Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Development Of System Reliability Models For Railway Bridges, Andrzej S. Nowak Ph.D., Anna Maria Rakoczy Ph.D.

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Performance of the railway transportation network depends on the reliability of railway bridges, which can be affected by various forms of deterioration and extreme environmental conditions. More than half of the railway bridges in US were built before 1950 and many show signs of distress. There is a need for efficient methods to evaluate the safety reserve in the railway bridges by identification of the most sensitive parts of the bridge. An accurate estimation of remaining fatigue life of a structural component is very important in prioritizing bridge rehabilitation and replacement. However, existing procedures to evaluate the fatigue behavior of …

Effects Of Geometric Design Features On Truck Crashes On Limited-Access Highways, Sundanda Dissanayake Ph.D., P.E., Niranga Amarasingha M.S.

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Freight can be transported between most points in the country quite efficiently using trucks. However, involvement of large trucks in crashes can cause much damage and serious injuries, due to their large sizes and heavy weights. Large truck crashes occurring on limited-access highways may be more severe than crashes occurring on other roadways due to high speed limits, and traffic- and geometric-related characteristics. The purpose of this study is to describe the relationships between large truck crash probability, and traffic and geometric characteristics. Crash data from 2005 to 2010 were obtained from the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT), which included …

Use Of High-Volume Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (Rap) For Asphalt Pavement Rehabilitation Due To Increased Highway Truck Traffic From Freight Transportation, Mustaque Hossain, Haritha Y. Musty, Nasim Sabahfer

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

A recent rise in asphalt binder prices has led state agencies and contractors to use higher quantities of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP). Besides being economic, sustainable, and environmentally friendly, RAP can be replaced for a portion of aggregates in Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) where quality aggregates are scarce. In this project, the effect of increasing RAP percentage and using fractionated RAP (FRAP) in HMA mixture on moisture resistance, rutting, and fatigue cracking were evaluated. Mixtures with five different RAP and FRAP contents (20%, 30%, and 40% RAP, and 30% and 40% FRAP) were studied. The Hamburg Wheel Tracking Device (HWTD) …

Led Traffic Signal Replacement Schedules: Facilitating Smooth Freight Flows, Suzanna Long Ph.D., Ruwen Qin Ph.D., Abhijit Gosavi Ph.D., C. H. Wu Ph.D, Tom Ryan P.E., Casey Noll

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

This research details a field study of LED traffic signals in Missouri and develops a replacement schedule based on key findings. Rates of degradation were statistically analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results of this research will provide a methodology for engineering managers in state departments of transportation and local communities in identifying best practices and replacement standards for LED traffic signal technology. These findings will facilitate smooth freight flows through the use of more efficient technologies

The U.S.-Canada Border Effect: Smaller Than Previously Thought And Becoming Smaller, Miwa Matsuo D.Des., Hirokazu Ishise Ph.D.

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

We revisit the effect of the U.S.-Canada national border on trade, considering to what extent the border reduces trade when observable economic factors are controlled. A reexamination of the data yields estimates of the border effect that are 50% higher than previously expected (Feenstra, 2004); however, the nonlinearity of the estimation and distance measure reduce the effect by 65%. We therefore conclude that the border effect in 1993 had a factor of 4.10. This figure is 15% lower than the effect proposed by previous research. We also calculate the border effect for subsequent years and find that this effect steadily …

Monitoring The Effects Of Knickpoint Erosion On Bridge Pier And Abutment Structural Damage Due To Scour, Thanos Papanicolaou Ph.D., David M. Admiraal, Christopher Wilson Ph.D., University Of Iowa

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

The goal of this study was to conduct a field-oriented evaluation, coupled with advanced laboratory techniques, of channel degradation in a stream of the Deep Loess Region of western Iowa, namely Mud Creek. The Midwestern United States is an ideal place for such a study considering that ~$1 Billion of infrastructure and farmland has been lost recently to channel degradation. A common form of channel degradation in this region is associated with the formation of knickpoints, which naturally manifest as short waterfalls within the channel that migrate upstream. As flow plunges over a knickpoint face, scouring of the downstream bed …

Feasibility Of Using Cellular Telephone Data To Determine The Truckshed Of Intermodal Facilities, Steven D. Schrock, Thomas Mulinazzi, Ming-Heng Wang

