Engineering Commons^™

16-11 Microsimulation Of The Impact Of Access Management Practices To Pedestrians, Deo Chimba, Kevin Soloka

Transportation Research Center Reports

The study applied microsimulation to analyze the impact of access management (AM) to the operational performances of vehicles and pedestrians. A conceptual model was developed in VISSIM and VISWALK to examine the effect of access and signals density on different median types to the travel speed, travel time, delay and stopping. Access density, signal density, and presence of median were simulated in a scenario base analysis. The model scenarios shifted through changing both access density and signal density with no median, raised median and TWLT lane to provide interactions of arterial corridors in Nashville. The effect of access density on …

16-02 Enhancing Non-Motorized Mobility Within Construction Zones, Upul Attanayake, Abul Fazal Mazumder, Wjdan Dhaif Sahi Sahi, Mathew Mueller, Dustin Black

Transportation Research Center Reports

Acquisition of lanes and sidewalks for construction activities increases congestion and delays and compromises safety. Further, work zones impair access to local businesses, bus stops, nearby facilities, etc., while hindering mobility of pedestrians, cyclists, and emergency responders. The emphasis on non-motorized mobility varies significantly when temporary traffic control management plans are developed for small cities. Due to lack of specific instructions given to contractors and the potential liability issues, contractors tend to completely close access to non-motorized traffic without providing alternate routes or detours. Instead of using a detour, pedestrians and cyclists tend to pass through the construction zone or …

Integrated Assessment Of Shallow-Aquifer Vulnerability To Multiple Contaminants And Drinking-Water Exposure Pathways In Holliston, Massachusetts, Birgit Claus Henn, Yelena Ogneva-Himmelberger, Allegra Denehy, Marcie Randall, Nichole Cordon, Bilin Basu, Brian Caccavale, Stefanie Covino, Ravi Hanumantha, Kevin Longo, Ariel Maiorano, Spring Pillsbury, Gabrielle Rigutto, Kelsey Shields, Marianne Sarkis, Timothy Downs

Sustainability and Social Justice

Half of U.S. drinking water comes from aquifers, and very shallow ones (table) are especially vulnerable to anthropogenic contamination. We present the case of Holliston, a Boston, Massachusetts suburb that draws its drinking water from very shallow aquifers, and where metals and solvents have been reported in groundwater. Community concerns focus on water discolored by naturally occurring manganese (Mn), despite reports stating regulatory aesthetic compliance. Epidemiologic studies suggest Mn is a potentially toxic element (PTE) for children exposed by the drinking-water pathway at levels near the regulatory aesthetic level. We designed an integrated, community-based project: five sites were profiled for …

Prediction Of Average Annual Surface Temperature For Both Flexible And Rigid Pavements, Karthikeyan Loganathan, Mena I. Souliman

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The surface temperature of pavements is a critical attribute during pavement design. Surface temperature must be measured at locations of interest based on time-consuming field tests. The key idea of this study is to develop a temperature profile model to predict the surface temperature of flexible and rigid pavements based on weather parameters. Determination of surface temperature with traditional techniques and sensors are replaced by a newly developed method. The method includes the development of a regression model to predict the average annual surface temperature based on weather parameters such as ambient air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and precipitation. …

Highly Vented Truss Wall Honeycomb Structures, David J. Sypeck

Publications

A vented honeycomb structure with a plurality of honey­comb cells arranged in a hierarchical order and having a plurality of truss walls, each truss wall including a plurality of members. The vented honeycomb structure is fabricated by joining a plurality of sheets of trusses using any one of an expansion, a corrugation, and a slotting process. Fabri­cation can also occur by deposition, casting, additive, extru­sion, or aligning and joining methods. The honeycomb cells, truss walls, truss wall openings, and truss wall members can be functionally graded.

Spatial Transferability Assessment Of A Composite Walkability Index: The Pedestrian Index Of The Environment (Pie), Gabriel Lefebvre-Ropars, Catherine Morency, Patrick A. Singleton, Kelly J. Clifton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper analyzes the transferability of a composite walkability index, the Pedestrian Index of the Environment (PIE), to the Greater Montréal Area (GMA). The PIE was developed in Portland, Oregon, and is based on proprietary data. It combines six urban form variables into a score ranging from 20 to 100. The measure introduces several methodological refinements which have not been applied concurrently in previous efforts: a wide coverage of the different dimensions of the urban form, together with the use of a distance-based decay function and modelling-based weighing of the variables.

