Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Digital Construction And Bim Research In Ireland 2016-2020, Barry Mcauley, Roger P. West, Alan V. Hore

Conference papers

As the construction industry opens up post pandemic, new and significant challenges will demand considerable expertise, not least in financial viability, solving the housing crisis and facing the very significant climate change pressures to make the industry less wasteful and less carbon intensive. This presents an excellent opportunity to further inculcate aspects of lean construction, particularly BIM into many aspects of construction not traditionally associated with digital construction, provided the necessary expertise is available and known to exist. Following a well-received recent conference paper summarising BIM-related research published by academics in Ireland’s higher education institutions in 2020, this paper will …

Travel Demand Forecasting To Predict Parking Behavior At University Campuses: A Case Study At The University Of Texas At Tyler, Sohil Paudel

Civil Engineering Theses

With limited capacity, space, and funds to expand parking facilities, there is a dire need to better understand parking behavior at university campuses so that universities can better utilize the limited resources available. One methodology, travel demand forecasting, could be used to predict parking demand at a university campus. For this study, the University of Texas at Tyler campus was used as a case study. Each parking lot on campus was assigned to one parking zone based on the nearest classroom building. Next, pneumatic tube counters were used to collect the number of originating and departing vehicles from each zone. …

E-Scooter Safety And How To Improve It, Eric Valentino

altREU Projects

In the last few years, electronic scooters have taken over cities as a means of personal transportation. Between 2017 and 2019 alone, over 30 million trips were recorded across over 100 cities in the US. These scooters pose a safety risk, as 20 in 100,000 trips will result in injury of the rider. On top of this, scooters can cause damage to property, injury pedestrians and motor vehicle drivers, as well as obstruct important infrastructure such as wheelchair ramps. For these reasons, it is important to develop an understanding of the factors that contribute to e-scooter related injuries in order …

Enhanced Flexible Pavement Performance Using Treated Compared To Untreated Aggregate Bases: A Comparative Case Study In The Southern United States, Mena L. Souliman, Hemant Gc, Zabi Mohammed

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

One of the important aspects of highway design is aggregates. Aggregates strength and consistency has an effect on pavement structure's overall performance. The consistency of the base material near the site of the construction doesn't always match the requirements of pavement construction and carrying quality aggregate raises the cost of construction. Stabilizing agents such as asphalt cement, lime, fly ash were used to improve the strength of these materials in order to make greater use of locally available materials. Layer materials present in the pavements and the structure of them influence pavement performance. The compressive strain and the tensile strain …

Comparison Of Concrete And Steel Jacket Methods For Reinforcing A Concrete Bridge Pier By Numerical And Experimental Studies, Hadi Faghihmaleki

Makara Journal of Technology

Various rehabilitation and strengthening procedures have been developed in recent decades. A study to determine which methods can be implemented to increase the useful life of the bridge before strengthening must be performed. In this study, the seismic behavior of a reinforced concrete bridge pier with dimension 3.5 × 3.5 m, which was reinforced by two steel and a concrete jacket, was investigated. Nonlinear geometric models and materials were analyzed to estimate the seismic parameters of the pier. Results show an increase in energy absorption, ultimate strength, and ductility for the steel jacket, as well as a greater increase in …

Effect Of Arc Plasma Sintering On The Structural And Microstructural Properties Of Fe-Cr-Ni Austenitic Stainless Steels, Parikin Parikin, M. Dani, A. Dimyati, N. D. Purnamasari, B. Sugeng, M. Panitra, A. Insani, T. H. Priyanto, S. Mustofa, Syahbuddin Syahbuddin, A. Huang

Makara Journal of Technology

X-ray diffraction techniques were performed to determine the actual crystal structure of A2 austenitic stainless steel (ASS) as-cast and A2 ASS after arc plasma sintering (APS) for 2 s. Computations were conducted on the basis of the Bragg arithmetic formula by comparing the S2 arithmetic with the interplanar spacing. The Bragg arithmetic formula is a simple series for the determination of the crystalline phase of materials based on the Miller indices of cubic shapes or other shapes. A2 ASS as-cast was identified to have a crystal structure of face-centered cubic with lattice parameter a = 3.58 Å. A similar crystal …

