Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Early-Age Strength Of Co2 Cured Alkali-Activated Blast Furnace Slag Pastes, Yubin Jun, Seong Ho Han, Jae Hong Kim

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The effect of CO₂ curing including pre-conditioning on alkali-activated slags, activated by different alkaline activators (NaOH, Na₂SiO₃, and KOH solution), is studied. While dry pre-conditioning before the CO₂ curing increases the strengths of all mixtures, the effect of pre-conditioning time is dependent on the alkali activator used to produce samples. The CO₃-bearing reaction product in samples also depends on the alkali activator. Gaylussite, pirssonite, hydrotalcite, and calcite are observed in the NaOH activator, and calcite, hydrotalcite, and C₄AcH₁₁ are detected in the NaOH and Na₂SiO₃ (9:1) …

Leaf Cutter Ant Nest Soil Cement Stabilized Earthen Bricks: Materials And Methods For Engineering Field Applications, Faith Malay

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As climate change threatens vulnerable tropical climates and development outpaces resource availability, the need for diverse construction material grows. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals aim to reduce poverty in all forms. Diversifying construction material works toward reducing indoor air pollution, the eradication of houselessness, encouraging diversification in industry, and supporting small scale industrialization. In the Province of Bocas del Toro in Panama, there is a tenuous connection to the greater industries in the country due to location and existing infrastructure.This research presents a literature review of the historical approaches to the construction and chemistry of cement stabilized earth bricks, …

Experimental Investigation Of The Performance Of A Hybrid Self-Healing System In Porous Asphalt Under Fatigue Loadings, Shi Xu, Liu Xueyan, Amir Tabakovic, Erik Schlangen

Articles

Self-healing asphalt, which is designed to achieve autonomic damage repair in asphalt pavement, offers a great life-extension prospect and therefore not only reduces pavement maintenance costs but also saves energy and reduces CO2 emissions. The combined asphalt self-healing system, incorporating both encapsulated rejuvenator and induction heating, can heal cracks with melted binder and aged binder rejuvenation, and the synergistic effect of the two technologies shows significant advantages in healing efficiency over the single self-healing method. This study explores the fatigue life extension prospect of the combined healing system in porous asphalt. To this aim, porous asphalt (PA) test specimens with …

The Role Of Scenography In The Narration Of The Inner Space Of Contemporary Museums Through Employment The Space Staging, Shamael M. W. Al-Dabbagh, Dania Saleh Yaheia Al-Jaboury

Al-Esraa University College Journal for Engineering Sciences

In the recent period, several design mechanisms have emerged related to the design of internal spaces in architecture, specifically the museum spaces and associated with exhibitions, and the most important of these scenographic mechanisms are clearly and significantly adopted in the field of theater to design the stage and the scene that embodies the narrative vision and the idea of the theater director and scenographic designer to express what the text wants from Anecdotal expressing the objectives of the product of the text, therefore the research aimed to delve into the effect of the scenography mechanism on the contemporary architectural …

Evaluating The Performance Of The Jadriya Water Project For Water Treatment, Rana Mohammed Rasheed

Al-Esraa University College Journal for Engineering Sciences

For the purpose of evaluating the performance of the Al-Jadriya water project, water samples were taken before and after the sedimentation basins to find out the efficiency of the sedimentation ponds, as well as water samples were taken before and after the filtration basins, to know the efficiency of the filtration basins by conducting the following tests on them (Turbidity, TDS, TC, pH) to ensure that these ponds work properly. It was found that the efficiency rate of sedimentation ponds was 83%, which indicates the inefficiency of these ponds, as well as the inefficiency of the fast and slow mixing …

Possible Developments Of The Industrialization Of Appropriate Building Subsystem For Iraq, Wisam William Saleem Al-Ayoubi

Al-Esraa University College Journal for Engineering Sciences

Industrialization of building has developed very rapidly in industrialized countries as well as in many other parts of the world to fulfill the need for housing and public buildings after the Second World War. Prefabricated building is defined as a type of building that consists of several elements or modular units prepared in advance and assembled on-site. The term prefabricated indicates that these building elements are manufactured in the workshop or factory and then combined with other elements. Iraq has witnessed vital development in the construction industry sector. The study investigates the appropriate technology for Iraq, considering resources, economy, labor, …

