Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Centuries Of Heat Waves Over India During 20th And 21st Century, Naveena Neelam, Gubbala C. Satyanerayana, Kotla S. Rao, Nandivada Umakantha, Dharma Raju

Applied Environmental Research

An assessment of temperature extremes is made for the Indian subcontinent to identify the changes since 1951 to 2015, and for the future climate periods till 2100 for all the 21 CMIP5 (Coupled Model intercomparision Project phase 5) models and the representative concentration pathways RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 were examined for the period from 1 March to 31 May to characterize the heat waves in future climates and mean maximum and mean minimum bias were evaluated for the Indian subcontinent. Later two highest recorded temperature regions were chosen Northwest & Central India (NW&CIN) and only central India (CIN) box and the …

Source Contribution Of 1,3 Butadiene In The Vicinity Of Petrochemical Industrial Area, Nuttakit Sukjit, Sarawut Thepanondh, Suphaphat Kwonpongsagoon, Wanida ๋Jinsart, Lalidaporn Punya, Pattaranan Hanma

Applied Environmental Research

Emissions and ambient concentrations of 1,3 butadiene released from the synthetic rubber industries in the largest petroleum and petrochemical complex in Thailand were evaluated in this study. The industrial emissions in this analysis were those emitted from process fugitive, combustion stack, flare, and wastewater treatment facility. It was found that wastewater treatment units were the largest emission source among other potential sources. The contribution of emission from wastewater treatment plants were about 92% of total 1,3 butadiene emission. The extent and magnitude of 1,3 butadiene in ambient air were further evaluated through the simulation of AERMOD dispersion model using these …

Land Cover Classification Based On Uav Photogrammetry And Deep Learning For Supporting Mine Reclamation: A Case Study Of Mae Moh Mine In Lampang Province, Thailand, Tejendra K. Yadav, Polpreecha Chidburee, Nattapon Mahavik

Applied Environmental Research

Detailed, accurate, and frequent mapping of land cover are the prerequisite regarding areas of reclaimed mines and the development of sustainable project-level for goals. Mine reclamation is essential as the extractive organizations are bounded by-laws that have been established by stakeholders to ensure that the mined areas are properly restored. As databases at the mines area become outdated, an automated process of upgrading is needed. Currently, there are only few studies regarding mine reclamation which has less potential of land cover classification using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry with Deep learning (DL). This paper aims to employ the classification of …

Quantifying Avoidable Food Waste And Identifying Its Underlying Causes: A Case Study Of A University Dormitory In Thailand, Shimpei Iwasaki, Suphat Prasopsin, Thamarat Phutthai

Applied Environmental Research

To develop well-planned and effective policies and programs for reducing avoidable food waste, it is important to quantify the actual food waste level in particular settings and assess relationships among consumers’ awareness, attitudes, and behaviors. Recognizing these considerations, this paper measured avoidable food waste generated by university students living in dormitory buildings and identified its underlying causes in the case of Kanchanaburi campus, Mahidol University, Thailand. The study applied a food waste composition survey 18 times between January and May 2019 while administering questionnaires in October 2019 to the dormitory students. Based on these measures, the study identified 1,417 instances …

Environmental Degradation-Education Nexus In Malaysia, Wong Sing Yun

Applied Environmental Research

This study aims to examine the role of education on CO2 emissions in Malaysia from 1974 to 2014. The unit root tests indicated that the variables were integrated in the same order. As such, the Johansen Co-integration Approach can be employed in this empirical analysis to analyze the impacts of the selected variables. The long-run estimation revealed that economic growth (GDP) and energy consumption (ENERGY) has a negative effect on CO2 emissions. Meanwhile, secondary school education (EDU) demonstrated a significant positive relationship with environmental degradation in the long-run. This can be inferred that secondary school education has a negative effect …

Characterization Of Alaskan Modified Asphalt Binders And Mixtures, Jun Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

"Modified asphalt binders and mixtures have been used more in recent years in Alaska. However, there has not been systematic characterization and performance data development for these materials. This study intends to systematically characterize the Alaskan asphalt binders and mixtures and identify the performance benefits of these materials through laboratory tests and field sections monitoring. The research contains five sections: 1) a comprehensive characterization on the morphologies, chemical and rheological properties of modified asphalt binders and mechanical properties of asphalt mixtures with these modified asphalt binders. The lab testing results were further confirmed through field surveys of recent paving projects …

