Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Nighttime Pedestrian Fatalities Across The United States And Their Relationship With Built Environment And Socioeconomic Factors: Gis-Based Analysis And Assessment, Amir Tarighi

Civil Engineering ETDs

Fatalities from motor vehicle collisions are the fifth leading cause of years of lost life worldwide (Foreman et al., 2018) and are a great concern for all communities. This road safety crisis has been especially pronounced for U.S. pedestrians over the last decade. National records show that between 2010 and 2019, pedestrian fatalities in the U.S. increased 44% while all other traffic fatalities increased only 4% and more than fifty percent of pedestrian fatalities occurred in dark lighting conditions. This study analyzed the relationship between pedestrian fatality locations at night and five demographic characteristics of those locations including population density, …

Modeling Bus Bunching And Anti-Bunching Control Accounting For Signal Control And Passenger Swapping Behavior, Qi Xin, Rui Fu, Shaowei Yu, Satish V. Ukkusuri, Rui Jiang

Journal of Public Transportation

The conventional bus propagation process has two main shortcomings: one is bus bunching, the other is extra energy consumption by idling at signalized intersection and unexpected speed variation along the route. To overcome these problems simultaneously, an extended bus propagation model and an anti-bunching control are proposed. To extend the time-based bus propagation model, we employ finite state machine and intelligent driver model to establish a spatial-temporal based bus propagation model accounting for bus dynamic motion and passenger swapping behavior between bunching buses. To mitigate bus bunching and improve bus fuel economy in a cyber-traffic environment, an anticipated average speed …

Evaluation Of Permanent Concrete Barriers To Mash 2016, Samuel Elias Hovde

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The objective of this research project was to develop evaluation criteria for permanent concrete barriers to MASH 2016 TL-3 and TL-4 without crash testing and then to evaluate permanent concrete barrier standards provided by the sponsoring agencies of the Midwest Pooled Fund Program. A literature review was conducted to determine evaluation criteria for stability, shape, strength, and anchorage, and a database of permanent concrete barrier crash tests was compiled. A survey was conducted to collect barrier standards from the members of the Midwest Pooled Fund Program, and barriers were selected and evaluated according to the determined methodology. A total of …

Intersection Redesign For Network Resilience And Safety, Antonio Pratelli, Pietro Leandri, Rosaria Aiello, Reginald R. Souleyrette

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper describes a procedure for improving the resilience of roadway networks. A methodology is outlined that develops a time-dependent and performance-based resilience index. This methodology was applied to an Italian road, with the aim of optimizing intersections that are critical due to inadequate baseline capacity. The methodology uses a calibrated microscopic traffic model (using Aimsun™) whereby average delay at intersection approaches are estimated by an analytical model. From the simulation, average speed over time is obtained for each approach. These values in turn are used as inputs for calculating each intersection’s resilience index. The procedure allows the identification of …

Laboratory Evaluation Of Geogrid-Reinforced Flexible Pavements, Mohammad Reza Sharbaf, Nader Ghafoori

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

This study assessed the effectiveness of flexible pavements reinforced with two types of punched and drawn geogrids to reduce roadway base course thickness. Six laboratory tests were conducted using a steel cylindrical mold. Instrumentation included pressure cells placed at various locations of the test sections and a linear variable differential transformer which was placed on top of the loading system. A hydraulic actuator provided 40 kN (9 kips) cyclic load through a 305 mm (12 in) circular steel plate at a frequency of 0.77 Hz. Test results revealed that inclusion of both geogrid types in flexible pavement showed reductions in …

Distributionally Robust Optimization Utilizing Facility Location Problems, Elijah Kling

Civil and Environmental Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Facility location problems are used in widespread application in transportation, freight, supply chain, and logistics problems. Models can be developed as deterministic, where all parameters are known, or robust, where a parameter has uncertainty. This thesis explores a new method for developing robust formulation and compares the implications of assuming values for this uncertain parameter. Two models are solved, and both are compared against their deterministic counterparts using numerical analysis. By manipulating the input parameters and considering real world implications of the solutions, either the robust or deterministic can show better performance.