Ion Exchange Method For Sulphate Removal From Treated Wastewater Of Al-Doura Refinery, Rana Mohammed Rasheed

Al-Esraa University College Journal for Engineering Sciences

The treated wastewater by the industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), commonly named (INGECO) in Al-Doura refinery, suffers from highly sulfate concentrations that exceed the EPA specified limits of 250 mg/L. Laboratory water quality historical data have been reviewed and analyzed to determine the annual rate, maximum, and peak sulfate concentrations, which were found to be 360 mg/L, 425 mg/L, and 550 mg/L, respectively. A field inspection was conducted to identify the reasons for the high sulfate concentrations in the wastewater of most refinery process units. It was found that the maximum required sulfate remaining concentration should not exceed 10 mg/L …

The Effect Of The Spirit Of The Place On The Formulation Of Emotion In Contemporary Arab-Islamic Architecture, Mahdi Saleh Al-Faraj, Dania Saleh Yaheia

Al-Esraa University College Journal for Engineering Sciences

Arab-Islamic architecture is characterized by both constants and variables, with spiritual aspects (content) representing the constants and physical aspects (form) representing the variables. It evolves based on changing times and needs, with compassion being a significant feature associated with its spiritual aspects. Compassion is essential for collective agreement and individual emotional connection in Arab-Islamic architecture. The present research aims to investigate the influence of the spirit of the place, as embraced by designers, on the emotional characteristics of contemporary Arab-Islamic architecture. The research problem identified is the lack of a theoretical concept regarding the impact of the spirit of the …

The Effect Of Bioenergy Systems On The Architectural Product The Effect Of Fung Shui And Biogetric To Achieve The Performance Of Architectural Space, Abdullah Saadon Al-Mamoory, Ann Samari Ibrahim

Al-Esraa University College Journal for Engineering Sciences

This research presents an analytical study exploring the vital systems of energy science and their influence on architecture by examining ancient environmental philosophies like Feng Shui in China and bio-geometry in Egypt. These philosophies serve as guiding principles for studying energy and its impact on human daily life, highlighting their effects on integrated ecosystems in the design of residential buildings at both external and internal levels. The study examines key aspects such as the influence of energy on furniture arrangement in living spaces. The primary objective is to establish a synergistic relationship between architectural design of residential spaces during occupancy …

Some Aspects Of The Suitability Of Three-Story Residential Buildings For Vertical Housing In Iraq, Wisam William Saleem Al-Ayoubi

Al-Esraa University College Journal for Engineering Sciences

This research initially aimed to examine the changes in housing since the 1930s, driven by rapid population growth and evolving lifestyles, juxtaposed with advancements in contemporary building materials that are environmentally compatible. After a comprehensive analysis of housing and living arrangements throughout history, including the evolution of open house units towards more interior-focused designs such as the Baghdadi house with its central courtyard, the study delved into the significant changes and the challenges posed by the rapid population growth. The focus of the study was on the viability of vertical housing in Iraq and the considerations related to low-rise residential …

Role Of Iconic Architecture In Sustainable Tourism Development, Basim H. H. Al-Majidi, Ann Samari Ibrahim

Al-Esraa University College Journal for Engineering Sciences

Architecture "is an expression of the way of life and the spirit of the ages and cultures in which I grew up" as the buildings speak for themselves. While tourism is a scenario "to define a city to an unfamiliar audience and acquire an identity for a citizen". Both architecture and tourism have been linked together since time immemorial. Architecture was the main aspect of attracting crowds, while tourism helped architecture survive the test of time as well as money. Both tourism and architecture operate in a symbiotic manner to break the lack of familiarity with any culture and to …

Life Cycle Assessment Of Bioplastics And Food Waste Disposal Methods, Shakira R. Hobbs, Tyler M. Harris, William J. Barr, Amy E. Landis

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

The environmental impacts of five waste management scenarios for polylactic acid (PLA)-based bioplastics and food waste were quantified using life cycle assessment. Laboratory experiments have demonstrated the potential for a pretreatment process to accelerate the degradation of bioplastics and were modeled in two of the five scenarios assessed. The five scenarios analyzed in this study were: (1a) Anaerobic digestion (1b) Anaerobic digestion with pretreatment; (2a) Compost; (2a) Compost with pretreatment; (3) Landfill. Results suggested that food waste and pretreated bioplastics disposed of with an anaerobic digester offers life cycle and environmental net total benefits (environmental advantages/offsets) in several areas: ecotoxicity …