Infrastructure Systems Modeling Using Data Visualization And Trend Extraction, Jacob Marshal Hale

Doctoral Dissertations

“Current infrastructure systems modeling literature lacks frameworks that integrate data visualization and trend extraction needed for complex systems decision making and planning. Critical infrastructures such as transportation and energy systems contain interdependencies that cannot be properly characterized without considering data visualization and trend extraction.

This dissertation presents two case analyses to showcase the effectiveness and improvements that can be made using these techniques. Case one examines flood management and mitigation of disruption impacts using geospatial characteristics as part of data visualization. Case two incorporates trend analysis and sustainability assessment into energy portfolio transitions.

Four distinct contributions are made in this …

Innovative Modeling And Management Of Infrastructure Systems, Engineering And Construction Operations, And Offsite Construction Technology Using Computational Data Analytics, Rayan Hassane Assaad

Doctoral Dissertations

“The construction industry has been facing considerable challenges due to the inadequacy of the traditional methods in executing, managing, and modeling infrastructure and construction projects. While many techniques have been developed to improve the decision-making process in the industry, there is no evidence of sufficient and continuous improvements in the industry’s adoption and implementation of innovative techniques such as new management approaches, modern modeling methods, and emerging computational data analytics. To this end, the goal of this research is to address some of the recent challenges faced in the industry with a focus on infrastructure asset management, construction engineering and …

Reveal Wind Loading Of Tornadoes And Hurricanes On Civil Structures Towards Hazard-Resistant Design, Ryan Honerkamp

Doctoral Dissertations

"Extreme winds impacting civil structures lead to death and destruction in all regions of the world. Specifically, tornadoes and hurricanes impact communities with severe devastation. On average, 1200 tornadoes occur in the United States every year. Tornadoes occur predominantly in the Central and Southeastern United States, accounting for an annual $1 billion in economic losses, 1500 injuries, and 90 deaths. The Joplin, MO Tornado in 2011 killed 161 people, injured more than 1000, destroyed more than 8000 structures, and caused $2.8 billion of property loss. Hurricanes occur predominantly on the United States East coast regions and along the coast of …

Use Of Portable Seismic Property Analyzer And Ground Penetrating Radar To Assess Bridge Decks, Samie Ramadan A Hamad

Doctoral Dissertations

The Montauk Bridge deck was assessed based on the portable seismic property analyzer and ground penetrating radar data. Based on the analysis of the portable seismic property analyzer data, it was determined that over 65% of bridge conditions were rated serious to poor condition with an average compressive strength of less than 2500 psi; less than 35% of bridge deck conditions were rated fair to good with an average compressive strength over 2500 psi. Based on ground penetrating radar data, it was determined that 72% of the bridge deck was in serious to poor condition, and only 28% of the …

Hydromechanical Stress And Internal Erosion Under Earthen Structures, Kerry Allen Magner

Doctoral Dissertations

"Dam failures by seepage and internal erosion have reportedly been attributed to up to 40% of all dam failures in the United States. Backwards piping erosion either through the embankment or foundation soils has been reported to be the major contributing method to seepage and internal erosion dam failures. This proposed research is motivated by the lack of understanding of the complex stress regimes associated with internal erosion in cohesionless soils under earthen structures. The overall goal of this research is to provide a fundamental understanding of internal erosion and the hydromechanical stress conditions necessary for the initiation and continuation …

Causey Reservoir Access Project: Improving Visitor Safety And Access Now And For The Future, Michael Merrill, Carly Jo Petersen, Isaiah Norman, Jordan Jones, Nathan Chidester

Civil and Environmental Engineering

In coordination with the Central Federal Lands Highway Division, the Causey Reservoir Access Project is a multidisciplinary endeavor to address infrastructural deficiencies around Causey Reservoir. The reservoir is a high-use land- and water-based recreation site on Cache National Forest, about a half hour east of Ogden, Utah. This project addresses a deteriorating bridge, insufficient parking, and roads damaged by landslides as shown in Figure 1.

