Civil and Environmental Engineering | Open Access Articles

The Bridge Newsletter Winter 2015, Missouri University Of Science And Technology

The Bridge Newsletter

-S&T’s Solar House Design Team sets out to redefine the American housing market
-A monumental anniversary
-Academy awards Sneed
-ASCE honors Holmes

Go to article

The Professional Constructor, Full Issue, Volume 39, Number 02

The Professional Constructor

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Ecoscience + Art Initiative: Designing A New Paradigm For College Education, Scholarship, And Service, Changwoo Ahn

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

The paper presents a new initiative, EcoScience + Art, which blooms at George Mason University. The creator explains the background, history, and recent activities of the initiative, and also introduces an on-going special project called “The Rain Project”, a student participatory project to design, construct, and monitor a green infrastructure (i.e., floating wetland) for sustainable stormwater management on campus. The special project is geared to design and present a new paradigm to integrate college education, scholarship, and service. The relevance of the initiative and the special project to STEAM education is discussed.

Go to article

Bs News September/October

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Investigating The Correlation Between Freeway Service Levels And Freeway Service Patrol Assists, Nora Chin

Master's Theses

The Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s (MTC) Freeway Service Patrol’s highway motorist response service is reporting a reduction in their service levels. We analyze the relationship between the reduction in the Bay Area Freeway Service Patrol’s (FSP) motorist assists and changes in vehicle miles traveled (VMT), California Highway Patrol (CHP) reported incidents, and cover research on the impact of new and old vehicle fleet turnover. VMT and CHP incidents have differential effects on FSP assists. Although incidents occurring on freeways with high traffic flows tend to cause more congestion, the trend in local VMT along Bay Area freeway corridors does …

Go to article

Project Delivery Methods For The Construction Of Public Schools In The Southeastern United States, Dennis C. Bausman

The Professional Constructor

Construction of new facilities is a risky enterprise due to the situational aspects of the project, multiple parties involved in the process, timing and budget constraints, and the design features and quality levels required by the owner. Decision makers are charged with selecting a project delivery system to successfully manage the design and construction process in order to meet the owner’s needs. This paper documents the delivery methods utilized for the construction of public schools in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina from 2006 to 2012 and provides insight into the reasons for the delivery method selections made by …

Go to article

Construction Degree Graduates: An Evaluation Of Depth Of Skill Understanding And Skill Priority By Construction Industry Professionals, Ben F. Bigelow, Edelmiro Escamilla, Lauren Kuecker

The Professional Constructor

Previous studies have been conducted to determine the skills the construction industry expects graduates and entry level professionals to possess. The majority of those studies report soft skills and technical expertise as the main qualities graduates should have upon entering the industry. Many differing skills have been reported, but neither the expected depth of understanding in those skills nor the industry’s priority of those skills have been explored. To do so, a survey was administered to members of the Construction Industry Advisory Council at Texas A&M University asking these questions. Depth of understanding was evaluated on a four level basis …

Go to article

Accident Patterns In Road Construction Work Zones, Tariq Shehab, Leah Phu

The Professional Constructor

Traffic safety in road construction zones has always been a major concern for engineering practitioners, departments of transportation, law enforcement professionals, researchers and many others. Due to the deteriorated condition of road and underground infrastructure facilities in the United States, the number of rehabilitation projects and their associated traffic accidents have increased over the past few years. To perform the needed road and underground utility rehabilitation activities in safer environments, researchers need to understand the causes behind these accidents. Although many researchers have been exploring the safety of many construction activities, research pertaining to road construction projects is lacking and …

Go to article

Reviewer Thank You, Jason Lucas

The Professional Constructor

No abstract provided.

