Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Development Of A First-Generation Prototype Laboratory System For Rail Neutral Temperature Measurements, Ellie Yi-Hsien Chao

Theses and Dissertations

Modern railway tracks worldwide standardize the use of Continuous Welded Rail (CWR) due to its ability to prevent disadvantages associated with rail joints in a track. CWR is laid when the rail is free of thermal stresses, also known as Rail Neutral Temperature (RNT). RNT is controlled in the CWR installation procedure; however, over time, the temperatures deviate from the RNT. The deviation causes significant thermal stresses introduced in the longitudinal direction of the rail, leading to potential failures such as pull-apart and buckling, causing track integrity and safety of train operation. The most significant potential failure is track buckling …

Fate And Transport Of The Microbiome In Built Environments, Dahae Seong

Theses and Dissertations

Buildings are complex ecosystems evolving continuously. Indoor components such as occupants, ventilation system, and building structures influence the microbiome. To shed light on how the microbial population in a building will respond to such a fluid system, the fundamental interactions between microbes and the indoor ecosystem must be understood. Buildings are being designed as air-tight structures to save energy; however, this could lead to degradation of indoor air quality through indoor sources of contaminants and/or containment of pollutants in the room or introduce outdoor pollutants indoors depending on the ventilation conditions. In addition, transmission of infectious microbes in indoors threaten …

Computer Vision-Based Automatic Railroad Crossing Monitoring And Track Inspection, Feng Guo

Theses and Dissertations

Currently, there are many imminent challenges in the railroad infrastructure system of the United States, impacting the operation, safety, and management of railroad transportation. In this work, three major challenges which are overcrowded traffic congestion at the grade crossing, low-efficiency and accuracy on inspection of missing or broken rail track components, and dense rail surface defects without quantification, respectively are studied. The congested railroad grade crossing not only introduces significant traffic delays to travelers but also brings potential safety concerns to the first responders. However, limited studies have been devoted on developing an intelligent traffic monitoring system which is significant …

Unsupervised Learning For Anomaly Detection In Remote Sensing Imagery, Husam A. Alfergani

Theses and Dissertations

Landfill fire is a potential hazard of waste mismanagement, and could occur both on and below the surface of active and closed sites. Timely identification of temperature anomalies is critical in monitoring and detecting landfill fires, to issue warnings that can help extinguish fires at early stages. The overarching objective of this research is to demonstrate the applicability and advantages of remote sensing data, coupled with machine learning techniques, to identify landfill thermal states that can lead to fire, in the absence of onsite observations. This dissertation proposed unsupervised learning techniques, notably variational auto-encoders (VAEs), to identify temperature anomalies from …

Investigation Of Distracted Driving Events In New Jersey, Ahmed Sajid Hasan

Theses and Dissertations

Every year, thousands of people die in the United States due to crashes involving distracted driving, with this cause contributing to 25% of all fatal traffic crashes in New Jersey in particular. Over the past several years, various techniques (e.g., surveys, crash reports, videos, and simulations) were developed and implemented by the transportation safety community to identify and evaluate distracted driving events. However, these methods collect cross-sectional data on individual subjects and do not provide the actual number of distractions on the road. To fill this gap, this study collected longitudinal data on distracted driving events in the state of …

Assessment Of Key Imperatives For Enhancing Precast Adoptability In Egypt, Mostafa Sameh

Theses and Dissertations

Precast Concrete’s modular application concept is a major construction method that has been used historically seen in various shapes, forms, and with a wide range of constituents. Examples include Ancient Egypt and China among several impressive structures in old civilizations. The major advantages of precast concrete lie in its adaptability, resilience, and versatility which makes precast concrete one of the most agile building materials. Precast concrete as we know it today has been introduced to our markets over the past several decades. Having similar advantages to that of old precast building methods, the road has been paved for wider use …

Decision Support System To Select The Most Effective Strategies For Mitigating The Urban Heat Island Effect Using Sustainability And Resilience Performance Measures, Bahareh Bathaei

