Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Design And Observation Of Steep Reinforced Embankments, T. Yamanouchi, N. Fukuda

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Using the design method proposed by R. A. Jewell et al. numerous steep reinforced embankments have been constructed in the authors’ home country since the year 1984. In fact these soil structures are built with the reinforcement of polymer grids (the so-called geogrids invented by F. B. Mercer of U.K.) which have a unique structural composition with high-tensile and low-ductility characteristics. This paper deals with first the development of steep reinforced soil structures and their design method, and then introduces a well-documented case history of steep reinforced embankment. The authors propose a current design method developed on the basis of …

The Kettleman Hills Landfill Failure: A Retrospective View Of The Failure Investigations And Lessons Learned, James K. Mitchell, Mihsiung Chang, Raymond B. Seed

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

The sliding stability failure of the Kettleman Hills waste landfill focused attention on several issues related to the safe design and filling of waste repositories, including low strengths between geosynthetic material interfaces in composite liner systems and low interface strength between compacted clay and smooth geomembranes. Waste placement plans must be carefully developed to insure an adequate factor of safety against sliding at all stages of filling. Because of assumptions and uncertainties that remained following the initial failure investigation, model tests, at a scale of 1:150, were done. These tests reproduced the field failure very well and provided insights into …

Man-Made Vibrations And Solutions, K. R. Massarsch

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

The generation and propagation of man-made vibrations in the ground is discussed. Emphasis is placed a simplified approach which is used to assess the most important factors, such as wave attenuation, refraction focusing and vibration amplification as a result of resonance. Practical guidelines are presented which can be used to predict vibrations and settlements in the ground. A semi-empirical relationship for the assessment of permissible vibration levels for buildings is proposed. Finally, a new ground vibration isolation method, the gas cushion screen is presented.

Practical Studies Of The Seismic Response Of A Rockfill Dam And A Tailings Impoundment, W. D. Liam Finn

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Two case studies from engineering practice are presented to demonstrate how useful a sophisticated finite element analysis can be in providing a comprehensive understanding of how dams behave during earthquakes. The first example involves determining, from the recorded performance of a rockfill dam, the volume change characteristics of the rockfill which cannot be measured directly. The second example covers the full range of current capability for analysis. It involves dynamic effective stress analysis of a tailings dam to check the triggering of liquefaction and the analysis of post-liquefaction flow deformations.

Discussions And Replies: State Of The Art Papers, Mohamad Hussein, Fred H. Held Iii, C. Mirza, T. M. Davisson

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Construction And Interim Performance Of A Pyrament Cement Concrete Bridge Deck, Michael D. Stone, David Q. Hunsucker

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Pyrament Blended Cement (PBC) is a high performance cement developed by Lone Star Industries and is a blend of 65% portland cement, 30% fly ash, and 5% trademark additive. Concrete made with PBC has been characterized by its rapid set, high early strength, and low permeability. This report summarizes the construction and interim performance of a full-depth concrete bridge deck slab constructed using Pyrament Cement concrete.

Utilization Of Fossil-Fuel Related By-Product Materials For Highway Construction In Kentucky, David Q. Hunsucker

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

In an effort to increase the utilization of fossil-fuel by product materials in highway construction project, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet authorized the experimental use of several waste materials. These materials included bottom ashes, fly ash, scrubber sludge, multicone kiln dust, and residues tram atmospheric fluidized bed combustion processes. Bottom ash aggregate was used as a partial replacement for the limestone aggregate in a bituminous surface mix. Non-specification fly ash was used in lieu of Class F fly ash in a stabilized aggregate base. Bottom ash stabilized with residue from an atmospheric fluidized bed combustion process was used as a highway …

Applicant's Guide To Traffic Impact Studies, Soumya Sekhar Dey, Jon D. Fricker

JTRP Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Performance Of Experimental Highway Base And Subbase Layers Containing Coal-Fired Power Plant By-Product Materials: Ky Route 3074, Bleich Road, David Q. Hunsucker, R. Clark Graves

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Three 750-foot test sections of a 22-foot wide roadway were constructed on newly constructed subgrade in May and June, 1988. The three experimental sections contained experimental base and subbase layers comprised of mixtures utilizing by-product materials from a coal-fired power plant One test section included a base layer containing residue from an atmospheric fluidized bed combustion (AFBC) process, size No. 57 aggregate, and Class F fly ash. The second test section included a base layer constructed ponded fly ash, hydrated lime, and dense-graded aggregate. The third test section included a subbase layer constructed of pond ash stabilized with AFBC residue. …

Bs News

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Drainage Basins And Flash Flood Hazards In Al-Ain Area, United Arab Emirates, Moza Hamad Al-Shamsi

Civil and Environmental Theses

Flash flood strike different parts of Al-Ain area virtually every year causing Serious property loses this study investigates the main factors control ling this Flooding, namely. (a) Climate, (b) geomorphology, and (c) hydrogeology Climatically, mo t of rainstorms do occur during the month of February. Geomorphologic ally, the landforms and drainage systems are the main factors. Hydrogeological, twenty basins were carefully identified and their morphometric Parameters were measured the relations between these morphometric parameters and flash floods were accordingly assessed. The results show that most severe damage did occur in buildings and farms in Al Ain Area the most influential …