Go to article

A Framework For Small-Scale Construction Projects By Ngos In Developing Countries, James D. Goedert, Bradley Cory

The Professional Constructor

This paper outlines a theoretical framework for NGOs who are building small-scale construction projects in developing countries. The framework is a step-by-step procedure to guide NGOs from developing project parameters at the start of the project with the partner to a locally controlled sustainable project closeout. The authors used the integrative project delivery approach along with past construction research models and personal experience to guide the development of the framework. Steps within the framework are illustrated using five projects from three countries. This work assumes that the ultimate objective of the project is local operational sustainability with the NGO’s presence …

Go to article

Assessment Of Empirical Equations For The Compression Index Of Fine-Grained Soils In Missouri, Site Onyejekwe, Xin Kang, Louis Ge

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The use of correlations and empirical relationships in geotechnical engineering provides a fast, cost-effective means of predicting the value of a parameter based on the values of certain other, possibly more easily determined, parameters. The correlation between two or more soil properties has been found to be dependent in varying degrees on soil type, the testing method used to obtain the numerical value of the parameter itself and the homogeneity of the soil. Many empirical correlations among soil properties have been published. These correlations, based on widely sourced data, may not be appropriate for local situations. Hence, there is a …

Go to article

Accumulation Of Gas-Phase Methamphetamine On Clothing, Toy Fabrics, And Skin Oil, G. Morrison, N. V. Shakila, K. Parker

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

To better understand methamphetamine exposure and risk for occupants of former residential clandestine methamphetamine laboratories, we measured the dynamic accumulation of methamphetamine in skin oil, cotton and polyester (PE) clothing, upholstery, and toy fabric (substrates) exposed to 15-30 ppb (91-183 μg/m3) neutral methamphetamine in air for up to 60 days. The average equilibrium partition coefficients at 30% RH, in units of μg of methamphetamine per gram of substrate per ppb, are 3.0 ± 0.2 for a PE baby blanket, 5.6 ± 3.5 for a PE fabric toy, 3.7 ± 0.2 for a PE shirt, 18.3 ± 8.0 for a PE/cotton …

Go to article

Thermal Energy Storage In Building Integrated Thermal Systems: A Review. Part 2. Integration As Passive System, Dervilla Niall, Sarah Mccormack, Philip Griffiths, Luisa Cabeza, Lidia Navarro, Albert Castell, Alvaro De Grazia, Maria Brown

Articles

Energy consumption trends in residential and commercial buildings show a significant increase in recent decades. One of the key points for reducing energy consumption in buildings is to decrease the energy demand. Buildings envelopes are not just a structure they also provide protection from outdoor weather conditions always taking into account the local climate. Thermal energy storage has been used and applied to the building structure by taking advantage of sensible heat storage of materials with high thermal mass. But in recent years, researchers have focused their studies on the implementation of latent heat storage materials that if well incorporated …

Go to article

Chemically Stabilized Soft Clays For Road-Base Construction, Xin Kang, Gi Chun Kang, Kuang Tsung Chang, Louis Ge

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Soft clays are widely distributed in Missouri, United States. Due to their relatively low strength and high compressibility, subgrade construction in soft clays has encountered many difficulties. In recent practice, the use of fly ash (FA) along with lime to tackle soft subgrade problems has shown promising results. The effectiveness of Class C FA and lime kiln dust (LKD) in clay subgrade stabilization is examined in this research. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) analysis, proctor compaction tests, unconfined compression tests, and resilient modulus tests were carried out on the FA and LKD modified soil mixtures. Test specimens were prepared at optimum …

Go to article

Bs News July/August

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Recent Advances In Indoor Chemistry, Glenn Morrison

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Just as the chemistry creates urban smog and aerosols that influence climate change, chemistry in building air can alter the indoor environment for better or worse. This review focuses on chemical pathways initiated by oxidants that infiltrate from outdoor air and other indoor-sourced reactants and surfaces that make these environments unique chemical reactors. Ozone reacts with fragrance molecules, tobacco smoke residues, and even human skin oils to generate a host of oxidized organic compounds, secondary organic aerosols, and irritants. Nitrous acid is formed on indoor surfaces and is subsequently cleaved by even the relatively dim light indoor. This raises the …

Go to article

Impact Of Modified Inlets On Residence Times In Baffled Tanks, Jeremy S. Carlston, Subhas Karan Venayagamoorthy