Theses and Dissertations

As climate change continues to alter the temperature of the cities, various urban heat island mitigation strategies (UHIMSs) are now needed to be employed to mitigate the effects of increasing temperatures. However, to ensure their resilience and sustainability, the effectiveness of such strategies should be evaluated using a set of criteria. According to a review of the literature, there is a need for a comprehensive model and performance assessment tool that considers the various characteristics and features that are significant in assessing whether the chosen strategies are viable candidates for minimizing the effects of urban heat island (UHI). As a …

Electrical Characterization Of Conductive Concrete Containing Graphite Powder, K. I. M. Iqbal

Theses and Dissertations

Electrically conductive concrete has various potential non-structural functions such as self-sensing, de-icing, and electromagnetic shielding. Since conductive concrete is a composite containing moisture and discrete conductive additives, its electrical properties are very complex. Understanding these properties is the fundamental requirement for developing its non-structural applications. In this research, graphite powder is used as a conductive additive with varying percentages (0% to 30%) by cement paste volume. Both AC impedance analysis and DC measurement are performed in both wet and dry conditions. The results show that the resistivity measured by DC are not consistent because of polarization before/during the measurement. On …

Investigating Adoption Behavior Of Owned And Shared Autonomous Vehicles: An Updated Technology Acceptance Model, Yellitza Soto

Theses and Dissertations

Transportation systems will be likely transformed by the emergence of autonomous vehicles (AVs), either owned privately or used in a shared system (SAVs), which promise for safe, convenient, and efficient mobility, to name a few benefits to the society. The manifestation of (S)AV benefits, however, is still dubious due to the observed public reluctance, or at best neutrality, towards (S)AVs, especially SAVs. The public's perception towards these innovations is still unclear, therefore, a gap remains in the analysis of individuals’ behavioral intention (BI) to use AVs and SAVs. To fill that gap, this study uses a behavioral psychology method. Specifically, …

Laboratory And Full-Scale Pavement Sections Testing For Evaluating Frost Action In Cold Regions, Dorin Papuc

Theses and Dissertations

A comprehensive laboratory testing plan was conducted as part of this project to select two frost-susceptible soils for use in constructing three full-scale test strips. A total of 16 soils were obtained from various suppliers in NJ and were evaluated to determine their frost-susceptibility. The evaluation included conducting sieve analysis, hydrometer analysis, and specific gravity. Using these measures, two soils were selected (namely, Soil #2 and Soil #13) for constructing the test strips. The properties (Atterberg Limits, moisture-density relationships, California bearing ratio (CBR), Resilient Modulus among others) were determined through a laboratory testing plan. In addition, this study involved constructing …

Hydraulic Characterization Of Porous Media For Remediation Applications In Geo-Environmental Engineering: Laboratory Experiment And Numerical Modeling, Syed Istiyak Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations

Hydraulic properties of porous media are very important characters for various geotechnical and geo-environmental applications. In this study, multi-step outflow experiments and numerical modeling were performed for homogeneous and layered column conditions with fine to coarse sands to investigate water flow mechanisms and better predict water flow and solute transport with the van Genuchten-Mualem (VGM) hydraulic model. Inversed modeling under HYDRUS-1D was performed to estimate six VGM soil hydraulic parameters. Forward modeling was conducted to evaluate the impacts of VGM hydraulic parameters along with saturated hydraulic conductivity to solute transport. Scaling effects such as column length, time, and chemical parameters …

Towards Intelligent Structural Health Monitoring Of Infrastructure Systems: An Interdisciplinary Study Of Acoustic Emission Monitoring, Numerical Simulation, And Artificial Intelligence, Li Ai

Theses and Dissertations

Some complex infrastructure systems, such as nuclear facilities and bridges, are subject to structural damage due to environmental erosion, material deterioration, and other factors after long periods of use. Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) and alkali-silica reaction (ASR) have been identified as the primary degradation mechanisms for steel and concrete structures in nuclear facilities and bridges. Ensuring the integrity and operational safety of structures during their lifetime is an important task. Nondestructive methods and structural health monitoring can be used to detect damage caused by SCC and ASR instead of conventional visual inspection. Among the nondestructive methods, acoustic emission (AE) is …