Trend Significance Levels Of Rain Onset And Cessation And Lengths Of The Wet And Dry Seasons In Epe, Lagos State, Nigeria, Adekunle Adedeji Alli, Olorunwa Eric Omofunmi

Makara Journal of Technology

This study aims to reduce crop failure resulting from a dry spell, which is the first occurrence of unsustainable rainfall that deceives farmers into planting. Thus, trends need to be tested using hypothesis, kurtosis, and other statistics to analyze the risks associated with unstable planting calendars and their possible mitigation strategies. The daily rainfall data from 1982 to 2018 were obtained from the archive of NASA/POWER SRB/FLASH, and the research location is Epe, Lagos State, Nigeria, which lies at latitude 6.585° N and longitude 3.962° E. Microsoft Excel was used to perform the tests. Results show that the null hypothesis …

Kinetic Modeling Study Of Laminar Burning Velocity Of Gasoline–Ethanol–Methanol Blends At Elevated Temperature And Pressure, Ahmad Syihan Auzani, Cahyo Setyo Wibowo, Riesta Anggarani, Yulianto Sulistyo Nugroho, Bambang Sugiarto

Makara Journal of Technology

Gasoline–ethanol–methanol (GEM) blends have been considered to replace pure gasoline as spark ignition engine fuel. Their physical and chemical properties and performance and emission measurements from real engines have been reported previously. However, a fundamental study that can explain the unique results of GEM compared with those of pure gasoline is lacking. This study aims to compare the laminar burning velocity of GEM blends at different mixtures, equivalence ratios, temperatures, and pressures with that of pure gasoline. A laminar flame propagation model and reaction mechanisms from the literature were were for a numerical simulation. In this study, the chemical components …

Improvement Of Electrical Properties Of Cmc-Pva Doped With Various Contents Of Lino3 As An Application For Hybrid Polymer Electrolytes, Amalia Zulkifli, Norfatihah Mazuki, Ahmad Salihin Samsudin

Makara Journal of Technology

The present work was carried out with the development of hybrid polymer electrolytes (HPEs) by using carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)–polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) doped with different contents of lithium nitrate (LiNO3) for the determination of their structural and conduction properties. The structural analysis was conducted by using Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy and showed the interaction between the blend host polymer and ionic dopant, which formed via the coordinating site of CMC-PVA and Li+-NO3−. The complexes of CMC-PVA doped LiNO3 led to an increment in ionic conductivity, as observed by electrical impedance spectroscopy, and the sample containing 20 wt% LiNO3 obtained the highest …

Music Information Retrieval Based On Active Frequency, Hardianto Wibowo, Wildan Suharso, Yufis Azhar, Galih Wasis Wicaksono, Agus Eko Minarno, Dani Harmanto

Makara Journal of Technology

Music is the art of combining frequencies. A balance of frequencies gives rise to a harmonious tone. Several features of music can be analyzed, and they include sociocultural background, lyrics, mood, tempo, rhythm, harmony, melody, timbre, and instrumentation. In this study, we use the frequency of instrumentation as a feature for classification because each instrument has a frequency range. To test this frequency range, we use five music genres and one music playing skill. The five genres are dangdut, electronic dance music (EDM), metal, pop/rock, and reggae. The music playing skill is acoustic. Active frequencies are tested using the k-nearest …

Predictive Delivery Man Assignment Problem Using Deep Learning, Rahmadini Payla Juarsa, Taufik Djatna

Makara Journal of Technology

Dispatching is a critical part in current online shopping. It relates to how the delivery man assignment should minimize cost along with the service from a source to an end customer with an appropriate scheduled time. The problem arises as neither enough products to deliver nor delivery men are available for dispatch, resulting in suboptimal service and a waste of money. The study aimed to formulate the cost of restaurant dispatching for inducing a deep learning-based solution with the gated recurrent unit recurrent neural network to receive hourly order data and to engage the result for near feature delivery man …

Catchment Processes Can Amplify The Effect Of Increasing Rainfall Variability, Marc F. Müller, Kevin R. Roche, David N. Dralle

