Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

A Mass Balance Model Of The Great Salt Lake, Ut With Adaptive Management Applications, Diana Dunn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The Great Salt, Utah, USA is a saline lake that provides critical habitat for ecologic communities and generates $1.3 billion annually. It has gone through detrimental change since the 20^th century. Streamflow reaching the lake has been decreased by upstream withdrawal for industrial and municipal use, causing the lake level to drop and salinity to increase to unhealthy levels. Further, in 1959, it was segregated into north and south sections by a railroad causeway. Due to the causeway and limited exchange of water through two bridges, the lake sections have significantly different water surface elevation and salinity levels. The …

Channel Dynamics In Response To Compounding Hydrogeomorphic Disturbances In A Steep Burned Watershed, Paxton Ridgway

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Wildfires significantly increase sediment input to rivers through various pathways, including post-fire debris flows. Understanding how mountain rivers respond to these sediment inputs is crucial for predicting and managing downstream impacts on infrastructure, water security, and aquatic habitats. While the causes and characteristics of post-fire debris flows have been extensively studied, the morphological changes in downstream fluvial channels remain poorly understood. This study uses scripted spatial analysis toolsets, high-resolution pre- and post-fire DEMs, repeat cross-sectional surveys, time-lapse footage, and pebble counts to document channel responses to sediment supply in a burned steep mountain stream in the upper Colorado River Basin, …

Barriers And Drivers To Bus Electrification: The Transit Agency's Perspective, Aleks C. Paskett

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Battery-electric buses (BEBs) have become increasingly common in recent years, as transit agencies around the world seek to reduce their carbon emissions. Although many agencies and governments have set ambitious climate goals pushing for increased adoption of BEBs, some agencies face difficulty transitioning their fleets to this technology. This study seeks to understand the challenges faced by these agencies, as well as their motivations for adopting BEBs. Researchers conducted a series of interviewers with twelve transit leaders representing ten transit agencies who were leading BEB adoption programs, asking questions about their experiences trying to implement this technology. The interviewees stated …

Assessing Canopy Features, Its Shading Factor, And Their Influence In The Estimation Of Evapotranspiration In Almond Orchards Using Uas Information And The Two-Source Energy Balance Model, Moises R. Duran-Gomez

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

This study explored how canopy biomass and shadows affect evapotranspiration (ET) estimates, a crucial factor for irrigation management in almond orchards in California’s Central Valley. Data from 24 drone flights over three almond plots in 2021 and 2022 were analyzed using the Two-Source Energy Balance (TSEB) model, combined with meteorological data from EC-towers. The study found that filtering out shadows improved ET estimation, particularly in young orchards, and identified the importance of using new Leaf Area Index (LAI) models for better accuracy. This research is part of the T-REX initiative, which integrates drone and ground-based data to enhance water use …

Examining The Impacts Of Demographics, Individual Experiences, And Perceptions On Range Anxiety And Electric Vehicle Road Trips, Joshua Ward

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Range anxiety is perhaps the most widely cited barrier to electric vehicle (EV) adoption and use. Range anxiety is generally defined as a general fear that an EV has insufficient battery range or that there is insufficient charging infrastructure to travel from one place to another. Although this barrier is widely cited, there is little research that investigates how EV drivers experience range anxiety and how it might vary based on personal characteristics, perceptions, and experiences. Data on long-distance EV trips is also scarce in the United States and mainly limited to personal stories of an EV road trip.

This …

Synthesis Of Geopolymer Mortar From Biomass Ashes And Forecasting Its Compressive Strength Behaviour, P. J. Ardhira, Sanjay Kumar Shukla, Dhanya Sathyan

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The global warming dilemma raised an exigency toward sustainability in the construction industry and compelled scientists to hunt for alternative binders in construction materials. The, geopolymerization as a spectacular technology has arisen as a looming solution to this dilemma. This work assesses the features of geopolymer mortar developed with both industrial and agricultural wastes at ambient temperature curing. The geopolymer mix proportion was evolved in this study using main precursor material as fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS), sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA) or rice husk ash (RHA). Workability and mechanical properties, including compressive strength, flexural strength, and split …

Accelerating Microbial-Induced Calcite Precipitation Treatment Protocols Using Calcium-Based Stabilizers Targeting Pavement Construction, Grant Goertzen