Fiber Optic Sensor Based Corrosion Assessment In Reinforced Concrete Members, Genda Chen

INSPIRE Archived Webinars

In this 50-minute lecture, the fundamental concepts of fiber optic sensors for both distributed and point corrosion measurements are reviewed. For the distributed monitoring of a line bridge component such as steel reinforced girders, Brillouin scattering and fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) can be coupled to measure both temperature and radial strain as an indirect indicator of corrosion process. For the point monitoring of steel structures, long period fiber gratings (LPFG) are specially designed for a direct measurement of mass loss or the loss in cross sectional area of the component. In particular, a Fe-C coated LPFG sensor is introduced for …

Solar Disinfection Of Turbid Hygiene Waters In Lexington, Ky, Usa, Atena Amirsoleimani, Gail M. Brion

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Solar disinfection (SODIS) could be a key to providing a clean, hygiene water for birthing uses, but the recommended climate zone is limited, the microbial indicators are related to gastrointestinal illness and not wound infections. SODIS feasibility was investigated to remove Escherichia coli from turbid water at temperatures less than 50 °C in Lexington, KY. Increasing turbidity from 0 to 200 NTU decreased E. coli inactivation from 5 to 1 log. With the same experimental protocol, more than 4-log inactivation of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis (common human-skin microorganisms related to serious post-partum infections of both mother and child) was …

Do Secondary Cyclones Increase The Category Scale Of Atmospheric Rivers?, Edgar Sanchez Fausto

University Honors Theses

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) play a crucial role in delivering precipitation worldwide. This makes them an important phenomenon for water resource specialists to study. One such interest is to understand what mechanisms make ARs produce significant rainfall and associated hazards such as flooding. One possible mechanism is that AR duration or intensity may increase when it interacts with a secondary cyclone, either of which can increase the AR category scale. The purpose of this study is to determine whether AR and secondary cyclone interactions increase the category scale ARs. Out of 52 AR events analyzed, 32 events contained at least one …

An Evaluation Of Electrically Conductive Asphalt Mixtures For Electrically Heated Flexible Pavement Systems, Rahaf Hasan

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study is to develop Electrically Conductive Asphalt (ECA) mixtures with optimized electrical and mechanical properties for use in electrically heated asphalt pavements for anti-icing applications. Laboratory experiments were carried out to design ECA mixtures at varying dosages, using three graphite grades of different particle sizes, one virgin aggregate type, two binder grades, and one carbon fiber. The impact of graphite dosage and particle size on the volumetric properties and electrical resistivity of asphalt mixtures was assessed. Different factors with potential impact on the electrical properties were investigated, including the graphite particle size and dosage, the air …

Fabrication And Characterization Of Translucent Wood Composite Using Egyptian Hardwoods: Casuarina & Eucalyptus, Sherif Elia

Theses and Dissertations

Due to climate change and global warming, there is an increasing need for sustainable solutions in all industries. As one of the most important and growing industries worldwide, the construction industry has a huge responsibility towards the environment. It is responsible for the consumption of vast amounts of resources and consequently generating massive quantities of waste. Also, as the building sector is responsible for consuming large portions of the world energy and electricity, such buildings' efficiency and sustainability must be considered. While the world is working on balancing between consuming less and recycling more while maintaining the construction materials' effectiveness …

Interactive Expert System For Budgeting World Bank Consultancy Projects, Yosra Rafat

Theses and Dissertations

Cost estimating and forecasting are key components of the budgeting of any construction project. However, conventional approaches may result in uncertainty and usually do not utilize the organizational knowledge of past projects. Ideally, performing a cost estimation under the best predictions of the relevant future conditions, is the best approach of economic analysis to evaluate the optimum value for money. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence techniques, there are now several Machine Learning (ML) methods that are being studied to capitalize on accuracy gains with regards to cost estimating techniques to increase reliability during the tendering phase. This research aims …

Assessment Of Carbon Dioxide Emission And Its Impact On High-Rise Mixed-Use Buildings In Egypt, Ahmed Salah Hamza

Theses and Dissertations

With Egypt's vision of 2030 focusing on sustainable development with a true emphasis on Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) emission reduction in the newly built cities and high-rise buildings, efforts are exerted on various levels towards accomplishing the vision’s goals. This is achieved through multiple tools and models associated with aiding the reduction of carbon emissions, yet not a clear one was introduced for the mixed-use buildings in Egypt.