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

In order to determine the feasibility of using cellular telephone location data in deriving the geographic extent (truckshed) from intermodal facilities, this study was conducted to determine the feasibility analysis in three aspects: technology, penetration analysis and truck tracking methodology. A preliminary test was also conducted to demonstrate the cell phone tracking and traveling characteristics identification process using Washington, D.C. metropolitan area data provided by AirSage, Inc. The preliminary feasibility analysis found that cell phone locations could be located within an average of 100 meters or less of their actual position, which is feasible to use for a long haul …

Investigation Of Factors Associated With Truck Crash Severity In Nebraska, Aemal Khattak, Zheng Luo M.S, Mia Gao

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

The severity of truck crashes is a concern in the state of Nebraska. This study was undertaken to investigate factors associated with truck crash severity. A two-year dataset obtained from the Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) was analyzed to determine those factors. Results indicated that the involvement of alcohol was associated with more severe injuries in truck crashes on Nebraska highways. Crashes involving farm equipment were more injurious than other truck crashes. Dawn and dusk were critical periods associated with more severe truck crashes. Further, the absence of medians contributed to truck crash severity. Crashes on adverse pavement conditions such …

Impact Of Truck Loading On Design And Analysis Of Asphaltic Pavement Structures- Phase Iii, Yong-Rak Kim, Hoki Ban, Soohyok Im

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

This study investigated the impact of the realistic constitutive material behavior of asphalt layer (both nonlinear inelastic and fracture) for the prediction of pavement performance. To this end, this study utilized a cohesive zone model to consider the fracture behavior of asphalt mixtures at an intermediate temperature condition. The semi-circular bend (SCB) fracture test was conducted to characterize the fracture properties of asphalt mixtures. Fracture properties were then used to simulate mechanical responses of pavement structures. In addition, Schapery’s nonlinear viscoelastic constitutive model was implemented into the commercial finite element software ABAQUS via a user defined subroutine (user material, or …

Groundwater Quality And Its Health Impact: An Assessment Of Dental Fluorosis In Rural Inhabitants Of The Main Ethiopian Rift, Tewodros Rango, Julia Kravchenko, Behailu Atlaw, Peter G. Mccornick, Marc Jeuland, Brittany Merola, Avner Vengosh

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

This study aims to assess the link between fluoride content in groundwater and its impact on dental health in rural communities of the Ethiopian Rift. A total of 148 water samples were collected from two drainage basins within the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER). In the Ziway-Shala basin in particular, wells had high fluoride levels (mean: 9.4 ± 10.5 mg/L; range: 1.1 to 68 mg/L), with 48 of 50 exceeding the WHO drinking water guideline limit of 1.5 mg/L. Total average daily intake of fluoride from drinking groundwater (calculated per weight unit) was also found to be six times higher than …

Relações Entre As Doenças Respiratórias E A Poluição Atmosférica E Variáveis Climáticas Na Cidade De Curitiba, Paraná, Brasil, Paulo R.B. Guimarães, Ricardo Berger, Fernando Lucambio Perez, Paulo Dt Dl Pires

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Neste estudo, foram observados níveis de concentrações de poluentes atmosféricos da cidade de Curitiba, no período de novembro de 2003 a junho de 2008, da estação automática de monitoramento da praça Ouvidor Pardinho. O objetivo foi desenvolver uma metodologia de modelagem estatística que explique o número de notificações de doenças respiratórias registradas em idosos (acima de 60 anos) e crianças (abaixo de 5 anos). Além das concentrações de poluentes, algumas variáveis climáticas foram analisadas. Após estudo de diversas metodologias estatísticas, considerou-se mais adequado o ajuste de Modelos Aditivos Generalizados para Locação, Escala e Forma. Os modelos ajustados apresentaram resultados satisfatórios …

As Unidades De Conservação E A Floresta Ombrófila Mista No Estado Do Paraná, Paulo Dt Dl Pires, Douglas Magnus Zeni Jr, Debora Gaulke

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

O intenso processo de ocupação territorial, uso desordenado dos recursos naturais e destruição de áreas verdes iniciadas no século XIX, são os principais motivos da intensa devastação das Florestas com Araucárias. Como meio de efetivação da proteção e desenvolvimento florestal, o Brasil adotou em sua política ambiental a criação do Sistema de Unidades de Conservação nas categorias, de proteção integral e uso sustentável. Uma alternativa viável é a regulação dos estoques de madeira no Estado por meio de Unidade de Conservação de Uso Sustentável. O que se pretende a partir deste ponto é analisar a possibilidade da criação de regulamentação …