Utah Transit Authority (Uta) Frontrunner Extension – Ogden To Brigham City, Ut, Cortni Chandler, Ned Mcfarlane, Kyler Nielsen, Tyson Roper, Joshua Ward

Civil and Environmental Engineering

UTA is planning to extend the FrontRunner commuter rail line (Fig. 1) from Ogden, Utah, to Brigham City, Utah, to enhance interurban transportation in Northern Utah between Box Elder, Weber, and Davis counties. UTA asked SpotOn Engineering to perform a feasibility analysis on extending the FrontRunner commuter rail line northward and to design a possible station location for the Brigham City area.

Design Of A Concrete Canoe For The Asce Competition With Washout Improvement And Hydraulic Testing, Nick Rogers, Izzy Timms, Minjie Kim, Jodiah Andresen, Hayden Quinn, Rex Guyer, Tyson Hymas

Civil and Environmental Engineering

The concrete canoe project is put together as a response to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) issuance of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for their yearly competition. This year, the RFP expanded beyond its usual scope due to the influence of COVID-19, allowing more variability in the approach. While the requirements to design a hull, a mix design, and perform a structural analysis remained the same, the construction of the prototype was left as optional for each school. In place of the construction requirement, enhanced focus areas are implemented, letting the project have a broader scope with more …

Identification And Mitigation Of Harmful Algal Blooms In Mantua Reservoir, Jeffrey Kennedy, Timothy Place, Tyler Wallace, Steven White, Carolina Williams

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, are capable of emitting cyanotoxins which are harmful to humans and animals. Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) occur when cyanobacteria multiply to great densities. Mantua Reservoir in Box Elder County, UT, experiences seasonal HABs, which has resulted in seasonal reservoir closures.

The EnVision team investigated the cause of HABs at Mantua Reservoir by collecting samples from the reservoir’s known point sources and frequently visited recreation areas. The samples were analyzed to determine total phosphorus, nitrate, and cyanotoxin concentrations. The team concluded that excessive phosphorus loading in the reservoir is most culpable for the annual HABs …

Idaho National Laboratory Water Test Bed: Improving The Security Of Water Distribution Systems, Sadie Boyer, Caleb Child, Maren Hulse, Emma Lyon, Dalton Richins, Andrew Walker

Civil and Environmental Engineering

To protect the water supply in our nation's cities, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) built a test facility to evaluate how pollution moves in a water system. Mitigating harmful pollutants in municipal water distribution networks is crucial for the protection of city residents.

JARVIS Engineering worked with the INL to create the plans for a proposed expansion of the current, straight-line Water Security Test Bed to better model a city block.

An expanded looping system was designed by the JARVIS team and modeled in EPANET to provide flow values for various scenarios.

Logan Pass Improvement Project: Glacier National Park, Devan Peterson, Jordan Duncan, Kyle Horton, Luke Martineau, Jake Egley, Cooper Karras

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Glacier National Park has seen drastic increases in park visitation. The number of visitors has increased from 2.3 million to 3 million visitors in the past 5 years.

The Going to the Sun Road at Logan Pass exhibits an iconic overlook of the park. The parking lot is often full before 10:00 AM and remains full the remainder of the day during peak season (See Figure 1).

The purpose of the Logan Pass Improvement Project is to enhance visitor experience at Logan Pass. This will be accomplished by reducing traffic congestion and increasing safety and accessibility while maintaining the environmental …

Providence Ridge Subdivision, Karter Issacson, Seth Robertson, Skyler Allred, Brayden Chamberlain, Cody Zohner

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Cache Valley has a housing shortage. There is prime real estate in Providence to subdivide. The State of Utah is the first fastest growing State in the United States of America (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020)*

Temple Fork Dam, Riley Manwaring, Kendall Maedgen, Taylor Kesler, Logan Thackeray, John Sumsion, Adam Pack

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Constructing a dam in Temple Fork will provide additional water storage to meet the needs of a growing population in Cache County. A roller-compacted concrete (RCC) style dam is best suited for the current conditions at Temple Fork, which will provide a total of 10,000 acre-ft of water storage.

