Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Numerical Simulation Of Losses In Four-Way Pipe Junctions, Simon Barth

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

To design pipelines, engineers need to know how much energy the fluid in the pipe has at different locations in the pipe network. The energy the fluid has comes in the form of pressure, velocity, and elevation. As fluid travels through a pipe, it loses energy for many different reasons. Some of those reasons include friction between the fluid and the pipe wall, shear forces within the fluid, changes in flow direction, changes in elevation, or various pipe fittings like elbows, tee’s, valves, reducers, and expanders. Many of the causes of energy loss are well researched. One cause of energy …

Managing Lake Urmia, Iran For Diverse Restoration Objectives: Moving Beyond A Uniform Target Lake Level, Somayeh Sima, David E. Rosenberg, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Sarah E. Null, Karin M. Kettenring

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

There is widespread interest in restoring drying saline lakes. At Iran’s hypersaline Lake Urmia, managers have sought a uniform target lake level of 1274.1 m above sea level to lower salinity below 263 g L−1 and recover Artemia to sufficient densities to support flamingos. We suggest that addressing a broader range of objectives will allow more flexibility for managing the lake. We define eight restoration objectives to lower salinity, sustain Artemia and flamingo populations, separate islands from each other and the mainland, reduce lakebed dust, maintain commercially valuable ions, and improve recreational access from resort beaches. We use 40 years …

Engineering Students’ Perceptions Of Mathematical Modeling In A Learning Module Centered On A Hydrologic Design Case Study, Madeline F. Merck, Melissa A. Gallagher, Emad Habib, David G. Tarboton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Engineering students need to spend time engaging in mathematical modeling tasks to reinforce their learning of mathematics through its application to authentic problems and real world design situations. Technological tools and resources can support this kind of learning engagement. We produced an online module that develops students‚Äô mathematical modeling skills while developing knowledge of the fundamentals of rainfall-runoff processes and engineering design. This study examined how 251 students at two United States universities perceived mathematical modeling as implemented through the online module over a 5-year period. We found, subject to the limitation that these are perceptions from not all students, …

Collaborative Research: 3d Ambient Noise Tomography (3d Ant) For Natural Hazards Engineering, Brady Cox

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Computational Modeling For Decision-Making Under Climate Change Uncertainty: Reservoir Simulation Game, Julianne Quinn

All ECSTATIC Materials

Almost every decision you make is under uncertainty. Will I need a rain jacket in the afternoon? Will they say yes if I ask them out? Is 1 hour enough time to finish this assignment? Oftentimes, we can use computational modeling to simulate different scenarios of what might happen in the future to inform what decisions are best on average, or what decisions minimize the worst case outcome. For example, you could decide what player to draft for your Fantasy Football team by simulating player performance. In this activity, we will simulate how much water to release from a dam …

How Does Lake Powell Water Storage Influence Release Temperatures And Grand Canyon Fishes?, David Rosenberg, Lindsey Bruckerhoff

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Current Lake Powell reservoir operations for equalization and the Upper Basin drought contingency plan are articulated as target reservoir surface elevations and storage volumes. This analysis asks and answers the question how does water storage in Lake Powell influence release temperatures and Grand Canyon fishes?

Toward Open And Reproducible Environmental Modeling By Integrating Online Data Repositories, Computational Environments, And Model Application Programming Interfaces, Young-Don Choi, Jonathan L. Goodall, Jeffrey M. Sadler, Anthony M. Castronova, Andrew Bennett, Zhiyu Li, Bart Nijssen, Shaowen Wang, Martyn P. Clark, Daniel P. Ames, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, Hong Yi, Christina Bandaragoda, Martin Seul, Richard Hooper, David G. Tarboton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Cyberinfrastructure needs to be advanced to enable open and reproducible environmental modeling research. Recent efforts toward this goal have focused on advancing online repositories for data and model sharing, online computational environments along with containerization technology and notebooks for capturing reproducible computational studies, and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for simulation models to foster intuitive programmatic control. The objective of this research is to show how these efforts can be integrated to support reproducible environmental modeling. We present first the high-level concept and general approach for integrating these three components. We then present one possible implementation that integrates HydroShare (an online …

Causey Reservoir Access Project: Improving Visitor Safety And Access Now And For The Future, Michael Merrill, Carly Jo Petersen, Isaiah Norman, Jordan Jones, Nathan Chidester

Civil and Environmental Engineering

In coordination with the Central Federal Lands Highway Division, the Causey Reservoir Access Project is a multidisciplinary endeavor to address infrastructural deficiencies around Causey Reservoir. The reservoir is a high-use land- and water-based recreation site on Cache National Forest, about a half hour east of Ogden, Utah. This project addresses a deteriorating bridge, insufficient parking, and roads damaged by landslides as shown in Figure 1.