The Use Of Cell Phone Network Data In Traffic Data Collection And Long-Haul Truckshed (Geographic Extent) Tracking, Ming-Heng Wang, Steven D. Schrock, Nate Vander Broek, Thomas Mulinazzi

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

This study analyzed the potential of cell phone positioning techniques in freight truck data collection and long-haul truckshed (geographic extent) tracking. Freight truck identification and tracking algorithms were developed by means of cell phone network data and the established freight truck analysis GIS, to recognize freight trucks and determine their geographic extent (trucksheds). A case study was conducted to illustrate the truckshed tracking process and verify the tracking results from the cell phone network. Cell phones leaving from the test logistics distribution center were tracked and classified based on the developed tracking algorithms. The case study also demonstrated the processes …

2012 Nebraska Groundwater Quality Monitoring Report

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality: Reports

The 2001 Nebraska Legislature passed LB329 (Neb. Rev. Stat. §46-1304) which, in part, directed the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) to report on groundwater quality monitoring in Nebraska. Reports have been issued annually since December 2001. The text of the statute applicable to this report follows: “The Department of Environmental Quality shall prepare a report outlining the extent of ground water quality monitoring conducted by natural resources districts during the preceding calendar year. The department shall analyze the data collected for the purpose of determining whether or not ground water quality is degrading or improving and shall present the …

Onsite Use Of Recycled Asphalt Pavement Materials And Geocells To Reconstruct Pavements Damaged By Heavy Trucks, Jie Han Ph.D., P.E., Bhagaban Acharya, Jitendra K. Thakur, Robert Parsons Ph.D., P.E.

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Asphalt pavements deteriorate with traffic (especially heavy trucks) and time. Maintenance and overlaying may solve minor to medium pavement distress problems. When the condition of a pavement becomes badly deteriorated, reconstruction of the pavement may become an economic and feasible solution. Reconstruction of a pavement requires removal of pavement surfaces. On-site use of recycled asphalt pavement materials has obvious benefits from economic, to environmental, to sustainability points of view. One attractive option is to use recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) materials as base courses with a thin new overlay. However, RAP has its limitations; for example, it creeps under a sustained …

Initial Study And Verification Of A Distributed Fiber Optic Corrosion Monitoring System For Transportation Structures, Hai Xiao Ph.D., Genda Chen, Zhan Gao Ph.D., Ying Huang Ph.D, Fujian Tang Ph.D.

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

For this study, a novel optical fiber sensing system was developed and tested for the monitoring of corrosion in transportation systems. The optical fiber sensing system consists of a reference long period fiber gratings (LPFG) sensor for corrosive environmental monitoring and a LPFG sensor coated with a thin film of nano iron and silica particles for steel corrosion monitoring. The environmental effects (such as pH and temperature) are compensated by the use of the reference LPFG sensor. The sensor design, simulation, and experimental validation were performed in this study to investigate the feasibility of the proposed sensing system for corrosion …

Offset Right-Turn Lanes For Improved Intersection Sight Distance Final Report, Karen Schurr P.E., Timothy J. Foss Jr.

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Many transportation agencies have started using offset right-turn lanes (ORTLs) at two-way stop-controlled intersections in the hope of improving driver safety by providing intersection departure sight distance triangles that eliminate through roadway right-turning vehicle obstructions. Currently, there are no specific geometric guidelines for key three-dimensional characteristics to allow drivers the optimal use of laterally-shifted right-turn lanes. Results of driver behavior studies at existing locations of offset right-turns lanes indicate that drivers are not performing as expected at parallel-type ORTLs, rendering its presence useless. Tapered-type ORTLs appear to be much more intuitive to driver expectancy and appropriate for the three-dimensional characteristics …

Review Of Fracture Toughness (G, K, J, Ctod, Ctoa) Testing And Standardization, Xian-Kui Zhu, James A. Joyce

United States Navy: Publications

The present paper gives a technical review of fracture toughness testing, evaluation and standardization for metallic materials in terms of the linear elastic fracture mechanics as well as the elastic–plastic fracture mechanics. This includes the early investigations and recent advances of fracture toughness test methods and practices developed by American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). The review describes the most important fracture mechanics parameters: the elastic energy release rate G, the stress intensity factor K, the J-integral, the crack-tip opening displacement (CTOD) and the crack-tip opening angle (CTOA) from the basic concept, definition, to experimental estimation, …

