Engineering Commons^™

Evaluating Fatigue Resistance Of The Fiber-Reinforced 100% Rap Content Asphalt Mixture Rejuvenated With Waste Vegetable Oil, Farshad Haddadi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) in the pavement industry continues to grow as it is an economically and environmentally beneficial proposition. However, a survey conducted by the Federal Highway Administration shows that the average RAP content in the hot mix used in the United States is only 10–20%, even though specifications allow up to 30%. The primary performance drawback of using a high percentage RAP is cracking distresses. This research is an effort to investigate whether basalt fiber and waste vegetable oil (WO) can improve the low and intermediate temperature cracking behavior of a 100% RAP mixture. Bending …

Development Of An Ultra-High Performance Concrete Joint Detail For Short-Span Bridges, Francisco De Jesus Chitty Gozalo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Slab beam superstructures have been used for short-span bridges since prestressed concrete began to be used in the US. Poor joint performance of these superstructures led to recent revisions to design standards; one example being the Florida Slab Beam (FSB). The FSB and other similar slab beam systems include a composite cast-in-place (CIP) reinforced concrete deck and joint between adjacent beams. An optimized joint design has been developed to accelerate the construction times and eliminate the need for a CIP deck by using ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) in the longitudinal closure pour to connect the precast members.

The optimized joint …

Agent-Based Modeling Of Near Miss Incidents By Integrating Construction Site Dynamics With Enriched Worker Behavior, M Ahmed Rusho

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The construction industry workforce weighs a major percentage of the overall business industry manpower. Due to the unknowns and uncertainties associated with construction activities, the construction industry experiences high frequency of accidents every year. Over the years, researchers have made valiant efforts to address this issue. The existing literature comprises thorough analyses of behavioral, organizational, and infrastructural modules that have reinforced the implementation of better construction safety practices. Recent advancements in construction safety literature imply the application of agent-based models to integrate behavioral attributes into simulated construction environments. Nevertheless, such studies adopted schematic approaches to replicate the hazard scenario in …

Evaluating The Sustainability Of Infrastructure Projects During Front-End Planning Phase, Valentina Ferrer Rivero

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Front-End Planning (FEP) for Sustainable Infrastructure (SI) projects is a promising process that can support addressing multiple challenges in infrastructure projects (i.e. cost overruns, schedule delays, and poor sustainability). This study aims to investigate synergies between sustainability and FEP tools for infrastructures through stakeholders’ surveys, multiple case-study analyses, and a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) activity with students. The PBL activity enhanced students’ knowledge on FEP for SI projects, and, together with other analyses, it helped in defining three different frameworks that correlate sustainability and FEP tools for infrastructure projects. The findings of this thesis contribute to the infrastructure, engineering and construction …

Understanding Critical Impacting Factors And Trends On The Future Of Bridges, A.M.M. Muhaimin

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Various impacting factors, such as technology advancement, climate change, and economic shifts are occurring and evolving at an ever-increasing pace. There is also a growing realization among bridge engineers and relevant stakeholders that these changes will significantly impact bridge performance and bridge asset management over the next decades. However, there is limited research that offers a holistic understanding on what these factors are and how these factors will potentially affect bridges in the future. To address the gap, this thesis presents a study on the identification of the critical impacting factors and their trends on the future of bridges and …

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 …

Stakeholder Value Dynamics Analysis In Hurricane Michael: Towards Collaborative Decision Making In Building Disaster Resilient Communities, Aishwarya Pathak

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite a growing acknowledgment of shared responsibilities in emergency management, one of the hidden and overlooked issues in the disaster literature is the identification and integration of multi-sector stakeholder values: the things that are of importance, merit, and utilities to the stakeholders. Stakeholders (e.g., public, private and non-profit sectors, and the communities) hold numerous values with varying degrees of importance, forming a system of value priorities. Stakeholder values and value priorities—referred to as value systems—are not static in a disaster context; they are dynamic, time-sensitive and event-driven. A more in-depth understanding of the dynamics of stakeholder value systems is crucial …

Targeted Presentation Skill Trainings To Nurture Construction Management Students At Florida International University, Gabriella D. Santi Kasabdji

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In today’s fast-paced work environment, competent construction managers (CM) are vital for project success. However, to be competent, these professionals require the mastery of not only technical skills but also soft skills that enable them to achieve their full potential. Regardless, many CM prize technical abilities over the day-to-day writing, speaking, and overall soft skills, assuming these are not as important to the knowledge of complex concepts. Industry leaders confirm this, as evidence states graduate construction managers lack the basic communication skills to “hit the ground running”. That said, academic programs should seek to adapt and nurture these vital skill …

