Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Bulbous Pier: Alternative To Bridge Pier Extensions, Amilcar Chavez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Bridge deck splashing causes deterioration to the bridge structure and renders the bridge unsafe for motorist and pedestrians. The traditional countermeasure for bridge deck splashing is pier extension, the pier extension moves the pier wave away from the bridge deck, but retrofitting existing bridges with pier extensions is costly. This research proposes the bulbous pier concept as an alternative to pier extension.

The decrease in the pier wave produced by the bulb is due to energy subtracted by the bulb via two forces, the viscous resistance, and the wave-making resistance. The proposed mathematical model for the bulbous pier design follows …

The Use Of Cod, Toc, Fluorescence, And Absorbance Spectroscopy To Estimate Biochemical Oxygen Demand In Wastewater, Evelyn Aramaine Christian

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

All wastewater treatment facilities must obtain a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, which regulates the quality of water that is discharged. Common to all NPDES permits is a limit on organic matter, as determined by the five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) test. More rapid methods, such as chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC), fluorescence, and absorbance spectroscopy are also capable of quantifying organic matter. Previous studies indicate it is possible to develop correlations between these parameters. This study explored the correlations using influent, primary clarifier effluent, and finished effluent samples from an operational wastewater treatment plant …

Prediction Of Shear Strength And Ductility Of Cyclically Loaded Reinforced Concrete Columns Using Artificial Intelligence, Nicholas Gordon

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The shear strength and deformation capacities of reinforced concrete (RC) columns are governed by a multitude of variables related to material properties of the steel and concrete used in the design and construction of the columns. Predicting performance of RC columns using design variables is a complex, non-linear problem. The prediction of shear strength and ductility for these types of structural members has historically been performed using empirically or semi-empirically derived formulae based on experimental results. The introduction of cyclical lateral loading, such as the forces imposed on a structure during an earthquake, can result in severe degradation of shear …

Properties Of Concrete Containing Ggbf Slag And Nano-Silica, Mohammad Sajjadul Islam

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS), a by-product from steel production, has been used as a partial replacement of portland cement in concrete for over a century. It constitutes a beneficial reuse of a by-product material, less consumption of portland cement concrete. Lower consumption of portland cement concrete can help reduce construction cost. Furthermore, it lowers the industrial carbon footprint, and landfill disposal which is a major environmental issue the world is facing today. The chemical composition of GGBF slag is similar to portland cement with hydraulic properties and additional pozzolanic properties with excellent alkali silica reactivity mitigation and resistance …

Impacts Of Ozone Dose And Empty Bed Contact Time On Total Organic Carbon Removal Through Ozone-Biological Activated Carbon Treatment, Ashley Selvy

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In the face of climate change, pollution, and population growth, water scarcity has become a global threat. Many populations have witnessed their drinking water sources dwindle to an unsustainable level. These severe conditions have sparked interest in potable reuse as an increasingly viable alternative to typical ‘pristine’ drinking water sources. Currently, the California Division of Drinking Water (DDW) provides the most stringent requirements for reuse water quality. The best way to meet these standards is through the use of full advanced treatment (FAT), which consists of reverse osmosis (RO) and an advanced oxidation process (AOP). Alternative treatment trains composed of …

Evaluation Of The Equations Used To Calculate Hydraulic Conductivity Values From Two-Stage Borehole Tests, Johnathon Dale Blanchard

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

A compacted clay liner (CCL) test pad was constructed for the purpose of evaluating the testing procedures utilized for determining hydraulic conductivity of a CCL. These procedures include ASTM D6391 (2014) Method C and ASTM D6391 Method A. Method C was recently added to ASTM D6391(2014) and was evaluated based upon comparison of results obtained from previous research with results from the data presented herein. The test pad was instrumented with volumetric water content probes and water matric potential sensors to monitor the wetting front in the soil. The data obtained from this instrumentation should be used to develop a …

Blind Source Separation For Feature Detection And Segmentation In Ground Penetrating Radar (Gpr) Lmaging Of Concrete Bridge Decks For Nondestructive Condition Assessment, Vincent Krause

Dissertations

Concrete bridge decks require periodic condition assessment and preventive maintenance to extend their useful lifespan. Nondestructive evaluation methods such as Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) are slowly beginning to replace or complement the manual (visual) assessment of bridge conditions for detecting defects at their early stages. However, GPR scans of bridge decks are frequently cluttered with high amplitude reflections from known parts of the bridge deck, which make the detection of defects’ low amplitude reflections difficult. One such known part is the embedded steel reinforcement bars known as rebar.

