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Sustainability And Resource Assessment: A Case Study Of Soil Resources In The United States, Dana L. Hoag, Jennie S. Hughes Popp, D. Eric Hyatt

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Assessment of environmental condition is critical to wise management and policy decisions. However, for some concerns such as sustainability, it is difficult to assess environmental condition because it involves disparate social objectives and an understanding of complex ecological systems. Here, a general framework is proposed to examine sustainability of environmental resources in objective, measurable ways. By using soil quality as an example, sustainability research is taken beyond theory and into application.
Sustainability depends on the quality of resource endowment. Endowment of a natural resource can be modeled as an index of quality to assess the degree of sustainable management. This …

Optimizing Conjunctive Water Use For Sustainable Production: Tools For The Management Spectrum, Richard C. Peralta, Shengjun J. Wu, H. J. Morel-Seytoux, Fernando Chanduvi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Making best use of water resources requires coordinating use of groundwater and surface waters--conjunctive use. Conjunctive water management is important on the regional (watershed or aquifer), water district and field scales. Goals might differ for the different administrative levels. A regionally optimal water management strategy is not necessarily optimal for water district managers and individual farmers. Interactions between levels are affected by laws, regulations, traditions and public pressure. To help each organizational level develop water management strategies that best achieve its goals, computer simulation/optimization (S/O) models are useful. Such S/O models couple water flow and transport simulation techniques with formal …

A Combined Simulated Annealing And Tabu Search Strategy To Solve Network Design Problem With Two Classes Of Users, Qifeng Zeng

Dissertations

A methodology to solve a transportation network design problem (TCNDP) with two classes of users (passenger cars and trucks) is developed. Given an existing highway system, with a capital investment budget constraint, the methodology selects the best links to be expanded by an extra lane by considering one of three types of traffic operations: exclusive for passenger cars, exclusive for trucks, and for both passenger cars and trucks such that the network total user equilibrium (UE) travel time is minimized.

The problem is formulated as an NP-hard combinatorial nonlinear integer programming problem. The classical branch and bound methodology for the …

Poseidon American Society Of Civil Engineers/Master Builders Rocky Mountain Regional Concrete Canoe Competition, William Spencer Guthrie

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The concrete canoe team has been selected in behalf of the Utah State University Student Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers to prepare an entry for the 1998 ASCE Rocky Mountain Regional Concrete Canoe Competition. This event is co-sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers and Master Builders, Inc., and has become a tradition at annual ASCE regional conferences nationwide.

Parameter Estimation Using Artificial Neural Network And Genetic Algorithm For Free-Product Migration And Recovery, J. Morshed, Jagath J. Kaluarachchi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Artificial neural network (ANN) is considered to be a universal function approximator, and genetic algorithm (GA) is considered to be a robust optimization technique. As such, ANN regression analysis and ANN-GA optimization techniques can be used to perform inverse groundwater modeling for parameter estimation. In this manuscript the applicability of these two techniques in solving an inverse problem related to a light-hydrocarbon-contaminated site is assessed. The critical parameters to be evaluated are grain-size distribution index α and saturated hydraulic conductivity of water Ksw, since these parameters control free-product volume predictions and flow. A set of published data corresponding to a …

Sparse Equation-Eigen Solvers For Symmetric/Unsymmetric Positive-Negative-Indefinite Matrices With Finite Element And Linear Programming Applications, Hakakizumwami Birali Runesha

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Vectorized sparse solvers for direct solutions of positive-negative-indefinite symmetric systems of linear equations and eigen-equations are developed. Sparse storage schemes, re-ordering, symbolic factorization and numerical factorization algorithms are discussed. Loop unrolling techniques are also incorporated in the coding to enhance the vector speed. In the indefinite solver, which employs various pivoting strategies, a simple rotation matrix is introduced to simplify the computer implementation. Efficient usage of the incore memory is accomplished by the proposed "restart memory management" schemes. A sparse version of the Interior Point Method, IPM, has also been implemented that incorporates the developed indefinite sparse solver for linear …

Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Composite Beam Stability And Load And Resistance Factor Design Approach, Mojtaba B. Sirjani

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP) structural members are rapidly gaining impetus in civil engineering applications. Also, thin-walled open beams with I-shaped, channel, and other types of sections are of practical importance to both structural analysts and designers. This dissertation presents the outcome of a detailed experimental and theoretical investigation of the strength and stability of FRP composite beams. Three- and four-point loading tests are conducted on FRP I- and channel section beams. The behavior of these beams is studied under gradually increasing static loads up to the maximum load-carrying capacity corresponding to either material cracking or flexural-torsional instability. First, the theoretical …