Social Network Analysis For Improvement Of Safety In Construction Industry: An Ego-Centric Approach, Shraddha Shrestha

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how construction workers rely on each other on-site in terms of safety. The research outlines how safety-oriented social networks of construction workers can be modeled to better understand the safety communication practices on site. In this regard, a social network survey is conducted, and the respondents’ social network data are collected using a Personal Network Research Design (PNRD) approach to study the connection between the individuals and their close contacts. A total of 142 participants were included in the study. The gathered network data were used to establish their peer-to-peer relationships and …

Construction Workers' Health And Safety During Post Disaster Reconstruction Phase: A Case Study In Nepal, S M Jamil Uddin

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The understanding of the concept of construction workers’ health and safety during the post-disaster reconstruction (PDR) phase is still unexplored. The objective of this study is to identify a knowledge gap in the literature through systematic literature review and to find out factors that affect the health and safety of the workers during PDR. To achieve the objectives, in-depth semi-structured interviews are conducted with different stakeholders such as Owners, General Contractors, Government Officials, Safety Supervisors, Engineers and Construction Workers in the context of Nepal Earthquake 2015. Interviews are conducted in a way that the respondents represent a wide range of …

Project Performance Rating Model And Ipd Implementation Guideline Metric For Water And Wastewater Treatment Plant Projects, Elie G. Andary

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The public nature of water and wastewater construction capital projects has rendered Design-Bid-Build (DBB) as the delivery method of choice for such projects over the past years. Shortcomings inherent to DBB have had a negative effect on the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of these projects. Numerous studies have argued that Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) improves the delivery performance of DBB projects. Project delivery performance is, however, a complex concept that is not easily measured. It involves several criteria with many factors that need to be accounted for. Water and wastewater construction projects do not have well-established overall performance rating models, …

Fall Safety Perspective Of The Construction Professionals In Miami-Dade And Broward Area, Saurav Pokharel

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of this study was to understand the fall safety perspective of the construction professionals by analyzing their attributes, workplace safety knowledge, behavior and conduct, and identifying trends in their fall safety opinions. The study involved analysis of the survey data of the 847 construction professionals who participated in the fall training program conducted in the Miami-Dade and Broward County area. About two-thirds of the participants felt that they had adequate safety knowledge, and about half of them said they encountered fall hazards on a daily or weekly basis. The study also found that vulnerability of fall hazards …

Study On Strut And Node Behavior In Strut-And-Tie Modeling, Nazanin Rezaei

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The strut-and-tie method (STM) is a simple and conservative method for designing concrete structures, especially deep beams. This method expresses complicated stress patterns as a simple truss or kinematic model made up of compression elements (struts), tension elements (ties), and the joints between elements (nodes). STM is based on lowerbound plasticity theorem, so using it properly will lead to a conservative design. Although the concepts of STM have been around in concrete design since the late 19th century, STM was first introduced in AASHTO LRFD in 1994 and ACI 318-02 in 2002. ACI 318 defines two different types of struts …

Hurricane Preparedness In A Construction Site: A Framework To Assess The Construction Companies’ Current Practices, Michelle S. Chavez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Civil infrastructure construction sites including incomplete structures and unsecured resources are among the most vulnerable environments to hurricane conditions. Hurricane driven damages cause disruption of construction sites and considerable schedule delays, and thus negatively impact the efficiency of the construction projects. This research aims to study current best practices on securing construction sites from hurricane conditions and evaluate the performance of the preparedness plan. To do that, first, an interview-survey is conducted with key project personnel from multiple construction companies. Then, the insight from the interviews serves to do a Micro and Macro Environmental Analysis. For further analysis, a Balanced …

Risk-Based Decision Making Support For Construction Corporate Resource Management, Reza Sheykhi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Competitive bidding typically challenges contractors to stay in business by reducing contingency and limiting profit margin, which imposes more prudent resource utilization and allocation decisions during both planning and construction phases of projects. Many of these decisions must be made considering uncertainties that affect resource production and construction performance through several factors such as weather, managerial practices, job-type, and market conditions, etc. Construction decision makers will therefore have varied approaches to deal with these uncertainties based on their risk utility or perception. This research presents the development of a model for investigating the impact of risk-based approaches on construction network …

A Comprehensive Decision Support Framework In The Front-End Phase Of Major Transportation Projects, Nahid Vesali Mahmoud

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifying the best project alternative is a critical challenge facing major transportation projects (MTPs) at the front-end phase. The increasing complexity and dynamism of MTPs have imposed substantial uncertainties and subjectivities in the decision-making process. Despite the efforts made in previous studies, a stochastic framework to facilitate the comprehensive assessment is still missing.

