Engineering Commons^™

Brazil, Big Hydro, And A Beautiful Monster: “Green” Energy Generation In The Xingu River Basin, Ian F. Hirons

Student Works

Brazil is quickly becoming an influential actor on the world stage of geopolitics. The nation has achieved global economic and environmental recognition due to the extensive development of its hydrological resources in the form of hydroelectric power plants. As the world’s second greatest generator of hydroelectricity, Brazil has proven a staunch adherence to building dams in the large-scale. Though these dams have brought electricity to millions of people across the country, the socio-ecological toll inflicted by their construction has been devastating to natural biomes and local inhabitants. This article traces Brazil’s proclivity for large-scale hydropower to four motivational categories often …

Benefits Of Pre-Construction Analysis: Cet Senior Capstone Expands Understanding Of An Urban Refuge At Gallopnyc Sunrise Stables, Aalaa Mohammed

Publications and Research

For any construction project, there exists a phase of planning known as “pre-construction.” This initial phase of the project provides a definition of the project, identification of potential issues, planning and scheduling, scope, cost estimation, and analysis of needs for the job. My research analyzes a pre-construction case study conducted for Gallop NYC’s Stable in Howard Beach, Queens. The findings suggest that the practice of construction planning is effective in order to avoid delays in construction itself and ensure successful project completion. Supporting literature examines some of the best practices for pre-construction analysis. These include but are not limited to: …

Unifying Assessments Of Sustainability And Resilience In Civil Infrastructure Systems: The Case Of Masonry Structures, Samir J. Pandey

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Review of existing literature on the unification of sustainability and resilience showed the lack of a single effective framework that can unify the two, especially for building systems. Along this line of research, this study contributes a novel experimental framework to assess masonry structures and support a unified approach. This study performed structural analysis for resilience assessment and energy simulation for sustainability assessment. Based on the openings available in masonry walls, the study observed the changes in sustainability indicators (electricity consumption). Changes in resilience indicators (story drifts) were also observed. Results indicate that overall sustainability is compromised with additional openings …

Eco-Friendly Stabilization Of Sulfate-Rich Expansive Soils Using Geopolymers For Transportation Infrastructure, Xinbao Yu, Anand Puppala, Miladin Radovic, Sayantan Chakraborty, Jungyeon Jang, Oscar Huang

Data

Traditional calcium-based stabilizers, such as lime, to stabilize sulfate-rich expansive soils, are lasting-challenges in geotechnical engineering. The biggest problem with using calcium-based stabilizers is that when calcium and water are exposed to sulfate-rich expansive soils, they form ettringite as an expansive mineral, which causes sulfate-induced heaving. The study aimed to investigate the feasibility of stabilizing sulfate-rich expansive soils using geopolymers for transportation infrastructure. Literature review on sulfate-induced heaving and sulfate-rich soils stabilized with geopolymers suggests a direction for how to stabilize sulfate soils using geopolymers. The engineering tests were conducted to determine the swell, shrinkage, and strength behavior of natural, …

Eco-Friendly Stabilization Of Sulfate-Rich Expansive Soils Using Geopolymers For Transportation Infrastructure, Xinbao Yu, Anand Puppala, Miladin Radovic, Sayantan Chakraborty, Jungyeon Jang, Oscar Huang

Publications

Traditional calcium-based stabilizers, such as lime, to stabilize sulfate-rich expansive soils, are lasting-challenges in geotechnical engineering. The biggest problem with using calcium-based stabilizers is that when calcium and water are exposed to sulfate-rich expansive soils, they form ettringite as an expansive mineral, which causes sulfate-induced heaving. The study aimed to investigate the feasibility of stabilizing sulfate-rich expansive soils using geopolymers for transportation infrastructure. Literature review on sulfate-induced heaving and sulfate-rich soils stabilized with geopolymers suggests a direction for how to stabilize sulfate soils using geopolymers. The engineering tests were conducted to determine the swell, shrinkage, and strength behavior of natural, …

Environmental Soft Law As A Governance Strategy, Cary Coglianese

All Faculty Scholarship

Soft law governance relies on nongovernmental institutions that establish and implement voluntary standards. Compared with traditional hard law solutions to societal and economic problems, soft law alternatives promise to be more politically feasible to establish and then easier to adapt in the face of changing circumstances. They may also seem more likely to be flexible in what they demand of targeted businesses and other entities. But can soft law actually work to solve major problems? This Article considers the value of soft law governance through the lens of three major voluntary, nongovernmental initiatives that address environmental concerns: (1) ISO 14001 …

Groundwater Level Mapping Tool: An Open Source Web Application For Assessing Groundwater Sustainability, Steven W. Evans, Norman L. Jones, Gustavious P. Williams, Daniel P. Ames, E. James Nelson

Faculty Publications

Decision makers need an accurate understanding of aquifer storage trends to effectively manage groundwater resources. Groundwater is difficult to monitor and quantify since the data collected from monitoring wells are often available only at irregular and infrequent intervals. We present an open-source web application (app) to visualize groundwater data over time and automatically calculate changes in aquifer storage volume to help managers assess aquifer sustainability. This app uses a novel multi-linear regression (MLR) algorithm to impute missing data for infrequently sampled wells, using correlated data from other wells in the same aquifer. The app uses this MLR-imputed data to spatially …