Biopolymerized Slope/Subgrade Stabilization And Advanced Field Monitoring, Chung R. Song, Layla Bitar, Richard L. Wood, Yong-Rak Kim, Jongwan Eun, Binyam M. Bekele, Basil Abualshar

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

The slightly overconsolidated glacial tills and weathered shales in Midwestern states of the USA often show substantial strength degradation after construction. This strength reduction often causes time dependent slope failures along the roadside. This study investigated the possibility of applying biopolymer based soil modification techniques to mitigate the strength reduction phenomenon of these soils. For this research, several different biopolymers were evaluated through laboratory tests, two biopolymers were selected for extensive weathering tests, then a higher-performing biopolymer, Xanthan, was applied to a test slope in Verdigre, Nebraska with heavy instrumentation. The followings are the summary of the results.

The unweathered …

Maximum Coverage Facility Location Drone Routing Problem With Multiple Trip Stops, Marie Roza

Civil and Environmental Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Integer linear optimization can be used to formulate routing problems as models to find optimal solutions given a set of inputs and constraints. In this research, Chauhan et al.'s publication, "Maximum coverage capacitated facility location problem with range constrained drones," is expanded upon by modeling a facility location problem with two-to-one drone deliveries. The model analyzes a set of potential facilities that are available to meet the demands of a set of demand points. The drone delivery routes are modeled with the assumption that each opened facility is assigned one drone that can fulfill up to two demand points’ demands …

The Role Of Rejuvenators In Embedded Damage Healing For Asphalt Pavement, Shi Xu, Xueyan Liu, Amir Tabakovic, P Lin, Y Zhang, S Nahar, B J. Lommerts, Erik Schlangen

Articles

Rejuvenator encapsulation technique showed great potential for extrinsic asphalt pavement damage healing. Once the capsules are embedded within asphalt pavement, the healing is activated on-demand via progressing microcrack. When the microcrack encounters the capsule, the fracture energy at the tip opens the capsule and releases the rejuvenator. Then the released rejuvenator wets the crack surfaces, diffuses into and softens the aged bitumen, allowing two broken edges to come in the contact, preventing further asphalt pavement deterioration. The quality and speed of the damage repair process strongly depend on the quality of rejuvenator, thus it is important to choose a proper …

City Best Practices To Improve Transit Operations And Safety, Michelle Derobertis, Christopher E. Ferrell, Richard W. Lee, David Moore

Mineta Transportation Institute

Public, fixed-route transit services most commonly operate on public streets. In addition, transit passengers must use sidewalks to access transit stops and stations. However, streets and sidewalks are under the jurisdiction of municipalities, not transit agencies. Various municipal policies, practices, and decisions affect transit operations, rider convenience, and passenger safety. Thus, these government entities have an important influence over the quality, safety, and convenience of transit services in their jurisdictions. This research identified municipal policies and practices that affect public transport providers’ ability to deliver transit services. They were found from a comprehensive literature review, interviews and discussions with five …

Cycling Past 50: A Closer Look Into The World Of Older Cyclists, Carol Kachadoorian

Mineta Transportation Institute

This document reports on 2,300 responses to a nationwide survey of older adults who cycle. The survey, open from February through September 2020, includes questions about a rider’s cycling history, current cycling habits, and falls. It includes a visual preference survey of various cycling facilities and an online journaling option for two rides subsequent to completing the survey (results of the online journals will be available in the summer 2021). Responses reflect the impact of COVID-19 on older adults’ cycling habits, the impact of aging on ability and agility, the impact of the built environment, types of bicycles, and opportunities …

Development Of Cracking Resistance Prediction Model Of Long-Term Aged Asphalt Mixtures, Peyman Barghabany

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

With the increasing complexity of asphalt mixture composition, the current volumetric-based Superpave mixture design would not be sufficient to address durability concerns. To address this limitation, performance-based testing is introduced to supplement conventional volumetric mixture design in assessing the cracking resistance of asphalt mixtures. To perform cracking tests, samples need to be aged to represent the most embrittlement case. The current AASHTO standard for asphalt mixture long-term aging (LTA) is a 5-day oven-aging at 85°C. Quality control/assurance practices require samples to be long-term aged prior to a cracking test which is a time-consuming process. Therefore, it would be beneficial to …