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

By filtering the incoming climate signal when producing streamflow, river basins can attenuate—or amplify—projected increases in rainfall variability. A common perception is that river systems dampen rainfall variability by averaging spatial and temporal variations in their watersheds. However, by analyzing 671 watersheds throughout the United States, we find that many catchments actually amplify the coefficient of variation of rainfall, and that these catchments also likely amplify changes in rainfall variability. Based on catchment-scale water balance principles, we relate that faculty to the interplay between two fundamental hydrological processes: water uptake by vegetation and the storage and subsequent release of water …

Utilizing Load Tests And Site Investigation Data To Predict Design Load Capacities For Drilled Shafts In Different Geologic Formations, Hosam Salman

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Precise predictions of the design capacities of drilled shafts on weak rock formations is vital for a better design of foundations. Irregularities in rock formations due to weathering cause discrepancies in actual bearing capacities and evaluating the bearing capacity typically requires frequent in-situ testing, using load test shafts at smaller intervals, which is time consuming and expensive. The typical design in Texas currently utilizes in-situ design charts that are developed based on Texas Cone Penetrometer (TCP) blow counts. This approach is found to have limitations related to maximum number of blows, rock characterization, and difficulty in incorporating influential parameters. Problematic …

Environmental And Health Implications Of Mine Tailing-Based Construction Materials In Developing Communities: Current Practices And Ways Forward, Jose Raul Velasquez Vasquez

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

For many years, artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) communities around the world have been developing strategies to reduce contaminated mine tailings produced by mineral processing operations. These mine tailings are the by-product of the physical and chemical processes required to extract metals that humans require every day. The strategies developed by these communities cover a wide range of solutions, such as better practices in mineral processing activities as well as alternative technologies that help reduce the environmental impact of mining. Specifically, the recycling of mine tailings to produce construction materials has been of interest to researchers and communities. The use …

A New Geothermal Bridge De-Icing System With Attached Hydronic Heating Loops: Field Tests, Numerical Modeling, And Economic Assessment, Omid Habibzadeh Bigdarvish

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Each year, ice and snow adversely impact U.S. transportation infrastructure during the cold season, causing an extensive impact on the U.S. economy. Bridges are key elements in the transportation network and the most vulnerable sections of the road to ice and snow. Conventional snow and ice removal system (CSRS) is proven not to be a satisfactory solution as it causes induced damages and issues, such as accelerating bridge deck corrosion, safety issues, travel delays, and environmental damages. Thus, the geothermal heat pump de-icing system (GHDS) is introduced as a sustainable solution for bridge deck de-icing, which utilizes renewable geothermal energy …

Further Development Of Ultra-High-Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete (Uhp-Frc): 3d Printing, Sifcon, Alternative Fibers, Shrinkage Crack Control, High Temperature, And Lightweight, Bhupendra Raj Acharya

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in manufacturing industry also in every service industry, decreasing conventional skilled workforce and stagnated construction industry, probability and past statistics of the accident at the construction sites and difficulty in quality control has led the researchers to think of the solution and alternatives of the conventional construction. A new construction paradigm, known as 3-D concrete printing or additive manufacturing of concrete (AMC) provides such a solution. This research focuses on a preliminary study in 3d printed ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHP-FRC) and, has developed a novel mix that has balanced extrude-ability and buildability. …

Reusing Of Recycled Plastic As Pavement Base And Sub-Base Materials, Tanvir Imtiaz

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

A large percentage of waste materials is recycled back into the same product from which they originated. In spite of considerable progress in recycling waste materials generated in urban environments, the materials are sometimes not able to be recycled into the same product due to their quality or technical requirements and are as a result dumped or incinerated. Recycling concrete aggregate (RCCA) and recycled waste plastics are examples of recycled materials that can be used as an alternative to natural aggregates during the construction of newer structures as well as demolition of existing structures like buildings, bridges, and pavements. Materials …

Causes Of Driver Distraction And Incidents At Signalized Intersections, Zannatulferdous Labony

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Driver distraction causes a major portion of motor vehicle crashes because distractions turn the driver’s attention away from driving the driving task, Intersections represent high risk environments because many conflict points within the intersection exist. At intersections with signalized traffic control, drivers may be more likely to become distracted than at other intersections. While distraction during the red indication may not seem to be a significant concern, this study investigates the role distraction plays in crashes at signalized intersections. Using the SHRP2 naturalistic driving study data, this study focuses on investigating the frequency and types of driver distraction, the causes …