Monitoring The Effects Of Knickpoint Erosion On Bridge Pier And Abutment Structural Damage Due To Scour, Thanos Papanicolaou, David M. Admiraal, Christopher Wilson, Clark W. Kephart

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

The goal of this study was to conduct a field-oriented evaluation, coupled with advanced laboratory techniques, of channel degradation in a stream of the Deep Loess Region of western Iowa, namely, Mud Creek. The Midwestern United States is an ideal place for such a study, considering that approximately $1 billion of infrastructure and farmland has been lost recently to channel degradation. A common form of channel degradation in this region is associated with the formation of knickpoints, which naturally manifest as short waterfalls within the channel that migrate upstream. As flow plunges over a knickpoint face, scouring of the downstream …

Development Of A Methodology For Assessment Of Crash Costs At Highway- Rail Grade Crossings In Nebraska, Aemal Khattak, Eric Thompson

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

An accurate measure of crash costs is required to support effective decision-making about transportation investments. In particular, underinvestment will occur if measurement fails to capture the full cost of crashes. Such mis-measurement and underinvestment may be occurring in the case of crashes at highway-rail grade crossings (HRGCs). HRGC crash costs can be substantial because of the severity of crashes. However, another important potential cost is the disruption to the transportation and logistics system. Existing methodologies capture the first set of costs but often fail to fully capture the second set. This research provides a standardized methodology for assessing the expected …

Safety Improvements At Highway-Railroad Crossing For Pedestrians And Bicyclists And The Assessment Of Long- Term Effects Of Centerline Curbing, Aemal Khattak, Zheng Luo

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

The focus of the research reported herein was on assessing the long-term effectiveness of median barriers at highway-rail grade crossings (HRGCs), the impacts of barrier maintenance in resurrecting safety, and on exploring and assessing ways to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety at HRGCs. Nebraska has about 7,000 HRGCs and each one represents a potential conflict point among trains and highway users, i.e., motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists. Safety at HRGCs is compromised when highway users resort to unsafe maneuvers, such as passing around closed gates when trains are approaching. Gate-related violations by motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists were studied at three selected …

Implementation Of Warm-Mix Asphalt Mixtures In Nebraska Pavements, Yong-Rak Kim, Jun Zhang, Hoki Ban

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

The primary objective of this research is to evaluate the feasibility of several WMA mixtures as potential asphalt paving mixtures for Nebraska pavements. To that end, three well-known WMA additives (i.e., Sasobit, Evotherm, and Advera synthetic zeolite) were evaluated. For a more realistic evaluation of the WMA approaches, trial pavement sections of the WMA mixtures and their HMA counterparts were implemented in Antelope County, Nebraska. More than one ton of field-mixed loose mixtures was collected at the time of paving and was transported to the NDOR and UNL laboratories to conduct comprehensive laboratory evaluations and pavement performance predictions of the …

Speed Limit Recommendation In Vicinity Of Signalized, High-Speed Intersection, Anuj Sharma Ph.D., Laurence Rilett Ph.D., Zifeng Wu M.S., Shefang Wang

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

This report presents the results of Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) research project SPR-P1 (11) M307, which evaluated the traffic operations and safety effects of 5 mph and 10 mph speed limit reductions in the vicinity of high-speed, signalized intersections with advance warning flashers (AWF). The methodology involved two studies: 1) field study of the impact of speed limit reduction at seven high-speed intersections, 2) crash analysis using the 10-year history from 28 high-speed intersections. In the field study, traffic operational effects of the reduced speed limits were analyzed for seven high-speed, signalized intersections with AWF, using the Quantile regression …

Assessing The Structural, Driver And Economic Impacts Of Traffic Pole Mounted Wind Power Generator And Solar Panel Hybrid System, Anuj Sharma Ph.D., Justice Appiah Ph.D., Scott K. Rosenbaugh

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

This project evaluates the physical and economic feasibility of using existing traffic infrastructure to mount wind power generators. Some possible places to mount a light weight wind generator and solar panel hybrid system are: i) Traffic signal pole and ii) Street Light pole. Traffic signal poles can themselves have multiple designs depending on type of mount (mast arm vs. span wire) and the width of the intersection (load carried) etc. The close proximity of street light poles and traffic signal poles to the traffic cabinets, which can be used for storing the battery banks, make them good candidates to mount …

