Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Possible Solution To Housing Problem: Long Term Housing Investment Plan, Tucker Reed

Construction Management

The purpose of this paper is to provide young men and women entering the work force with the ability to invest towards acquiring a large plot of land to live on. In the current housing condition, Americans, more exactly those living in large urban populations are finding it difficult to find a permanent home in the same city as their workplace. This is particularly true for those whose professions require frequent relocation. The research conducted is meant to provide a person with little to no knowledge of construction with the conceptual understanding of the correct channels to purchase land and …

Difficulties Posed And Overcoming Challenges In Modular Construction: A Case Study, Matthew W. Meehleis

Construction Management

The modular construction delivery method presents specific challenges that other construction delivery methods often do not. These challenges are present in all parts of the delivery process, including the design, pre-construction, fabrication, shipping, and assembly onsite. These challenges often create reluctance to go the modular delivery method. To understand the modular sector requires an understanding of how successful modular companies overcome these challenges. Qualitative interviews with experienced modular builders were conducted to gain an understanding how they overcame these obstacles, grow, and eventually run smooth and successful projects. Experience gained from facing these challenges help to aid in solving new …

Economically Viable Methods For Wildfire Protection For Residential Homes In Santa Barbara County, Ryan F. Chiment

Construction Management

Santa Barbara County experiences wildfires often, with fourteen major wildfires occurring in the last thirty years. Title 24, Part 9 of the California Building Code establishes the minimum building requirements for fire protection in residential construction, but there are many ways to protect a home from wildfires that go beyond the minimum requirements established in the building code. The goal of this paper is to assess the perceived increase in value to Santa Barbara County homeowners of wildfire protective measures for their homes, and to determine realistic methods for wildfire protection that are within the budget of these homeowners. This …

Introducing Sequencing Within The Advanced Scheduling Curriculum, Adam Cole Alvarez

Construction Management

Scheduling is one of the most important factors within the construction industry. The current Advanced Scheduling curriculum addresses how to use the program P6, but not the understanding of how to sequence. This project introduced two new lab activities that focus on the understanding of sequencing while using P6. I chose this project because I have always had an interest in scheduling as it is one of the most important driving factors in construction and after taking Advanced Scheduling in my Junior year I noticed there is a need for understanding sequencing. I wanted to introduce a new curriculum because …

Bim Immersion Cube, Cory Krok

Construction Management

The construction industry has become one of the largest professions to struggle with effectively implementing technology. As the industry heads into the future, more and more technology will be needed to increase efficiency and reduce cost. Cal Poly, one of the leading universities for industry recruitment, needs to teach the new generation of builders to be able to implement BIM/VDC into the industry. In this project called the BIM Cube, the overall goal is to give Cal Poly students a better understanding of model coordination and clash detection. This paper outlines the preconstruction services required for the eventual construction of …

Paso Robles Police Department Outdoor Training Facility Improvements – Phases 2 & 3, Gavin J. Abraham

Construction Management

This paper outlines the pre-construction and construction of the 24,300 square foot Paso Robles Police Department outdoor training facility improvements. The project focuses on 12,000 square feet of the total site with improvements that include earthwork and new concrete flatwork. This project is a group project with Zach Stellini and Nic Petri that is broken up into three phases. This report will primarily focus on phases 2 & 3, which include concrete flatwork and finish grading. The purpose of this project was to provide the Paso Robles Police Department with a modern, functional facility that allows its officers to be …

Economic Comparisons Of Variable Rate Irrigation And Fertigation With Fixed (Uniform) Rate Irrigation And Fertigation And Pre-Plant Fertilizer Management For Maize In Three Soils, Vasudha Sharma, Suat Irmak

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Extensive field research for data collection to conduct economic comparisons of variable rate irrigation (VRI) with fixed (uniform) rate irrigation (FRI) and no irrigation (NI) in combination with three nitrogen application strategies of fixed (uniform) rate fertigation (FRF), variable rate fertigation (VRF) and pre-plant nitrogen (PP) management for maize (Zea mays L.) were conducted. Research was conducted in three soil types [(i) Crete silt loam (S1); (ii) Hastings silty clay loam (S2); and (iii) Hastings silt loam (S3)] for three growing seasons (2015, 2016 and 2017) in Nebraska, USA. For the economic analyses, the average initial investment of the …

Risk Assessment In Waste Sampling Activity For A Selected Food Industry, Razali Nurul Syazreen

Student Works (2020-2029)

Waste sampling is one of the main activities during environmental audit. This activity has been estimated as a non-risky activity and lead to inadequate risk assessment in the activity. The purpose of this study is to create a safer workplace for enforcement body in general and DOE officer in specific during waste sampling activity. Main objectives are to identify the hazards, further assess the hazards and determine the control measure to reduce the hazards. Observation and on-the-job training have been conducted to three food industry located in Shah Alam to identify the hazards. Structured surveys were conducted with 293 participants …