Slowing The Spread Of Covid-19: Review Of “Social Distancing” Interventions Deployed By Public Transit In The United States And Canada, Camille Kamga, Penny Eickemeyer

Publications and Research

This paper presents a review of social distancing measures deployed by transit agencies in the United States and Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic and discusses how specific operators across the two countries have implemented changes. Challenges and impacts on their operations are also provided.

Social distancing is one of the community mitigation measures traditionally implemented during influenza pandemics and the novel coronavirus pandemic. Research has shown that social distancing is effective in containing the spread of disease. This is applicable to the current situation with the novel coronavirus, given the lack of effective vaccines and treatments in the United States …

The Prospect Of Microwave Heating: Towards A Faster And Deeper Crack Healing In Asphalt Pavement, Shi Xu, Xueyan Liu, Amir Tabakovic, Erik Schlangen

Articles

Microwave heating has been shown to be an effective method of heating asphalt concrete and in turn healing the damage. As such, microwave heating holds great potential in rapid (1–3 min) and effective damage healing, resulting in improvement in the service life, safety, and sustainability of asphalt pavement. This study focused on the microwave healing effect on porous asphalt concrete. Steel wool fibres were incorporated into porous asphalt to improve the microwave heating efficiency, and the optimum microwave heating time was determined. Afterwards, the microwave healing efficiency was evaluated using a semi–circular bending and healing programme. The results show that …

Initial Project Estimates For Design, Right Of Way, Utilities, And Construction, Christopher Van Dyke, Bryan Gibson, Jeff Jasper, Bob Lewis, Doug Kreis

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Estimating the cost of highway construction projects is among the more challenging tasks state transportation agencies routinely deal with. Developing accurate estimates is a particularly fraught exercise during the planning and scoping phases, when projects have not been thoroughly defined and information on specifics is in short supply. While the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has used several methodologies to generate initial cost estimates for design, right of way, utilities, and construction (DRUC), approaches vary between the agency’s districts. This report proposes a framework for estimating DRUC-related expenses that can be adopted throughout the state. Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) researchers developed …

Non-Nuclear Methods For Compaction Control Of Unbound Soil And Granular Layers, Brad Rister, Charlie Sun, Kean H. Ashurst Jr., Tim Jones, Christopher Van Dyke

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

In highway construction, the nuclear density gauge (NDG) is the industry standard for measuring soil density and moisture. They are widely used at state transportation agencies, however, because of their reliance on radiation, NDGs are expensive to maintain and have unique storage requirements. Operators must also earn specialized certifications and adhere to rigorous safety protocols. Equipment manufacturers have developed several non-nuclear density gauges which are more user friendly, however, their accuracy has sometimes not equaled NDGs. This comparative study evaluated the performance of the eGauge (a relatively new device) to NDGs. Over 100 soil density and moisture measurements were collected …

Low-Cost Modal Identification Sensors For Bridge Field Testing, Daniel Linzell, Saaed Eftekhar Azam, Samira Ardani, Ahmed E Rageh

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

This report provides a framework for experimental load rating of bridges via inclusion of low-cost dynamic sensors and dynamic tests. Currently 25% of the bridges in Nebraska are posted for live load. According to the National Bridge Inventory (NBI) in 2012, 93% of all postings in the US were based analytical load ratings, 7% were posted using field evaluation and engineering judgement, and 1% were posted using experimental load rating methods.

Instrumentation costs and traffic interruptions can be problematic when load testing is necessary to accurately assess in-situ bridge live load capacity. Recent advances in (i) sensing technology and (ii) …

Safety Considerations For All Road Users On Edge Lane Roads, Michael Williams, Marcial Lamera, Aleksander Bauranov, Carole Voulgaris, Anurag Pande

Mineta Transportation Institute

Edge lane roads (ELRs), also known as advisory bike lanes or advisory shoulders, are a type of shared street where two-way motor vehicle (MV) traffic shares a single center lane, and edge lanes on either side are preferentially reserved for vulnerable road users (VRUs). This work comprises a literature review, an investigation of ELRs’ operational characteristics and potential road user interactions via simulation, and a study of crash data from existing American and Australian ELRs.

