Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Evaluation Of Building Information Modeling (Bim) For Water Transmission Pipelines, Rakesh Gopala Raju Doraiswamy

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

In the construction industry, water transmission pipelines projects typically require two-dimensional drawings for transferring design data to the field. These drawings are referred as construction documents and serve as the source documents for subsequent facility management. However, two-dimensional drawings become difficult to interpret when there are too many entities involved needing information. In addition, when there are too many drawings for separate components such as plans, sections, and details, the chances of errors and omissions are more likely to happen. On the other hand, Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a new trend in construction industry and is being increasingly used …

Optimal Loop Placement And Models For Length-Based Vehicle Classification And Stop-And-Go Traffic, Heng Wei, Qingyi Ai, Deogratias Eustace, Ping Yi

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Faculty Publications

Inductive loops are widely used nationwide for traffic monitoring as a data source for a variety of needs in generating traffic information for operation and planning analysis, validations of travel demand models, freight studies, pavement design, and even emission impact analysis of traffic operation. The loop data have also been used for vehicle length-based classification in many states including Ohio. The dual-loop detector consists of two single loop detectors which are placed apart at a fixed short distance, and this configuration enables the dual-loop detector data a potential real-time data source for speed and vehicle classifications. However, the existing dual-loop …

Innovative Pollutant Load Monitoring, Eric Gurr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Modern streamflow measuring equipment, water quality sampling techniques and a better understanding of pollutant washoff are continuously being developed as today's society is in critical need of improving water management, minimizing developmental impacts and preventing environmental hazards. In particular, the study of the spatial, temporal and volumetric characteristics of annual pollutant loading caused by variations in precipitation, land use and other anthropogenic factors is of great significance due to their relation to future global water demands. The research presented here falls in three parts. In the first part of the dissertation, an acoustical Doppler velocity profiler installed in a submerged …

Viability Study Of A Residential Integrated Stormwater, Graywater, And Wastewater Treatment System At Florida's Showcase Green Envirohome, Matthew Allen Goolsby

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The subject of water scarcity and the rate of water consumption has become popular topics over the last few decades. It is possible that society may consume or contaminate much of the remaining readily available water if there is not a paradigm shift. This deep rooted concern has prompted investigations to identify alternative water use and treatment methods. Within this report, information is presented from the use of innovative water harvesting and on-site sewage treatment and disposal systems (OSTDS) at Florida’s Showcase Green Envirohome (FSGE.net), while also addressing low impact development (LID) practices. FSGE is a residential home that demonstrates …

2008 Emissions Inventory Of Central Florida, Jessica Leigh Ross

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An emissions inventory of VOCs, NOx, and CO2 was conducted for three central Florida counties – Orange, Seminole, and Osceola (OSO) – for calendar year 2008. The inventory utilized three programs: MOBILE6, NONROAD2005, and EDMS (Emissions and Dispersion Modeling System) to model on‐road mobile, non‐road mobile, and airport emissions, respectively. Remaining point and area source data was estimated from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (U.S. EPA) 2008 emissions inventory. The previous OSO emissions inventory was done in 2002 and in the six years between inventories, there have been changes in population, commerce, …

Developing A Retrofitting System To Mitigate Floodwall Failures Of New Orleans, James Tyler Kidd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Non-Invasive Assessment Of Moisture Content Of Municipal Solid Waste In A Landfill Using Resistivity Imaging, Huda Shihada

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

A bioreactor landfill is operated to enhance waste decomposition, gas production, and refuse stabilization. The fundamental aspect in the operation of a bioreactor landfill is the controlled addition of water and/or the recirculation of leachate into the landfill's waste mass. Since there is an increasing trend to operate landfills as bioreactor landfills, it is crucial to understand the moisture distribution within the landfill. Monitoring the moisture distribution within a bioreactor landfill is essential not only for the design and operation of leachate recirculation systems, but also to identify sites with non-uniform leachate distribution due to ponding and channeling.In the recent …

Design Of Short Drilled Shaft Foundations In High-Plasticity Clay Under Inclined Loading, Thornchaya Wejrungsikul

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Drilled shaft foundations are primarily used to support structures such as bridge piers, towers, buildings, transmission towers, and roadway cable barriers. Generally, the main characteristics of drilled shafts are to transfer the loads to the stronger layers in the vertical direction and also their ability to withstand lateral movements from lateral loads. Though the design of shafts are well established with respect to combinations of loads and moments, their behavior under pullout type inclined loading is not well established. The inclined load applied is the combination of lateral and uplift loads at the same time and structures such as ends …

Sustainable Reutilization Of Excavated Trench Material, Rajini Kanth Reddy Karduri