Utah Transit Authority (Uta) Frontrunner Extension – Ogden To Brigham City, Ut, Cortni Chandler, Ned Mcfarlane, Kyler Nielsen, Tyson Roper, Joshua Ward

Civil and Environmental Engineering

UTA is planning to extend the FrontRunner commuter rail line (Fig. 1) from Ogden, Utah, to Brigham City, Utah, to enhance interurban transportation in Northern Utah between Box Elder, Weber, and Davis counties. UTA asked SpotOn Engineering to perform a feasibility analysis on extending the FrontRunner commuter rail line northward and to design a possible station location for the Brigham City area.

Design Of A Concrete Canoe For The Asce Competition With Washout Improvement And Hydraulic Testing, Nick Rogers, Izzy Timms, Minjie Kim, Jodiah Andresen, Hayden Quinn, Rex Guyer, Tyson Hymas

Civil and Environmental Engineering

The concrete canoe project is put together as a response to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) issuance of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for their yearly competition. This year, the RFP expanded beyond its usual scope due to the influence of COVID-19, allowing more variability in the approach. While the requirements to design a hull, a mix design, and perform a structural analysis remained the same, the construction of the prototype was left as optional for each school. In place of the construction requirement, enhanced focus areas are implemented, letting the project have a broader scope with more …

Identification And Mitigation Of Harmful Algal Blooms In Mantua Reservoir, Jeffrey Kennedy, Timothy Place, Tyler Wallace, Steven White, Carolina Williams

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, are capable of emitting cyanotoxins which are harmful to humans and animals. Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) occur when cyanobacteria multiply to great densities. Mantua Reservoir in Box Elder County, UT, experiences seasonal HABs, which has resulted in seasonal reservoir closures.

The EnVision team investigated the cause of HABs at Mantua Reservoir by collecting samples from the reservoir’s known point sources and frequently visited recreation areas. The samples were analyzed to determine total phosphorus, nitrate, and cyanotoxin concentrations. The team concluded that excessive phosphorus loading in the reservoir is most culpable for the annual HABs …

Idaho National Laboratory Water Test Bed: Improving The Security Of Water Distribution Systems, Sadie Boyer, Caleb Child, Maren Hulse, Emma Lyon, Dalton Richins, Andrew Walker

Civil and Environmental Engineering

To protect the water supply in our nation's cities, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) built a test facility to evaluate how pollution moves in a water system. Mitigating harmful pollutants in municipal water distribution networks is crucial for the protection of city residents.

JARVIS Engineering worked with the INL to create the plans for a proposed expansion of the current, straight-line Water Security Test Bed to better model a city block.

An expanded looping system was designed by the JARVIS team and modeled in EPANET to provide flow values for various scenarios.

Logan Pass Improvement Project: Glacier National Park, Devan Peterson, Jordan Duncan, Kyle Horton, Luke Martineau, Jake Egley, Cooper Karras

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Glacier National Park has seen drastic increases in park visitation. The number of visitors has increased from 2.3 million to 3 million visitors in the past 5 years.

The Going to the Sun Road at Logan Pass exhibits an iconic overlook of the park. The parking lot is often full before 10:00 AM and remains full the remainder of the day during peak season (See Figure 1).

The purpose of the Logan Pass Improvement Project is to enhance visitor experience at Logan Pass. This will be accomplished by reducing traffic congestion and increasing safety and accessibility while maintaining the environmental …

Providence Ridge Subdivision, Karter Issacson, Seth Robertson, Skyler Allred, Brayden Chamberlain, Cody Zohner

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Cache Valley has a housing shortage. There is prime real estate in Providence to subdivide. The State of Utah is the first fastest growing State in the United States of America (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020)*

Temple Fork Dam, Riley Manwaring, Kendall Maedgen, Taylor Kesler, Logan Thackeray, John Sumsion, Adam Pack

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Constructing a dam in Temple Fork will provide additional water storage to meet the needs of a growing population in Cache County. A roller-compacted concrete (RCC) style dam is best suited for the current conditions at Temple Fork, which will provide a total of 10,000 acre-ft of water storage.

Timpanogos Wastewater Treatment Plant, Laura Christiansen, Silas Schneider, Marissa Croft, Melanie Sullivan, Brent Jacobson, Steven Wright

Civil and Environmental Engineering

The Timpanogos Special Service District (TSSD) wants to improve their Wastewater treatment facility. They requested that the new facility accounts for the following:

• Smell coming from the drying beds.