Timpanogos Wastewater Treatment Plant, Laura Christiansen, Silas Schneider, Marissa Croft, Melanie Sullivan, Brent Jacobson, Steven Wright

Civil and Environmental Engineering

The Timpanogos Special Service District (TSSD) wants to improve their Wastewater treatment facility. They requested that the new facility accounts for the following:

• Smell coming from the drying beds.

• Future population growth in the area.

• New phosphorus limitations in the effluent set by the state of Utah.

• Treat wastewater to meet Type 1 reuse standards.

In Figure 1, the image displays the current service area for TSSD. TSSD serves 10 different cities, and currently discharges the effluent wastewater into Utah Lake. Utah Lake has problems with algal blooms. Reducing the amount of nutrients discharged into Utah …

Vadose Zone Recharge Through Shallow Hydraulic Fracturing, Daniela Barrera-Zarco, Lucila Campos, Ryan Eberhard, Brackon Rawlinson

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Effective utilization of water is an ever-increasing concern throughout the world. Finding new ways to store and effectively utilize water received from rainfall events is crucial to mitigate flooding and to recharge the Earth’s subsurface aquifers. In a growing and changing world, the need for adaptive and cost-effective solutions to water storage and utilization is critical.

Solutions Centered Engineering (SCE) set out to find an economical and environmentally friendly solution to the collection and storage of water. We were specifically searching for ways to reduce runoff and recharge water in the vadose zone. The vadose zone is below the ground …

Utah State University Parking Garage, Reed Burr, Ty Koppenhafer, Nathan Lamoreaux, Taylor Shapiro, Kaehan Shour, Nathan Williams

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Utah State University (USU) is known for its excellent engineering and agricultural programs. USU’s main campus is in Logan, UT and is Utah’s largest public residential campus.

USU’s Logan campus currently has a parking deficiency that cannot accommodate increasing parking demand each year.

• USU had a total of 17,667 students and 2,585 faculty and staff during the Fall 2019.

• Only 8,924 parking spots available to accommodate this student and staff population.

• Office of enrollment is expecting a growth of 691- 1400 more students by 2025.

• USU’s 2017 Transportation Master Plan determines a need for 414 additional …

Impact Of Blended Salt Anti-Icers/Deicers On Properties Of Asphalt Binders, Nurudeen A. Abidoye

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Anyone who has ever attempted to remove a layer of ice from a roadway or sidewalk by plowing or shoveling knows it is no easy task when the ice is firmly bonded to the asphalt/concrete surface. Winter anti-icing/deicing operations are moral choices that mankind has made to combat winter storms. This research is aimed at evaluating the macro and nano structural impacts of (anti-icing/de-icing) salt on aged and unaged asphalt binders. The macro structural impacts focused on the rheological and creep properties, and the nano structural impacts focused on the surface topography, adhesion force, and modulus of asphalt binders. Rheological …

Charging Infrastructure For Commercial Electric Vehicles: Challenges And Future Works, Bassam Al-Hanahi, Iftekhar Ahmad, Daryoush Habibi, Mohammad A. S. Masoum

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The journey towards transportation electrification started with small electric vehicles (i.e., electric cars), which have enjoyed an increasing level of global interest in recent years. Electrification of commercial vehicles (e.g., trucks) seems to be a natural progression of this journey, and many commercial vehicle manufacturers have shifted their focus on medium- and heavy-duty vehicle electrification over the last few years. In this paper, we present a comprehensive review and analysis of the existing works presented in the literature on commercial vehicle charging. The paper starts with a brief discussion on the significance of commercial vehicle electrification, especially heavy- and medium-duty …

Macrotexture Assessment Of Florida Pavements, Alexander C. Oracheff

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

When water has nowhere to escape from the surface of a roadway, it can disrupt the tire-to-pavement adhesion of a traveling vehicle and lead to hydroplaning. Pavement macrotexture provides the pathways for water to drain, which allows for the necessary grip between tire and pavement. Macrotexture, which is quantified by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) in terms of mean profile depth (MPD), is analyzed by the State Materials Office using a high-speed point-laser mounted along the driver side wheel path of a friction testing vehicle.