Through this work, a significant gap was identified with respect to high-rise buildings carbon emission assessment in Egypt. This was a main driving force for this work in an attempt to …

Developing Inclusive And Sustainable Curriculum For Environmental Engineering Courses, Kauser Jahan, Sarah Bauer, Jagadish Torlapati, Tiago Forin

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

Inclusivity and sustainability are becoming integral to the successful delivery of engineering course content. Teaching strategies that incorporate both are gaining momentum globally for engineering educators. Inclusive teaching strategies are based on making all students in the classroom feel valued and equal contributors. Strategies are based on developing curricular material that addresses students from a diverse background (socioeconomic status, race, gender, ethnicity, preferred orientation) and varying earning abilities. Research has shown that inclusive teaching strategies allow instructors to engage and bond with their students and the students bond with the course content. ABET, the accreditation arm for engineering programs has …

An Implementation Of A Multi-Hop Underwater Wireless Sensor Network Using Bowtie Antenna, Samuel Ryecroft Mr, Andy Shaw Prof, Paul Fergus, Patryk Kot, Khalid Hashim, Alex Teng, Adam Moody, Laura Conway

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Water quality is a growing area of research, with more and more focus in the UK and globally on environmental issues and water quality. Current methods of monitoring environmental data such as air quality have continued to develop, spurred on by the growth of the Internet of Things. However, water quality monitoring mainly still depends on manual sample collection. This research presents the first implementation of a multi-hop underwater radio frequency sensor network using bowtie antennas combined with the 433 MHz frequency and a controlled flooding routing approach. The experimental work was conducted in the water reservoir and demonstrates the …

The Impact Of Vision Zero Initiatives On Road User Safety In New York City, Alex C. Phares, Md Amdad Hossen, Kakan Dey

Mountaineer Undergraduate Research Review

Despite modern vehicles, improved transportation infrastructure, and advanced traffic signals, more than 36,000 Americans die from traffic crashes every year1. With the goal of reducing traffic fatalities to zero, New York City (NYC) adopted Vision Zero (VZ) initiatives in 2014 and has deployed 23 categories of countermeasures, ranging from road improvements to training and community outreach programs2. In this research, trend analysis and hypothesis tests were done on NYC traffic fatality data for three main categories of roadway users: motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians, to evaluate the success of the VZ initiatives. It was found that annual fatalities of both motorist …

Urban Aerosol Size Distributions: A Global Perspective, Tianren Wu, Brandon E. Boor

Purdue University Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund

Urban aerosol measurements are necessary to establish associations between air pollution and human health outcomes and to evaluate the efficacy of air quality legislation and emissions standards. The measurement of urban aerosol particle size distributions (PSDs) is of particular importance as they enable characterization of size-dependent processes that govern a particle's transport, transformation, and fate in the urban atmosphere. PSDs also improve our ability to link air pollution to health effects through evaluation of particle deposition in the respiratory system and inhalation toxicity. To inform future measurements of urban aerosol observations, this paper reviews and critically analyzes the current state …

Computing Accurate Probabilistic Estimates Of One-D Entropy From Equiprobable Random Samples, Hoshin V. Gupta, Mohammed Reza Ehsani, Tirthankar Roy, Maria A. Sans-Fuentes, Uwe Ehret, Ali Behrangi

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

We develop a simple Quantile Spacing (QS) method for accurate probabilistic estimation of one-dimensional entropy from equiprobable random samples, and compare it with the popular Bin-Counting (BC) and Kernel Density (KD) methods. In contrast to BC, which uses equal-width bins with varying probability mass, the QS method uses estimates of the quantiles that divide the support of the data generating probability density function (pdf) into equal-probability-mass intervals. And, whereas BC and KD each require optimal tuning of a hyper-parameter whose value varies with sample size and shape of the pdf, QS only requires specification of the number of quantiles to …

