Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

International Junior Researcher And Engineer Workshop On Hydraulic Structures Session 5, Mohanad Khodier, Adam Witt, Maria Trujillo, Iordanis Moustakidis, Francois Rulot

International Junior Researcher and Engineer Workshop on Hydraulic Structures

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Pedestrian Risk On 700 N On Utah State University Campus, Kirk Jackson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

One of the biggest concerns that highway designers face when designing roadways is how to safely design the interface between highway users and pedestrians. This is never truer than on the Utah State University campus where pedestrian use is much higher than on an average road. Utah State University purchased 700 N, the main collector road which runs through the heart of USU’s campus, from the City of Logan in the summer of 2010. Since then, pedestrian safety on 700 N has become the first priority of USU Facilities in regards to their efforts to improve it. It has come …

Concrete Design For Traffic Application, Marc Shields

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Inductive charging of electronic devices is a newer technology that is capable of transferring electrical power without physical contact through wiring. Research is currently being done to find and improve ways to implement this technology on electric cars. If this type of technology pas implemented on a large scale throughout much of the country, electrical or hybrid cars could travel across counties and states without depleting their batteries.

The current problem with electric cars is that they have a limited range of travel. Even with larger batteries with much more capacitance, the range of pure electric cars usually does not …

Effect Of Deposition From Static Rocket Test Fires On Corn And Alfalfa, Scout Mendenhall

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

A greenhouse study was conducted to determine the effects of deposition from static rocket test fires on corn and alfalfa. Seeds were germinated in a wide concentration range of depositional material, called test fire soil (TFS). Additionally, the impact of chloride and aluminum, two major components of test fire soil, on germination was also evaluated. Furthermore, plants were grown in packed columns and exposed to test fire soil, either in the root zone or on foliage. Tissue was weighed and analyzed to compare biomass production and plant composition.

Corn and alfalfa exposed to test fire soil in the root zone …

Multi-National River Basin Cooperation And Management Case Study: Senegal River Basin, Patricia Ayaa

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

With increasing populations, urbanization and thus increasing demand for water, conflict on International River basins has been increasing over the years which has necessitated formation of International River frameworks to devise means of cooperation among the countries sharing the river basins. The main modes of cooperation in international river basins include allocating the waters of the river to the sharing countries such that each country manages its own water resources, or treating the river basin as one system and jointly managing and sharing the costs and benefits from the various services or use-sectors of the river.

This research was aimed …

Procedures For Correcting Digital Camera Imagery Acquired By The Aggieair Remote Sensing Platform, Shannon R. Clemens

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Developments in sensor technologies have made consumer-grade digital cameras one of the more recent tools in remote sensing applications. Consumer-grade digital cameras have been the imaging sensor of choice by researchers due to their small size, light weight, limited power requirements, and their potential to store hundreds of images (Hardin 2011). Several studies have focused on the use of digital cameras and their efficacy in remote sensing applications. For satellite and airborne multispectral imaging systems, there is a well established radiometric processing approach. However, radiometric processing lines for digital cameras are currently being researched.

The goal of this report is …

Relationships Between Runoff, Land Cover And Climate In The Semi-Arid Intermountain Region Of The Western U.S.A., Ibrahim Nourein Mohammed

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Hydrologic science is broadly defined as the geoscience that describes and predicts the occurrence, circulation and distribution of the water of the earth and its atmosphere. The need to predict the effects of land cover and climate changes with their associated impacts on hydrology are among the pressing areas of research, especially within the western United States. The main objective of this dissertation is to provide a better knowledge of land use or land cover along with climate change impacts on streamflow generated from watersheds in the semi-arid intermountain region in and around Utah. This objective was addressed using analyses …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Three Utah Wastewater Treatment Facilities In Removing Pharmaceuticals And Personal Care Products, Oksana Roth

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The occurrence of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) in surface waters has become a growing concern within the last decade although the first mention of human PPCPs in the environment goes back to late 1970s. Pharmaceuticals include prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, and veterinary drugs. Personal care products include products such as lotions, fragrances, and soaps. In addition to traditional personal care products, the term PPCPs has been adopted to represent a wide variety of chemicals used in consumer products including plasticizers and fire retardants. Wastewater effluents are thought to be the main source of PPCPs in surface waters since …