A Calibrated Shoreline Change Model For The Southeast Atlantic Ocean Coast Of Virginia, Prasert Vangsantitrakul

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The idea that the long-term historic shoreline change at a given site is mainly caused by spatial gradients in the net longshore sediment transport is generally accepted. The position changes of the coastline can therefore be modeled by calculating the coastal erosion or accretion from the longshore sediment transport. This study used the GENESIS software program, one-line model, to simulate and calibrate the long-term shoreline change of the southeast coast of Virginia from 1925 to 1980. The study reach covers 45- km from Cape Henry to the Virginia-North Carolina border.

This study experienced the lack of certain important historic data …

A Review On The Documentation For The South Florida Water Management Model (Sfwmm), Daniel P. Loucks, Wendy D. Graham, Conrad D. Heatwole, John W. Labadie, Richard C. Peralta

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Early in February 1998, the South Florida Water Management District asked Professors Wendy D. Graham, Comad D. Heatwole, John W. Labadie, Daniel P. Loucks, and Richard C. Peralta to serve on a panel to

• Review the Draft Documentation for the South Florida Water Management Model (SFWMM),

• Develop a series of questions, issues and areas for discussion during a site visit,

• Visit the District for a model familiarization session, and

• Prepare and submit a written evaluation of the model, with emphasis on the documentation that will include criticisms, specific recommendations for improvement, and responses to questions posed.

Case Histories Of Slopes, Dams, And Embankments. Paper No. Gr-Ii, Vlad G. Perlea, Mary P. Perlea, Bujang B. K. Huat

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Load Tests On Drilled Shafts For Highway Bridges, Raghu N. Dass, Vijay K. Puri

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Most of the highway bridges arc supported on deep foundations. Safe and economical design and construction of deep foundations requires the use of rational procedures to determine the load capacity of the foundation. A static load test may be conducted to measure the response of a pile under applied load. Conventional static tests include axial compressive, axial tensile and lateral load testing. The purpose and advantages of load testing are explained in the light of large-scale construction of deep foundations for highways for the new millennia. This paper presents a case history of load tests on high capacity drilled shafts. …

Predictions Of Vertically Vibrating Foundation Response With Modified Radiation Damping, Shamsher Prakash, Y. Tseng

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

A simple solution technique for evaluating the response of a surface or embedded foundation under vertical vibrations in a homogeneous soil has been developed. The effects of soil nonlinearity on shear modulus and material damping, frequency on stiffness and radiation damping, and embedment of foundation on stiffness and radiation damping have been considered. A computer program has been developed based on the Elastic Half Space (EHS) analog technique (Lysmer and Richart, 1966), to compute the response amplitude of both surface and embedded footings. The computed response has been verified by comparing it with measured data from Novak (1970). The predicted …

Erosion And Repair Of Unlined Spillway Chute Excavated In Rock, David Mathews, Vlad G. Perlea, Francke C. Walberg, Douglas R. Anderson

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Discharges up to 60,000 cfs that lasted 21 days caused extensive erosion of the unlined spillway chute excavated in alternating layers of limestone and shale. An empirical model allowed to evaluate the extent of erosion anticipated for future events. Parametric calculations showed that relatively low discharges a long period of time are critical for the induced damage. It was determined that the spillway can safely pass the design discharge if weathering of rock exposed by erosion is prevented. Accordingly, the interim repair was designed to protect the rock units, especially the critical limestone layers, from weathering. Although it is expected …

A Recent Difficult Foundation Problem: The Case Of The New Tagus Bridge, Pedro Simão Sêco E Pinto, Ricardo Oliveira

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

A brief description of the New Tagus Bridge is presented. The main site geological conditions and the field and laboratory tests are described. The seismic studies related to the design spectra, the liquefaction potential assessment and the seismic pile analysis are presented. The pile load tests (both static and dynamic) carried out on trial piles are described. The objectives of reception tests for piles and monitoring during the construction phase and the long term are presented.

