Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Transitional Flow Between Orifice And Non-Orifice Regimes At A Rectangular Canal Gate, Omar Alminagorta Cabezas

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The main objective of this research was to analyze the hydraulic transition between non-orifice and orifice flow regimes at a rectangular sluice gate through the calibration of various discharge equations, and determining the value of a coefficient, which defines the transition between orifice and non-orifice flow conditions. The second objective was to determine whether a single equation could be used to represent the stage-discharge relationship for both free and submerged non-orifice flow through a rectangular sluice gate.

Several hundred data sets were collected in a hydraulic laboratory, each including the measurement of water upstream depth and downstream for five different …

Decision Analysis Considering Welfare Impacts In Water Resources Using The Benefit Transfer Approach, Ashraf Shaqadan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Decision making in environmental management is faced with uncertainties associated with related environmental variables and processes. Decision makers are inclined to use resources to acquire better information in one or more uncertain variable(s). Typically, with limited resources available, characterizing the feasibility of such investment is desirable yet complicated.

In the context of reducing inherent uncertainty, decision makers need to tackle two difficult questions, first, the optimal selection of variable(s) and second, the optimal level of information collection which produces maximum gain in benefits.

We develop a new framework to assess the socioeconomic value of potential decisions of collecting additional information …

Optimization Model For National Water Master Planning: Design And Documentation, Richard C. Peralta

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Physical distribution system and Balancing and Allocation and Transfer modules descriptors.

Infrastructure Economics - University Of California, Davis, Jay R. Lund

All ECSTATIC Materials

Graduate course in infrastructure economics offered at University of California, Davis in Winter 2008

Lidar Based Emissions Measurement At The Whole Facility Scale: Method And Error Analysis, Gail E. Bingham, Christian C. Marchant, Vladimir V. Zavyalov, Douglas J. Ahlstrom, Kori D. Moore, Derek S. Jones, Thomas D. Wilkerson, Lawrence E. Hipps, Randy S. Martin, Jerry L. Hatfield, John H. Prueger, Richard L. Pfeiffer

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Particulate emissions from agricultural sources vary from dust created by operations and animal movement to the fine secondary particulates generated from ammonia and other emitted gases. The development of reliable facility emission data using point sampling methods designed to characterize regional, well-mixed aerosols are challenged by changing wind directions, disrupted flow fields caused by structures, varied surface temperatures, and the episodic nature of the sources found at these facilities. We describe a three-wavelength lidar-based method, which, when added to a standard point sampler array, provides unambiguous measurement and characterization of the particulate emissions from agricultural production operations in near real …

Final Report For Irrigation Water Quality Monitoring Of The Jordan River, 2008, Richard C. Peralta, Bassel Timani

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The goal of the Jordan River Water Quality Project is to assess the quality of irrigation water removed from the Jordan River at three diversion locations: Jordan Narrows (JN), Cahoon and Maxfield (CM), and Jordan & Salt Lake Canal (JSLC). During 2008, Salt Lake City Corporation personnel took water samples on 12 dates from April 18 to September 25, 2008. Utah State University Analytical Laboratories (USUAL), an EPAcertified laboratory, performed water analyses on the samples. USUAL is located at Utah State University (USU) in Logan, Utah.

Optimal In-Situ Bioremediation System Design Using Simulated Annealing, H. J. Shieh, Richard C. Peralta

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The presented procedure combines continuous simulated annealing (CSA) heuristic optimization with BIOPLUME II simulation for optimizing in-situ bioremediation system design. The design goal is to minimize the total cost of facility installation and operation needed to achieve contaminant plume containment and cleanup. System design elements include pumping rates and well locations. During optimization, pumping rates are treated as continuous variables, differing from previously reported simulated annealing combinatorial optimization for groundwater management. To improve computation efficiency, CSA annealing schedules employing four different temperature update functions (TUF) are contrasted. Each yields somewhat different optimal designs and requires different computation effort. An adaptive …

Vulnerability Of Shallow Aquifers Of The Conterminous United States To Nitrate: Assessment Of Methodologies, Karthik Kumarasamy

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Groundwater is an important natural resource for numerous human activities, accounting for more than 50% of the total water used in the United States. Groundwater is vulnerable to contamination by several organic and inorganic pollutants such as nitrate, heavy metals, and pesticides. Assessment of groundwater vulnerability aids in the management and protection of limited groundwater resources.