Constitutive Equation For Concrete Using Strain-Space Plasticity Model, Yuxiang Xing

Dissertations

Plasticity theory has been used to model the concrete constitutive relationship for about two decades. With the modifications and refinement based on experimental data, achievement has been made in these plasticity models for concrete. Almost all the existing models are developed in stress space. With a lot of experimental data and more understanding about stress states of concrete, the stress-space model shows many advantages. Because of this and also due to conventional engineering practice, the stress-space plasticity approach has been in the dominant position. However, the conventional stress-space plasticity method has one inherent drawback in which it cannot deal with …

Tensile Behavior Of Concrete And Mortar Under Direct Impact Tensile Load, Kayumars Emad

Dissertations

Structures are often subjected to impact loadings during their lifetime. Most structural specifications including the special provisions for seismic design in the current ACI building codes, have been developed on the basis of quasi-static assumptions. Cement composites are strain rate sensitive materials therefore, their properties determined under quasi-static condition should not be used to predict their performance under high strain rates.

The objectives of this investigation are:

• to develop a standard test set-up for direct tensile testing of cementitious composites.
• to study the tensile behavior of mortar and concrete under direct impact tensile load.
• to develop a simplified formula to …

Unreinforced Masonry Structures : Nonlinear Analysis And Evaluation Of Some Rehab Schemes, Sanjay Mehta

Dissertations

Unreinforced masonry (URM) structures have been a common type of construction in the past and are still used in regions of low seismicity. Retrofitting of these structures is necessary because of two reasons: Firstly, observed damage after earthquakes reveals that URM construction is one of the most hazardous constructions even in the region of low seismicity; secondly, reclassification of seismic zones would require retrofitting of existing structures to comply with new guidelines for earthquake design.

Retrofitting measures require that the response of original and new structural systems as well as their interaction be considered. It is therefore important to correctly …

Utilization Of Fly Ash In Concrete, Chai Jaturapitakkul

Dissertations

Fly ash, a by-product of coal burning power plants, is produced in large quantities each year. It is commonly known that fly ash possesses pozzolanic behavior which can enhance the properties of concrete. Due to a lack of proper understanding on the formation of fly ash and its performance in concrete, the question of quality assurance has frequently been a major concern of engineers using fly ash in their construction projects. As a result, much fly ash is disposed of as waste material in landfills. Recent environmental concerns and a shortage of landfill space have rapidly escalated the disposal cost …

Integration Of Pneumatic Fracturing To Enhance In Situ Bioremediation, Conan Dante Fitzgerald

Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to study the anticipated benefits of integrating pneumatic fracturing with in situ bioremediation. Since pneumatic fracturing increases subsurface air flow in low permeability formations, it has the potential to overcome many of the major limiting factors of microbial growth and activity. A new innovation called pneumatic bio-injection can further enhance in situ bioremediation by efficiently dispersing biological solutions, including microorganisms, into a formation.

Bench scale experiments were conducted to examine the ability of microorganisms to survive the pressures and stresses associated with pneumatic injection. Tests conducted at pressures ranging from 60 to 500 psi …

Power Consumption In Single-Phase Agitated Vessels Provided With Multiple Impellers, Gwo-Ming Chang

Theses

A significant amount of data can be found in the literature on power consumption of single-impeller agitation systems. However, little and incomplete information is available for power consumption in multiple-impeller systems. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to experimentally determine the power consumed by multiple impellers in mixing vessels as a function of impeller type, impeller off-bottom clearance, impeller spacing, and agitation speed.

In this work, the power dissipated by combinations of one, two or three impellers of either identical types or different types was studied. The power drawn by each individual impeller was measured by means of …

Mechanism Of Pneumatic Fracturing, Trevor Compton King

Theses

This thesis investigates the mechanism of pneumatic fracturing in geologic materials such as soil and rock. Pneumatic fracturing is a recently developed technique for increasing the permeability of geologic formations by the controlled injection of high pressure air. Present applications are focusing on the in situ remediation of contaminated soil and ground water, although pneumatic fracturing has other geotechnical uses such as pumping well enhancement.

A comprehensive literature review of a related technology known as hydraulic fracturing is presented, which serves as background for development of a pneumatic fracturing model. Pressure-time histories from actual pneumatic injections are analyzed in detail …

Fracture Of Cementitious Composites, Sira Tindukasiri

Theses

Studies in fracture mechanics of concrete use a testing setup which tends to include unacceptably large errors in deflection measurements. Recent work reported by Kim [3] has proposed a new testing setup to eliminate these errors and consequently produce better determinations of fracture parameters.

The error which occurs most frequently is in the measurement of the load-line deflection. Until recently, the way this measurement has been made, using a dial gauge or LVDT (Linear Variable Differential Transformer) to measure the deformation between the center of the specimen and the frame, includes the crushing of the concrete surface at the supports …

Cone Penetration In Cemented Deposits-A Field Study, Semih Arslan

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Neglecting cementation results in an underestimation of slope stability and pile capacity in design and analysis of geotechnical engineering problems related to cemented deposits. Developing methods to identify and assess the engineering characteristics of cemented deposits is an important subject in geotechnical engineering.