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Sharp inlets, although prevalent, tend to reduce mixing efficiency in hydraulic contact tanks by affecting fluid and scalar transport throughout the entire system. Superior inlets are often not an option because of the prohibitive cost of upgrading preexisting tanks. To remedy this, seven inexpensive yet easily implemented attachments to a sharp inlet were tested on a full-scale, baffled, prototypical contact tank. Cumulative residence time distributions of a conservative, passive scalar were obtained for each attachment to assess their performance. A study using computational fluid dynamics of the same tank with the various attachments was then performed to strengthen the empirical …

Go to article

Measuring The Influence That Components Have On Pedestrian Route Choice In Activated Alleys, Samuel Hirsher Gross

Master's Theses

This paper explores how cities have integrated formal planning into improving public space. Through a review of literature on the topic, this the paper identifies the potential design has to renovate narrow streets and alleys, within the public right of way. By preforming an assessment of plans and programs, this paper identifies the common themes or components that have been used by planners, architects, and engineers to improve the urban environment for pedestrians. Based on this information, a pilot study was created to measure the influence the most common components have on pedestrian route choice. The results are then compared …

Go to article

Using Archived Transit Data To Analyze The Effect Of Rainfall On Transit Performance Measures At The Route Level, Nicholas F. Bleich

Master's Theses

This study investigates the effect of rainfall on transit performance measures at the route level in the Puget Sound region of Washington State. Transit agencies are required to report certain performance metrics to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), but performance measures can also be used to evaluate service and provide customers with information regarding the transit system. Using a three-year sample of archived automatic vehicle location (AVL) and hydrologic data the relationships between ridership, travel time, delay, and rainfall were investigated. The analysis of daily ridership and rainfall resulted in no statistically significant results, however, the results are supported by …

Go to article

Planning And Design For Hurricane Protection With Sea Level Rise, Bob Ivarson

May 22, 2015: Megaproject Protective Structures for Hampton Roads

No abstract provided.

Go to article

A Guide For Planning A Bike Share System At The University Of Nebraska–Lincoln, Wade M. Schuldt

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

The purpose of this document is to serve as a framework for planning a bicycle share system at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with the possible inclusion of the City of Lincoln, Nebraska, in the system. This document provides a background review of the evolution of bike share systems and the recent rapid growth of these systems around the world. The document describes planning methodologies used in other locations and the lessons learned from the bike share systems around the world, as to what processes should be pursued to implement a successful bike share system. With the University of Nebraska-Lincoln move …

Go to article

Assessing Gait And Postural Stability Of Construction Workers Using Wearable Wireless Sensor Networks, Houtan Jebelli

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Falling accidents are a leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries in the construction industry. This fact demonstrates the need for a comprehensive fall-risk analysis that incorporates the effects of construction workers’ physiological characteristics. In this context, the objective of the thesis is to investigate and validate the usefulness of the gait- and postural-stability metrics in assessing construction workers’ fall risks. Diverse metrics that assess the capability to keep the body balanced and maintain coordination of body segments during locomotion (gait stability) and stationary postures (postural stability) have been introduced and used in clinical applications. However, their usefulness in the …

Go to article

Bs News May/June

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Probabilistic Precipitation Estimation With A Satellite Product, Nir Y. Krakauer, Soni M. Pradhanang, Jeeban Panthi, Tarendra Lakhankar, Ajay K. Jha

Publications and Research

Satellite-based precipitation products have been shown to represent precipitation well over Nepal at monthly resolution, compared to ground-based stations. Here, we extend our analysis to the daily and subdaily timescales, which are relevant for mapping the hazards caused by storms as well as drought. We compared the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) 3B42RT product with individual stations and with the gridded APHRODITE product to evaluate its ability to retrieve different precipitation intensities. We find that 3B42RT, which is freely available in near real time, has reasonable correspondence with ground-based precipitation products on a daily timescale; rank …

Go to article

On Turbulent Mixing In Stably Stratified Wall-Bounded Flows, Farid Karimpour, Subhas Karan Venayagamoorthy