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The research, development, and implementation of sustainable and resilient infrastructure is a critical mission for all aspects of modern Civil Engineering. The engineering and construction sector accounts for 37% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, comprising the largest proportion of any industry (Kafu-Quvane et al. 2024). Typically comprising 100% of base and subbase layers, 90% of asphalt pavement, and 80% of concrete pavement, it takes approximately 38,000 tons of aggregate to construct a single-lane mile of interstate highway (Feuling 2024). This presents significant environmental challenges due to the negative impacts of quarrying and aggregate transportation such as habitat destruction, biodiversity …

Hydraulic Boundary Conditions Determine Biofilm Growth Patterns And Permeability In Groundwater, Jason Tyler Mick

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Biofilms are naturally occurring consortia of bacteria that colonize porous media such as streambed sediments, soils, and aquifers. Biofilm growth leads to clogging (i.e., bioclogging), which reduces the porosity and permeability of the porous medium and directly influences how nutrients and contaminants are transported and transformed in groundwater. To improve our understanding of how bioclogging regulates nutrient and contaminant fluxes, we must better characterize how flow conditions influence the spatial and temporal progression of biofilm growth within natural porous media geometries, as well as understand how this progression alters fluid flow.

In this study, I conducted microfluidic experiments to test …

Final Report - Qa/Qc Guidelines On Drone-Based Remote Sensing For Bridge Element Inspection, Genda Chen, Woubishet Z. Taffese, Ritesh Sharma, Zhenhua Shi

Project IM-4

Remote sensing of elevated infrastructure via robotic platforms has recently gained increasing interest in bridge inspection. Such automated bridge inspection can not only overcome accessibility and safety challenges but also improve objectivity and consistency of the measured data compared to current visual inspection practices. With the advent of advanced technologies, quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) for robot-based bridge inspection become imperative. This study aims (1) to understand actionable inspection activities and procedures in route planning, sensor preparation and measurement, ground truth selection, and statistical analysis; (2) to outline assessment matrices and best practices for drone-based images to achieve …

Assessing Visibility At Highway-Rail Grade Crossings Using Light Detection And Ranging (Lidar) Technology, Mohsen Naghdi, Pasi T. Lautala, Abdolmajid Erfani

Michigan Tech Publications

In 2022, 2034 incidents occurred at highway-rail grade crossings (HRGCs) in the United States, posing significant risks such as fatalities, injuries, and property damage. These incidents underscore the need for effective prevention and mitigation strategies. With over 212,000 public and private HRGCs nationwide, safety monitoring is challenging, as traditional inspections primarily rely on manual assessments. Obstructed sightlines at HRGCs further increase safety risks by limiting road users' ability to see approaching trains. Although previous studies have addressed behavioral and safety issues, the literature currently lacks quantitative data analysis of sightlines at HRGCs. This study aims to address this gap by …

Performance Of Geopolymer Concrete Incorporating Recycled Aggregates And Glass Fibers, Mohammed Abughali

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

This study aims to investigate the potential use of geopolymer concrete (GC) incorporating recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) and glass fibers (GF) as a sustainable alternative to traditional cement-based concrete. It comprehensively evaluated the impact of RCA and GF on the fresh, physical, mechanical, and durability properties. A blended precursor binder consisting of ground granulated blast furnace slag and fly ash was utilized. To mitigate the challenges associated with the brittle behavior and low crack resistance of GC, mainly when incorporating RCA, two types of GF were used. Type A had a length of 24 mm, while Type B exhibited a …

Energetics Of Mode-1 Internal Waves Interacting With Topographic Ridges Of Varying Height And Slope, Matthew R. Klema, Subhas K. Venayagamoorthy

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Energetics of mode-1 internal waves interacting with topographic ridges are investigated using high-resolution two-dimensional simulations at spatial scales of m that span between classical laboratory-scale (m) and field-scale simulations (m). This paper focuses on the energetics of wave-Topography interaction, with emphasis on systematically examining the partitioning of the incident wave energy as a function of wave forcing and topographic parameters. Partitioning of energy into the transmitted, reflected and dissipated components is quantified as a function of wave Froude number (velocity amplitude of forcing and internal wave celerity), slope criticality, where topographic slope and wave characteristic slope, and the ratio of …

Transportation Policies, Programs And History, Ivonne Audirac, Amber B. Raley, Jenifer Reiner, Soheil Sharifi-Asl

Mavs Open Press Open Educational Resources - Archive

Transportation Policies, Programs and History is a text intended for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in urban and transportation planning. Contents by chapter include:

1. Brief history of U.S. transportation policy and traffic congestion: A persistent transportation planning issue.
2. Transportation planning and modeling.
3. Transportation programming and evaluation.
4. Equity in transportation planning
5. Mobility modes.
6. Transportation, accessibility, and the built environment.
7. Transit and transit-oriented development.
8. Transportation and new technologies.
9. Sustainable transportation.
10. Transportation in the Global South.