Finite Element Modeling Of Transverse Post-Tensioned Joints In Accelerated Bridge Construction (Abc) Full-Scale Precast Bridge Deck Panels, Sandeep Reddy Madireddy

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Accelerated bridge construction (ABC) techniques are popular among the department of transportations (DOTs). Innovative design and construction methods and high performance materials are used to reduce the typical bridge construction timeline without sacrificing bridge quality. The goal of accelerated bridge construction is to open a cost-effective, long-lasting bridge to traffic with increased safety and reduced traffic disruption in a shortened construction period. Accelerated bridge construction majorly uses steel-concrete composite bridges with full depth precast decks which has two types of connections, shear connection between steel girder and precast deck and transverse joint between precast panels. Longitudinal prestress is applied to …

Heterogeneous Water And Energy End-Uses And Implications For Residential Water And Energy Conservation And Management, Adel M. Abdallah

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Indoor water-use consumes energy to heat hot water. Indoor water- and energy-use vary significantly among households due to variable household water-use behaviors and varying ages and efficiencies of water appliances. Also, the energy consumed to heat water varies among households and depends on water heater efficiency, heater thermostat setup, percentage of hot water in the final used water, and the cold water intake temperature. This research considers behavioral and technological variability in household water-and-energy-use to better understand water and energy linkages and help utilities target water and energy conservation actions to customer and appliances within their homes that the most …

Using Relevance Vector Machines Approach For Prediction Of Total Suspended Solids And Turbidity To Sustain Water Quality And Wildlife In Mud Lake, Hussein Aly Batt

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The main objective of the research is the development of Multivariate Relevant Vector Machine (MVRVM) to predict suspended fine sediment, water quality constituents, and provide an understanding for the practical problem of determining the amount of data required for the MVRVM. MVRVM is a statistical learning algorithm that is based on Bayes theory. It has been widely used to predict patterns in hydrological systems and other fields. This research represents the first known attempt to use a MVRVM approach to predict transport of very fine sediment and water quality constituents in a complex natural system.

The results demonstrate the ability …

Integration Of Water-Column And Benthic Processes And Their Effect On Dissolved Oxygen Fluctuations In Small Northern Utah Streams, Ruba A. Mohamed

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Dissolved oxygen (DO) is an important element for aquatic organisms as it is used for respiration by most organisms. Certain concentrations of DO are required in aquatic ecosystems depending on the type and needs of the aquatic organisms. In general, DO concentrations less than 5 mg/L stress many types of aquatic organisms including fishes. In order to maintain DO concentration above the stress level, respiration is one of the factors that should be maintained by controlling the excess growth of aquatic plants. Many factors cause the outbreak of plant growth, including abundance of nutrients and presence of sun light. In …

Identification Of Influential Climate Indicators, Prediction Of Long-Term Streamflow And Great Salt Lake Elevation Using Machine Learning Approach, Niroj K. Shrestha

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In order to meet rising water demand due to rapid population growth and changing climatic conditions around the world, and to reduce the impact of floods and draughts, a comprehensive water management and planning is necessary. Water resource management requires the prediction of streamflow under climatic variability, and variability of hydrologic quantities that changes in time and space. Prediction of streamflow using physically-based model are usually complex and typically requires detailed knowledge of physical processes. The availability of data is an important issue to justify the use of these models. Using a data-driven model that relies on the machine learning …

Traffic Operations Analysis Of Merging Strategies For Vehicles In An Automated Electric Transportation System, Derek Rulon Freckleton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Automated electric transportation has the potential to revolutionize the way people move by providing unparalleled benefits to human health and safety, economic independence, and quality of life. It is a system where vehicles with no emissions control themselves as they cooperatively move people from point “A” to point “B.” Vehicle automation aims to eliminate human error from the task of driving, making the roads safer and leaving drivers able to perform other tasks as they desire while they travel. Also, through wireless in-motion electric power transfer, the gas tank may finally be completely excluded from vehicles without sacrificing freedoms in …

A Parametric Study Of Embankments On Clay Soils During Earthquake Shaking, Karla I. Reynoso

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study is a parametric evaluation of reduction in undrained shear strength of fine grained soils required to cause failure beneath embankments during earthquake loading. The evaluated parameters are: crust thickness, normalized undrained strength, maximum past pressure, and embankment height. Both finite element and limit equilibrium analyses were used to determine strength reductions that would lead to embankment failure. It was found that reductions of undrained strengths of 55% to 65% would lead to failure during earthquake loading.