A Novel Concrete-Based Sensor For Detection Of Ice And Water On Roads And Bridges, Habib Tabatabai, Mohammed Aljuboori

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Articles

Hundreds of people are killed or injured annually in the United States in accidents related to ice formation on roadways and bridge decks. In this paper, a novel embedded sensor system is proposed for the detection of black ice as well as wet, dry and frozen pavement conditions on roads, runways, and bridges. The proposed sensor works by detecting changes in electrical resistance between two sets of stainless steel poles embedded in the concrete sensor to assess surface and near-surface conditions. A preliminary decision algorithm is developed that utilizes sensor outputs indicating resistance changes and surface temperature. The sensor consists …

Drone-Enabled Remote Sensing For Transportation Infrastructure Assessment, Colin Brooks

INSPIRE Archived Webinars

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS or “drones”) are a rapidly developing technology that can help meet the needs of transportation agencies for reliable, repeatable data that can save money and increase safety for the data collection process. By taking advantage of flexible platforms that can deploy a variety of sensors, transportation agencies and their information suppliers can help meet these data needs for operations, asset management, and other areas. Location-specific data on infrastructure condition and distresses can help with improved management of assets.

In this presentation, recent applied research led by a Michigan Technological University team is reviewed, with a focus …

Development Of The New Educational Content "Small Uas In Civil Engineering Application Scenarios", E. Levin, K. Vach, R. Shults

Michigan Tech Publications

The key point of this paper is presentation of the main idea and some results of the project "Small UAS in civil engineering application scenarios" (SUAS-CAS). This project was proposed by newly established in 2016 ISPRS WG V/7: "Innovative Technologies in Training Civil Engineers and Architects". Here we are presenting our experience in using low-cost UAS in training architects at Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture, which was chosen as basic for this project. In the first part of paper, the project outline is presented. Then the first and possible follow project outcomes were described. In some details is …

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Fall 2017, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Part of every UNLV engineering student’s academic experience, the senior design project stimulates engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. Each student in their senior year chooses, plans, designs, and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. A capstone to the student’s educational career, the senior design project encourages the student to use everything learned in the engineering program to create a practical, real world solution to an engineering challenge. The senior design competition helps focus the senior students in increasing the quality and potential for commercial application for their design projects. Judges from local industry evaluate the projects on …

Application Of Real Field Connected Vehicle Data For Aggressive Driving Identification On Horizontal Curves, Arash Jahangiri, Vincent Berardi, Sahar Ghanipoor Machiani

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The emerging technology of connected vehicles generates a vast amount of data that could be used to enhance roadway safety. In this paper, we focused on safety applications of a real field connected vehicle data on a horizontal curve. The database contains connected vehicle data that were collected on public roads in Ann Arbor, Michigan with instrumented vehicles. Horizontal curve negotiations are associated with a great number of accidents, which are mainly attributed to driving errors. Aggressive/risky driving is a contributing factor to the high rate of crashes on horizontal curves. Using basic safety message data in connected vehicle data …

Garden Building Design Project, Gena Farley, Vanessa Villanueva, Jayanne Asuncion

Building Information Modeling Final Projects

Final project from the EMGT 193/293 Building Information Modeling (BIM) course in the School of Engineering and Computer Science as part of the Bachelor of Science in Engineering Management degree. A student group designed and modeled a one-story building to house the Pacific Garden Program on campus.

Robb Garden Community Resource Center, Jackie Koyama, Daryll Mendoza, Kourtnie Sicam

Building Information Modeling Final Projects

Final project from the EMGT 193/293 Building Information Modeling (BIM) course in the School of Engineering and Computer Science as part of the Bachelor of Science in Engineering Management degree. A student group designed and modeled a one-story building to house the Pacific Garden Program on campus.

Operation Bim: Robb Garden Building Project, Michael White, Daniel Seif, Suman Bhardwaj

Building Information Modeling Final Projects

Final project from the EMGT 193/293 Building Information Modeling (BIM) course in the School of Engineering and Computer Science as part of the Bachelor of Science in Engineering Management degree. A student group designed and modeled a one-story building to house the Pacific Garden Program on campus.

Robb Garden Building: Revit Up, Gimelle Jacala, Colin Strong, Jason Wu

Building Information Modeling Final Projects

Final project from the EMGT 193/293 Building Information Modeling (BIM) course in the School of Engineering and Computer Science as part of the Bachelor of Science in Engineering Management degree. A student group designed and modeled a one-story building to house the Pacific Garden Program on campus.

Robb Garden Building, Staysha Delgado, Lillian Sam, Ryan Teixeira, Courtney Vierra

Building Information Modeling Final Projects

Final project from the EMGT 193/293 Building Information Modeling (BIM) course in the School of Engineering and Computer Science as part of the Bachelor of Science in Engineering Management degree. A student group designed and modeled a one-story building to house the Pacific Garden Program on campus.