Risk And Reliability In Geotechnical Engineering, Suzanne Lacasse, Farrokh Nadim

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Statistics, reliability analyses and risk estimates can be very useful decision-making tools in geotechnical problems. Yet the methods are little used in practice. The offshore and mining industry are at the forefront for the use of these approaches, having encouraged their use and sponsored research that has enabled the methods to be well-documented and of proven usefulness in the study of alternatives for design and decision-making in face of uncertainties. The paper presents a few case studies in different areas of geotechnical engineering and discusses the results that would have been obtained without the use of the risk approach. Special …

A Computer Aided Rock Mass Classification For Rock Slopes, Hong Li, Gang Li

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

This paper proposes a new microcomputer aided geomechanical classification for rock slopes. This classification for rock slopes is established based on well known established rock mass classification such as the CSIR classification, the Q classification, SRM classification and the Chinese Engineering Rock mass Classification (CERC) and the concept of “preferred planes”. In order to obtain a useful result by taking account to the complicated geological conditions and the multiple goals decision, a computer aided geomechanical classification for rock slopes (CSRSS) has been built based on the expert system design skills. The case studies showed that the classification system works well. …

Performance Prediction And Uses Of Pv Band Drains Under The Embankments On Soft Marine Clays Of Bangkok, Kaushik Mukherjee

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

The use of prefabricated vertical (PV) drains for the improvement of soft clays is a widely adopted technique today. Vertical drains arc used to accelerate the consolidation under preloading by taking the advantage of higher rate of horizontal flow of water through the soil. The present paper is aimed at the prediction of the performances shown by the ‘Alidrain’, used in the soft marine clays of Bangkok, in the field under embankment loading and in the laboratory in a in-house designed large scale consolidometer, by using a Finite Element model of the transient, axi-symmetric flow problem considering equal strain. This …

A Model For Travel Mode Switching, Lei Cao

Dissertations

Transportation policy research assesses the effect of policy changes such as the imposition of a parking charge or the augmentation of passenger rail service, on individual travel behavior. Over the last few decades, Conditional Lo it Model has been strongly advocated among discrete choice models for transportation policy study due to its ease of estimation and realistic outcomes.

This dissertation analyzes the necessity of the entry of constraints in the indirect utility function. These functions are used in discrete choice models and form the basis for travel demand modeling. This dissertation proposes a hypothesis that the explicit entry of constraints …

The Effect Of Pipe Bursting On Nearby Utilities, Pavement, And Structures, Alan Atalah

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation has involved field and analytical studies of ground movements, ground vibrations and other design issues associated with trenchless pipe replacement (or pipe bursting, as it is commonly known). The process is used to replace an existing underground service pipe with a completely new pipe but without the disturbance and cost of excavating a trench from the surface. The process typically involves the insertion of a tool into the existing pipe that has a maximum diameter that is slightly larger than the existing pipe. This tool is used to break the existing pipe into pieces and to displace the …

Euroconstruction Report 1, Louis Gunnigan, Trevor Orr

Reports

This report was prepared on behalf of the Construction Industry Federation as Ireland’s initial contribution to the Leonardo da Vinci Project: Euroconstruction.

The report is divided into 3 sections.

Section 1 concentrates on the recent and likely future changes in the structure of the Irish construction market and the impact of these changes on project management and project financing. The recent growth of the industry is documented and predictions for the future of the industry in Ireland are summarised. The conclusions reached show that an increased involvement in the financing of public projects is required from the private sector if …

Nonlinear Modeling Of Concrete-Filled Frp Tubes Using The Finite Element Method, Kenneth T. Zagers

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) has in recent years emerged as an alternative reinforcement for structural concrete. The properties that make FRP appealing to the construction industry include its resistance to electro-chemical corrosion, high strength-to-weight ratio, and electrical insulation. An efficient use of FRP is in the form of concrete-filled tubes, where the tube not only protects the concrete against environmental factors, but also provides confinement and external reinforcement. Since use of fiber composites for confining concrete is relatively new, analytical work in this area is limited to the models that were originally developed for transverse steel reinforcement. However, it has …

Disaggregation Procedures For Stochastic Hydrology Based On Nonparametric Density Estimation, David G. Tarboton, Ashish Sharma, Upmanu L. Lall

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Synthetic simulation of streamflow sequences is important for the analysis of water supply reliability. Disaggregation models are an important component of the stochastic streamflow generation methodology. They provide the ability to simulate multiseason and multisite streamflow sequences that preserve statistical properties at multiple timescales or space scales. In recent papers we have suggested the use of nonparametric methods for streamflow simulation. These methods provide the capability to model time series dependence without a priori assumptions as to the probability distribution of streamflow. They remain faithful to the data and can approximate linear or nonlinear dependence. In this paper we extend …