A Laboratory Investigation Of High Polymer Modified Asphalt Mixtures With Softening Agent, Basel K. Al-Badr

Theses and Dissertations

This study was initiated to evaluate the impact of aging and High Polymer Modified Asphalt (HPMA) binders containing a bio-based-oil softening agent (SA) on the rutting, cracking, and durability of asphalt mixtures. One control asphalt binder (PG 52-34), Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene (SBS) polymer modifier, and corn-oil SA were used to produce four asphalt mixtures including a control prepared using PG 52-34 binder and three modified mixtures were produced by blending PG 52-34 binder with different dosages of SBS and SA. The mixtures were tested using the Dynamic Complex Modulus (|E*|), Hamburg Wheel Tracking Device (HWTD), Flow Number (FN), Indirect Tension Cracking Test …

An Evaluation Of Electrically Conductive Asphalt Mixtures For Electrically Heated Flexible Pavement Systems, Rahaf Hasan

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study is to develop Electrically Conductive Asphalt (ECA) mixtures with optimized electrical and mechanical properties for use in electrically heated asphalt pavements for anti-icing applications. Laboratory experiments were carried out to design ECA mixtures at varying dosages, using three graphite grades of different particle sizes, one virgin aggregate type, two binder grades, and one carbon fiber. The impact of graphite dosage and particle size on the volumetric properties and electrical resistivity of asphalt mixtures was assessed. Different factors with potential impact on the electrical properties were investigated, including the graphite particle size and dosage, the air …

Fabrication And Characterization Of Translucent Wood Composite Using Egyptian Hardwoods: Casuarina & Eucalyptus, Sherif Elia

Theses and Dissertations

Due to climate change and global warming, there is an increasing need for sustainable solutions in all industries. As one of the most important and growing industries worldwide, the construction industry has a huge responsibility towards the environment. It is responsible for the consumption of vast amounts of resources and consequently generating massive quantities of waste. Also, as the building sector is responsible for consuming large portions of the world energy and electricity, such buildings' efficiency and sustainability must be considered. While the world is working on balancing between consuming less and recycling more while maintaining the construction materials' effectiveness …

Interactive Expert System For Budgeting World Bank Consultancy Projects, Yosra Rafat

Theses and Dissertations

Cost estimating and forecasting are key components of the budgeting of any construction project. However, conventional approaches may result in uncertainty and usually do not utilize the organizational knowledge of past projects. Ideally, performing a cost estimation under the best predictions of the relevant future conditions, is the best approach of economic analysis to evaluate the optimum value for money. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence techniques, there are now several Machine Learning (ML) methods that are being studied to capitalize on accuracy gains with regards to cost estimating techniques to increase reliability during the tendering phase. This research aims …

Assessment Of Carbon Dioxide Emission And Its Impact On High-Rise Mixed-Use Buildings In Egypt, Ahmed Salah Hamza

Theses and Dissertations

With Egypt's vision of 2030 focusing on sustainable development with a true emphasis on Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) emission reduction in the newly built cities and high-rise buildings, efforts are exerted on various levels towards accomplishing the vision’s goals. This is achieved through multiple tools and models associated with aiding the reduction of carbon emissions, yet not a clear one was introduced for the mixed-use buildings in Egypt.

Through this work, a significant gap was identified with respect to high-rise buildings carbon emission assessment in Egypt. This was a main driving force for this work in an attempt to …

An Analysis Of The Air Force Installation Development Plan And Its Energy Benchmarking Effectiveness, Jacob P. Hyman

Theses and Dissertations

Installation Development Plan (IDP) is a comprehensive long-term base planning document, which includes an inventory of sustainable development goals including energy use and climate indicators. This study analyzed 32 different IDPs among the various installations in the continental United States, identifying regional trends and behaviors across their 16 Sustainability Development Indicators (SDI). To study the IDPs more in depth, specific focus was placed on SDI 1, which concerns energy consumption and generation. This study investigated the different variations in energy benchmarking across local climate conditions, SDI ratings, and units used. Major inconsistencies were found across these three domains. Subsequently, the …