Robb Garden Building, Joseph Cliscagne, Joseph Prescott, Tamara Turton, Saima Uz-Zaman

Building Information Modeling Final Projects

Final project from the EMGT 193/293 Building Information Modeling (BIM) course in the School of Engineering and Computer Science as part of the Bachelor of Science in Engineering Management degree. A student group designed and modeled a one-story building to house the Pacific Garden Program on campus.

Nawic Focus (December 2017), National Association Of Women In Construction - Maine Chapter Staff

Maine Women's Publications - All

No abstract provided.

Three-Dimensional Vapor Intrusion Modeling Approach That Combines Wind And Stack Effects On Indoor, Atmospheric, And Subsurface Domains, Elham Shirazi, Kelly G. Pennell

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Vapor intrusion (IV) exposure risks are difficult to characterize due to the role of atmospheric, building and subsurface processes. This study presents a three-dimensional VI model that extends the common subsurface fate and transport equations to incorporate wind and stack effects on indoor air pressure, building air exchange rate (AER) and indoor contaminant concentration to improve VI exposure risk estimates. The model incorporates three modeling programs: (1) COMSOL Multiphysics to model subsurface fate and transport processes, (2) CFD0 to model atmospheric air flow around the building, and (3) CONTAM to model indoor air quality. The combined VI model predicts AER …

Increase In The Reduction Potential Of Uranyl Upon Interaction With Graphene Oxide Surfaces, V. N. Bliznyuk, N. Conroy, Y. Xie, R. Podila, A. Rao, Brian A. Powell

Publications

Coordination of uranyl (U(VI)) with carboxylate groups on functionalized graphene oxide (GO) surfaces has been shown to alter the reduction potential of the sorbed uranium ion. A quantitative measure of the reduction potential and qualitative estimation of sorption/desorption processes were conducted using cyclic voltammetry, and the proposed coordination environment was determined using the surface sensitive attenuated total reflection mode of infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). GO is a nanostructured material possessing a large amount of oxygen-containing functional groups both on basal planes and at the edges, which can form strong surface complexes with radionuclides. The presence of these functional groups on the …

Amplification Of Earthquake Ground Motions In Washington, Dc, And Implications For Hazard Assessments In Central And Eastern North America, Thomas L. Pratt, J. Wright Horton Jr., Jessica Munoz, Susan E. Hough, Martin C. Chapman, C. Guney Olgun

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The extent of damage in Washington, DC, from the 2011 M_W 5.8 Mineral, VA, earthquake was surprising for an epicenter 130 km away; U.S. Geological Survey “Did-You-Feel-It” reports suggest that Atlantic Coastal Plain and other unconsolidated sediments amplified ground motions in the city. We measure this amplification relative to bedrock sites using earthquake signals recorded on a temporary seismometer array. The spectral ratios show strong amplification in the 0.7 to 4 Hz frequency range for sites on sediments. This range overlaps with resonant frequencies of buildings in the city as inferred from their heights, suggesting amplification at frequencies to …

Reliability-Based Designs Procedure Of Earth Retaining Walls In Geotechnical Engineering, Juan Camilo Viviescas, Juan Pablo Osorio, Julio E. Canon

Articles

The design and construction of foundations, retaining structures and slopes are usually based on deterministic formulations that do not allow the distinction between the natural variability and the inherent dispersion in the geotechnical parameters. Due to the inherent variability of the soil properties, there is a growing trend to implement reliability-based designs in geotechnical engineering to reduce design uncertainties by probabilistic methods. The reliability designs require the definition of the probability density functions of the geotechnical properties, as well as knowledge of the spatial variability of soils. This paper identifies the procedures, type of soil investigations, simulations and the most …

Dense-Graded Aggregate Base Gradation Influencing Rutting Model Predictions, Issam I. A. Qamhia, Liang Chern Chow, Debakanta Mishra, Erol Tutumluer

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper presents findings from an ongoing research study at the University of Illinois focused on developing and calibrating an improved permanent deformation model for unbound aggregate materials through laboratory testing and characterization. The project scope included testing sixteen aggregate materials, commonly used in the state of North Carolina for pavement base courses, in the laboratory through monotonic and repeated load triaxial testing. This paper primarily focuses on quantifying effects of aggregate gradation on permanent deformation behavior. To accomplish this, four materials were tested at both: (1) “source gradations,” i.e. original gradations from quarry, and (2) an “engineered gradation,” i.e., …

Effectiveness Of Chain Link Turtle Fence And Culverts In Reducing Turtle Mortality And Providing Connectivity Along U.S. Hwy 83, Valentine National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska, Usa, Marcel P. Huijser, Kari E. Gunson, Elizabeth R. Fairbank

