Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Sensitivity Analysis Of Longitudinal Cracking On Asphalt Pavement Using Mepdg In Permafrost Region, Chen Zhang, Hainian Wang, Zhanping You, Biao Ma

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Longitudinal cracking is one of the most important distresses of asphalt pavement in permafrost regions. The sensitivity analysis of design parameters for asphalt pavement can be used to study the influence of every parameter on longitudinal cracking, which can help optimizing the design of the pavement structure. In this study, 20 test sections of Qinghai–Tibet Highway were selected to conduct the sensitivity analysis of longitudinal cracking on material parameter based on Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) and single factorial sensitivity analysis method. Some computer aided engineering (CAE) simulation techniques, such as the Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) technique and the multiple …

Modeling Biodegradation Settlement Of Municipal Solid Waste (Msw) Based On Measurement Of Landfill Gas And Degradable Solids In Leachate Recirculated Bioreactors, Vatsal Atulkumar Shah

Dissertations

The purpose of this work is two-fold: 1) to understand the phenomenon of the biodegradation process of municipal solid waste (MSW) in leachate recirculated bioreactors, and 2) to create a realistic predictive model based on this understanding which is capable of supporting a laboratory-to-field relationship for bioreactor landfills. Biodegradation is best described by loss of mass; however, primary researchers have assumed the phenomenon to be purely volume loss and modeled best by mechanical processes using a conservation of energy approach. It is suggested that the phenomenon requires a fundamental understanding of biodegradation process which results in a loss of mass, …

Expert System For Energy Optimization Of Buildings Using Sustainable And Resilient Strategies, Victoria Ann Scala

Dissertations

An expert system is developed using the science of heuristics to better model energy usage in existing commercial buildings and to predict future improvements more accurately. The software performs an initial audit analysis of all the major building systems including building envelope, HVAC, lighting, office equipment and appliances, water and hot water, and waste handling. A novel feature of the expert system is that it analyzes energy flow within the building more interactively and cohesively, as opposed to looking at each system individually as do most energy analysis tools on the current market. Both forward and backward chaining strategies are …

Fates Of Spilt Oil And Factors Affecting The Bio-Degradation Of Oil: A Review, Amogh-Ranganath Chakravarthy

Theses

The usage of crude oil and its products is increasing; in turn, the number of spills is also going up. The inland spills are the more recurrent spills in the U.S today. This review article deals with the weathering of oils, which commences just after oil spills into the environment with various processes such as evaporation, dissolution, photo-oxidation, dispersion, emulsification and bio-degradation along with other possible fates. Biodegradation is one of the most significant processes of weathering which depends on oil physical and chemical characteristics, environmental characteristics, pH, salinity and oil concentration. There is a range of oil concentration for …

Assessment Of Flood Protection Strategies For Combined Critical Infrastructure Failure And Hurricane/Storm Surge Events In The Meadowlands Area, Nisharg Dipakkumar Dalwadi

Theses

As a result of a wide-reaching comprehensive post-Sandy NJIT project entitled "Flood Mitigation Engineering Resource Center (FMERC)", a detailed investigation of alternative measures for flood mitigation in the Meadowlands area was completed in June 2014. The project involved the assessment of flood impacts, and the evaluation of a range of structural and non-structural capital improvement measures, maintenance, operations and regulatory measures, and broad system design and redundancy measures.

The basic objective of this thesis is to develop an innovative procedure for the enumeration and simulation of probability-weighted combined events, e.g., Oradell dam failure under various scenarios (sunny day, water level, …

Webinar: Exploring Pedestrian Responsive Traffic Signal Timing Strategies In Urban Areas, Sirisha Murthy Kothuri

TREC Webinar Series

The role of walking in the development of healthy, livable communities is being increasingly recognized. In urban areas, intersections are often viewed as a deterrent to walking, as their operation primarily favors automobiles, leading to large and unnecessary delays for pedestrians. There is currently very limited research on accommodating and/or prioritizing pedestrians at signalized intersections in the North American context. Pedestrians are often considered as a deterrent to efficient vehicular traffic flow and therefore active efforts to include them in operational decisions at intersections have been lagging. This research aims to fill that gap by understanding factors that influence pedestrian …