This dissertation presents a novel approach to the automated detection of defects …

The Fate Of Pharmaceuticals And Personal Care Products In Conventional And Engineered On-Site Wastewater Drain Fields, James Beardall

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Utah State University Division of Environmental Engineering student, under the direction of Ms. Judith L. Sims, has investigated the fate of six pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in conventional and engineered on-site wastewater drain fields. The presence of PPCPs in the environment, especially in aquatic environments, has raised awareness to the effects of PPCPs on aquatic life and the fate of these PPCPs, and has caused regulators to become more involved in setting requirements for the removal of PPCPs from wastewater.

This research investigated the fate of caffeine, acetaminophen, carbamazepine, sulfamethoxazole, progesterone, and fluoxetine in laboratory scaled columns that …

Design Of An Improved Post For Use In A Non-Proprietary High-Tension Cable Median Barrier, Robert W. Bielenberg, Ronald K. Faller, Karla A. Lechtenberg, Tyler L. Schmidt, Scott K. Rosenbaugh, John D. Reid, Dean L. Sicking

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

The objective of this research study was to develop a revised post section for the non-proprietary high-tension cable median barrier that improved the safety and function of the post by lowering strong-axis forces. A total of twenty dynamic component tests were performed, along with one cable pull test – ten tests with the 7-gauge C-section post, eight with the 10-gauge C-Section posts, and three with the Midwest Weak Post (MWP). The tests were conducted with the posts installed in either a compacted, crushed limestone soil or a rigid sleeve in order to determine the force vs. deflection and energy vs. …

Analysis Of Mobility Impact For Implementing Complete Streets, Marino Esteban Calderón Díaz

Masters Theses

Traffic simulation of the Western Michigan University campus and Downtown Kalamazoo to propose changes in the traffic flow and urban design are described. The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate the traffic mobility impact when incorporating the concept of Complete Streets in Downtown Kalamazoo. This project analyzes alternatives to improve traffic mobility for Stadium Drive, which includes new road geometry and roundabout. It also proposes wider sidewalks for pedestrians, bicycle lanes, and a designed landscape that enhances the genius loci. Bicycles are an ecofriendly means of transportation and the city of Kalamazoo lacks a safe path for bicyclists …

Numerical Modeling Of Fluid Migration In Hydraulically Fractured Formations, Toyin Christie Aseeperi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Economic production from low permeability shale gas formations has been made possible by the introduction of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. To ensure that gas production from these formations is optimized and carried out in an environmentally friendly approach, knowledge about the patterns of gas flow in the shale reservoir formation is required. This work presents the development of a shale gas reservoir model for the characterization of flow behavior in hydraulically fractured shale formations. The study also seeks to develop more computationally efficient approaches towards the modeling of complex fracture geometries. The model evaluates the migration patterns of gas …

Artifical Neural Network Models For The Analysis Of Permeable Pavement Performance., Ata Radfar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a numerical modeling study based on the findings of the two installed Permeable Interlocking Concrete Pavements (PICPs) in Louisville, KY and twenty one laboratory models. A new model derived to more accurately predict the captured surface runoff volume by the PICPs using Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs). The proposed model relates rainfall parameters and site characteristics to the runoff volume captured by the permeable pavements. The database used for developing the prediction models is obtained from the collected data of the monitored permeable pavements. The performance of the ANN-based models are analyzed and the results demonstrate that the …

Data Driven Comprehensive Assessment Of The Performance Of Stormwater Best Management Practices., Shanshan Li

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In order to evaluate the performance of the stormwater best management practices (BMPs) installed on the Belknap campus at the University of Louisville, a comprehensive assessment on the stormwater BMPs’ the flow volume reduction, peak flow attenuation, and overflow area abatement was made. We used a two-pronged analysis based on 1) predictive modeling using data mining approach; 2) model-based hydraulic simulation. The novelty of study is that it not only assessed the stormwater BMPs’ performances on flow volume reduction, but also assessed their performance on peak flow attenuation which is neglected in previous studies and assessment practices. Flow volume reduction …

A Framework For Estimating Labor Productivity Frontiers, Nirajan Mani

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The efficiency of construction operations is typically determined by comparing actual versus historical productivity. This practice is accurate if historical data reflects optimal values. Otherwise, this comparison is a gauge of relative rather than absolute efficiency. Therefore, in order to determine absolute efficiency, one must compare actual versus optimal productivity. Optimal productivity is the highest sustainable productivity level achievable under “good management” and “typical field conditions,” while the productivity frontier is the theoretical maximum achievable under “perfect conditions.”