Comparison Of Different Power System Resilience Assessment Methods, Jian How Sam Chan

Student Works (2020-2029)

Climate change has been given significant attention in recent times, calling for more ideas to address issues stemming from extreme weather events. Until climate change can be slowed down and ultimately be reversed, it is an imminent objective to find solutions for the mitigation and prevention of the effects of catastrophic weather events. History has a record of the devastation caused by such events on electrical power infrastructures. While electrical power systems have conventionally been designed and built to weather everyday conditions, confronting cataclysmic high-impact, low-probability events will require more resilient attributes. Power systems are often deemed as the backbone …

Sacrificial Piles As Scour Countermeasures In River Bridges A Numerical Study Using Flow-3d, Mohammad Nazari-Sharabian, Aliasghar Nazari-Sharabian, Moses Karakouzian, Mehrdad Karami

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Scour is defined as the erosive action of flowing water, as well as the excavating and carrying away materials from beds and banks of streams, and from the vicinity of bridge foundations, which is one of the main causes of river bridge failures. In the present study, implementing a numerical approach, and using the FLOW-3D model that works based on the finite volume method (FVM), the applicability of using sacrificial piles in different configurations in front of a bridge pier as countermeasures against scouring is investigated. In this regard, the numerical model was calibrated based on an experimental study on …

Heat Transfer Analysis Of A Data Centre, Arumainathan Kabildev

Student Works (2020-2029)

Data centres are an integral part of networking as it houses servers that facilitate incoming and outgoing data flow. A resolute cooling approach is needed to overcome the hot air dissipated by these servers. This research focused on the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of the heat transfer modelled upon Telekom Malaysia (TM) City’s data centre 3. The simulation was carried out to ascertain the heat distribution across the data centre by using ANSYS Fluent. The results indicated that the server racks’ inlet temperature reaches 29.79 oC, which is close to the maximum permissible limit according to recommendations provided by …

Optimal Distribution Of Best Management Practices (Bmps) For Urban Stormwater Runoff Quantity And Quality Control, Rezaei Abdul Razaq

Student Works (2020-2029)

The vast development of urban areas throughout the world has substantially impacted the natural landscapes, leading to more imperviousness. Urbanization typically results in a larger amount of runoff volume, increase in flow frequency, duration and peak runoff, faster time of concentration as well as lower infiltration which will affect groundwater recharge. The stormwater runoff quality is also adversely affected in urban areas due to the pollutant loads in stormwater runoff. Best Management Practices (BMPs) and Low Impact Development (LID) have been widely applied to urban impervious surfaces to reduce urban stormwater runoff and improve water quality. In order to achieve …

A Comparative Study On Seismic Analysis Methods And The Response Of Systems With Classical And Nonclassical Damping, Noah G. Bleichner

Master's Theses

This thesis investigated the application of seismic analysis methods and the response of idealized shear frames subjected to seismic loading. To complete this research, a Design Basis Earthquake (DBE) for a project site in San Luis Obispo, CA, and five past earthquake records were considered. The DBE was produced per the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures (ASCE 7-10) and used for application of the Equivalent Lateral Force Procedure (ELFP) and Response Spectrum Analysis (RSA). When applying RSA, the modal peak responses were combined using the Absolute Sum (ABS), Square-Root-of-the-Sum-of-Squares (SRSS), and Complete …

Design Of Structural Stand For High-Precision Optics Microscopy, Sara T. Novell

Master's Theses

Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL) is home to the National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world’s largest and most energetic laser. Each of the 192 beamlines contains dozens of large optics, which require offline damage inspection using large, raster-scanning microscopes. The primary microscope used to measure and characterize the optical damage sites has a precision level of 1 µm. Mounted in a class 100 clean room with a raised tile floor, the microscope is supported by a steel stand that structurally connects the microscope to the concrete ground. Due to ambient vibrations experienced in the system, the microscope is only able …

Modeling Artificial Groundwater Recharge In The Santa Rosa Creek Watershed, Alexander J. Murray

Master's Theses

The Santa Rosa Creek Watershed is an approximately 48 mi2 large watershed located on the central coast of California. This watershed drains to the Pacific Ocean through Santa Rosa Creek as it passes through agricultural land and the town of Cambria. Historically the groundwater within the Santa Rosa Creek Watershed has been used for irrigation, municipal and domestic uses, and the creek is critical habitat steelhead trout. During dry years, there is less water for all uses. When low groundwater levels occur, water can be drawn out of the creek and into the soil, drying out steelhead habitat. Seven agricultural …