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Sustainability is becoming a key factor in most construction projects. In most construction projects, personnel are spending efforts to understand the social, economic and environmental impacts of the various facets of construction projects. Geotechnical engineering can contribute to the sustainability of the project via selecting sustainable materials and construction processes that would to lead several tangible benefits. For example a pipeline generally runs through a long and varying terrain which results in innumerable environmental impacts during a pipeline installation. Therefore, it is necessary for the design engineer and also the owner to estimate these impacts of pipe installation and evaluate …

On The Effects Of The Circular Bolt Pattern On The Behavior Of The Extended End-Plate Connection, Roozbeh Kiamanesh

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

This study is pioneer in introducing the circular bolt pattern configuration in extended end-plate steel connections. Discovering the static and cyclic behavior of such connections is at the forefront of this research study. To accomplish this goal, full-scale experimental testing complemented with three dimensional non-linear finite element analysis were conducted. Due to the similarity between the behavior of T-Stubs under tension, and tension flange of the extended end-plate connection, experimental study was conducted on several T-Stub connections to study the effect of the bolt pattern configuration on the ductility, bolt force distribution, flange deformation, and overall performance of the connection. …

Evaluation Of Louisiana Asphalt Pavement Friction, Vivek Lal Das

LSU Master's Theses

This study aims to comprehensively investigate the effect of asphalt mix designs to address skid resistance. The current Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) specification for friction design considers only the friction rating of aggregate defined by the polished stone value (PSV) obtained by the British pendulum tester (BPT), which is associated with only the micro-texture of asphalt pavement surfaces. The objective of this study is to recommend an asphalt surface friction mix design guideline which is based on both micro- and macro-texture of the wearing course mix. The objective was achieved by evaluating four typical laboratory prepared Louisiana …

Analysis Of Major Hydrologic Events In Ascension Parish, La, Jessica Irene Mason

LSU Master's Theses

Ascension Parish is located in Southern Louisiana and is characterized by low slope and low elevation. This combination allows for much hydrologic storage during a flood event. Because Ascension Parish is one of the most rapidly growing areas in the United States, it is necessary to accurately predict the hydrologic and hydraulic properties of flow and accurately model them. Several processes within a hydrologic model greatly influence the output flow hydrographs so selecting correct methods and parameters is important. Transform methods describe how excess precipitation is transformed into runoff. There are several methods that can be used as a transform …

Using X-Ray Computed Tomography To Quantify Damage Of Hot-Mix Asphalt In The Dynamic Complex Modulus And Flow Number Tests, Hao Ying

LSU Master's Theses

The dynamic modulus test is conducted based on the assumption that no damage is induced during the testing process and that measurements are conducted within the linear viscoelastic region. In addition, significant damage is expected to occur during the flow number test process. While these assumptions are well-defined, the levels of damage taking place during these tests have not been quantified. The objectives of this study were to quantify the levels of damage in the dynamic complex modulus and flow number tests using x-ray computed tomography (CT) and to characterize the microstructural properties of asphalt mixtures under loading. Four Superpave …

Interfacial Shear Bond Strength Between Old And New Concrete, Zhifu Wan

LSU Master's Theses

The quality of the bonded concrete overlay depends on the bonding at the layer’s interface, which is affected by water to cement (w/c) ratio in new concrete, moisture condition of old concrete surface. The objective of this study is to quantify the interface shear bond strength affected by these variables. At the Phase I, twelve old concrete cubes with two different moisture conditions (air dry, saturated surface dry (SSD)) at the interface were chosen. Silica fume addition with two w/c ratios of 0.45 and 0.6 were used for new overlay concrete. It was found that silica fume significantly increased both …

The Effects Of Highway Environmental Conditions On Photocatalytic Pavement's Ability To Reduce Nitrogen Oxides, Heather Dylla

LSU Master's Theses

Nitrogen oxides (NOx) emitted from vehicle exhaust are associated with negative health impacts and are a precursor to ozone. Self-cleaning, air-purifying concrete pavement is a rapidly emerging technology that can degrade pollutants such as NOx through heterogeneous photocatalysis. Although this technology has the potential to support environmentally friendly road infrastructure, a number of design and operational parameters may affect its effectiveness and thus need to be evaluated. The goal of this study was to measure the NOx reduction efficiencies from photocatalytic pavements under various environmental conditions common to highways. To achieve this goal, the objectives were to: (a) evaluate the …

A Study On The First-Passage Reliability Problem And Its Application In Earthquake Engineering, Sara Ghazizadeh

LSU Master's Theses

The research presented in this thesis focuses on analytical approximations for the time-variant first-passage failure probability (FPFP) of linear elastic models of structural systems subjected to stochastic excitations. The FPFP is defined as the probability that a response quantity of an engineering system subjected to a dynamic stochastic loading outcrosses a specified threshold within a given exposure time. The FPFP is an important and useful quantity for many structural engineering applications. The classical first-passage reliability problem is studied for linear elastic single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) and multi-degrees-of-freedom (MDOF) systems subjected to stationary and nonstationary Gaussian excitations. The absolute and relative accuracy of …