This textbook is part of a six-volume series produced under the grant OERTransport: Enabling Transportation Planning Professional Advancement awarded to the University of Texas-Arlington (UTA) …

Beyond The Waterfall: A Review Of Project Management Methodologies In Stem, Yessenia Henriquez

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Project management has been exercised from history's early stages to concurrent practices today. It has evolved from the early stages of the Gantt chart and five primary principles to well-renowned project management methodologies such as Waterfall and Agile. This literature review focuses on comprehending four project management methodologies (Waterfall, Agile, Kanban, and Scrum), learning their criteria and frameworks, and their application in a specific STEM environment when applicable. This work reviews the recent research literature about these four methods. An overview of project management certificates and guidelines is covered as well. Waterfall is known to be a traditional method, having …

Repurposing Non-Toxic And Cost-Effective Organic Ligancds To Enhance The Removal Of Uranium And Thorium From Wastewater, Will Campbell

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Cheap, effective and industrially practical remediation methods for uranium and thorium are of utmost importance. Electrocoagulation is a cheap but only mildly effective method for the remediation of these elements. It was recently shown that chelating ligands enhance this process. Unfortunately, few ligands have been tested for this enhancement. Of these, the most effective, Alizarin Red S, had a 99.2% uranium removal efficiency but was expensive ($3.6 / g), toxic to humans and environmentally harmful. Therefore, ligands that avoid these downsides are needed before any industrial application can occur. Potential ligands were found via exhaustive searches of MilliporeSigma’s database. Over …

Biochar/Hydrochar Applications In Disinfection Byproduct Removal For Drinking Water, Ashleu Mussio Marquez, Donna Rouhani, Ismail Abdulraheem, Kers Ung-Watson, Ahmadreza Khatamgooya, Scarlet Nelson, Dr. Jaeyun Moon, Dr. Erica Marti

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

This project aims to investigate the process of disinfection byproduct (DBP) removal in drinking water, looking into the applications of biochar and hydrochar, which are low cost and environmentally sustainable adsorbents. These carbon-based adsorbents are derived from agricultural waste biomass, such as walnut shells. These adsorbents will be used to capture and remove contaminants in water, such as DBPs. DBPs are formed when chemical disinfectants react with organic and inorganic substances naturally present in water. The targeted DBPs for adsorption include trihalomethanes, haloacetic acids, haloacetonitriles, and nitrosamines. An example of high concentration DBP formation is during emergency chlorination, where excess …

Integrated Sustainability Analysis Of A Shared Micro-Mobility System In University Campus: Life-Cycle Assessment And User Impact Study Of Electric Scooters, Md Afif Rahman Chowdhury

LSU Master's Theses

The objective of this study is to evaluate the environmental, economic, and social impacts of implementing e-scooter technology on the LSU campus. The study is structured into three main parts: (1) an environmental life-cycle assessment of e-scooters, (2) a comparative environmental and economic impact assessment of e-scooters, cars, and campus shuttle buses, and (3) a comprehensive survey of e-scooter users to assess their characteristics, satisfaction levels, and comfort while using e-scooters on the LSU campus.

To achieve the objectives of the study, a life-cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to assess the environmental sustainability of e-scooters, encompassing all stages from raw …

Next Generation Permeable Pavement For Enhanced Durability And Functionality, S M Tanvir

LSU Master's Theses

Porous Asphalt Concrete (PAC), also known as Open-Graded Friction Course (OGFC), is known for its high permeability, which provides benefits such as enhanced rainwater drainage, improved skid resistance, and reduced hydroplaning risks. These characteristics are due to its high air void content, allowing water to flow through the pavement and reducing splash, spray, and noise compared to conventional asphalt mixes. However, this high air void content also contributes to durability concerns, such as raveling, stripping, and clogging, which can reduce service life and increase costs, making OGFC more expensive than conventional asphalt mixtures.