Development Of Non-Prestressed Uhp-Frc Girders For Long-Span Bridges With Dcsr Design Concept And Collapse Assessment Of Smfs With Calibrated Rc And Uhp-Frc Columns Based On Full-Scale Experiments, Seyed Missagh Shamshiri Guilvayi

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The work presented here is divided in two parts. This summary includes two paragraphs, each summarizing the topics presented in this dissertation. Ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHP-FRC) is an emerging material and revolutionarily utilize its mechanical properties can offer a new way to design conventional precast prestressed concrete girders. Its ultra-high compressive strength (> 20 ksi) accompanying by exceptional compressive ductility with a maximum useable compressive strain of 0.015–0.03 allow designers to use higher amount of reinforcement. Current design codes (ACI 318 Building Code and AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications), limits the maximum useable compressive strain, εcu, to 0.003 for conventional …

Development Of A Model To Prioritize Inspection And Condition Assessment Of Gravity Sanitary Sewer Systems, Karthikeyan Loganathan

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Underground utilities and wastewater collection systems deteriorate over time demanding utility owners to involve in continuous revisions and development of their asset management frameworks to maintain the functionality of their assets. In any asset management framework, inspection of an asset and respective condition assessment plays a vital role in successful operation and maintenance of systems. In the United States, closed-circuit television (CCTV) is the commonly used device for inspecting the inner environment of sewer pipes, which considering the large length of pipe inventory in a city, is a relatively expensive and time-consuming process. Therefore, inspection of every individual sanitary sewer …

Structural Performance Of Distressed Cast-In-Place Concrete Bridge Retaining Wall, Karzan Ms Habeeb

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Cast-In-Place (CIP) concrete retaining walls have been used in the United States widely in the 20th century. CIP concrete walls have additionally proven to be structurally rigid and cost-effective for low backfill height. This type of wall is also sustainable with design service life of 75 years (TxDOT 2014). However, during service, the wall undergoes distressed movements, structural deficiency, and stability related problems. CIP cantilever concrete retaining walls often do not perform as expected, and the walls are affected by construction and/or structural deficiency, which sometimes leads to failure. The current study was inspired by distressed CIP walls located on …

Modeling Of Hydrogen Sulfide Generation And Rates Of Microbial Induced Concrete Corrosion In Manhole Shafts, Sunakshi Hada

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Manhole shafts can undergo infrastructure failure due to microbially induced concrete corrosion (MICC). Deterioration of the sewer systems by MICC process occurs due to the volatilization of hydrogen sulfide into the gas phase. The volatized hydrogen sulfide gas reacts with oxygen to form sulfuric acid, resulting in concrete corrosion. If optimum conditions are present, 24 mm of concrete loss can occur in 31 months, and the cost of fixing can range from $10-$30 per square foot. Also, if the manholes are not properly maintained, they can cause serious safety hazards, such as manhole lids falling through the structure, streets giving …

Effectiveness Of Recycled Plastic Pin For Improving Bearing Capacity Of Embankment Over Soft Soil, Md Azijul Islam

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Construction of embankment over soft foundation soils is incredibly a challenging task due to the risk of bearing failure and excessive settlement of foundation soil. Most of the available conventional methods for addressing these problems are either expensive or time-consuming or both. Therefore, research has been striving to develop a sustainable alternative to the current conventional methods. A noble approach to improve the soft foundation soil could be the use of Recycled Plastic Pins (RPP) in combination with geosynthetics. The load transfer efficiency of a geosynthetic-reinforced and RPP supported embankment is influenced by interactions among embankment fill, geosynthetics, and foundation …

Development And Comparison Of Prediction Models For Sanitary Sewer Pipes Condition Assessment Using Multinomial Logistic Regression And Artificial Neural Network., Daniel Ogaro Atambo