Application Of Satellite Remote Sensing Imagery To Bridge Scour Evaluation, Xiaoyan Zhao

LSU Master's Theses

The overall goal of this research is to evaluate the applicability of the existing HEC-18 method to Louisiana bridges that are mostly situated on cohesive soils and hence to develop a more reliable design method for scour depth and scour rate prediction. Pier research in sandy soils and cohesive soils shows that the sandy soils are known to erode particle by particle, while cohesive soils usually erode in clumps rather than individual particles, which is caused by from the different bonding mechanisms between sandy soils and cohesive soils. Because the bonding in cohesive soils is so complex, the prediction of …

Integrating Demand And Traffic Simulation Modeling To Evaluate Adaptive Evacuation Plans, Thomas Jude Montz, Jr.

LSU Master's Theses

Significant efforts are currently being made by transportation officials to improve the planning and preparation of mass evacuations. The idea of adaptive evacuation plans is an avenue of research that could help improve future evacuation processes. Adaptive evacuation plans stem from the observation that different disaster threat scenarios require different evacuation responses. While adaptive evacuation planning can be generalized to any form of evacuation planning, this project focused on adaptive planning in the context of a hurricane evacuation.

This project was the first to adapt the demand models of Fu, et al, and Cheng, et al, into a regional-scale traffic …

Long-Term Continuity Moment Assessment In Prestressed Concrete Girder Bridges, Veeravenkata S Murthy Chebole

LSU Master's Theses

Use of new materials, developing new structural systems, and improving construction details while designing bridges with longer spans has been a continuous challenge for bridge engineers since early times. The study of precast/prestressed concrete (PC) bridges made continuous started in early 1960s is one of the most popular alternatives. Continuous structure improves riding comfort and durability of structure, reduction in structural depth, and reserve load capacity under overload conditions. This research presents the state-of-the-art tool for calculating restraint moments in PC continuous bridge girders. The scope of this study is limited to straight slab-on-girder bridges i.e. effects of horizontal curves …

Environmental Factors Impacting Coastal Beach Health, Kevin Michael Chenier

LSU Master's Theses

The objectives of this research were to 1) determine the variability of fecal-indicator bacteria in Gulf of Mexico marine waters, 2) determine the effect of environmental variables on enterococci concentrations, 3) determine if beach sand at Holly Beach, LA was capable of acting as a reservoir for fecal-indicator bacteria, and 4) determine if a model could be developed to reduce the time it takes to issue a beach swim advisory. Fecal-indicator bacteria concentrations varied from year to year in historical data collected from a Gulf Coast beach. Afternoon fecal-indicator bacteria concentrations were consistently lower than morning concentrations, demonstrating daily variability. …

Measurement Of Spatial Variation Of Density Of Compacted Powder Using Synchrotron Microtomography, Yi Yang

LSU Master's Theses

This research considers density change in powder metallurgy when compacting a powder blend in a die. In order to provide insights into particle behavior during compaction, atomized aluminum powders with an average particle size of 100 µm were used in two different compaction configurations. The compaction dies are cylindrical in shape: compaction configuration I displays an upper punch, a die, a lower punch, and a spacer. Compaction configuration II displays an upper punch, two dies, a lower punch, and a spacer with different geometry. The Synchrotron Microtomography scans were conducted on both compaction configurations. For compaction configuration I, the scan …

Building Information Management (Bim) Implementation In Naval Construction, Raymond Rohena

LSU Master's Theses

Traditional two-dimensional (2D) delivery systems in the construction industry can hinder the way information is communicated between owners, architects, and contractors. This hindrance exists in all phases of a project, from design and construction to the operation and maintenance of the completed facility. Building Information Management (BIM) is an emerging information technology that promotes a collaborative process for the Architectural, Engineering, Construction and Facilities Management (AECFM) industry; it can aid the exchange of information and provide improved project data accessibility to all stakeholders of a construction project. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), in conjunction with the facility management (FM) …

Modeling Of First-Flush Reactor For Stormwater Treatment, Shaowei Sun

LSU Master's Theses

Stormwater runoff is one of the most common sources of non-point source water pollution to lakes, rivers and estuaries. Nitrate-nitrogen in stormwater runoff is an important limiting factor to the eutrophication phenomenon. While most pollutants and nutrients, including nitrate-nitrogen, in stormwater are discharged into receiving waters during the first-flush period, no existing Best Management Practices (BMPs) are specifically designed to capture and treat the first-flush portion of urban stormwater runoff. In addition, nitrate-nitrogen removal rates of most existing BMPs are relatively low. This thesis presents results from both laboratory experiments and numerical modeling of nitrate-nitrogen removal in a designed first-flush …