• Future population growth in the area.

• New phosphorus limitations in the effluent set by the state of Utah.

• Treat wastewater to meet Type 1 reuse standards.

In Figure 1, the image displays the current service area for TSSD. TSSD serves 10 different cities, and currently discharges the effluent wastewater into Utah Lake. Utah Lake has problems with algal blooms. Reducing the amount of nutrients discharged into Utah …

Vadose Zone Recharge Through Shallow Hydraulic Fracturing, Daniela Barrera-Zarco, Lucila Campos, Ryan Eberhard, Brackon Rawlinson

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Effective utilization of water is an ever-increasing concern throughout the world. Finding new ways to store and effectively utilize water received from rainfall events is crucial to mitigate flooding and to recharge the Earth’s subsurface aquifers. In a growing and changing world, the need for adaptive and cost-effective solutions to water storage and utilization is critical.

Solutions Centered Engineering (SCE) set out to find an economical and environmentally friendly solution to the collection and storage of water. We were specifically searching for ways to reduce runoff and recharge water in the vadose zone. The vadose zone is below the ground …

Utah State University Parking Garage, Reed Burr, Ty Koppenhafer, Nathan Lamoreaux, Taylor Shapiro, Kaehan Shour, Nathan Williams

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Utah State University (USU) is known for its excellent engineering and agricultural programs. USU’s main campus is in Logan, UT and is Utah’s largest public residential campus.

USU’s Logan campus currently has a parking deficiency that cannot accommodate increasing parking demand each year.

• USU had a total of 17,667 students and 2,585 faculty and staff during the Fall 2019.

• Only 8,924 parking spots available to accommodate this student and staff population.

• Office of enrollment is expecting a growth of 691- 1400 more students by 2025.

• USU’s 2017 Transportation Master Plan determines a need for 414 additional …

Water Availability For Cannabis In Northern California: Intersections Of Climate, Policy, And Public Discourse, Betsy Morgan, Kaitlyn Spangler, Jacob Stuivenvolt-Allen, Christina N. Morrisett, Mark W. Brunson, Shih-Yu Simon Wang, Nancy Huntly

Biology Faculty Publications

Availability of water for irrigated crops is driven by climate and policy, as moderated by public priorities and opinions. We explore how climate and water policy interact to influence water availability for cannabis (Cannabis sativa), a newly regulated crop in California, as well as how public discourse frames these interactions. Grower access to surface water covaries with precipitation frequency and oscillates consistently in an energetic 11–17 year wet-dry cycle. Assessing contemporary cannabis water policies against historic streamflow data showed that legal surface water access was most reliable for cannabis growers with small water rights ( < 600 m³) and …

Cost-Effective Planning Strategies For Battery Electric Bus Systems, Yi He

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In recent years, actions have been taken by countries around the world to create a more sustainable energy future. Electrifying transit buses is considered as a promising option to reduce emissions and increase sustainability of the transportation sector. However, there are still several barriers to the adoption of electric buses (e-buses). The barriers include, but are not limited to, the range limitations of e-buses, high up-front costs of e-buses, large capital expenses for charging infrastructure, and a lack of understanding regarding e-bus operation and management. This dissertation aims to overcome these barriers through the development of cost-effective planning strategies from …

Current And Projected Water Reuse For Irrigation In Utah, R. Ryan Dupont, Joan E. Mclean, Randal S. Martin, Courtney Flint, L. Niel Allen, Jennifer L. Weidhaas

Reports

Reuse of treated wastewater for irrigation in some cases can help meet increasing agriculture and urban water demands in Utah. The last report describing existing and potential reuse efforts in Utah was in 2005 (Utah Division of Water Resources, 2005). This report provides information on existing and proposed water reuse and perceptions among water providers and users regarding the use of reclaimed wastewater. Wastewater reuse is one of many practices to conserve water and improve water quality. In a broad sense, water reuse occurs by downstream users, but in some cases, deliberate strategic reuse of water is undertaken to provide …

Effects Of Short Season Irrigation On Pasture Yield And Predicting Yield With Sentinel-2 Satellite, Ihsan Bugra Bugdayci

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Deficit irrigation can reduce agriculture water use making additional water available for other uses. This study looked at multi-year impacts of deficit irrigation on pasture yield. The results show that that early irrigation provides the most benefit to cool season pastures and late season irrigation only had small impacts on yield. According to this research, irrigation water can be saved without impacting the yield importantly.