The focus of this thesis is to (1) statistically compare two groundwater vulnerability assessment models; modified DRASTIC (Acronym for Depth to water, net Recharge, Aquifer media, Soil media, Topography, Impact of vadose zone, and hydraulic Conductivity of aquifer) and ordinal logistic regression for NO …

Integrated Modeling Of Nitrate Contamination Of Groundwater In Agriculture-Dominated Watersheds, M. Almasri, Jagath J. Kaluarachchi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents and implements a framework for modeling the impact of land use practices and protection alternatives on nitrate pollution of groundwater in agricultural watersheds. The framework utilizes the national land cover database (NLCD) of the United State Geological Survey (USGS) grid and a geographic information system (GIS) to account for the spatial distribution of on-ground nitrogen sources and corresponding loadings. The framework employs a soil nitrogen dynamic model to estimate nitrate leaching to groundwater. These estimates were used in developing a groundwater nitrate fate and transport model. The framework considers both point and non-point sources of nitrogen across …

Urban Particulate Matter Casues Er Stress And The Unfolded Protein Response In Human Lung Cells, T. L. Watterson, B. Hamilton, Randy S. Martin, R. A. Coulombe Jr.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Because of its presumed adverse health effects, particulate air pollution (PM) has received growing attention, but the cellular mechanisms by which PM exerts toxicity are not well elucidated. PM has been associated with early mortality from illnesses that share endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress as a mechanism of pathogenesis. In this study, we examined whether PM would induce the unfolded protein response (UPR) which is a cellular response to ER stress. Coarse (PM10) and fine (PM2.5) PM was collected from a single location in Northern Utah's Cache Valley during atmospheric inversions occurring in January 2002 and January 2003. Extracts of PM …

Effects Of Pm2.5 Collected From Cache Valley, Ut On Genes Associated With The Inflammatory Response In Human Lung Cells, T L. Watterson, J. Sorensen, Randy S. Martin, R. A. Coulombe Jr.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

In January 2004, the normally picturesque Cache Valley in northern Utah made national headlines with the highest PM2.5 levels in the nation. Epidemiological studies linked exposure to particulate air pollution in other locations with stroke and Alzheimer's disease and to early mortality from all causes, cancer, and cardiopulmonary diseases. To determine potential effects of these particles on human health, human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) were cultured with PM2.5collected from various locations in the Cache Valley. These particles were slightly cytotoxic, but more potent than NH4NO3, the major chemical component of Cache Valley PM2.5. Gene expression analysis of PM2.5-exposed cells was …

A Bayesian Method For Groundwater Quality Monitoring Network Analysis, Khalil A. Ammar

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Water resources management is best done when an efficient and reliable information system is available that provides data about the state of the water system being managed. Herein, a new methodology is developed and demonstrated that incorporates different aspects of monitoring, including vulnerability assessment, environmental health risk, the value of information, and redundancy reduction in an existing monitoring network. These various objectives reflect a desire for cost- efficiency, while taking into account uncertainty in predictions of groundwater contamination potential. This methodology is presented within an integrated approach to groundwater quality monitoring that includes several multi-objective aspects associated with decisions about …

Regulating Waste Discharge With Fuzzy Effluent Limitations For Toxic Pollutants, Tong Yin, David King Stevens

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Many traditional water quality standards are based on extreme percentiles; often, there is the risk of making wrong decisions with these standards because of high estimation uncertainty. Standards expressed as fuzzy intervals in the form of [trigger, enforcement limitation] make it possible to control the risks for the discharger and the consumer simul taneously. With fuzzy interval compliance, corrective action is initiated when the trigger is exceeded; noncompliance is declared when the en forcement limitation is exceeded. Fuzzy intervals would digest the risks that are inherent when a single enforcement limitation is used to determine compliance; the risks can be …

Production Of Bio-Hydrogen By Mesophilic Anaerobic Fermentation In An Acid-Phase Sequencing Batch Reactor, D. Y. Cheong, C. L. Hansen, David King Stevens

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The pH and hydraulic retention time (HRT) of an anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR) were varied to optimize the conversion of carbohydrate-rich synthetic wastewater into bio-hydrogen. A full factorial design using evolutionary operation (EVOP) was used to determine the effect of the factors and to find the optimum condition of each factor required for high hydrogen production rate. Experimental results from 20 runs indicate that a maximum hydrogen production rate of 4,460-5,540 mL/L/day under the volumetric organic loading rate (VOLR) of 75 g-COD/L/day obtained at an observed design point of HRT = 8 h and pH = 5.7. The hydrogen …

Rockport Reservoir Final Environmental Assessment And Finding Of No Significant Impact Pro-06-004, Peter Crookston, U.S. Department Of The Interior, Bureau Of Reclamation

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

No abstract provided.