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Sanitary sewer pipes infrastructure system in good condition is essential in providing safe conveyance of the wastewater from homes, businesses, and industries to the wastewater treatment plants. For sanitary sewer pipes to deliver the wastewater to the treatment plants, they must be in good condition. Most of the water utilities have aged sanitary sewer pipes. Water utilities inspect sewer pipes to decide which segments of the sanitary sewer pipes need rehabilitation or replacement. The process of inspecting the sewer pipes is described as condition assessment. This condition assessment process is costly and necessitates developing a model that predicts the condition …

Performance Of Recycled Plastic Pins For Increasing Bearing Capacity Of Foundation Soil, Faria Fahim Badhon

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) walls constructed on unsuitable foundation soil are prone to large deformation and bearing capacity failure. A variety of techniques can be applied to address this issue, such as removal and replacement of existing soil with competent soil, staged construction, dynamic compaction, stone columns, geosynthetic reinforcement. One common traditional approach followed by Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) for the improvement of unsuitable foundation soil is removal of the in-situ soil and replacement with suitable fill material. However, this method can be time-consuming and expensive. A pile-supported system in combination with geosynthetic reinforcement can provide a sustainable solution …

An Enhanced Framework To Compute Road User Costs Associated With Construction Zones, Jeremiah Adebiyi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The monetary quantification of inconveniences caused to the road users by ongoing construction activities is known as the Road Users Costs (RUCs). While the importance of RUCs is widely known, some highway agencies lack an appropriate methodology to compute RUCs. Thus, there is a need to develop a framework to compute RUCs that can be adopted quickly by highway agencies. This study reviewed existing literature and conducted a nationwide survey to identify and summarize the current practices of computing RUCs. It developed an enhanced framework and tool to compute RUCs that balances the effort required to calculate RUCs and the …

Quantification Of Compound And Cascading Hydroclimatic Extreme Events, Sourav Mukherjee

All Dissertations

Compound and cascading hydroclimatic extreme events have garnered much attention in recent studies. The combined effects of interconnected extremes can cause widespread damage, with a higher potential impact than individual extremes. Both anthropogenic warming and natural climate variability affect these extremes, which is why detecting past extreme events, understanding the underlying mechanisms, and assessing their future impacts can aid in mitigation efforts to reduce their overall impact. However, thus far, identifying such events is oversimplified and the propagation of their impact as cascades from the physical to human systems remains partly explored.

The overreaching goal of this thesis is to …

Harmonizing Asphalt Mix Selection With Pavement Structural Design, Mahdi Saghafi

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The state-of-the-practice in asphalt concrete (AC) mix design and pavement structural design are based on two divergent concepts. The laboratory tests that are used for mix design, especially under the balanced mix design concept, are pragmatically accelerated surrogate tests developed to ensure the stability or ranking of mixes. Pavement structural design methods, being empirical or mechanistic, ignore these laboratory test results, in favor of other mechanical parameters. As such, the selection of the type of mix to be placed on a project is based on the local experience, and a set of consensus limits, rather than the demand of the …

Performance Evaluation Of Transportation Systems For Sustainability And Smart-Growth Of Cities: An Integrated Assessment Of Health Impacts, Ahmad Feizi

Dissertations

The performance of transportation systems is a significant component that influences the quality of life. The performance evaluation refers to a process of determining how well transportation systems perform regarding their intended goals and objectives. The advancement of information and communication technology and the integration between transportation systems and advanced technologies have directed more attention to the concept of smart cities. Smart cities are constituted of several interrelated components. Therefore, this offers comprehensive and integrated frameworks to evaluate the transportation performance and understanding of multifaceted interactions between the components from a transportation engineering perspective in four sections.

In the first …

Relationship Between Standardization Critical Success Factors (Csfs) And Project Performance, Binit Kumar Shrestha

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Facility standardization strategy is defined as the development and use of consistent designs to align project stakeholders, objectives, and scope to capture and optimize schedule, cost, and value. The implementation and proper execution of this strategy can lead to considerable benefits, such as design once and reuse multiple times, along with learning curve benefits in fabrication, operations, and construction, as well as accelerated responds to schedule needs. Although standardization strategy is not a new idea; capital projects have failed to achieve high levels of facility standardization. The primary reason for this is the industry’s struggle to execute standardized projects successfully. …