Evaluation Of Volumetric And Mechanistic Properties Of Asphalt Mixtures: Laboratory Vs. Field, Samuel Booth Cooper Iii

LSU Master's Theses

The maintenance and growth of the United States infrastructure is vital to the economic, social, and cultural success of the country. For this reason significant resources must be allocated to ensure adequate paving mixtures are designed, produced, and constructed. A critical issue that has received considerable attention in recent years is to identify and quantify causes, sources, and levels of variability in volumetric and mechanical properties of the mixture. This requires evaluation of three possible scenarios for production of asphalt mixture specimens: (1) laboratory mixed and laboratory compacted specimens (LL), (2) plant mixed and laboratory compacted specimens (PL), and (3) …

Implementing Lean In Healthcare Warehouse Operations - Evaluation Of 5s Best Practice, Sanjith Venkateswaran

LSU Master's Theses

Lean strategies in healthcare aim at improving patient throughput, reducing medication errors, redesigning work flow, improving patient safety, and reducing cycle time. Documented studies to improve healthcare’s warehouse operation are not common in the literature. Managing types of medical supplies has always been a priority due to demand uncertainties and the risk of shortages that would profoundly affect patient safety. This study showcases two implementation approaches for the Lean tool 5S (Hybrid and Traditional) conducted in three different hospitals’ central warehouses at Ochsner Health System. These warehouses store similar medical products with over 1000 types of supplies (e.g. syringes, gloves, …

Robust Statistical Methods For Non-Normal Quality Assurance Data Analysis In Transportation Projects, Mohammad Moin Uddin

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The American Association of Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) require the use of the statistically based quality assurance (QA) specifications for construction materials. As a result, many of the state highway agencies (SHAs) have implemented the use of a QA specification for highway construction. For these statistically based QA specifications, quality characteristics of most construction materials are assumed normally distributed, however, the normality assumption can be violated in several forms. Distribution of data can be skewed, kurtosis induced, or bimodal. If the process shows evidence of a significant departure from normality, then the quality measures …

The Effect Of Loose Mix Aging On The Performance Properties Of Warm Asphalts, Thomas Martin Clements

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Recent improvements in warm mix asphalt technologies have spurred an aggressive adoption of these new practices within the asphalt paving industry. Concerns have arisen among federal and state agencies about the effects of this line of products on the performance of asphalt pavements. An investigation of the effects of lowering mixing, aging and compactions temperatures while varying the loose mix aging time was performed. Hamburg Wheel Tracking, Flow Number, Dynamic Modulus and Fracture Energy testing were used to evaluate mechanistic properties of the materials.

Accounting For Warping And Differential Drying Shrinkage Mechanisms In The Design Of Jointed Plain Concrete Payments, Rita Elizabeth Lederle

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

When a concrete slab experiences differential volume change due to temperature, moisture, and shrinkage gradients, it deforms. The stresses induced by these differential volume changes can reduce the pavement’s fatigue life. Differential volume change is quantified by the equivalent temperature difference required to deform a comparable flat slab to the same shape as the actual slab. This thesis presents models to predict the equivalent temperature difference due to moisture warping and differential drying shrinkage. Moisture warping occurs because a portion of drying shrinkage is reversible, while differential drying shrinkage is due to the irreversible portion of drying shrinkage. The amount …

Discrete Element Methods For Asphalt Concrete : Development And Application Of User-Defined Microstructural Models And A Viscoelastic Micromechanical Model , Yu Liu

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

As an important Civil Engineering material, asphalt concrete (AC) is commonly used to build road surfaces, airports, and parking lots. With traditional laboratory tests and theoretical equations, it is a challenge to fully understand such a random composite material. Based on the discrete element method (DEM), this research seeks to develop and implement computer models as research approaches for improving understandings of AC microstructure-based mechanics. In this research, three categories of approaches were developed or employed to simulate microstructures of AC materials, namely the randomly-generated models, the idealized models, and image-based models. The image-based models were recommended for accurately predicting …

Nitrogen Oxides In The Firn Air At Summit, Greenland, Claudia Toro

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Measurements of NOx within the snowpack at Summit, Greenland were carried out from June 2008 to July 2010, using a novel system to sample firn air with minimal disruption of the snowpack. These long-term measurements were motivated by the need of improving the representation of air-snow interactions in global models. Results indicated that the NOx budget within the snowpack was on the order of 550 pptv as maximum, and was constituted primarily for NO2. NOx production was observed within the first 50 cm of the snowpack during the sunlight season between February and August. Presence of NOx at larger depths …