Assessment Of Contract Terms And Conditions For Lump-Sum Contracts, Omar Othman

Theses and Dissertations

A Contract is a tool that defines the obligations of the contracting parties and assigns the risk between them. Contracts are usually drafted to meet the interests of the owner by addressing the legal issues and liabilities. Meanwhile, less emphasis is placed on clearly communicating the contract terms and ensuring that all contracting parties comprehend their risks and obligations. In a country like Egypt, which has faced drastic economic and political changes in the past few years, and yet is experiencing a boom in the construction sector, many developers tend to draft contracts that might be legally complicated or lacks …

Prestressed Concrete Slabs With Bonded And Unbonded Tendons, Jasmin Abdelhalim

Theses and Dissertations

Post-tensioning concrete technology increases the resistance of flexural concrete members. This technology allows for the production of slenderer sections, and sequentially less usage of material preserving the sustainability concept in construction engineering. Post-tensioning process can be done using bonded or unbonded steel tendons. The unbonded tendons are thought to have better resistance to corrosion for structures exposed to severe environmental conditions. The unbonded tendon’s steel strands are painted with grease and covered with plastic sheathing to prevent the moisture from reaching the steel strands thus they can provide high corrosion resistance. According to the ACI 318-19 and other codes of …

A Meta-Analysis On The Constitutive Behavior Of Engineered Cementitious Composite, Marie Angelica Ventura Vallangca

Theses and Dissertations

A meta-analysis is conducted for the mechanical properties of an Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC). ECC is a special type of fiber reinforced cementitious composites that is characterized by high ductility (3-5% strain) with 1.5-2% fiber content by volume. The brittle nature and weak tensile strength of concrete cause various damages such as cracking. ECC has superior cracking resistance considered as a sustainable alternative for construction and repair. Meta-analysis is a statistical method to remove a possible bias of a single set of data. A meta-analysis collects and analyzes a large group of data obtained from multiple investigations of the same …

Lower Rio Grande Valley Tap Water Hardness Removal Using Conductive Concrete Cathode In Electrochemical Precipitation, Mirza Addaito Billah

Theses and Dissertations

Electrochemical water softening has obtained significant attention in recent years due to being environmentally friendly. One of this method's significant problems is the requirement of high cathodic surface area for enough efficiency. As most electrochemical cells use costly metal cathodes with meager service life and low structural integrity, practical large-scale implementation is scarce. In this research, graphite-concrete cathodes were proposed to replace conventional metal cathodes in the electrochemical water softening process. Graphite concrete has been used for heating pavement and electrical conductive roads. In this research concrete mixed with graphite powder by volume was successfully used as a cathode to …

Development Of A Cyberinfrastructure For Assessment Of The Lower Rio Grande Valley North And Central Watersheds Characteristics, Linda Isabel Navarro Navarro

Theses and Dissertations

Due to an increase in urbanization in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV), there have been substantial modifications to hydrology causing a decline in water quality to the Laguna Madre watershed. The major concern is the inflow of freshwater from the North and Central waterways released to the Lower Laguna Madre which is designated as an impaired watershed for high concentrations of bacteria and low dissolved oxygen. The objective of this study is to perform a watershed characterization to determine potential pollution sources of each watershed by developing a cyberinfrastructure and collect a wide inventory of data. The objective will …

Analysis And Uncertainty Reduction Through Data Augmentation In Hurricane Risk Modeling In The State Of Florida, Daphne Raquel Otarola Farah

Theses and Dissertations

The Florida Public Hurricane Loss Model (FPHLM) and the Florida Public Flood Loss Model (FPFLM) project insurance losses due to hurricane events in the State of Florida from hurricane induced wind, rain, and flood. This hurricane catastrophe model estimates annual average loss costs, as well as mean loss levels for scenario events, for personal and commercial residential portfolios, including building structure, content, appurtenant, and additional living expenses. Insurance companies use these hurricane risk models in Florida, and in particular the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) mandates that the FPHLM be used for the stress test, that verifies the actuarial …

Impact Of Antecedent Wetness And Rainfall Spatial Variability On Design Floods, Rachael Nicole Mcmahon