This research focuses on identifying the failure …

Geotechnical Characterization Of Saline Sabkha Soil Of Abu Dhabi, Uae, And Its Stabilization Using Steel Slag And Sodium Silicate, Ahmed Maher Abdulla

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

Saline sabkha soil is widely distributed across the Abu Dhabi coastal regions of the UAE. These soils are associated with geotechnical problems that principally emerge from the heterogeneous nature of the soil and its high soluble salt content. Upon exposure to fresh water, the soluble salt dissolves, resulting in loss of the bond that once cemented the soil particles. In addition, the volume occupied by the salt minerals becomes part of the voids between the particles. This process results in a weak and loose soil structure of lower bearing capacity that is ready to collapse upon being subjected to loads. …

Can The Effluent From Wastewater Stabilization Ponds Be Effectively Managed For Health And Nutrient Recovery?, Michael Glass

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Wastewater stabilization ponds, such as facultative and maturation lagoons, have been shown to be effective processes to manage conventional water quality parameters found in domestic wastewater. The main goal of this thesis is to explore whether wastewater stabilization ponds can simultaneously reduce pathogens to safe levels while supporting agricultural activities through nutrient recovery. A large dataset for water quality of wastewater lagoon effluent in the U.S. was obtained at the state level and combined into regional southern and northern locations. Analysis of data showed there was significant difference in lagoon effluent concentration between northern and southern states for the water …

Measuring Integrated Accessibility For Sustainable Mobility: A Fuzzy Set Approach Case Study, Behnam Tahmasbi, Poria Hajian, Farzaneh Tahmasbi, Qian He

School of Earth & Environment Departmental Research

Sustainable transportation is vital to climate justice and social equity. Despite the efforts to achieve sustainability, there is still a lack of adequate measurement that integrates land use and transportation systems, which can be barriers to planning implementation. With methodological improvements in fuzzy theory application, this study develops an integrated index to measure the sustainability of multimodal accessibility. We do so by defining a fuzziness degree based on the different trip purposes and modes of transportation with a case study in Isfahan, Iran. Sustainable accessibility indicators were developed for walking, biking, and public transportation to represent the performance of each …

Development Of Machine Learning-Based Tool For Prediction Of Long-Term Field Performance Of Asphalt Concrete Overlays In A Hot And Humid Climate, Elise Mansour

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The performance of pavement plays a critical role in Maintenance, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (MR&R) for highway agencies. Reliable and accurate estimation of pavement performance can be instrumental in prioritization of the limited resources and funding for highway agencies. The latter requires robust prediction models that can handle large-scale, real-world data and can forecast pavement performance in the long run. Unfortunately, the traditional performance prediction models have raised concerns regarding their efficiency and accuracy. It is because these models were based on a limited number of explanatory variables, were not up-to-date and were designed for forecasting short-term (up to five years) …

Float: A Multi-Scale Flood Loss Assessment Tool Developed From Experimentally Derived Material Damage, Anna Katya Opel

Doctoral Dissertations

Current practice of flood loss prediction presents limitations in accurately predicting building flood losses at multiple scales. While whole-building estimates can more accurately predict high-level losses (i.e., large groups of buildings), a significant analysis error is revealed with small-scale (i.e., individual, or small groups of buildings) investigation. The novel approach of collecting experimental flood data to support damage estimation has provided sufficient evidence that current damage models can and do under or overestimate loss. This research has developed a multi-scale approach to assessing flood losses based on experimentally derived material damage. The methodology is stored and accessible in a multi-scale …

Experimental And Numerical Investigation Of Droplet Dynamics In Microscale Systems: The Influence Of Surfactants And Nanoparticles On Environmental Applications, Negin Bahadori

Master's Theses

Emulsions are suspensions of droplets dispersed into an immiscible liquid phase, with at least a water phase and an oil phase. The capability to incorporate both hydrophilic and hydrophobic components makes emulsions amenable to a variety of applications, such as bilgewater treatment and oil recovery. To optimize bilgewater treatment or oil recovery, many aspects must be considered, such as the effect of emulsion stability, the wetting conditions and, more in general, the possibility to characterize droplet’s behavior over static or dynamic conditions. This thesis investigates the roles of surfactants and nanoparticles in understanding droplet behavior in oil-water systems, with a …

Enhancing Frp-Concrete Interface Bearing Capacity Prediction With Explainable Machine Learning: A Feature Engineering Approach And Shap Analysis, Yanping Zhu, Woubishet Zewdu Taffese, Genda Chen