The productivity frontier is an abstraction useful in the estimation of optimal productivity of construction operations. This research contributes to the body …

Assessing Gait And Postural Stability Of Construction Workers Using Wearable Wireless Sensor Networks, Houtan Jebelli

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Falling accidents are a leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries in the construction industry. This fact demonstrates the need for a comprehensive fall-risk analysis that incorporates the effects of construction workers’ physiological characteristics. In this context, the objective of the thesis is to investigate and validate the usefulness of the gait- and postural-stability metrics in assessing construction workers’ fall risks. Diverse metrics that assess the capability to keep the body balanced and maintain coordination of body segments during locomotion (gait stability) and stationary postures (postural stability) have been introduced and used in clinical applications. However, their usefulness in the …

Right Hand Fork Pedestrian Bridge Final Report, Ren Gibbons

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Right Hand Fork is a tributary canyon whose stream enters the Logan River nine miles east of the mouth of Logan Canyon near Logan, Utah. The access bridge to a popular recreational area, the Hobbit Caves, was damaged in 2011 by flooding. We propose that a new bridge be designed and constructed for the Forest Service to replace the current structure to ensure public safety and minimize environmental impact. We plan to use a longer bridge span that will situate the abutments higher on the stream bank and reduce possible water damage during flood events. Bridge costs will be minimized …

Stress-Strain Behavior By Image Analysis, Mix Density And Pre-Strain Effects Of Eps Geofoam, Chen Liu

Theses - ALL

In order to have a deeper understanding of the engineering performances of EPS geofoam, it is necessary to study the stress-strain response and internal strain distribution when loaded. In this investigation, the key objective is to study the stress-strain behavior of EPS geofoam under different conditions and develop construction practical suggestions when using geofoam. The scope of this research is divided into three main sections: (1) study the effect of induced anisotropy on the stress-strain behavior of EPS geofoam; (2) evaluate stress distribution within EPS blocks by using image analysis system; (3) analyze the effect of combining different EPS densities …

Bs News May/June

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Use Of Precisely Sculptured Thin Film (Stf) Substrates With Generalized Ellipsometry To Determine Spatial Distribution Of Adsorbed Fibronectin To Nanostructured Columnar Topographies And Effect On Cell Adhesion, Tadas Kasputis, Alex Pieper, Keith Brian Rodenhausen, Daniel Schmidt, Derek Sekora, Charles Rice, Eva Schubert, Mathias Schubert, Angela K. Pannier

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Sculptured thin film (STF) substrates consist of nanocolumns with precise orientation, intercolumnar spacing, and optical anisotropy, which can be used as model biomaterial substrates to study the effect of homogenous nanotopographies on the three-dimensional distribution of adsorbed proteins. Generalized ellipsometry was used to discriminate between the distributions of adsorbed FN either on top of or within the intercolumnar void spaces of STFs, afforded by the optical properties of these precisely crafted substrates. Generalized ellipsometry indicated that STFs with vertical nanocolumns enhanced total FN adsorption two-fold relative to flat control substrates and the FN adsorption studies demonstrate different STF characteristics influence …

Innovative And Efficient Simulation-Optimization Tools For Successful Groundwater Management And Conflict Resolution, Bassel Timani

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Simulation-Optimization (S-O) models are exemplary for strategic groundwater management planning. The two components of an S-O model serve different purposes. The simulation component models the aquifer and computes state variables resulting from stimuli such as extraction or diversion while the optimizor computes an optimal set of stimuli that maximize an objective function and satisfy a set of constraints. With the increased use of S-O model for larger and more complex real-world study areas, the use of fast and efficient S-O models has risen. Response matrix methods (RMMs) are usually used as substitute simulators within an S-O to solve the posed …

Benefits Of A State Driveway Database With Qualitative And Quantitative Crash Analysis, Andrew Bryant Stokes

All Theses

The primary goal of this research is to show how a fully developed driveway database will improve access management practices resulting in a reduction in crashes, injuries, and fatalities on our roadways. The results of this thesis highlight a close relationship between driveway characteristics and the incidence of crashes. Thus, it is critical to be proactive in enforcing access management strategies and policies that are designed to enhance driveway safety without compromising the economic vitality of land use along roads. The analysis identified several significant independent variables that influence crash rates either positively or negatively. The data driven approach to …

Decision Environments To Encourage More Sustainable Infrastructure Outcomes, Earl Shealy

All Dissertations

Physical infrastructure (i.e. roads, pipelines, airports, dams, landfills, and water treatment systems) contributes directly to sustainability outcomes such as energy and water use and climate changing emissions. The infrastructure built today will likely impact future generations for many years. Planning, design and development decisions about infrastructure are critical to the future performance of these systems. Such decisions about infrastructure are complex with multiple variables, alternative options, and design stages. To manage decisions that exceed cognitive capacity to consider all options, decision makers often create mental shortcuts (heuristics), and accompanied errors (biases). The potential cognitive biases when dealing with complex decisions …

Hazard Quantification And Loss Estimation For Combined Hurricane Wind And Flood, Bin Pei