Theses and Dissertations

In the absence of long hydrologic records, water engineering design application rely primarily on the concept of design storms and subsequently design floods. However, despite the long-lasting use of these approaches there are several aspects that merit careful consideration and possibly revision. Representation of spatial variability of rainfall extremes in design storms has relied primarily on the use of area reduction factors that while useful, they do not represent realistic patterns of flood inducing storms. Furthermore, the impact of antecedent wetness on the transformation of design storms to design floods is often neglected. In this work we carry out a …

Sonodegradation Of Amitriptyline And Ibuprofen In The Presence Of Mxene, Minjung Jeon

Theses and Dissertations

Environmental pollution has intensified and accelerated due to a steady increase in the number of industries, and finding methods to remove hazardous contaminants, which can be typically divided into inorganic and organic compounds, have become inevitable. One of the widely used water treatment technologies is adsorption and various kinds of adsorbents for the removal of inorganic and organic contaminants from water have been discovered. Recently, MXene, as an emerging nanomaterial, has gained rapid attention owing to its unique characteristics and various applicability. Particularly, in the area of adsorptive application, MXene and MXene-based adsorbents have shown great potential in a large …

Removal Of Heavy Metals Using Novel Adsorbent Materials, Lesley Joseph

Theses and Dissertations

Heavy metal contamination is a growing concern throughout the world, particularly as industrial and urban activities have increased. Inadequate water and wastewater treatment, coupled with increased industrial activity, have led to increased heavy metal contamination in rivers, lakes, and other water sources in developing countries. To address these concerns, a significant amount of research has been conducted on various novel adsorbents to evaluate their ability to remove heavy metals. Thus, in this study, MIL-100(Fe) and MIL-101(Cr) are fabricated and investigated to determine their ability to remove copper (Cu2+), cadmium (Cd2+), and lead (Pb2+) from aqueous solution. The experimental data fit …

Fate Of Nitrogen And Effectiveness Of Evaporation On Managing Leachate In Collection And Storage Ponds: A Case Study At The Three Rivers Solid Waste Authority Regional Landfill, Kaitlen Rose Drafts

Theses and Dissertations

Treatment of leachate from municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills can be complex and difficult, due to the variety of contaminants present. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the fate of nitrogen and effectiveness of leachate evaporation in a leachate storage and collection pond at the Three Rivers Solid Waste Authority (TRSWA) MSW landfill in Jackson, South Carolina. This was accomplished by determining the fate of nitrogen species in the pond, exploring effect of the site’s Lilypad droplet sprayer system on ammonia-nitrogen, and exploring potential to reduce overall quantity of leachate to be treated through evaporation from the pond. …

Removal Of Selected Organic Contaminants By Various (Nano) Adsorbent-Ultrafiltration Hybrid Systems, Sewoon Kim

Theses and Dissertations

Organic contaminants, which result from overuse and discharge of dyes, pharmaceutically active compounds, personal care products, and endocrine-disrupting compounds, have been received attention as contemporary water issues. However, conventional water and/or wastewater treatment system cannot sufficiently control for these contaminants for their stability and complexity. In this study, combined novel adsorbent with ultrafiltration (UF) hybrid system (termed ‘adsorbent-UF’) was applied to removal selected organic contaminants. UF with upstream adsorption has positive effects on performance in terms of the removal of selected organic contaminants, separating used adsorbents and reducing foulants. Activated biochar, metal organic frameworks, and Ti3C2TX MXene were used as …

Modeling Human-Structure Interaction Using Control System When Bouncing On Flexible Structure, Ahmed Tamween Baeewi Al-Zubaidi

Theses and Dissertations

High performance materials have enabled engineers to design civil structures with lower dead loads. However, lower dead loads result in a higher live-to-dead load ratio and the possibility of excessive vibrations due to human loading. Classical methods that have been used to study this human-structure interaction (HSI) model the person as a mass-spring-damper (MSD) system. While these models are often able to represent the dynamics of the system, the human body is a more complex, dynamic system. For example, MSD systems cannot add energy to the overall human-structure system; therefore, they do not allow for the incorporation of excitation that …