Optimization And Longevity Of Functionalized Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube-Enabled Membranes For Water Treatment, Madeleine Michael Isabella White

Master's Theses

Water scarcity is a growing concern at the global scale. Large scale water reuse is growing both in necessity and popularity. Before water reuse can be performed efficiently on a large scale or be used for potable supply, even indirectly, contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) will need to be treated at the full scale. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are a form of advanced water treatment capable of treating a wide range of CECs. This study contributes to the growing field of AOPs and more specifically AOPs using ozone combined with functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Ozonation of MWCNTs has been …

Investigation Of New Forward Osmosis Draw Agents And Prioritization Of Recent Developments Of Draw Agents Using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis, Jodie Wei Yu

Master's Theses

Forward osmosis (FO) is an emerging technology for water treatment due to their ability to draw freshwater using an osmotic pressure gradient across a semi-permeable membrane. However, the lack of draw agents that could both produce reasonable flux and be separated from the draw solution at a low cost stand in the way of widespread implementation. This study had two objectives: evaluate the performance of three materials — peptone, carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), and magnetite nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄ NPs) — as potential draw agents, and to use multi-criteria decision matrices to systematically prioritize known draw agents from literature for …

Preconstruction Plan For A Pedestrian Pathway Rehabilitation Project, Sean R. Stratton

Construction Management

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed to enforce improvements of public commodities to fill the gaps in our nation's civil rights inequalities for people with disabilities. Public pedestrian pathways are required by federal and state law to comply with ADA guidelines to allow ease of access to individuals with disabilities. Many existing sidewalks and pedestrian pathways have been renovated and modernized to comply with these ADA guidelines. This paper outlines the preconstruction plan for a rehabilitation project of a problematic pedestrian pathway on the campus of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and highlights the need for …

San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden Children’S Garden Shed, Javier Santiago

Construction Management

The San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden (SLOBG) is located on the California’s Central Coast. The garden consists of a total of 150 acres within El Chorro Regional National Park. This project arose because of a shortage of storage within the Botanical Garden grounds. This project specifically aimed to improve the children’s garden section’s storage space. Before the project took place, there was no storage space located within the children’s garden. Preconstruction coordination started in the Fall of 2019. Shortly after, design of the storage space began. Before construction of the storage shed could start, the project site was graded to …

Rodeo Arena Observation Deck, Ryan B. Fiorio

Construction Management

This report details the process that brought about a large deck that was built at the Cal Poly Rodeo Arena by two students, Timothy Smith and Ryan Fiorio. The project itself was over a year in the making, starting from an idea of Ben Londo, the Cal Poly rodeo coach, to a lengthy approval process and lots of time to fundraise the required money. The project was completed in June of 2020. This project used TimberTech composite decking per the request of Ben Londo. It was also built extremely rigid with the use of pony walls instead of posts to …

Log Truck Value Analysis From Increased Rail Usage, Sangpil Ko, Pasi Lautala, Kuilin Zhang

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Over the past several decades, the transportation of raw materials (logs) has increasingly shifted from the railway to trucks. However, the long-term sustainability of this shift is being questioned due to the shortage of truck drivers, fluctuation of fuel prices, and changes in hours of service laws. The industry is interested in the possibility to shift more logs back to the railway but the impact of such a shift on truckers has not been investigated. This study attempted to quantify the impact of such a change on the operations of log truckers by calculating time efficiency (percentage of daily hours …

Southern California Regional Transit Training Consortium: Skills Gap & Needs Assessment, Tyler Reeb, Benjamin Olson

Mineta Transportation Institute

The transit sector grows and evolves quickly with the needs of growing, busy cities. With this growth comes a need for more transit workers and more training to ensure workers can best serve their diverse communities. This report contains a transit training needs assessment and gap analysis to identify the most pressing challenges of the evolving transit workforce served by the Southern California Regional Transit Training Consortium (SCRTTC). Most importantly, this report documents and determines SCRTTC priorities to ensure the incumbent and future transit workforce is equipped with the professional and technological skills required to address the transformational trends affecting …

Effective Communication Message Strategy For Enhancing Traffic Safety In Fresno County: The Role Of Time Horizon, Regulatory Focus, And Perceived Personal Control, Samer Sarofim

Mineta Transportation Institute

This research empirically investigated the differential effect of message framing on message recipients’ attitudes and intended behaviors related to pedestrian, cyclist, and motorist traffic safety practices. The framework empirically investigated time horizon (expansive vs. limited) and regulatory focus (prevention vs. promotion) message framing.