This study is conducted to evaluate the reliability of the prediction schemes proposed by previous investigators through a field study of cone penetration in a cemented deposit and respective laboratory triaxial study on undisturbed cemented specimens. The effect of cementation on cone penetration resistance is investigated through the field study, and the effects of cementation on drained …

Gravity Sedimentation: A One-Dimensional Numerical Model, Joanna Robin Karl

Dissertations and Theses

A large fraction of the current cost of wastewater treatment is from the treatment and disposal of wastewater sludge. Improved design, energy efficiency, and performance of dewatering facilities could significantly decrease transport and disposal costs.

Dewatering facilities are designed based on field experience, trial and error, pilot plant testing, and/or full scale testing. Design is generally time-consuming and expensive. A full-scale test typically consists of side-by-side operation of 4 to 5 full-scale dewatering units for several weeks to more than 6 months. Theoretical modeling of the physics of dewatering units such as the belt filter press, based on laboratory determined …

Third International Conference On Case Histories In Geotechnical Engineering, Multiple Authors

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

No abstract provided.

St. Joseph School Area Neighborhood Housing Project Revitalization Study, Kentucky Library Research Collections

Research Collections

No abstract provided.

Climatic Variability And Dynamics Of Great Salt Lake Hydrology, Taiye B. Sangoyomi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The time evolution of the Great Salt Lake hydro-climatic system is studied from the perspective of nonlinear dynamics. The dynamics are reconstructed in phase space using the Great Salt Lake volume time series. Important attributes for describing the system are then obtained from the reconstructed space. These include the minimum number of state variables required to describe the system inferred from a determination of the intrinsic dimension, and characterization of the system in terms of linear/nonlinear, and deterministic/stochastic. Other attributes obtained are the dominant modes of behavior of the system, as well as the limit of predictability or information loss, …

Weigh Station Bypassing, Herbert F. Southgate, Joseph D. Crabtree, Jerry G. Pigman, Nikiforos Stamatiadis

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

A Study was initiated in May of 1990 to investigate the problem of trucks bypassing or avoiding weigh/enforcement stations in Kentucky. A literature review identified two major studies (Wisconsin and Florida) on the subject, both of which are summarized in this report. In addition, a 1989, limited-scope study of truck bypassing of weigh stations in Kentucky was reviewed and summarized.

The primary data collection effort for this study took place in the fall of 1990, centered around the Simpson County enforcement station on Interstate-55. Three potential bypass routes were identified. Automatic vehicle classification (AVC) and weight-in-motion (WIM) equipment was installed …

Stress Evaluation Of Welded Steel Bridges On Coal-Haul Routes, Theodore Hopwood Ii, Keith J. Hogan, Christopher M. Oberst

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This report describes the procedure developed and being employed to determine and assess live-load stresses in structural members of welded steel bridges on extended· weight coal haul routes. Those bridges are routinely subjected to loads from coal trucks in excess of those permitted on other routes. Those elevated loads may result in high stresses in bridge members. Of principal concern are certain weld details on steel bridges that are susceptible to fatigue cracking when subject to high live-load stresses. Seventeen welded steel bridges on extended-weight coal haul routes have been identified for investigation under this study.

The study test procedure …

Protective Construction With Reinforced Earth, Christopher Y. Tuan

Civil Engineering Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

The objective of this research is to develop a simple analytical method that characterizes plane shock wave propagation through reinforced earth and the dynamic interaction with modular retaining wall panels. The shock wave was initiated as a velocity boundary condition. The exact solution was obtained by the Laplace transform method. A step-by-step design procedure based on the "limit state" concept is proposed. Because of the impulsive nature of ground shock. the maximum response of the wall panel and reinforced soil system depends mainly on the capacity and rate of energy absorption and dissipation of the system. Therefore, the connection between …

Laboratory Study On Properties Of Rubber-Soils, Imtiaz Ahmed

JTRP Technical Reports

The waste tire problem in the United States is of great magnitude and has far reaching environmental and economic implications. This study investigates the feasibility of using tire chips, alone and mixed with soils, as lightweight material in highway embankments . The report contains: synthesis of all available information and results from laboratory testing of tire chips, rubber-Ottawa sand, and rubber-Crosby till. It is found that rubber-sand with chip/mix ratios of 33% or less exhibits excellent engineering properties: easy to compact; low dry density; low compressibility; high strength; and excellent drainage characteristics. On the whole, the rubber-Crosby till mixes do …

Bs News

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Practical Optimization Modeling For Contaminant Plume Management, Richard C. Peralta, Alaa H. Aly

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Simulation/optimization (S/0) models can be used to greatly speed the process of computing desirable groundwater pumping strategies for plume management. They make the process of computing optimal strategies fairly straightforward and can help minimize the labor and cost of groundwater contaminant clean-up.