The method proposed by Idriss and Boulanger was also used to predict strength reductions for each model over a range of earthquake …

Finite Element Modeling Of Full Depth Precast Concrete Bridge Deck Connections In Bending And Shear, Patrick H. James

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The need for reduced construction times of highway bridges has become more important recently. Precast concrete panels used for the bridge deck replacements are being used more frequently in order to achieve this reduced construction time and to also reduce the cost of the construction. Bridges can also be repaired quickly and with less cost if individual panels can be replaced when needed instead of replacing the entire bridge deck. The problem at hand is the structural integrity of these individual precast bridge deck panels. The joints in-between these panels often crack due to service stresses. These cracks expose the …

Modeling Spatial Surface Energy Fluxes Of Agricultural And Riparian Vegetation Using Remote Sensing, Hatim M.E. Geli

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Evapotranspiration (ET) represents the amount of water consumed by vegetation through transpiration plus the direct evaporation from the soil surface. Understanding the amount of ET is important as it represents a portion of fresh water that is consumed and not available for further use. ET is used as indication of how much water needed for agricultural activities. This research is aimed towards providing improved estimates of ET.

The technological advances in remote sensing provide us with images of the Earth’s surface from space, using satellites, and sometimes with more detail from aircraft. We used these data in …

Performance Of Post-Tensioned Curved-Strand Connections In Transverse Joints Of Precast Bridge Decks, Zane B. Wells

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In order to minimize traffic delays on the nation’s bridges, precast concrete bridge decks have been utilized to quickly and efficiently construct bridges. These precast concrete decks are cast off site and transported to the bridge after they have cured. The decks are then placed onto the bridge and grouted into place. These precast panels have an inherent weakness in that the joints between adjacent panels tend to leak. In order to mitigate leaking of the joints, two adjacent panels are typically post-tensioned together. A variation on the standard post-tensioning in use by some DOT’s was designed and investigated in …

Duckweed Uptake Of Phosphorus And Five Pharmaceuticals: Microcosm And Wastewater Lagoon Studies, Jonathan Bay Farrell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Utah State University students under the direction of Dr. R. Ryan Dupont, Environmental Engineering, have been enthusiastically involved in researching ways to improve wastewater treatment at the nearby Wellsville Municipal Sewage Lagoons. Wellsville City, along with several other Cache Valley communities, has experienced some problems with their current wastewater facility, particularly with phosphorus removal, which will become more difficult to address as the population increases in the future. Excessive phosphorus causes unappealing algae blooms in ponds and reservoirs while also posing a threat to local fish. Brittany Wilkes, Brett Housley, and Naho Orita first looked into reducing phosphorus discharge by …

Temperature Effects On Integral Abutment Bridges For The Long-Term Bridge Performance Program, Leo E. Rodriguez

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Long-Term Bridge Performance (LTBP) program was started by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in 2009 to gather high-quality data on a collection of typical bridges over a twenty-year period of time. The goal of this program is to create databases of high quality data acquired through long-term instrumentation of the bridges behavior during their service life.

The data gathered will be used to improve design practices and effective management of infrastructures. As part of the LTBP Program two integral abutment bridges, a California Bridge near Sacramento, CA and a Utah Bridge near Perry, UT, were selected to be monitored …

Dynamic Testing And Finite Element Modeling Of A Steel Girder Bridge For The Long-Term Bridge Performance Program, Lourdes Alina Taveras Moronta

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Long-Term Bridge Performance (LTBP) Program, under the direction of the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA’s) Office of Infrastructure Research and Development, is monitoring nation’s pilot highway bridges to promote the safety, durability, and reliability on the bridges of the nation. Researchers at Utah State University directed dynamic testing on the New Jersey Pilot Bridge, structure number 1618-150 the summer of 2011 to analyze and understand the dynamic behavior of the structure.

