense reinforcement or locations where complex geometry makes consolidation impossible, is also advantageous. In this study, a series of SCC mixtures were developed both with and without fly ash replacement. These mixtures were then …

Comparing In-Situ Liquefaction Triggering Procedures For Sites In Arkansas, Sagar Barua

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There currently exists a significant amount of uncertainty when designing piles for bridge foundations in liquefiable soil. Currently ARDOT engineers use a Standard Penetration Test (SPT) based liquefaction spreadsheet developed 10 years ago to evaluate liquefaction triggering. Since this spreadsheet was developed, updates to the liquefaction triggering procedures have been published making the spreadsheet out-of-date. Moreover, additional methods of liquefaction evaluation using cone penetration test (CPT) and shear wave velocity (Vs) provide added means of evaluating liquefaction potential. This thesis updates ARDOT's liquefaction triggering evaluation methodology with the newest procedures and incorporates additional empirical liquefaction hazard estimates such as the …

Analysis Of Travel Behavior At International Border Crossings: Application Of Travel Surveys, Jennifer Areli Moreno Escamilla

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Transportation planning provides an insight into the demand and traffic distribution of existingconditions of a region and helps identify future transportation needs. The results generated from forecasting models influence many decisions on the selection of transportation projects and funding allocations. Thus, forecasting models require up-to-date trip information to represent trip patterns and generate representative traffic demand analysis in a such complex areas as binational regions. The purpose of this study is to provide an analysis on travel survey methodology applied to collect trip information at international border crossings. Based on the results of the survey, an analysis on trip pattern …

Modular Composite Sandwich Structures For Thermal And Structural Retrofitting Of Existing Buildings, Marc Al Ghazal

Masters Theses

Around 40% of global energy consumption and 30% of worldwide carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are attributed to buildings. Most of this consumption is dedicated to ensuring thermal comfort. The goal of this research was to develop and field validate retrofit solutions to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. Exterior cladding panels were designed and tested to ensure adequate thermal and structural performance. Sandwich panels (glass fibers reinforced polymer (GFRP) skins and polymeric foam cores) were fabricated using the vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) process. Extruded polystyrene (XPS) and polyurethane (PU) foams were compared as core materials through a series …

Sustainable Cities: Life-Cycle Cost Analysis Of Integrating Piezoelectric Harvesters Into Roadways, Heba Mohamed Gaber

Theses and Dissertations

Energy is essential in our modern era. Because of the increasing electricity consumption, sustainable and Renewable energy became a necessary global approach to fill the gap of the ongoing energy shortage in addition to the climate change crisis due to using conventional ways for energy production. Renewable energy is a global approach that has achieved great accomplishments during the last decades and is gradually increasing. Energy harvesting is considered one of the main resources for renewable energy. Energy harvesting from the roadways is an ingenious horizon for sustainable, clean, and renewable energy generation. Harvesting energy from the roadways by using …

Performing Motorized-To-Non-Motorized Crash Analysis Using Multi-Model Lbs Traffic Data Calibrated Through Random Forest Models, Nicholas Aldridge

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

Traditionally, traffic prediction has been an engineering challenge due to insufficient quantities of data. In this thesis, the use of a new type of data called location-based service (LBS) data from StreetLight (StL) and a large database of multi-modal traffic counts are used to infer vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle volumes on all road segments in Lincoln, Nebraska. Additional land use features are incorporated into the model from the EPA Smart Location Database (EPA-SLD). The use of random forest models provides strong measures of fit for all modes, with R² scores of 0.98 for both the bicycle and pedestrian modes …

Assessment Of The Mechanical And Durability Characteristics Of Bio-Mineralized Bacillus Subtilis Self-Healing Concrete Blended With Hydrated Lime And Brick Powder, Mohd Abu Bakr, Birendra Kumar Singh, Ahmed Farouk Deifalla, Shatrudhan Pandey, Ahmed Hussain, Sahir Sultan Alvi, S.M. Mozammil Hasnain

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Highlights

• The present paper studied the effect of biomineralization on the properties of HBr concrete.