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper, we provide an analysis of turbulent mixing in stably stratified wall-bounded flows to highlight a number of important issues such as prediction of the turbulent viscosity, the turbulent diffusivity, and the irreversible flux Richardson number. By invoking the equilibrium assumption between the production rate of the turbulent kinetic energy (P), the dissipation rate of the turbulent kinetic energy (P), and the turbulent potential energy dissipation rate (εPE) as P ≈ ε + εPE and also assuming equilibrium between the buoyancy flux (B) and εPE as -B ≈ εPE, we first propose that the irreversible flux Richardson number …

Go to article

Consolidation-Induced Solute Transport For Constant Rate Of Strain. Ii: Comparison With Incremental Loading, Patrick J. Fox, Hefu Pu

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents a numerical investigation of one-dimensional large strain consolidation-induced solute transport for incremental loading (IL) and constant rate of strain (CRS) conditions. Solute transport accounts for advection, diffusion, dispersion, linear and nonlinear sorption, and equilibrium and nonequilibrium sorption, and is consistent with temporal and spatial variations of porosity and seepage velocity in the consolidating soil. Simulations were conducted using material properties for kaolinite clay and indicate that IL and CRS conditions produce significantly different responses during the course of consolidation, including applied stress, rate of settlement, excess pore pressure, and local strain. However, for a given set of …

Go to article

Consolidation-Induced Solute Transport For Constant Rate Of Strain. I: Model Development And Simulation Results, Hefu Pu, Patrick J. Fox

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A numerical model, called CSTCRS1, is presented for coupled one-dimensional consolidation and solute transport under constant rate of strain (CRS) loading conditions. The consolidation algorithm accounts for vertical strain, general constitutive relationships, relative fluid velocity, changing compressibility and hydraulic conductivity during consolidation, and an external hydraulic gradient. The solute transport algorithm accounts for advection, dispersion, linear and nonlinear sorption, and equilibrium and nonequilibrium sorption. Soil compressibility is rate-independent and as such CSTCRS1 is more appropriate for less-structured soils. The model is based on a dual-Lagrangian framework that separately tracks the motions of sold and fluid phases. The development of CSTCRS1 …

Go to article

Influence Of Portland Cement And Ground-Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag On Bleeding Of Fresh Mix, Hong Jae Yim, Jae Hong Kim, Seong Ho Han, Hyo Gyoung Kwak

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Bleeding occurs when freshly mixed cement-based materials settle in a form, and this phenomenon influences the quality of the fresh state as well as the hardened state. This paper attempts to measure the bleeding of Portland cement and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) paste mixtures. To investigate the influence of water-to-powder ratio and the used powders under high pressure on bleeding, a pressure vessel and various types of freshly mixed paste were prepared. The packing density and permeability were measured and discussed to understand material effects on the bleeding phenomenon.

Go to article

Low Income, Supermarket Accessibility, And The Transportation Network: A Multimodal Analysis Identifying Areas Of Poor Accessibility And Intervention Strategies In Indianapolis, Indiana, Andrea Leigh Bailey

Open Access Theses

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service estimates that 23.5 million people live in food deserts, over half of which are considered low-income residents. Accurately defining a food desert is crucial as the designated areas can benefit from grant opportunities and funding priority. To qualify as an urban food desert, the USDA requires that at least 500 residents or one-third of the population live outside a one-mile buffer from a supermarket as well as have a median income of less than 80% of the area average or a poverty rate of greater than 20%. Approaches in the …

Go to article

Modeling Person-To-Person Contaminant Transport In Enclosed Environments, Chun Chen

Open Access Dissertations

It is essential to predict person-to-person contaminant transport in enclosed environments to improve air distribution design and reduce the infection risk from airborne infectious diseases. This study aims to improve and accelerate the simulation of person-to-person contaminant transport in enclosed environments. ^ This investigation first conducted experimental measurements of person-to-person contaminant transport in an office mockup and the first-class cabin of a functional MD-82 aircraft. The experimental data of steady-state airflow, temperature, and gas contaminant concentration fields obtained in the office were used to validate the steady-state computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. In the aircraft cabin, the transient particle concentrations …