Promoting The Sustainable Utilization Of Groundwater Resources In Ethiopia Using The Integrated Groundwater Footprint Index, Xinyu Lin

Honors Scholar Theses

The country of Ethiopia is highly vulnerable to human-caused climate change and is already suffering from the effects. The predominately rural population relies heavily on small-scale agriculture, with 78% of households having at least one member engaged in the field, yet staple crops are highly susceptible to droughts and other weather shocks. Total and agricultural GDP growth in the country have been strongly linked to inter-annual rainfall variability, of which Ethiopia has among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. A decrease in rainfall since the 1970s has been one of the primary causes of low crop yields, and stresses the immediate …

Extending Water Resources Performance Metrics To River Ecosystems, Belize A. Lane, J. Pablo Ortiz-Partida, Samuel Sandoval-Solis

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

A persistent challenge in integrated water management is the ability to accurately evaluate human and ecological tradeoffs. Two-dimensional (2D) hydraulic models are frequently used to evaluate water management alternatives concerning aquatic species physical habitat needs or preferences. Recent studies have assessed the timing or duration of suitable habitat conditions, but no standardized approach exists to integrate and interpret ecohydraulic model outputs within a water management framework. Such an approach is needed to maximize the information obtained from model outputs and to facilitate communication between river scientists and water managers. This study presents a general framework to aggregate and summarize 2D …

Development Of A Quality Control Method And Guidelines For Hot Mix Asphalt Using Recycled Concrete Aggregate, Xiaojun Li, Dingxin Cheng, Kun Zhang, Kanwar M. S. Jakhar, Uday V. Pericherla

Mineta Transportation Institute

Each year, about 122 million tons of aggregates, a major structural component of pavement, are used in asphaltic mixtures in pavement construction. At the same time, aging U.S. infrastructure produces around 200 million tons of demolition waste each year, half of which is concrete debris. Therefore, introducing recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) as hot mix asphalt (HMA) aggregate could not only relieve the disposal pressure but also result in considerable reductions in cost, energy usage, and greenhouse gas emissions in the paving industry. A limited number of studies regarding the use of RCA to substitute virgin aggregate in HMA (RCA-HMA) exist. …

Teaching Across Disciplines: A Case Study Of A Project-Based Short Course To Teach Holistic Coastal Adaptation Design, Pamela K. Judge, Jane A. Buxton, Thomas C. Sheahan, Eleanor R. Phetteplace, David L. Kriebel, Elisabeth M. Hamin Infield

Engineering, Computing & Construction Management Faculty Publications

Climate change has led to the need for innovation in resilient infrastructure and the social policies which will support those. This requires greater interdisciplinary interactions and knowledge building among emerging professionals. This paper presents a case study of a pilot short course intended to immerse graduate students in the design of resilient infrastructure using place-based and interdisciplinary active team learning. This course helps graduate students bridge the gap between research and practice on the social science and engineering of resilient infrastructure for coastal adaptation. The intellectual framework for the course (the Adaptive Gradients Framework) provides a holistic evaluation of adaptation …

Achieving Sustainability Through Reducing Construction Waste During The Design Process: A Value Management Perspective, Ayman Ahmed Ezzat Othman, Sherouk Mohamed Abdelrahim

Architectural Engineering

Purpose:

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of Value Management towards achieving sustainability through reducing the construction waste during the design process.

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve the abovementioned aim, a research methodology consisting literature review and survey questionnaire is designed to achieve the following objectives: first, building a comprehensive understanding of the research topic through reviewing literature related to the nature of the construction industry, waste in construction, sustainability, the design phase and Value Management; second, presenting and analysing two case studies to validate the role of Value Management towards reducing waste in construction projects; third, conducting …

Understandings Of "Global Responsibility’ Expressed By Civil Engineers Working In London, Shannon Chance, Inez Direito, J. Mitchell

Conference papers

This paper discusses the term ‘global responsibility’, how it emerged and why, and analysis of interview data collected from nine civil engineers working in London regarding their understandings of the term. Professional Bodies often take the lead in envisioning change, by identifying the direction their professionals should take to help address society’s evolving needs and aspirations. Often, such Bodies charge academia with addressing society’s evolving needs through research, outreach, and preparing the next generation of professionals. In the UK, leaders in civil engineering have pressed for individual and collective action to facilitate sustainable development and decrease occurrence of corruption. Nevertheless, …

Internet Of Things For Sustainable Mining, Abdul Salam

Faculty Publications

The sustainable mining Internet of Things deals with the applications of IoT technology to the coupled needs of sustainable recovery of metals and a healthy environment for a thriving planet. In this chapter, the IoT architecture and technology is presented to support development of a digital mining platform emphasizing the exploration of rock–fluid–environment interactions to develop extraction methods with maximum economic benefit, while maintaining and preserving both water quantity and quality, soil, and, ultimately, human health. New perspectives are provided for IoT applications in developing new mineral resources, improved management of tailings, monitoring and mitigating contamination from mining. Moreover, tools …