Towards Sustainability In The Oil And Gas Sector: Benchmarking Of Environmental, Health, And Safety Efforts, Jennifer Schneider, Salim Ghettas, Nacer Merdaci, Mervin Brown, Joseph Martyniuk, Waleed Alshehri, Anthony Trojan

Journal of Environmental Sustainability

The environmental, social and climate change issues that face the world today have all industries considering how they will address sustainability in the future. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the maturity of environmental, health and safety (EHS) efforts and progress toward sustainability in the oil and gas sector. Ten major oil companies have been analyzed based on public information including their published annual reports. Companies refer to voluntary initiatives when reporting their performance yet the assessment suggests that the sector overall continues to make progress and is maturing in its sustainability efforts. Many management system gaps were …

Use Of Advanced Traffic Signal Status Warning Systems For, Yi Qi, Bimin Mao

Faculty Publications and Scholarship

Signalized intersections are one of the most complicated and risky locations in the transportation network. If drivers make misjudgments and run a red light by mistake, it may put themselves and other road users at a great risk. To assist drivers in making the right decisions when passing through a signalized intersection, two Advanced Traffic Signal Status Warning Systems (ATSSWS), the Variable Message Sign (VMS) based warning system and the Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) based onboard driver warning system, were designed and tested by driving simulator-based experiments. The results revealed that both ATSSWSs can significantly reduce vehicles’ maximum deceleration rates, …

Online Resource Platform For Mathematics Education, Marisa Llorens, Edmund Nevin, Eileen Mageean

Other resources

No abstract provided.

The 2014 François Naftali Frenkiel Award For Fluid Mechanics, Benjamin D. Mater, Simon M. Schaad, Subhas Karan Venayagamoorthy

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Direct Strength Method For Steel Deck, Randall Keith Dudenbostel, Thomas Sputo, Walter Schultz

American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) Specifications, Standards, Manuals and Research Reports (1946 - present)

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) Standards Council selected this project as one of four winning research proposals for its 2014 Small Project Fellowship Program. Projectselections were based on several factors, including the potential for long-term impact on the industry; steel industry engagement and co-funding; and results for the AISI standards development committee, the student, and the academic institution. The objective of this project was to determine and compare the behavior and usable strength of existing floor and roof deck sections with both the Direct Strength Method (DSM) and Effective Width Method (EWM). It is anticipated that the results …

Direct Strength Method For Steel Deck, American Iron And Steel Institute

American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) Specifications, Standards, Manuals and Research Reports (1946 - present)

With the proposed reorganization of the AISI S100 Standard, the Direct Strength Method (DSM) will take a position of equal footing with the Equivalent Width Method (EWM) for calculating strength. The majority of previous DSM studies focus on C and Z profiles while little study of panel sections, especially steel deck sections, has been performed. A study was undertaken to determine and compare the behavior and usable strength of existing floor and roof deck sections with both DSM and EWM. The Cornell University – Finite Strip Method (CUFSM) was used for the elastic buckling analysis, taking into account the wide, …

2015 Nebraska Groundwater Quality Monitoring Report

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality: Reports

The 2001 Nebraska Legislature passed LB329 (Neb. Rev. Stat. §46-1304) which, in part, directed the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) to report on groundwater quality monitoring in Nebraska. Reports have been issued annually since December 2001. The text of the statute applicable to this report follows: “The Department of Environmental Quality shall prepare a report outlining the extent of ground water quality monitoring conducted by natural resources districts during the preceding calendar year. The department shall analyze the data collected for the purpose of determining whether or not ground water quality is degrading or improving and shall present the …

2015 Civil And Environmental Engineering Department News, Department Of Civil And Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological University

Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering Newsletters

Table of Contents

• Student Awards
• Faculty News
• Research Projects
• Alumni News
• Department News
• Academy of Civil and Environmental Engineers
• CEE Donor Recognition

Double Vault Composting Latrines In Rural Paraguay : Feasible Construction And Optimal Use, Paul T. Pebler

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

Water resource depletion and sanitation are growing problems around the world. A solution to both of these problems is the use of composting latrines, as it requires no water and has been recommended by the World Health Organization as an improved sanitation technology. However, little analysis has been done on the decomposition process occurring inside the latrine, including what temperatures are reached and what variables most affect the composting process. Having better knowledge of how outside variables affect composting latrines can aid development workers on the choice of implementing such technology, and to better educate the users on the appropriate …