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study introduces a novel approach to predict the shear bearing capacity of FRP-concrete interfaces using explainable machine learning. Eight algorithms are employed: three standalone models (Artificial Neural Network, Support Vector Regression, and Decision Tree) and five ensemble learning models (Bagging, Random Forest, Adaptive Boosting, Gradient Boosting, and Extreme Gradient Boosting). Four scenarios with varying input features, including engineered features inspired by mechanics-based bearing capacity equations, are examined. Notably, the inclusion of engineered features such as the stiffness of the FRP strip (Kf) significantly enhanced prediction accuracy and efficiency, although the width correction coefficient (bf/bc) did not yield significant benefits, …

Analyzing The Key Characteristics And Benefits Of Ccpr (Cold Central Plant Recycling) In Road Rehabilitation And Sustainability, Bassam Abou Yassine

Civil Engineering ETDs

Cold mix asphalt (CMA) technologies are being used in the United States and have environmental benefits. However, these technologies are not fully developed. We do not yet know their resilient and dynamic modulus, which are important for designing pavement thickness. They have not being used widely because we do not know also their performance. This study looks at three Cold Central Plant Recycling (CCPR) materials to help fill this gap. We conducted several lab tests, including the Hamburg Wheel Tracking Test (HWTT), Semi-Circular Bending Test (SCB), and Texas Overlay Test (TOT). We also tested the mechanical properties of the CCPR …

How Wildfires Threaten Water Resources: A Case Study Following The Largest Wildfire Recorded In New Mexico, Eric A. Joseph

Civil Engineering ETDs

Wildfire disturbance propagation along fluvial networks remains poorly understood. We use incident, atmospheric, and water-quality data from the largest wildfire in New Mexico’s history to quantify how this gigafire affected surface runoff processes and mobilized wildfire disturbances into fluvial networks after burning 1382 km². Surface runoff post-fire increased compared to pre-fire conditions, and precipitation events that are frequently observed in the affected watershed (<2-year recurrence) and fell during the post-fire first rainy season resulted in uncorrelated, less frequently observed runoff events (10-year recurrence). Wavelet coherence analysis highlighted that water quality disturbances propagated variably along the network, even at sites located >160 km downstream of the burn perimeter. Our findings emphasize the need to incorporate spatially resolved longitudinal sampling designs into wildfire water quality research and highlight the spatiotemporal co-dependency among atmospheric, terrestrial, aquatic processes …

Formation Mechanism And Strengthening Method Of Geometric-Mechanical Structure Of Plugging Zone In Deep Naturally Fractured Reservoir, Chengyuan Xu, Honglin Zhang, Jianhong Fu, Yili Kang, Zhenjiang You

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Efficient fracture plugging plays a critical role during drilling and completion of deep naturally fractured reservoirs, minimizing fluid loss, and ensuring reservoir protection. This study investigates the formation process of the geometric-mechanical structure of fracture plugging zones through a series of experiments including microscopic visualization, photoelastic and fracture plugging experiments. By examining these experiments, we reveal the relationship between lost circulation materials (LCMs) at the micro-scale, force chain network structures at the meso-scale, and the pressure stability of plugging zones at the macro-scale. Based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), we introduce an evaluation index for assessing the stability of …

Structural Behavior Of Corroded Reinforced Concrete Beam Elements Repaired With Fabric-Reinforced Matrix Composites, Youssef Ibrahim Elmezayen

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

Advanced methods for rehabilitation of reinforced concrete (RC) beams with corroded reinforcement were designed and implemented in this research. The nonlinear flexural and shear behaviors of RC beams with corroded reinforcement repaired with fabric-reinforced matrix (FRM) composites were investigated. Numerical simulation models were developed to predict the flexural response of flexure-deficient continuous RC beams before and after repair with FRM composites. A novel sustainable repair solution that involves the use of cement-free geopolymeric matrix reinforced with nonmetallic fabrics was also introduced for rehabilitation of shear-critical RC beams with corroded stirrups. Simplified and easy-to-use analytical approaches were adopted to estimate the …

Utility Of New Remote Sensing Data In Evaluating The Hydrological Response To Land Use And Land Cover Changes, Chithrika Jayamini Alawathugoda

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

Land use and land-cover (LULC) changes have profound impacts on hydrological responses, influencing both runoff dynamics and flood risks. This study focuses on two contrasting environments undergoing rapid LULC transformations: the arid Wadi Ham watershed in the UAE and the tropical Imphal watershed in India. The study addresses the need for accurate LULC data in hydrological modeling, particularly in climate-sensitive regions where changes in land use are accelerating. The primary objective of this research was to assess the impact of LULC changes on the hydrological behavior of the Wadi Ham and Imphal watersheds. It aimed to elucidate how these changes …