In this research, a stochastic decision support framework has been developed to cope with the considerable uncertainties in MTPs. The features of the proposed decision support framework are achieved by using the Bayesian belief network modeling technique to provide a comprehensive registry of the relevant decision factors, …

A System-Of-Systems Framework For Assessment Of Resilience In Complex Construction Projects, Jin Zhu

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Uncertainty is a major reason of low efficiency in construction projects. Traditional approaches in dealing with uncertainty in projects focus on risk identification, mitigation, and transfer. These risk-based approaches may protect projects from identified risks. However, they cannot ensure the success of projects in environments with deep uncertainty. Hence, there is a need for a paradigm shift from risk-based to resilience-based approaches. A resilience-based approach focuses on enhancing project resilience as a capability to cope with known and unknown uncertainty. The objective of this research is to fill the knowledge gap and create the theory of resilience in the context …

Analyzing Decision Making In Alternative Contracting For Highway Pavement Rehabilitation Projects, Mohamed Ibrahim

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The negative impacts associated with highway pavement rehabilitation projects drove state highway agencies (SHAs) towards increased adoption of alternative contracting methods (ACMs) to accelerate the construction of such projects; hence, reducing these impacts on the travelling public. However, the application of such methods showed mixed results due to the lack of specific guidelines addressing the adoption of such methods and the selection of the best ACM for each project. This lack of guidelines stems from the lack of research studies examining the impact of each of these methods on the time/cost trade-off relationship in highway rehabilitation projects. Existing literature includes …

Maximizing Environmental Sustainability And Public Benefits Of Highway Construction Programs, Charinee Limsawasd

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Transportation agencies face a challenging task to repair damaged roads in an aging transportation network with limited funding. In addition, the funding gap is forecasted to continue widening, which has direct impacts on the performance of surface transportation networks and the nation’s economy in the long run. Recently, transportation agencies were required by a newly enacted law to include national performance-based goals, such as environmental sustainability, in their programming and planning efforts for highway repair and rehabilitation. Therefore, the current practice in the area of highway rehabilitation planning is inadequate to handle this task and new practices are needed to …

Monitoring Physiological Reactions Of Construction Workers In Virtual Environment: A Feasibility Study Using Affective Sensing Technology, Hazal Ergun

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research aims to monitor workers’ physiological reactions in virtual construction scenario. With the objective of leveraging affective sensing technology in construction scenario, experiments with Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) was conducted in a 3D simulation developed based on a real construction site. The GSR results obtained from sensor were analyzed in order (i) to assess the feasibility of using virtual environment to generate real emotions, (ii) to examine the relation between questionnaires used to ask people about their experience and their physiological responses and (iii) to identify the factors that affect people’s emotional reactions in virtual environment. Subjects of the …

Time, Cost, And Environmental Impact Analysis For Sustainable Design At Multiple Building Levels, Peeraya Inyim

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Construction projects are complex endeavors that require the involvement of different professional disciplines in order to meet various project objectives that are often conflicting. The level of complexity and the multi-objective nature of construction projects lend themselves to collaborative design and construction such as integrated project delivery (IPD), in which relevant disciplines work together during project conception, design and construction. Traditionally, the main objectives of construction projects have been to build in the least amount of time with the lowest cost possible, thus the inherent and well-established relationship between cost and time has been the focus of many studies. The …

Assessment Of Policies For Innovative Financing In Infrastructure Systems, Ali Mostafavi, Dulcy Abraham, Charlene Sullivan

Infrastructure System-of-Systems (I-SoS ) Research Group

Infrastructure systems are drivers of the economy in the nation. A dollar spent on infrastructure development yields roughly double the initial spending in ultimate economic output in the short term; and over a twenty-year period, and generalized ‘public investment’ produces an aggregated $3.21 of economic activity per $1.00 spent [1]. Thus, formulation of policies pertaining to infrastructure investment and development is of significance affecting the social and economic wellbeing of the nation. The aim of this policy brief is to evaluate innovative financing in infrastructure systems from two different perspectives: (1) through consideration of the current condition of infrastructure in …

Integrated Construction Project Delivery System In The U.S. Public Sector: An Information Modeling Framework, Nida Azhar

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Integrated project delivery (IPD) method has recently emerged as an alternative to traditional delivery methods. It has the potential to overcome inefficiencies of traditional delivery methods by enhancing collaboration among project participants. Information and communication technology (ICT) facilitates IPD by effective management, processing and communication of information within and among organizations. While the benefits of IPD, and the role of ICT in realizing them, have been generally acknowledged, the US public construction sector is very slow in adopting IPD. The reasons are - lack of experience and inadequate understanding of IPD in public owner as confirmed by the results of …