In order to perform the monitoring of the bridge, ambient vibration analysis was selected for this structure, which was instrumented with an array of velocity transducers to record the …

Development Of Assessment Strategies For Sign Retroreflectivity, Travis L. Evans

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) now specifies minimum retroreflectivity requirements. These requirements include an obligation for agencies to develop a strategy for maintaining compliance. With budget considerations, it is important that transportation agencies be able to efficiently assess the performance of their assets and adopt management strategies to comply with such requirements. As a foundational work, this research develops specific methodology for assessing the condition and performance of sign assets that are maintained by a large transportation agency. In doing so, this research provides for the determination of key elements that should be considered when developing any …

Estimating And Verifying Household Potential To Conserve Water, Francisco J. Suero, Peter W. Mayer, David E. Rosenberg

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Behavior and technological impacts on residential indoor water use and conservation efforts in the United States are identified. Preexisting detailed end-use data was collected before and after toilets, faucets, showerheads, and clothes washers were retrofitted in 96 owner-occupied, single-family households in Oakland, California; Seattle, Washington; and Tampa, Florida, between 2000 and 2003. Water volume, duration of use, and time of use were recorded and disaggregated by appliance for two weeks before and four weeks after appliances were retrofitted. For each appliance, observed differences in water use before and after retrofits are compared to water savings predicted by simple analytical, regression, …

Effects Of Particulates On Water Meter Accuracy Through Expected Life, B. Skyler Buck, Michael C. Johnson, Steven L. Barfuss

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Many factors can influence the accuracy of water meters, including age, throughput, water quality, and the presence of particulates in the metered water. These factors can affect various types of meters quite differently depending on the meter's design. This article examines the effects of particulates on various types of meters over their estimated life in a controlled environment. The intent of this study was to assess the effect of particulates on new meter performance and identify trends that may typify meter performance and longevity after being subjected to a slug of particulates. Oscillating-piston (displacement-piston) meters were most affected by a …

The Cuahsi Community Hydrologic Information System, David G. Tarboton, D. R. Maidment, I. Zaslavsky, Daniel Ames, J. L. Goodall, R. P. Hooper, Jeffery S. Horsburgh

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Canopy Radiation Transmission For An Energy Balance Snowmelt Model, Vinod Mahat, David G. Tarboton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

To better estimate the radiation energy within and beneath the forest canopy for energy balance snowmelt models, a two stream radiation transfer model that explicitly accounts for canopy scattering, absorption and reflection was developed. Upward and downward radiation streams represented by two differential equations using a single path assumption were solved analytically to approximate the radiation transmitted through or reflected by the canopy with multiple scattering. This approximation results in an exponential decrease of radiation intensity with canopy depth, similar to Beer's law for a deep canopy. The solution for a finite canopy is obtained by applying recursive superposition of …

Simple Optimization Method To Determine Best Management Practices To Reduce Phosphorus Loading In Echo Reservoir, Utah, Omar Alminagorta, Bereket Tesfatsion, David E. Rosenberg, Bethany T. Neilson

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

This study develops and applies a simple linear optimization program to identify cost effective Best Management Practices (BMPs) to reduce phosphorus loading to Echo Reservoir, Utah. The optimization program tests the feasibility of proposed Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) allocations based on potential BMP options and provides information regarding the spatial redistribution of loads among sub-watersheds. The current version of the TMDL for Echo reservoir allocates phosphorus loads to existing non-point phosphorus sources in different sub-watersheds to meet a specified total load. Optimization results show that it is feasible to implement BMPs for non-point sources in each sub-watershed to meet …

High Intensity Land Treatment (Hilt) Practices, John P. Martin, Ronald C. Sims

Reports

Land treatment is categorized in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) as one of the land disposal options for managing hazardous waste constituents within the defined treatment zone before such constituents can be transported to surface water, groundwater, or air. Under the authroity of Subtitle C of RCFA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has promulgated regulations governing the treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes in land treatment units (40 CFR, Part 264, Subpart M, July 26, 1982). The objectives of this report were to identify land treatment facilities meeting the defined high intensity land treatment (HILT) criteria, …

Solving Problems In Water Quality, Utah Water Research Laboratory

Reports

No abstract provided.

Cee & Uwrl Research In Action, Utah Water Research Laboratory

Reports

Introduction: The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineer (CEE) and the Utah Water Research Laboratory (UWRL) have a symbiotic working relationship. The CEE Department provides the pricipal investigators with academic affiliation to the university while the UWRL provides faculty with a strong water research arena. Both the CEE department and the UWRL have been involved in research and problem solving for government agencies and private industry.