Chorine Conversion: Biological And Water Quality Impact On Activated Carbon Block Point Of Use Filters, Horace S. Jakpa

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Point-of-use (POU) activated carbon (AC) filters are ubiquitous in many U.S. households. AC can reduce concentrations of lead, other heavy metals, and mitigate taste and odor issues. However, AC filters also remove residual disinfectants, thus allowing for the proliferation of microbes in the filter. In chloraminated systems, this can lead to localized, filter-induced nitrification. Most notably, high nitrite and nitrate in drinking water can cause methemoglobinemia (blue baby syndrome) in children under the age of three, raising public health concerns.

As a control measure for nitrification within distribution systems, utilities practice periodic, short-term secondary disinfectant switches from chloramine to free …

Cabra: A Novel Large-Sample Dataset For Brazilian Catchments, Andre Almagro, Paulo Tarso S. Oliveira, Antonio Alves Meira Neto, Tirthankar Roy, Peter Troch

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

In this paper, we present the Catchments Attributes for Brazil (CABra), which is a large-sample dataset for Brazilian catchments that includes long-term data (30 years) for 735 catchments in eight main catchment attribute classes (climate, streamflow, groundwater, geology, soil, topography, land cover, and hydrologic disturbance). We have collected and synthesized data from multiple sources (ground stations, remote sensing, and gridded datasets). To prepare the dataset, we delineated all the catchments using the Multi-Error-Removed Improved-Terrain Digital Elevation Model (MERIT DEM) and the coordinates of the streamflow stations provided by the Brazilian Water Agency, where only the stations with 30 years (1980–2010) …

Health Risk Assessment Of Local Populations Ingesting Water With Naturally Occurring Arsenic And Fecal Related Contaminants In Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, Marisol Alvarez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lake Atitlan, Guatemala acts as a sink for wastewater discharge and as a source of drinking water. The populations living in the lake basin are primarily indigenous with a large percentage (70%) living in poverty. Wastewater effluent entering the lake poses an immediate health risk to those using it as a drinking-water source. Additionally, the lake is surrounded by three volcanoes and the water has concentrations of naturally occurring arsenic above the recommended reference level of 10 µg/L. Arsenic is acutely poisonous at high concentrations and has carcinogenic and neurological effects when chronically exposed at low concentrations.

The goal of …

Proceedings Of The 8th International Junior Researcher And Engineer Workshop On Hydraulic Structures, International Association For Hydro-Environmental Engineering And Research

International Junior Researcher and Engineer Workshop on Hydraulic Structures

Full proceedings for the 8th International Junior Researcher and Engineer Workshop on Hydraulic Structures.

Adaptive Routing Behavior With Real-Time Information Under Multiple Travel Objectives, Ravi Venkatraman, Stephen D. Boyles, Rachel James, Avinash Unnikrishnan, Priyadarshan N. Patil

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Real-time information about traffic conditions is becoming widely available through various media and connected-vehicle technology. In such conditions, travelers have better knowledge about the system and adapt as the system evolves dynamically during their travel. Drivers may change routes during their travel in order to optimize their own objective of travel. Various travel objectives are captured in mathematical models via disutility functions. The focus of this research was to study the behavior of travelers with multiple trip objectives when they are provided real-time information, and assess their ability to determine “optimal” routing policies, compared to exact solutions based on the …

Biotransformation Of Doxycycline By Brevundimonas Naejangsanensis And Sphingobacterium Mizutaii Strains, Ting He, Jianguo Bao, Yifei Leng, Daniel D. Snow, Shuqiong Kong, Tong Wang, Xu Li

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

The fate of doxycycline (DC), a second generation tetracycline antibiotic, in the environment has drawn increasing attention in recent years due to its wide usage. Little is known about the biodegradability of DC in the environment. The objective of this study was to characterize the biotransformation of DC by pure bacterial strains with respect to reaction kinetics under different environmental conditions and biotransformation products. Two bacterial strains, Brevundimonas naejangsanensis DD1 and Sphingobacterium mizutaii DD2, were isolated from chicken litter and characterized for their biotransformation capability of DC. Results show both strains rely on cometabolism to biotransform DC with tryptone as …