The simulation evaluated the impact of various factors (e.g., speed, volume, directional split, etc.) on ELR operation. Results lay the foundation for a siting criterion. …

Defect Detection In Freight Railcar Tapered-Roller Bearings Using Vibration Techniques, Constantine Tarawneh, Joseph Montalvo, Brent Wilson

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Currently, there are two types of defect detection systems used to monitor the health of freight railcar bearings in service: wayside hot-box detection systems and trackside acoustic detection systems. These systems have proven to be inefficient in accurately determining bearing health, especially in the early stages of defect development. To that end, a prototype onboard bearing condition monitoring system has been developed and validated through extensive laboratory testing and a designated field test in 2015 at the Transportation Technology Center, Inc. in Pueblo, CO. The devised system can accurately and reliably characterize the health of bearings based on developed vibration …

Evaluation Of Orange Pavement Striping For Use In Work Zones, Erin Lammers-Staats, William Staats, Ken Agent

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Interstate widening projects are commonplace in Kentucky, and safety is of primary concern within the project work zone. Past experience with long work zones revealed two critical safety issues: driver confusion due to unclear pavement markings and a lack of continuous work zone signage for motorists indicating they are still within a work zone. This concern is heightened in transition and taper areas. Highly visible markings in an alternative color other than standard yellow or white might better distinguish the proper travel path for motorists and prevent drivers from returning to normal driving behavior and speeds once they get through …

Fiscal Year 2019 Fhwa-536 Report For The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Doug Kreis, Candice Wallace, Bryan Gibson, Sarah 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 …

Development, Implementation, And Tracking Of Preventative Safety Metrics, Zamaan Al-Shabbani, Ashtarout Ammar, Hala Nassereddine, Gabriel B. Dadi

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

What gets measured, gets improved. With respect to the safety and health of Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) employees, the primary metric used has been the OSHA recordable incident rate. This incident rate measures how often a Cabinet employee sustains an injury that demands more than basic first aid. This metric is important for understanding injury frequencies, but it does not assist with management of the safety, health, and overall well-being of KYTC personnel. Based on a review of leading safety indicators adopted by various industries, this study devised a comprehensive list of safety metrics the Cabinet will benefit from tracking. …

The Legacy Of Car-Share And Light-Rail Transit For Mobility And Accessibility Improvements In Economically Marginalized Neighborhoods In The New York Metro Area, Kyeongsu Kim

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores the value of the car-share program and a new light rail system with respect to their impact on mobility and accessibility improvements in economically and transportation access-wise marginalized neighborhoods in NYC and its adjacent communities. It consists of three main essays that took deep dives into how each new service or system altered mobility or accessibility for those in need. The first essay (Chapter 2) investigates car-share vehicle utilization rates of the Zipcar across NYC. It assesses the utilization rates by vehicle type, service location, time period, and weekday usage compared to weekend activity. With a multivariate …

Commercial Driver’S License Prosecution, Adjudication, And Data Transmission, Andrew Martin, Jeeyen Koo, Jennifer Walton

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Kentucky Transportation Center research team examined law enforcement and adjudication of traffic offenses committed by commercial driver’s license holders. The objectives were to identify states that would provide the data, collect information about their court systems, analyze enforcement and/or adjudication data, and make some general observations about trends. Many state agencies were not able to provide their traffic offense data and therefore, the team focused primarily on data from Kentucky and Washington State.