A Field Investigation Of Composite Mud Brick Compressive Strength, Kevin D. Hale

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

It has been highlighted in numerous publications that in the field of earth construction there is a strong disconnect between experimental work in the laboratory and its application in the field. The current study attempts to help bridge this gap with a field test conducted in Nampula, Mozambique. Mud bricks were made with a simple hand mold and reinforced with bamboo and straw fibers. Fibers were cut into lengths of 3 cm and 6 cm while being mixed in fractions of 0.125%, 0.25% and 0.50% by weight and compressive strength was measured using an application of the 3-point bending test. …

Feasibility Analysis Of Phase Transition Signals Based On E-Bike Rider Behavior, Sheng Dong, Jibiao Zhou, Li Zhao, Keshuang Tang, Renfa Yang

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

This article evaluates the feasibility of two scenarios of phase transition signals, that is, the flashing green together with red–yellow light and the green countdown together with red countdown, at signalized intersections in terms of e-bike rider behavior. An evaluation framework is first proposed. During the phase transition, the stop-go and start-up behavioral parameters are collected at four intersections in Shanghai, China. Sensitivity analysis is then performed to identify the most significant factors that influence the occurrence of traffic conflicts during the phase transition. Based on the above analysis results, case studies were finally done to look into safety performance …

Soil Washing Of Fluorine Contaminated Soil Using Various Washing Solutions, Deok-Hyun Moon, Rae-Hyun Jo, Agamemnon Koutsospyros, Kyung Hoon Cheong, Jeong-Hun Park

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Bench-scale soil washing experiments were conducted to remove fluoride from contaminated soils. Five washing solutions including hydrochloric acid (HCl), nitric acid (HNO3), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and tartaric acid (C4H6O6) were tested. The concentration of the washing solutions used ranged from 0.1 M to 3 M with a liquid to solid ratio of 10. The soil washing results showed that the most effective washing solution for the removal of fluoride from contaminated soils was HCl. The highest fluoride removal results of approximately 97% from the contaminated soil were obtained using 3M HCl. The fluoride removal efficiency of the …

Eight Principles Of Uncertainty For Life Cycle Assessment Of Biofuel Systems, Adam J. Liska

Adam Liska Papers

New environmental regulations in the USA and Europe require a reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation fuels as a component of climate change mitigation policy. The US Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) requires GHG emission reductions from the life cycles of biofuels compared to gasoline, by 20% for ethanol from maize grain (maize-ethanol), 60% for cellulosic ethanol, and 50% for other advanced biofuels. To determine these reductions, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employs life cycle assessment (LCA) methods which were not used previously in national environmental regulations. These regulations, entitled the “Renewable Fuel Standard …

Nephrotoxic Contaminants In Drinking Water And Urine, And Chronic Kidney Disease In Rural Sri Lanka, Tewodros Rango, Marc Jeuland, Herath Manthrithilake, Peter G. Mccornick

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Chronic kidney disease of unknown (“u”) cause (CKDu) is a growing public health concern in Sri Lanka. Prior research has hypothesized a link with drinking water quality, but rigorous studies are lacking. This study assesses the relationship between nephrotoxic elements (namely arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and uranium (U)) in drinking water, and urine samples collected from individuals with and/or without CKDu in endemic areas, and from individuals without CKDu in nonendemic areas. All water samples—from a variety of source types (i.e., shallow and deep wells, springs, piped, and surface water)—contained extremely low concentrations of nephrotoxic elements, and all …

Demonstration Of A Daily High-Resolution (375-M) Alexi Evapotranspiration Product For The Nena Region, Christopher Hain, Martha C. Anderson, Mitch Schull, Christopher M.U. Neale

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

While the current constellation of geostationary sensors provides near-global coverage (60N to 60S) – it requires merging data from 7 satellites [resolving time differences; view angles; atmospheric correction]. Polar orbiting sensors such as MODIS and VIIRS provide daily global coverage of LST at higher resolutions than GEO sensors but at only two times per day.