All Dissertations

This research work focused on developing and evaluating the methodologies proposed for hazard quantification and loss estimation of the combined hurricane wind and flood. The overall research was divided into three studies. A methodology to quantify the joint occurrence probability of hurricane wind and flood was first introduced in Study I. A procedure to select ensembles of hazard-consistent full-track hurricane scenarios (i.e. with similar return periods) was proposed next in Study II. Finally in Study III, a new hurricane mitigation framework was developed using the agent-based modeling (ABM) technology to evaluate the effectiveness of incentive programs under both hurricane wind …

A Study Of The Influence Of Particle Gradation In Bonded Assemblies, Matthew P. Watters

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The discrete element method (DEM) has been used extensively to study soil, rock, and masonry behavior because of its ability to model the materials as individual particles or bonded clumps of particles. DEM allows for examination of the macro- and micro-scale response and provides a means to study the fundamental material behavior, but it is still considered computationally expensive in relation to other methods. To lower computational costs, the smallest particle sizes are often considered negligible and are left out of the model. Additionally, rock or intact materials are often modeled as a bonded assembly of uniform spheres. To date, …

Drive Plate Mass Polar Moment Of Inertia In Stokeo Type Resonant Column Devices, Michael Ryan Deschenes

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The calibration procedure employed by researchers at the University of Arkansas (UA) to calibrate two Stokoe-type resonant column torsional shear (RCTS) devices is presented herein. Specifically, the development of a device-specific calibration process to determine the mass polar moment of inertia of the RCTS drive plate assemblies (J0), as a function of frequency, is described. Three aluminum calibration specimens and three stainless steel masses with known geometric and material properties were utilized to experimentally determine the J0 values. Experimental data collected by researchers at the University of Arkansas and obtained from other sources (Utah State University, the University of Texas …

Effect Of Void Geometry On Strength, Stiffness, And Failure Modes Of Rock-Like Materials, Omed Yousif

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The host rock of portion of the first proposed high-level nuclear waste repository in the United States of America (Yucca Mountain, Nevada) is tuff rock that contains voids (lithophysae) with different shapes, sizes, and distributions. The existence of these voids can cause a dramatic change in the rock's mechanical properties such as uniaxial compressive strength, UCS, and Young's modulus, E. Accordingly, in an experimental program, the effects of void existence on the engineering properties of the tuff rocks was explored in a work of US Department of Energy conducted in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction of …

Transportation Economics And Energy, Ali Soltani Sobh

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Transportation is one of the major energy consuming sectors in the United States. The continued growth in fuel consumption not only increases dependency on foreign oil but also causes environmental issues due to the emissions of greenhouse gas (GHG). High gasoline consumption in the US transportation sector not only raises concerns regarding national energy security, but also poses many questions regarding the resulting environmental impacts of greenhouse gases emissions. Improvement in automobile fuel economy, increase the use of natural gas vehicles and electric vehicles have been proven to be as the policies in controlling oil demand and GHG emissions in …

Laboratory Study On The Effects Of Exit Face Inclination Of Critical Gradients, Richard Allen Keizer Jr.

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The objective of this research is to help better understand the effects of exit face inclinations on critical gradients. This will lead to more practical ways to predict critical hydraulic gradients and slope stability using soil properties and exit face conditions. Current geotechnical engineering does not consider these factors because they are not thoroughly understood. Despite the attempts to better predict critical gradients, methods developed over 70 years ago to model the heave mechanism are used to model failure mechanisms such as backward erosion (or piping). This critical hydraulic gradient is only calculated by means of the buoyant unit weight …

Velocity Distributions And Wall Pressures In A Scale Model Gated Box Culvert Control Structure, Alexander L. Evans

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) manages a system of canals and structures that control the flow through several large storm water treatment areas (STA). The present project was initiated because of the partial failure of a three-barrel, gated box culvert structure that belongs to the system. The structure has a forebay with three sluice gates that control the flow into three 8 ft by 8 ft box culverts. Settling and partial failure of the culverts in the structure was presumably caused by piping of sediment through joints in pre-cast sections of culvert. It was hypothesized that both unsteady …

High Resolution Multi-Spectral Imagery And Learning Machines In Precision Irrigation Water Management, Leila Hassan-Esfahani

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The goals of preserving scarce water resources, cultivating more lands, and saving on irrigation water bills have directed the attention of water resources managers toward the concepts of precision agriculture and, in particular, to precision irrigation. The purpose of precision irrigation is to increase irrigation efficiency to avoid crop water stress, avoid yield reduction due to under-irrigation and leaching of nutrients, runoff, and reduce soil erosion due to over-irrigation. In this study, irrigation efficiency has been defined in terms of irrigation uniformity and the response of the crop to irrigation. Crop water demand, soil moisture, evapotranspiration rate, and potential water …