The study focused on enforcement trends and adjudication of safety-related offenses. Overall, conviction rates remain higher than dismissal and amended rates. In recent years, dismissal and …

Structural Identification And Damage Detection In Bridges Using Wave Method And Uniform Shear Beam Models: A Feasibility Study, Mehran Rahmani, Manan Naik

Mineta Transportation Institute

This report presents a wave method to be used for the structural identification and damage detection of structural components in bridges, e.g., bridge piers. This method has proven to be promising when applied to real structures and large amplitude responses in buildings (e.g., mid-rise and high-rise buildings). This study is the first application of the method to damaged bridge structures. The bridge identification was performed using wave propagation in a simple uniform shear beam model. The method identifies a wave velocity for the structure by fitting an equivalent uniform shear beam model to the impulse response functions of the recorded …

The Use Of Dynamic Message Signs (Dmss) On The Freeways: An Empirical Analysis Of Dmss Logs And Survey Data, Boniphace Kutela, Hualiang Teng

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

This study evaluates the Dynamic Message Signs (DMSs) use to dissipate incident information on the freeways in Las Vegas, Nevada. It focuses on the DMSs message timing, extent, and content, from the operators’ and drivers’ perspectives, considering the variability in drivers’ freeway experience. Two-week incidents data with fifty-nine incidents, DMS log data, and responses from a survey questionnaire were used. The descriptive analysis of the incidents revealed that about 54% of the incidents had their information posted on the DMSs; however, information of only 18.6% of the incidents was posted on time. The posted information covered the incident type (54.2%), …

Truck Platooning Effects On Girder Bridges, Joshua Steelman, Jay A. Puckett, Daniel Linzell, Bowen Yang

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Truck platooning – digitally linking two or more trucks to travel in a closely spaced convoy – is increasingly used to save fuel, and reduce driver work and road congestion. Currently, the platoon load effects with several constant headways on bridges have been evaluated and compared to AASHTO design and legal loads. However, reliability assessment and a more rigorous investigation of headway spacing assumptions for truck platoons are lacking. This research provides a framework for determining how much a platoon permit load might be increased given strict control over the load characteristics and operational tactics. The present research evaluates the …

Quality Assessment Of Flexible Pavement Automated Cracking Data In Louisiana, Mostafiz Emtiaz

LSU Master's Theses

Pavement distress survey is the most critical and integral part of pavement management system. Transportation agencies all over the world depends on the accurate pavement distress survey to take major decisions like pavement rehabilitation or reconstruction. Pavement management at the network level requires accurate pavement distress survey to decide the allocation of budget for pavement maintenance, rehabilitation and reconstruction. This study started collected network-level cracking distress data through manual measurements on high-resolution pavement images and the results were used as the ground truth measurements to evaluate the corresponding automated distress data from the Pavement Management System database. Results showed that …

Improving Pedestrian Safety Using Video Data, Surrogate Safety Measures And Deep Learning, Shile Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The research aims to improve pedestrian safety at signalized intersections using video data, surrogate safety measures and deep learning. Machine learning (including deep learning) models are proposed for predicting pedestrians' potentially dangerous situations. On the one hand, pedestrians' red-light violations can expose the pedestrians to motorized traffic and pose potential threats to pedestrian safety. Thus, the prediction of pedestrians' crossing intention during red-light signals is carried out. The pose estimation technique is used to extract features on pedestrians' bodies. Machine learning models are used to predict pedestrians' crossing intention at intersections' red-light, with video data collected from signalized intersections. Multiple …

Remediation Of Roadway Runoff Nutrients: Querying Sources Delivery Mechanism, Efficacy Of Stormwater Best Management Practices, And Stormwater Routing Through Karst Geology, Mohammad Shokri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Stormwater road runoff is a widespread non-point source of contaminants such as nutrients, which endangers water bodies, especially in vulnerable karst areas such as Florida. While roadside vegetated filter strips (VFSs) and stormwater basins are generally accepted best management practices (BMPs) for stormwater management, uncertainties about VFS nutrient removal are reported and stormwater basins are concerned of facilitating contaminant transport. In this dissertation, the application and efficacy of engineered infiltration media was tested as a subgrade for the enhanced nutrient removal from roadway runoff. Results of field-scale laboratory testing indicated that a VFS with engineered biosorption activated media (BAM) outperformed …