• Strength and durability properties are improved by calcite precipitation produced by bacteria.

• CaCO3 Precipitation was confirmed in the microstructure analysis through FESEM and EDS.

Abstract

Cement is the main constituent of the concrete structure. Using rejected brick as pozzolana in replacement of cement reduced the utilization of natural resources, conserved the environment, and controlled waste disposal. Hydrated lime has been utilized as a chemical additive to improve the pozzolanic reaction of finely ground waste brick particles. This research investigates the process of biomineralization to enhance …

Effect Of Latex Modified Concrete Overlays With Reduced Surface Preparation On The Load Distribution And Flexural Strength Of Channel Girders, Samuel Dodd

All Theses

This thesis investigates the use of a Latex Modified Concrete (LMC) overlay to increase the strength of prestressed channel girders and enhance their ability to distribute load. The research conducted in this thesis involved material testing of several different LMC mixes and flexural testing of an LMC overlay and girder system. The material testing was used to determine a reasonable LMC mix design and surface preparation method to be used for the overlay. Based on material testing it was concluded that a rapid-set mix and pressure washing of the girder surfaces were a reasonable mix design and surface preparation for …

Component Approach For A Combined Hurricane Wind And Rainwater Damage And Time Related Expenses Model In Mid/High-Rise Buildings, Zhuoxuan Wei

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on mid/high-rise commercial residential buildings (MHRB) vulnerable to wind-driven rainwater ingress during hurricanes. The author developed the WHIP-MHRB model, a new probabilistic vulnerability model funded by the Wind Hazard Infrastructure Performance Center (WHIP-C). This model combines the estimates of rainwater ingress, distribution and propagation, and damage assessments, and time-related expenses (TRE) predictions for MHRB during hurricanes. Embedded within WHIP-MHRB is the WHIP-TRE model, which forecasts repair times, delay times, downtime, and recovery times post-hurricane explicitly.

Furthermore, taking advantage of the new model, this study presents two approaches to address the combined wind and rain vulnerabilities of MHRB …

Development Of Scope Of Services For Procurement Of Professional Consultant Services On Transportation Projects – A Study Of South Carolina Department Of Transportation, Ajay Jadhav

All Dissertations

Project Scoping Process (PSP) is one of the significant steps that starts at the very beginning of the project life cycle. During project initiation phase, project scoping is kicked off which includes documenting a list of project-specific goals, deliverables, tasks, costs, and deadlines. The scoping phase duration depends on the project complexity and involves various stakeholders, establishing team, confirming the project purpose and need, initiating the environmental revie process, determining the level of environmental documentation and permit requirements, conducting survey, identifying project risks and tools to mitigate them, and evaluating public involvement strategies. A well-defined PSP is therefore essential for …

Drinking-Water Fluoridation As An Example Of The Nurse + Engineer Fostering Informed Decisions And Actions, Daniel B. Oerther, Sarah Oerther

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Statistical And Deep Learning Models For Reference Evapotranspiration Time Series Forecasting: A Comparison Of Accuracy, Complexity, And Data Efficiency, Arman Ahmadi, Andre Daccache, Mojtaba Sadegh, Richard L. Snyder

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Reference evapotranspiration (ETo) is an essential variable in agricultural water resources management and irrigation scheduling. An accurate and reliable forecast of ETo facilitates effective decision-making in agriculture. Although numerous studies assessed various methodologies for ETo forecasting, an in-depth multi-dimensional analysis evaluating different aspects of these methodologies is missing. This study systematically evaluates the complexity, computational cost, data efficiency, and accuracy of ten models that have been used or could potentially be used for ETo forecasting. These models range from well-known statistical forecasting models like seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) to state-of-the-art deep learning (DL) algorithms like temporal fusion transformer …