Remote sensing techniques are becoming a part of agriculture. Yield predictions are important for the farmers and others involved with agriculture. In this research, relationships between the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) calculated from remotely …

Hydraulic Analysis Of Coupling A Labyrinth Weir With A Steep Stepped Chute, Tucker J. Jorgensen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

There are many considerations involved in the design of a dam structure. A few of these include minimizing upstream flooding (and risk of embankment overtopping), economical construction, and downstream erosion. Addressing these concerns has, in part, led to a recent increase in the use of more efficient and economical hydraulic. Complex hydraulic structures such as labyrinth weirs and stepped chutes require extensive study to establish design methods. Combining two complex structures can result in dramatic changes in flow characteristics. This is particularly true in the case of combining a labyrinth weir with a stepped chute. Flow from the labyrinth weir …

Fate Of Pharmaceuticals And Personal Care Products In Duckweed And Waste Activated Sludge Under Aerobic And Anaerobic Solids Stabilization Conditions, Kwame Tweneboah Duodu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Twelve commonly used pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs)(acetaminophen, β-Estradiol, caffeine, carbamazepine, DEET, estrone, gemfibrozil, triclosan, TCEP, sulfamethoxazole, progesterone, fluoxetine) were investigated to determine their fate in biosolids. These compounds were selected due to their wide usage, and varying properties, that makes them representative of many other PPCPs.

Commonly used PPCPs (caffeine commonly found in tea, coffee, chocolate and soda, the pain reliever acetaminophen, and the pesticide DEET) were detected in high amounts in the influent of the Hyrum WWTP and Wellsville sewage lagoons. Although conventional WWTPs are not designed to remove PPCPs from wastewater, some PPCPs, such as acetaminophen, …

The Effect Of Weather On Pedestrian Activity At Signalized Intersections In Utah, Ferdousy Runa

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The weather has a significant influence on pedestrian activity. Profound knowledge and research can identify how weather variables impact and why people change their travel patterns. This study aims to assess the relationship of weather (snowfalls, snow depth, precipitation, maximum and minimum temperature) with pedestrian activity at 49 signalized intersections in Cache County, Utah. This study uses pedestrian actuation (push-button) data as a proxy for pedestrian activity and collects weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA).

Using 15 months of daily time-series data, this study applied log-linear time series models in the analysis. To account for non-linear …

Characterizing Water And Water-Related Energy Use In Multi-Unit Residential Structures With High Resolution Smart Metering Data, Joseph C. Brewer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As urban populations continue to grow and expand, localized demands on water supplies continue to increase as well. These water supplies, which have been historically stable, are also threatened by an increasingly erratic climate. Together, these two factors have significantly increased the likelihood of long-term drought conditions in the American West. In response, water suppliers are investigating new ways to record water use in urban areas to better understand how water is used. One of these methods is smart meters; advanced devices that can record and transmit water use information directly to the water supplier. However, these devices can produce …

Exploring The Feasibility Of Introducing Alternative Fuel Vehicles Into Fleet, Samia Rubaiat

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Transportation is one of the most significant contributing sectors to emissions and consequently air pollution in the United States. Many state and private fleet agencies have announced their visions of zero-emission fleet programs. Adopting alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) is a viable option for achieving this objective. AFVs offer lower emissions along with low operating and maintenance costs, and higher fuel economy. The advancement of technologies has provided several AFV options, such as hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), electric vehicles (EV), compressed natural gas vehicles (CNGV), and liquefied petroleum gas vehicles (LPGV). The main challenges in adopting AFVs are the high purchasing …

Water Resources International Development: What On Earth Are We Doing?, Patrick Ray

All ECSTATIC Materials

Large agencies such as the World Bank, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the United Nations, regional development banks (such as the Asian Development Bank), and philanthropic organizations (such as the Rockefeller Foundation) are actively engaged in water resources development in low-income countries. Why? And what metrics do they use to decide if the investments of hundreds of millions or billions of dollars in water infrastructure projects are justified? And what accommodations do they tend to make for risks such as climate change? And what attention do they tend to give to questions of equity? I probably have no idea. But I’ve …

Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathways, Marjolijn Haasnoot

All ECSTATIC Materials

• Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathways (DAPP) is a decision making approach that explicitly includes decision making over time. The essence is proactive and dynamic planning in response to how the future actually unfolds.
• DAPP explores alternative sequences of decisions (adaptation pathways) for multiple futures and illuminates the path dependency of alternative strategies. It opens the decision space and helps to overcome policy paralysis due to deep uncertainty. There are different routes that can achieve the objectives under changing conditions (like ‘different roads leading to Rome’).
• Policy actions have an uncertain design life and might fail sooner or later to continue achieving …

Rapid: Monitoring And Modeling Watershed-Scale Post-Wildfire Streamflow Response Through Space And Time, Belize A. Lane

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.