While point-lasers are capable of accurately measuring MPD on flexible pavement, the system fails …

Assessment Of Cu(In, Ga)Se₂ Solar Cells Degradation Due To Water Ingress Effect On The Cds Buffer Layer, Deewakar Poudel, Benjamin Belfore, Shankar Karki, Grace Rajan, Sina Soltanmohammad, Angus Rockett, Sylvain Marsillac

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The effect of water ingress on the surface of the buffer layer of a Cu(In, Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cell was studied. Such degradation can occur either during the fabrication process, if it involves a chemical bath as is often the case for CdS, or while the modules are in the field and encapsulants degrade. To simulate the impact of this moisture ingress, devices with a structure sodalime glass/Mo/CIGS/CdS were immersed in deionized water. The thin films were then analyzed both pre and post water soaking. Dynamic secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) was performed on completed devices to analyze impurity diffusion …

Truck Platooning In The U.S. National Road Network: A System-Level Modeling Approach, Mohamadhossein Noruzoliaee, Bo Zou, Yan (Joann) Zhou

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Truck platooning enables a group of trucks to move close together, which helps reduce truck fuel use and increase effective road capacity. In this paper, a system-level equilibrium model is developed to characterize spontaneous truck platooning with coexistence of non-platooning vehicles in a network, by explicitly accounting for the interlocking relationship among platoon formation time, truck fuel saving, and increase in effective road capacity. To equilibrate the relationships, an algorithm is proposed which involves a diagonalization approach and a bush-based algorithm to solve decomposed subproblems. The condition of proportionality is imposed to obtain unique traffic flows for each class of …

Kinetics And Thermodynamics Of Thermal Inactivation For Recombinant Escherichia Coli Cellulases, Cel12b, Cel8c, And Polygalacturonase, Peh28; Biocatalysts For Biofuel Precursor Production, Eman Ibrahim, Ahmed Mahmoud, Kim D. Jones, Keith E. Taylor, Ebtesam N. Hosseney, Patrick L. Mills, Jean M. Escudero

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Lignocellulosic biomass conversion using cellulases/polygalacturonases is a process that can be progressively influenced by several determinants involved in cellulose microfibril degradation. The current paper focuses on the kinetics and thermodynamics of thermal inactivation of recombinant E. coli cellulases, cel12B, cel8C, and a polygalacturonase, peh 28, derived from Pectobacterium carotovorum sub sp. carotovorum. Several consensus motifs conferring the enzymes’ thermal stability in both cel12B and peh28 model structures have been detailed earlier, which were confirmed for the three enzymes through the current study of their thermal inactivation profiles over the 20-80 °C range using the respective activities on carboxymethylcellulose and …

Parking Problems And Policies In Bangkok: Issues, Causes, And Implications, Chakaphan Chullabodhi

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Parking policies are integral to promoting sustainable urban mobility and enhancing a city's livability as they can shift people's movement toward more sustainable modes. However, Bangkok still lacks a concrete parking policy. The existing one consists primarily of regulations and standards that help reduce traffic congestion, albeit without well-defined policy objectives. This study examines the current problems of on-street and off-street parking policies, investigates the root causes of parking issues, and establishes a parking policy that supports the city's development of sustainable mobility. We used a modified conceptual framework comprising the Iceberg Model of analysis and the Political Economics Analysis …

Removal Of Ferrous And Arsenic From Contaminated Groundwater By Co-Precipitation Coupling With Membrane Separation Process, Bonita Pen

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This work aimed to​ treat contaminated groundwater with arsenic and ferrous iron pollutants to be drinking water standard following by WHO by co-precipitation process and membrane separation process. The relative effect of different solid media types (scouring sponge, scouring pad, plastic ring, and activated carbon foam) and operating conditions on oxygen mass transfer coefficient (KLa) and hydrodynamic bubble parameters was studied. The optimization process of ferrous oxidation and arsenic removal was observed by Design of Experiment (DOE) with Central Composition Design of Response Surface Methodology (CCD-RSM). Lastly, separation process was experimented with conventional process and membrane technology, i.e., settling process, …