Mix Design For A Concrete Canoe, Ryan Thomas Christensen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Each year the American Society of Civil Engineers sponsors a concrete canoe competition. This paper details the work performed by Ryan Christensen for the 2006 concrete canoe competition. His primary focus was on formulating a concrete mix to be used for the Utah State University canoe. Basic information regarding the building and design of concrete canoes is also presented. Finally, general competition results for 2006 are presented for the Utah State University canoe team.

A New Method For Determination Of Most Likely Landslide Initiation Points And The Evaluation Of Digital Terrain Model Scale In Terrain Stability Mapping, P. Tarolli, David G. Tarboton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper introduces a new approach for determining the most likely initiation points for landslides from potential instability mapped using a terrain stability model. This approach identifies the location with critical stability index from a terrain stability model on each downslope path from ridge to valley. Any measure of terrain stability may be used with this approach, which here is illustrated using results from SINMAP, and from simply taking slope as an index of potential instability. The relative density of most likely landslide initiation points within and outside mapped landslide scars provides a way to evaluate the effectiveness of a …

A Comparison Of Four-Step Model And Path Flow Estimator For Forecasting Network Flow: A Case Study Of Cache County In Utah, Siddareddy B. Pedaballi

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

Development of alternative methodologies for travel demand modeling has become important in recent years due to the lack of resources for small and medium communities to adopt conventional four step travel models. Many researchers have proposed alternative tools of travel demand modeling for these communities. But majority of them still require large amount of data and technical sophistication.

In this study, the Path Flow Estimator (PFE) is used to estimate the network traffic of Cache County. PFE estimations are based on the collected traffic counts, vehicle production and attractions of zones estimated using Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) trip generation …

A Sedimentation Study Of The Green River Irrigation Canal, Green River, Utah, Jan Michael Miller

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

This sedimentation study of the Green River irrigation canal provides the Green River Canal Company (GRCC) with a detailed aerial map of the Green River irrigation canal system to allow operators to quickly and accurately locate canal structures. Also, an Excel spreadsheet accounting model was created which provides the GRCC with the ability to determine where sedimentation likely occurs throughout the canal under given conditions. This model must be operated within set guidelines to provide reliable results and should be calibrated for increased accuracy. It was determined that with no irrigation (i.e., with no canal structures open except for the …

History Of The Logan Bluff Landslide Zone, Seth P. Olsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

On September 10, 2005, a landslide occurred to the south of Utah State University Campus and Highway 89. This landslide did considerable damage to the Logan and Northern canal, which is cut into the slope, and to a residence at the toe of the slope. This event brought many parties together to collaborate on possible solutions to the immediate fix of the slide as well slides that could occur in the future. The purpose of this report is to compile information useful to the study of the area and the possible solutions and/or risk assessment of the Logan Bluff Landslide …

Cee3030 - Uncertainty In Engineering Analysis, Spring 2006, Gilberto E. Urroz

Civil and Environmental Engineering - OCW

This course on uncertainty in engineering analysis can also be referred to as probability and statistics for engineers. In particular, we will deal with the applications of probability and statistics to problems related to civil and environmental engineering. Note: Technical Requirements, Maple 10 by Maplesoft

Cee3500 - Fluid Mechanics, Spring 2006, Gilberto E. Urroz

Civil and Environmental Engineering - OCW

Explores fluid properties, hydrostatics, fluid dynamics, similitude, energy and momentum principles, closed conduit flow, open channel flow, and flow measurement. Includes laboratory exercises in flow measurement, open channel flow, pipe friction, physical modeling, and data collection.

Cee6510 - Numerical Methods In Civil Engineering, Spring 2006, Gilberto E. Urroz

Civil and Environmental Engineering - OCW

Engineering applications of approximation and interpolation, solution methods for ordinary differential equations, numerical solution of partial differential equations, nonparametric and parametric probability and regression estimation, and Monte Carlo and uncertainty analysis.