Concrete Surface With Nano-Particle Additives For Improved Wearing Resistance To Increasing Truck Traffic, Genda Chen, Dongming Yan Ph.D., Chenglin Wu Ph.D., Nicholas Leventis Ph.D, Shruti Mahadik Ph.D., Zhibin Lin Ph.D

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

This study focused on the use of nanotechnology in concrete to improve the wearing resistance of concrete. The nano materials used were polymer cross-linked aerogels, carbon nanotubes, and nano-SiO2, nano-CaCO3, and nano-Al2O3 particles. As an indirect measurement of the concrete wearing resistance, the tensile and compressive properties and the permeability of concrete were evaluated for various mix designs. The optimal amount of nano material additives were determined following the American Society of Testing Methods (ASTM) standard test methodologies. The test results from the materials were compared for their mechanical behaviors. This type of technology may potentially improve the comfort level …

Pilot Study On Rugged Fiber Optic Brillouin Sensors For Large-Strain Measurements To Ensure The Safety Of Transportation Structures, Genda Chen, Zhi Zhou, Hai Xiao, Ying Huang

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Brillouin-scattering Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (BOTDR) is a viable technology for simultaneous, distributed strain and temperature measurements for miles-long transportation structures. It is a promising tool to ensure the smooth operation and safety of bridge structures that are key links in surface transportation networks or between various transportation modes: i.e., from airport to train station. Currently, telecom-grade optical fibers are widely used in civil engineering for strain and temperature measurements. These fibers are very fragile and easy to break during installation and measurement. In order to understand the ultimate behavior of structures, more rugged optical fibers such as carbon/polyimide coated …

Use Of Fiber Bragg Grating (Fbg) Sensors For Performing Automated Bridge Pier Structural Damage Detection And Scour Monitoring, A.N. Thanos Papnicolaou Ph.D., Achilleas Tsakiris

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

The goal of this study was to evaluate the performance of Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors able to detect impacts with different frequencies on a bridge pier. The FBG technology was evaluated under controlled conditions in a laboratory flume set-up to mimic the flow, sediment, and design characteristics of a pier structure. The system was calibrated using site-specific properties to relate strain to a known magnitude force for different bridge pier designs, different scour depths, and structural impacts. The FBGs proved a reliable measure of strain and displacement for key components of bridge structures, such as piers, during varying flow …

Improving Freight Fire Safety: Experiment Testing And Computer Modeling To Further Development Of Mist-Controlling Additives For Fire Mitigation, Albert Ratner Ph.D., University Of Iowa

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

With the purpose to minimize or prevent crash-induced fires in road and rail transportation, the current interest in bio-derived and blended transportation fuels is increasing. Based on two years of preliminary testing and analysis, it appears to be clear that polymeric additives may be added to diesel fuel to mitigate the formation of fine mists while allow regular flow through the fuel system. In this work, computer modeling was adapted as a fast and cost-effective methodology to identify the target range where polymeric additives could impact the shear-thickening effect on fuels. The Volume of Fraction (VOF) method was used within …

Transportation Impacts Of The Chicago River Closure To Prevent An Asian Carp Infestation, Aaron Strong Ph.D., Nikhil Sikka Ph.D., Lindsay Salvatore Ph.D.

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

This project develops a simple linear programming model of the Upper Midwest regions rail transportation network to test whether a closure of the Chicago River to freight traffic would impact the capacity constraint of the rail system. The result suggest that the rail network in the Upper Midwest regions are nowhere near approaching capacity and that a closure would have little impact on the rail network. Two noteworthy sets of commodities may be adversely affected, cereal grains and other agricultural product and gravel and crushed stone.

A Case-Crossover Study Of Laceration Injuries In Pork Processing, Lina Lander, Gary Sorock, Terry L. Stentz, Lynette Smith, Murray Mittleman, Melissa J. Perry

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Faculty Publications

Objectives— The authors estimated the associations between transient risk factors and laceration injuries in workers at two meatpacking plants in the Midwest.

Methods— The case-crossover design was used to collect within-subject transient work task and personal-level exposure information. RRs of laceration injuries were estimated by comparing exposures during the ‘hazard’ period (just before the laceration injury) with exposures in the ‘control’ period (the previous workweek). Stratified analyses were utilized to estimate the effects of gender, ethnicity, training and the number of adjacent coworkers on each transient risk factor.

Results— The authors interviewed 295 meatpacking workers with laceration injuries (mean age …