Go to article

Full-Text Articles in Civil and Environmental Engineering

The Bridge Newsletter Winter 2015, Missouri University Of Science And Technology

The Bridge Newsletter

The Professional Constructor, Full Issue, Volume 39, Number 02

The Professional Constructor

Ecoscience + Art Initiative: Designing A New Paradigm For College Education, Scholarship, And Service, Changwoo Ahn

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

Bs News September/October

Building Services Engineering

Investigating The Correlation Between Freeway Service Levels And Freeway Service Patrol Assists, Nora Chin

Master's Theses

Project Delivery Methods For The Construction Of Public Schools In The Southeastern United States, Dennis C. Bausman

The Professional Constructor

Construction Degree Graduates: An Evaluation Of Depth Of Skill Understanding And Skill Priority By Construction Industry Professionals, Ben F. Bigelow, Edelmiro Escamilla, Lauren Kuecker

The Professional Constructor

Accident Patterns In Road Construction Work Zones, Tariq Shehab, Leah Phu

The Professional Constructor

Reviewer Thank You, Jason Lucas

The Professional Constructor

A Framework For Small-Scale Construction Projects By Ngos In Developing Countries, James D. Goedert, Bradley Cory

The Professional Constructor

Assessment Of Empirical Equations For The Compression Index Of Fine-Grained Soils In Missouri, Site Onyejekwe, Xin Kang, Louis Ge

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Accumulation Of Gas-Phase Methamphetamine On Clothing, Toy Fabrics, And Skin Oil, G. Morrison, N. V. Shakila, K. Parker

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Thermal Energy Storage In Building Integrated Thermal Systems: A Review. Part 2. Integration As Passive System, Dervilla Niall, Sarah Mccormack, Philip Griffiths, Luisa Cabeza, Lidia Navarro, Albert Castell, Alvaro De Grazia, Maria Brown

Articles

Chemically Stabilized Soft Clays For Road-Base Construction, Xin Kang, Gi Chun Kang, Kuang Tsung Chang, Louis Ge

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Bs News July/August

Building Services Engineering

Recent Advances In Indoor Chemistry, Glenn Morrison

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Impact Of Modified Inlets On Residence Times In Baffled Tanks, Jeremy S. Carlston, Subhas Karan Venayagamoorthy

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Measuring The Influence That Components Have On Pedestrian Route Choice In Activated Alleys, Samuel Hirsher Gross

Master's Theses

Using Archived Transit Data To Analyze The Effect Of Rainfall On Transit Performance Measures At The Route Level, Nicholas F. Bleich

Master's Theses

Planning And Design For Hurricane Protection With Sea Level Rise, Bob Ivarson

May 22, 2015: Megaproject Protective Structures for Hampton Roads

A Guide For Planning A Bike Share System At The University Of Nebraska–Lincoln, Wade M. Schuldt

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Assessing Gait And Postural Stability Of Construction Workers Using Wearable Wireless Sensor Networks, Houtan Jebelli

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Bs News May/June

Building Services Engineering

Probabilistic Precipitation Estimation With A Satellite Product, Nir Y. Krakauer, Soni M. Pradhanang, Jeeban Panthi, Tarendra Lakhankar, Ajay K. Jha

Publications and Research

On Turbulent Mixing In Stably Stratified Wall-Bounded Flows, Farid Karimpour, Subhas Karan Venayagamoorthy

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Consolidation-Induced Solute Transport For Constant Rate Of Strain. Ii: Comparison With Incremental Loading, Patrick J. Fox, Hefu Pu

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Consolidation-Induced Solute Transport For Constant Rate Of Strain. I: Model Development And Simulation Results, Hefu Pu, Patrick J. Fox

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Influence Of Portland Cement And Ground-Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag On Bleeding Of Fresh Mix, Hong Jae Yim, Jae Hong Kim, Seong Ho Han, Hyo Gyoung Kwak

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Low Income, Supermarket Accessibility, And The Transportation Network: A Multimodal Analysis Identifying Areas Of Poor Accessibility And Intervention Strategies In Indianapolis, Indiana, Andrea Leigh Bailey

Open Access Theses

Modeling Person-To-Person Contaminant Transport In Enclosed Environments, Chun Chen

Open Access Dissertations