The time horizon in the message can make someone either think of the future (expansive) or the present (limited). For example, an expansive time horizon message communicates that life is long and directs the focus on the future. On the contrary, a limited time horizon message communicates that life is short and directs the focus on the …

A Multi-Objective Optimization Model To Minimize The Gap In Accessibility To Multi-Use Paths While Maximizing The Economic Efficiency Of Active Transportation Investments For Fresno, California, Chih-Hao Wang

Mineta Transportation Institute

This research examines the accessibility to multi-use paths in a variety of neighborhoods in Fresno, California. This study aims to develop a multi-objective optimization modeling framework to be used by decision makers in transportation and policy to maximize the total accessibility to multi-use paths across the city while minimizing the gap between low- and high- accessibility neighborhoods by an optimal allocation of active transportation. Researchers calculate accessibility to multi-use paths by measuring the total length of multi-use paths (walkway and bikeway) a resident could reach from their own Census block group with a 30-minute cycling ride. The study employs a …

The Fresno State Transportation Challenge, Christian Wandeler, Steven Hart

Mineta Transportation Institute

The goal of the “Fresno State Transportation Challenge” was outreach to schools and community engagement, to provide K-8 students opportunities to learn about transportation and transportation-related careers, and to practice 21st century skills by solving a transportation-related issue in their community. Through the pedagogical frameworks of action civics and eduScrum (a method to facilitate self-managed teamwork with a visual board), teachers and students worked on solving issues in their community. They learned design thinking to identify issues and develop solutions while using eduScrum to manage their work. University students from transportation engineering visited the schools regularly to support the K-8 …

Assessing Complete Street Strategies Using Microscopic Traffic Simulation Models, Bernice Liu, Alireza Shams, Jonathan Howard, Serena Alexander, Alex Hughes, Anurag Pande

Mineta Transportation Institute

Authors of this research developed a traffic simulation model for the downtown San Jose network and evaluated five different street redesign and travel demand combinations. This model aids understanding of network-wide effects of changes in street design for local and regional agencies who are interested in implementing complete streets and/or one-way to two-way conversion. The base network may be altered to model and evaluate other complete streets (e.g., road diet) and tactical urbanism (e.g., farmer’s market on city streets on certain days of the week) scenarios. The 3-dimensional animated videos for each scenario are also created to be used for …

Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Modeling Over The Maritime Continent: A Review, Pengfei Xue, Paola Malanotte-Rizzoli, Jun Wei, Elfatih A.B. Eltahir

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

The Maritime Continent (MC) plays a vitally important role in the Earth's climate system from both oceanic and atmospheric perspectives. While the critical role of ocean-atmosphere coupled dynamics over the MC has long been recognized, development of two-way coupled regional climate models for this region is still in its early stages. In this work, the authors review recent progress in two-way coupled ocean-atmosphere regional climate modeling. Development of coupled models and their applications in the MC are summarized. Model performances are discussed with a focus on regional oceanic and atmospheric characteristics. Through a critical review of modeling advances and limitations …

Computational Modeling Of Recycled Aggregate Concrete Systems, Anuruddha Jayasuriya

Dissertations

Using recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) as a substitution in concrete materials is an excellent way to improve the sustainability of concrete production. However, due to a lack of globally accepted technical guidance, and high material variability, the usage of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) systems is not readily practiced within most structural engineering applications.

To date, the majority of the experimental findings in the literature indicate that RAC is a weaker composite material when compared to a natural aggregate concrete system in terms of mechanical properties such as compressive strength, elastic modulus, tensile strength, flexural strength, fracture energy, and toughness. However, …

Compound Flooding In Coastal Areas Emanating From Inland And Offshore Events, Hamed Behzad Koochaksaraii

Dissertations

The vulnerability of urban populations to natural hazards and climate change is a major theme in many reports on coastal cities with flooding ranking highly among the climate change concerns. Flooding could occur as a result of runoff for inland rainfall that accumulates at the mouth of the estuary to the sea or it could occur due to a storm surge emanating from the ocean. The techniques for modeling the flooding from these events are very different, as they were developed in different scientific fields: hydrology and hydraulic engineering for inland rainfall versus coastal oceanography and coastal engineering for offshore …

Stress-State And Injection-Rate Dependent Damage Processes During The Hydraulic Fracturing Of Granite, Gayani Sasendrika Gunarathna

Dissertations

Hydraulic fracturing is a well-stimulation technique that is employed in field applications, such as enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) and shale oil/gas extraction. This research experimentally investigates the effect of the state of stress and injection rate on the hydraulic fracturing processes. In addition, a displacement discontinuity method (DDM) code, FROCK, is used to model the crack initiation and propagation in a granite specimen under hydraulic fracturing conditions. In order to conduct the experimental work, a test setup capable of applying a triaxial state of stress and water pressure inside pre-fabricated flaws cut in prismatic granite specimens is developed. Additionally, the …