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

We evaluated the effectiveness of existing turtle fences through collecting and analyzing turtle mortality data along U.S. Hwy 83, in and around Valentine National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska, USA. We also investigated the level of connectivity for turtles provided through the culverts that were originally designed to pass water through a capture-mark-recapture experiment. While fenced valley sections had 33.1% fewer turtle observations than unfenced valley sections, the difference was not significant. However, we think that the effectiveness of the fence can be improved through fence repairs, other modifications of the fences, vegetation maintenance, and extending the length of the fences. Four …

Life Cycle Assessment In Foundry Sand Reclamation – Comparison Of Secondary Reclamation Processes, Samuel Keith Ghormley

Department of Environmental Engineering: Theses and Student Research

Foundries represent a significant part of the base of the world’s economy and as a sector are one of the largest consumers of energy and producers of solid waste in the United States. Sand casting foundries use approximately 5-10% of their total energy on sand handling processes. By adding a secondary sand reclamation process, foundries can expect to become more energy efficient as well as reducing solid waste from the foundry. To measure the broader environmental impacts, life cycle assessment (LCA) can be used. The goal of the current research was to examine a medium-sized foundry in the United States …

Comparing Methods Of Targeting Obesity Interventions In Populations: An Agent-Based Simulation, Rahmatollah Beheshti, Mehdi Jalalpour, Thomas A. Glass

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Social networks as well as neighborhood environments have been shown to effect obesity-related behaviors including energy intake and physical activity. Accordingly, harnessing social networks to improve targeting of obesity interventions may be promising to the extent this leads to social multiplier effects and wider diffusion of intervention impact on populations. However, the literature evaluating network-based interventions has been inconsistent. Computational methods like agent-based models (ABM) provide researchers with tools to experiment in a simulated environment. We develop an ABM to compare conventional targeting methods (random selection, based on individual obesity risk, and vulnerable areas) with network-based targeting methods. We adapt …

A Humidity-Controlled Fast Integrated Mobility Spectrometer (Hfims) For Rapid Measurements Of Particle Hygroscopic Growth, Tamara Pinterich, Steven R. Spielman, Yang Wang, Susanne V. Hering, Jian Wang

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

We present a humidity-controlled fast integrated mobility spectrometer (HFIMS) for rapid particle hygroscopicity measurements. The HFIMS consists of a differential mobility analyzer (DMA), a relative humidity (RH) control unit and a water-based FIMS (WFIMS) coupled in series. The WFIMS (Pinterich et al., 2017) combines the fast integrated mobility spectrometer (Kulkarni and Wang, 2006a, b) with laminar flow water condensation methodologies (Hering and Stolzenburg, 2005; Spielman et al., 2017). Inside the WFIMS, particles of different electrical mobilities are spatially separated in an electric field, condensationally enlarged and imaged to provide 1 Hz measurements of size distribution spanning a factor of ∼3 …

Fiscal Year 2017 Fhwa-536 Report For The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Steven Douglas Kreis, Candice Y. Wallace, Bryan Gibson, Sarah M. Mccormack

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requires state transportation agencies to submit a biennial report on local highway finances. The purpose of these reports is to provide FHWA with the data it needs to capture the financing of highway activities at the local level. Based on this information, it can identify trends in revenue, expenditures, investments, and program development, and in turn make decisions about future investments. The report, FHWA-536, asks agencies to report on four areas of local highway finance: 1) disposition of highway-user revenues; 2) revenues used for roads and streets identified by source and funding type; 3) road …

Evaluation Of Opportunities And Challenges Of Using Inrix Data For Real-Time Performance Monitoring And Historical Trend Assessment, Anuj Sharma, Vesal Ahsani, Sandeep Rawat

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

In recent years there has been a growing desire for the use of probe vehicle technology for congestion detection and general infrastructure performance assessment. Unlike costly traditional data collection by loop detectors, wide-area detection using probe-sourced traffic data is significantly different in terms of measurement technique, pricing, coverage, etc. This affects how the new technology is applied and used to solve current traffic problems such as traffic incident management and roadway performance assessment. This report summarizes the experiences and lessons learned while using probe data for traffic operations and safety management in the state of Nebraska and makes recommendations for …

Applicability Of Zipper Merge Versus Early Merge In Kentucky Work Zones, Erin Lammers-Staats, Jerry G. Pigman, Brian K. Howell, Adam J. Kirk

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

In an effort to improve work zone safety and streamline traffic flows, a number of state transportation agencies (STAs) have experimented with the zipper merge. The zipper merge differs from a conventional, or early, merge in that vehicles do not merge into the lane that remains open immediately after being notified of a lane closure. Rather, vehicles continue to occupy all lanes until they reach the taper, at which point — and directed by signage — vehicles take turns merging into the open lane, creating a zipper pattern. At the request of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), Kentucky Transportation Center …