U.S. Construction Worker Fall Accidents: Their Causes And Influential Factors, Sohaib Siddiqui

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate the main causes of fall accidents and, to pinpoint the factors that influence the risk of falls in the U.S. construction industry. This study employed the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to examine 9,141 fall accidents, recorded for the period of last 20 years. The results show that specialty trade contractors working on low-budget, residential housing and commercial building projects are more susceptible to fall accidents. In terms of fall height, 85% of the fall accidents occurred on heights less than 30 ft., …

A Decision Support Framework For Infrastructure Maintenance Investment Decision-Making, Farrukh Arif

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Infrastructure management agencies are facing multiple challenges, including aging infrastructure, reduction in capacity of existing infrastructure, and availability of limited funds. Therefore, decision makers are required to think innovatively and develop inventive ways of using available funds. Maintenance investment decisions are generally made based on physical condition only. It is important to understand that spending money on public infrastructure is synonymous with spending money on people themselves. This also requires consideration of decision parameters, in addition to physical condition, such as strategic importance, socioeconomic contribution and infrastructure utilization. Consideration of multiple decision parameters for infrastructure maintenance investments can be beneficial …

A Model For Continuous Measurement Of Drilled Shaft Diameter During Construction, Masood Hajali

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) of deep foundations has become an integral part of the industry’s standard manufacturing processes. It is not unusual for the evaluation of the integrity of the concrete to include the measurement of ultrasonic wave speeds. Numerous methods have been proposed that use the propagation speed of ultrasonic waves to check the integrity of concrete for drilled shaft foundations. All such methods evaluate the integrity of the concrete inside the cage and between the access tubes. The integrity of the concrete outside the cage remains to be considered to determine the location of the border between the concrete …

Research-To-Practice (R2p) Tools For Improving Safety In Nighttime Highway Construction Work Zones, Ali Mostafavi, Vanessa Valentin, Dulcy Abraham

Infrastructure System-of-Systems (I-SoS ) Research Group

The safety of workers in nighttime roadway work zones has become a major concern for state transportation agencies due to the increase in the number of work zone fatalities. During the last decade, several studies have focused on the improvement of safety in nighttime roadway work zones; but the element that is still missing is a set of tools for translating the research results into practice. This paper discusses: 1) the importance of translating the research results related to the safety of workers and safety planning of nighttime work zones into practice, and 2) examples of tools that can be …

Frameworks For Systemic And Structural Analysis Of Financial Innovations In Infrastructure, Ali Mostafavi, Dulcy M. Abraham

Infrastructure System-of-Systems (I-SoS ) Research Group

Financial innovations have emerged globally to close the gap between the rising global demand for infrastructures and the availability of financing sources offered by traditional financing mechanisms such as fuel taxation, tax-exempt bonds, and federal and state funds. The key to sustainable innovative financing mechanisms is effective policymaking. This paper discusses the theoretical framework of a research study whose objective is to structurally and systemically assess financial innovations in global infrastructures. The research aims to create analysis frameworks, taxonomies and constructs, and simulation models pertaining to the dynamics of the innovation process to be used in policy analysis. Structural assessment …

Life-Cycle Cost Study Of Ground Source Heat Pumps In Hot Humid Climate Zone, Cetin Canbek

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems are gaining recognition as a cost effective and green heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) alternative in the United States. Still, this technology is not highly utilized due to factors such as high initial investment, lack of confidence and uncertainties in cost items.

This study focuses on the reflection of the variations in cost items on the feasibility and life-cycle cost of a typical GSHP system. For this purpose, life-cycle costs were calculated for a typical GSHP system and cost data was gathered for several projects. Possible variations on cost variables are defined. Then, …

Evaluating The Appropriateness Of Project Delivery Systems For Different Trenchless Methods, Ali Mostafavi, Tom Iseley, Dulcy Abraham

Infrastructure System-of-Systems (I-SoS ) Research Group

Trenchless methods have been considered to be a viable solution for pipeline projects in urban areas. Their applicability in pipeline projects is expected to increase with the rapid advancements in technology and emerging concerns regarding social costs related to trenching methods. Selecting appropriate project delivery system (PDS) is a key to the success of trenchless projects. To ensure success of the project, the selected project delivery should be tailored to trenchless project specific characteristics and owner needs, since the effectiveness of project delivery systems differs based on different project characteristics and owners requirements. Since different trenchless methods have specific characteristics …