Assessment Of Village Chicken Production Systems In Kambata Tambaro And Wolaita Zones, Snnpr, Ethiopia, Aman Getiso, Fitsum Tessema, Mesfin Mekonnen, Addisu Jimma, Bereket Zeleke

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

The study was conducted in four woredas (Damot Gale,Of a, Angacha and Hadero Tunto) the first two of them found in Wolaita zone and two of them in Kambata Tambaro Zone of SNNPR, Ethiopia respectively. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the study areas to assess village chicken production systems, productive and reproductive performance of village chicken and identifying constraints to village chicken production. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select 240 farming households and administer a pre-tested and structured questionnaire. The results showed that the mean age of interviewed farmers was 37.8±9.3 years; average family size & chicken …

Yield Gap Analysis Of Field Crops: Methods And Case Studies, V. O. Sadras, Kenneth Cassman, Patricio Grassini, W. G.M. Bastiaanssen, A. G. Laborte, A. E. Milne, G. Sileshi, P. Steduto

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

The challenges of global agriculture have been analysed exhaustively and the need has been established for sustainable improvement in agricultural production aimed at food security in a context of increasing pressure on natural resources. Whereas the importance of R&D investment in agriculture is increasingly recognised, better allocation of limited funding is essential to improve food production. In this context, the common and often large gap between actual and attainable yield is a critical target. Realistic solutions are required to close yield gaps in both small and large scale cropping systems worldwide; to make progress in this direction, we need (1) …

Soil-Bentonite Slurry Trench Cutoff Wall Final Design Report, Ushma Manandhar, Brian Ward, Tyler Zbytek

NSF Soil-Bentonite Slurry Trench Cutoff Wall Documents

Technical report includes background information on the project, site borings, several laboratory tests that were performed, and designs for the cutoff wall.

Management Of Rural Water Services In Nicaragua: A Systematic Network Approach To Evaluating Stakeholder Alignment, Jeffrey P. Walters, Amy N. Javemick-Will

Faculty Publications - Biomedical, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering

Water sector literature attributes a substantial cause of rural water system failure in developing countries to poor alignment between water service stakeholders. This study aimed to investigate a means for assessing stakeholder alignment by comparing the systemic interaction of stakeholder values, where the term ‘stakeholder values’ refers to aspects stakeholders believe are necessary to ensure rural water services are sustainable. The research held focus groups with key stakeholder groups involved in the management of rural water infrastructure in Terrabona, Nicaragua, to identify stakeholder values, and then used cross-impact analysis to evaluate how these values interacted to form stakeholder value networks …

Making The Case For Crew-Centered Design (Ccd) In Merchant Shipping, Aditi Kataria, Gesa Praetorius, Jens-Uwe Schröder-Hinrichs, Michael Baldauf

Conference Papers

Since 2003, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has emphasised the need to address and integrate ergonomics knowledge in a concerted manner. However, there is little guidance on the application of this knowledge in the design of merchant vessels. Utilizing a mixed methods approach, the paper identifies the need for crew-centered design (CCD), highlighting the importance of using concepts derived from Human-Centred Design (HCD) to be able to design work spaces and operational procedures that facilitate the work of the crew on board. Drawing upon results obtained from accident analysis (utilising the Technique for the Retrospective and predictive Analysis of Cognitive …

Indicators Of Reservoir Performance, Stefano Galelli

All ECSTATIC Materials

No abstract provided.

Flowability And Density Characteristics Of Controlled Low Strength Material (Clsm) Using Native High Plasticity Clay, Anand J. Puppala, Bhaskar Chittoori, Anil Raavi

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In pipeline construction projects when high plastic clayey soils are encountered in the excavated trench material, they are typically landfilled and better quality materials are imported from outside quarry sources for use as bedding and haunch zone materials. This practice has detrimental environmental and cost impacts; therefore, an efficient reutilization of this high plastic excavated material to produce controlled low strength materials (CLSMs) to use as bedding and haunch zone materials will have major sustainability benefits. As a part of an on-going research study, novel CLSM mix designs were developed by utilizing native high plastic clayey soils from the excavated …

2015 Scholarly Productivity Report, Missouri University Of Science And Technology

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Scholarly Productivity Reports

No abstract provided.

2015 Nebraska Water Monitoring Programs Report, Marty Link, Ryan Chapman

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality: Reports

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) is charged with monitoring, assessing, and to the extent possible, managing the state’s water resources. The purpose of this work is to protect and maintain high quality water and encourage or execute activities to improve poor water quality. Monitoring is done on nearly 17,000 miles of flowing rivers and streams, more than 134,000 acres of surface water in lakes and reservoirs, as well as the vast storage of groundwater in Nebraska’s aquifers.