Technical Requirements: Maple 10 by Maplesoft,

Matlab

Treating Soil Pentachlorophenol (Pcp) At Optimal Conditions Using Heme And Peroxide, Shyi Tien Chen, David King Stevens, Guyoung Kang, M. J. Hsieh

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The environmental impact of pentachlorophenol (PCP) has been the subject of extensive research in recent years. Investigations of PCP degradation using both biotic and abiotic methods are extensively reported in literature. Based on some preliminary tests (not shown), an abiotic method was found for oxidative PCP degradation in soil under unsaturated conditions and a neutral pH. Reagents used were heme (a catalyst) and peroxide (an oxidant). From two screening tests (not shown), the heme and peroxide were identified as the most important factors on PCP degradation in highly PCP-contaminated soil. The objective of this study was to determine the optimum …

Impacts Of The 2004 Tsunami On Groundwater In Sri Lanka, T. Illangasekare, S. W. Tyler, T. P. Clement, K. G. Villholth, A. P.G.R.L. Perera, J. Obeysekera, A. Gunatilaka, C. R. Panabokke, D. W. Hyndman, K. J. Cunningham, W-G. Yeh, Jagath J. Kaluarachchi, M-Rien Van Genuchten, K. Jensen

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The 26 December 2004 tsunami caused widespread destruction and contamination of coastal aquifers across southern Asia. Seawater filled domestic open dug wells and also entered the aquifers via direct infiltration during the first flooding waves and later as ponded seawater infiltrated through the permeable sands that are typical of coastal aquifers. In Sri Lanka alone, it is estimated that over 40,000 drinking water wells were either destroyed or contaminated. From February through September 2005, a team of United States, Sri Lankan, and Danish water resource scientists and engineers surveyed the coastal groundwater resources of Sri Lanka to develop an understanding …

Modular Neural Network To Predict The Distribution Of Nitrate In Ground Water Using On-Ground Nitrogen Loading And Recharge Data, M. Almasri, Jagath J. Kaluarachchi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Artificial neural networks have proven to be an attractive mathematical tool to represent complex relationships in many branches of hydrology. Due to this attractive feature, neural networks are increasingly being applied in subsurface modeling where intricate physical processes and lack of detailed field data prevail. In this paper, a methodology using modular neural networks (MNN) is proposed to simulate the nitrate concentrations in an agriculture-dominated aquifer. The methodology relies on geographic information system (GIS) tools in the preparation and processing of the MNN input–output data. The basic premise followed in developing the MNN input–output response patterns is to designate the …

Minimum Velocities For The Suspension Of Fine Sediment In The Green River Canal, Michael W. Stoeber

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

This paper focuses on a canal in the Gunnison Valley, located in central Utah, which diverts water from the sediment-laden Green River. Grain size analyses were performed on sediment samples taken from the canal. These grain size analyses were used to determine the grain size distribution of the fine sediment, classify the fine sediment, and compare the fine sediment to a sediment deposit in the Green River. The critical incipient velocity for the D₅₀ and D₁₀₀ and the critical grain entrainment velocity corresponding to the D₉₅ were determined through flume experimentation. Two methods, developed by prior researchers, …

Conceptualization And Development Of A Dam Break Life-Loss Estimation Model, Maged A. Aboelata

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Catastrophic events such as dam failures or severe floods are considered to be of low probability, although their consequences can be extremely high and might include loss of life. Earlier studies have linked circumstances surrounding historical darn failure events to actual loss of life and produced formulations using statistical analysis of these events. Shortcomings of these methods include the inability to adjust life-loss estimates based on the type of dam failure, global averaging of population at risk, and ignoring the dynamics of the evacuation process.

The main objective of this research is to develop a practical and improved life-loss estimation …

Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis For The Optimal Management Of Nitrate Contamination Of Aquifers, Mohammad N. Almasri, Jagath J. Kaluarachchi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

We present an integrated methodology for the optimal management of nitrate contamination of ground water combining environmental assessment and economic cost evaluation through multi-criteria decision analysis. The proposed methodology incorporates an integrated physical modeling framework accounting for on-ground nitrogen loading and losses, soil nitrogen dynamics, and fate and transport of nitrate in ground water to compute the sustainable on-ground nitrogen loading such that the maximum contaminant level is not violated. A number of protection alternatives to stipulate the predicted sustainable on-ground nitrogen loading are evaluated using the decision analysis that employs the importance order of criteria approach for ranking and …

Assessment Of Aquifer Vulnerability Due To Heavy Metals Using Ordinal Logistic Regression Analysis, N. K. Twarakavi, Jagath J. Kaluarachchi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

A methodology using ordinal logistic regression is proposed to predict the probability of occurrence of heavy metals in ground water. The predicted probabilities are defined with reference to the background concentration and the maximum contaminant level. The model is able to predict the occurrence due to different influencing variables such as the land use, soil hydrologic group (SHG), and surface elevation. The methodology was applied to the Sumas-Blaine Aquifer located in Washington State to predict the occurrence of five heavy metals. The influencing variables considered were (1) SHG; (2) land use; (3) elevation; (4) clay content; (5) hydraulic conductivity; and …