Development Of A 3-D Finite Element Program For Pavement Analysis, Volume I: Introduction And Appendix 1, Tatsaba Nilaward, Chiang Shih, Thomas D. White, E. C. Ting

JTRP Technical Reports

A three dimensional finite element program is developed for the analysis of pavement systems. An explicit approach of the finite element analysis is adopted. This approach results in a vector formulation of the equation of motion. Large displacement is considered through the use of a co-rotational approach which considers small deformations and large rotations of the elements. For the convenience of application a two dimensional finite element program is also developed. An eight-node ¶metric solid element is used for the three dimensional analysis, and a four-node element for the two dimensional analysis. Loading conditions are verified for static ramp and …

An Integrated Transportation Use Modeling System For Indiana, Andrew Ying-Ming Yen, Jon D. Fricker

JTRP Technical Reports

The principle objective of this research was to develop an integrated model to represent the interrelationships between land use and transportation, subject to the requirements of the ISTEA of 1991 and the CAAA of 1990. The integrated model includes two major parts: a land-use allocation module and a travel demand module. An interface module has also been built to transform data between these two modules. The land-use allocation module consists of a residential location model, an employment location model, a land use potential model, and a land consumption model. One unique feature of the residential and employment location models is …

Natural Treatment And On-Site Processes, Kevin D. White, Joel Gerard Burken

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Toxicity, Bioavailability And Speciation Of Lead, Zinc And Cadmium In Mine/Mill Wastewaters, Mujde Erten-Unal, Bobby G. Wixson, Nord Gale, Jerry L. Pitt

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The toxicity of common compounds of lead, cadmium and zinc was evaluated in waters similar to that found in the world's largest lead producing area in Missouri. Static, acute toxicity tests were performed using fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) and water fleas (Daphnia magna) respectively. Test organisms were subjected to varying amounts of sulfide, carbonate, chloride and sulfate salts of lead, zinc and cadmium mixed in hard, alkaline waters typical to this region. Median lethal concentrations were calculated using nominal versus measured metal concentrations. Measured metal concentrations included four different metal fractionation (extraction/filtration) techniques at different pH …

Bs News

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Strength And Durability Of Concrete: Effects Of Cement Paste-Aggregate Interfaces, Part Ii: Significance Of Transition Zones On Physical And Mechanical Properties Of Portland Cement Mortar, Turng-Fang F. Lee, Menashi D. Cohen

JTRP Technical Reports

This research was based on a two-part basic research investigation studying the effects of cement paste-aggregate interfaces (or interfacial transition zones-HZ) on strength and durability of concrete. Part I dealt with the theoretical study and Part II dealt with the experimental. Part I, the theoretical part, illustrates the effect of ITZ on the concrete properties by assuming its elastic moduli to be varied continuously in the region. A four-phase composite model is employed and three functions are chosen to model the moduli variation in the ITZ. A theoretical solution for an n-layered spherical inclusion model is used to estimate the …

Integration Of Real-Time Air Pollution Parameters Into The Decision Making Process Regarding Highway Construction Work Zone Traffic Flow Requirements (Phase 1), Ouattara Fatogoma, Todd A. Premo, Robert Bertram Jacko

JTRP Technical Reports

The Midac Fourier Transform Infrared air monitoring system was used to measure real-time vehicular exhaust emission concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (HCs) during the Purdue Vehicle Emission Monitoring and Modeling Project (PVEMP) conducted in spring and summer 1997. The experiments took place on the Borman Expressway, in Gary. Indiana and on 1-65, south of Lafayette, Indiana Concurrently, two speed-readings were acquired from the passing vehicles in the vicinity of the air monitoring system using a hand-held laser gun. The speeds were integrated to determine the speeds and accelerations of the passing vehicles at the spectrometer. An 8-mm camcorder …

Modeling And Optimization Of The Indiana Lane Merge Control System On Approaches To Freeway Work Zones, Part I, Andrzej P. Tarko, Sreenivasulu R. Kanipakapatnam, Jason S. Wasson

JTRP Technical Reports

Severe traffic turbulence on entry sections of freeway work zones increases the delays and risk of crash. A new Indiana Department of Transportation system called Indiana Merge Lane System (IMLS) creates a dynamic no passing zone on the approach to the freeway work zone through the sequence of DO NOT PASS signs. The system is thought to encourage drivers to switch lanes well upstream of the discontinuous lane taper where the merging maneuver is safer and less intrusive. The IMLS is expected to impact drivers’ behavior, their perception of the traffic conditions, and traffic safety.

This research is focused on: …