Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Responses To A Century Of Housing Crisis: Problem, Politics And Policy, Paul Umfreville

Doctoral

The Irish housing system is reportedly in crisis. Homelessness, a lack of affordable housing to rent or buy, and limited security of tenure mean that the housing opportunity available to previous generations is not available to many of the current one. Problems with housing in Ireland are not, however, purely recent phenomena. Reports of inquiry and Census data have catalogued recurring housing crises and failings in housing policy over the last century, but whilst systemic shocks provided the impetus for historic housing policy transformation, inertia in the political system now appears to dampen momentum for effective change. Significant events seemingly …

Assessing The Condition Of Pavements (Road Surfaces) Using Computer Vision & Machine Learning, Syed Ibrahim Hassam

Doctoral

Regular inspections of pavements are conducted by civil infrastructure departments to evaluate the surface condition. Pavement surfaces are subject to deterioration caused by several factors such as traffic, weather, and sunlight. This deterioration becomes evident through various distresses, including potholes, rutting, cracking, bleeding, patching, and ravelling, which gradually affects the surface layer over time. It is essential to assess the condition of pavements as it not only ensures their usability but also maximises public safety. Effective pavement maintenance requires substantial resources and capital investment to carry out the most suitable maintenance treatments at the optimal time. Furthermore, the outcomes of …

Benchmarking The Global Warming Potential Of Asphalt Pavements In West Virginia, Md Reasad Samrat

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

With the rising focus on sustainable infrastructure, interest in environmentally friendly paving practices has grown significantly. This thesis investigates the environmental impacts of asphalt mixtures in West Virginia from a sustainable asphalt mix design perspective, with a particular emphasis on the utilization of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The research aligns with the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Climate Challenge, which aims to encourage state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) to implement low-carbon materials and consider the ecological effects of their paving activities. This study establishes the initial benchmark values for greenhouse gas emissions associated with asphalt pavements in West Virginia. The …

Performance Evaluation Of Composite Utility Structures Under Wildfires And Mitigation Methods, Siddhant Sitoula

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composite utility poles and crossarms have been getting wider attention from the utility industries because of their advantages over the traditional wooden, concrete, and steel poles. Wood is vulnerable to fire, rot, and animal damage. Concrete poles are heavier, increasing both transportation and installation costs of the poles, in addition to limited-service life (40-50 years). Similarly, steel poles have durability and safety concerns because of their inherent corrosive nature and conductivity. These disadvantages are significantly reduced by the use of FRP composites in utility structures because of FRP’s strength, specific gravity, flexibility, non-conductivity and durability …

An Integrated Framework For Establishing Long-Term Transportation Management Strategies Promoting Sustainable Urban Growth, M Imtiaz Rahman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Urban land areas are experiencing a more rapid expansion compared to their population growth on a global scale. This phenomenon, known as urban sprawl, is characterized by low-density development in the outskirts of cities. This unplanned urban growth leads to changing urban transportation patterns, posing a threat to sustainable development. In response, government agencies implement growth management practices, with transportation management strategies playing a crucial role in achieving sustainable urban growth. However, developing effective growth management strategies is difficult because of several challenges, including limited understanding of the key influencing factors, the complex interdependencies among these factors, and the uncertainties …

Sustainable Materials For Environment − Multifunctional Material Made From Dead Leaves And Nanostructured Materials For Antibiotic Degradation, Siyuan Fang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

As environmental pollution from industrial processes and human activities continues to rise, finding efficient approaches to recycle waste materials and degrade persistent contaminants becomes increasingly critical. Dead leaves, an abundant but underutilized biomass, present an opportunity for creating value-added materials if their biocomponents can be preserved and transformed. Simultaneously, antibiotics such as tetracycline are widely found in water bodies but pose serious ecological and health risks, necessitating effective degradation methods. This dissertation addresses these challenges by leveraging natural and nanostructured materials to develop multifunctional products and advanced photocatalytic processes.

Chapter 3 of this dissertation addresses the challenge of converting waste …

Evaluation Of Aashto Seismic Design For Reinforced Concrete Bridge Columns, Andrew Leroy Grismer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bridge failure can be catastrophic resulting in casualties and limiting the accessibility and emergency response efforts. Ensuring a high level of ductility for bridge columns through sufficient design methods and detailing is the most important aspect of the modern seismic codes. Reinforced concrete (RC) bridge columns are widely used in multi-span bridges located in seismic regions of the nation due to their controlled ductility and durability. The objective of this study was to systematically evaluate the AASHTO seismic design requirements for RC bridge columns and to comment on whether current bridge code is sufficient and safe. An extensive literature review …

Development Of Bed Shear Stress In Open Channel Flow In Smooth-To-Rough And Rough-To-Smooth Transitions, Linet Chietunda Paul

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study of flows over sudden change in bed roughness in open channels is important in understanding the flow dynamics of a developing boundary layer. Parameters such as shear velocity, mean flow velocity, turbulence intensity and the Reynolds stress distribution are critical in channel design optimization and predicting sediment transport. In this thesis, a detailed examination of the distribution of these parameters is undertaken in a rough-to-smooth and smooth-to-rough transition. Laboratory experiments were conducted on rough-to-smooth transition (Case A) and smooth-to-rough transition (Case B) in an open channel flume. Measurements of the fluid velocity fields at the centerline of the …

Access And Other Arterial Road Characteristics Influencing Pedestrians And Bicyclists’ Crashes In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Yully Tatiana Chaves Lasso, Lisa Lorena Losada-Rojas Phd., Nick Ferenchak Phd., Yan Lin Phd.

Civil Engineering ETDs

Pedestrians and bicyclists, known as Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs), are disproportionately affected by crashes. Arterial roads significantly impact crash rates, especially for VRUs. Previous research has identified factors contributing to VRU crash frequency. However, limited research focused on the relationship between these factors and VRU crashes in New Mexico, a state with high fatality rates for VRUs. This study aims to answer three research questions: i) Are high-speed, high-access roads more likely to experience crashes than roads with better access management? ii) Do more driveways per mile correlate with more VRU crashes per mile? iii) What other factors related to …

A Review On Biochar As An Adsorbent For Pb(Ii) Removal From Water, Pushpita Kumkum, Sandeep Kumar

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Heavy metal contamination in drinking water is a growing concern due to its severe health effects on humans. Among the many metals, lead (Pb), which is a toxic and harmful element, has the most widespread global distribution. Pb pollution is a major problem of water pollution in developing countries and nations. The most common sources of lead in drinking water are lead pipes, faucets, and plumbing fixtures. Adsorption is the most efficient method for metal removal, and activated carbon has been used widely in many applications as an effective adsorbent, but its high production costs have created the necessity for …

A General Framework For Modeling Subregional Path Effects, T. E. Buckreis, P. Wang, S. J. Brandenberg, J. P. Stewart

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Next Generation Attenuation (NGA) West2 ground motion models (GMMs) include regional path adjustments for broad jurisdictional regions, which necessarily averages spatially variable path effects within those regions. We extend that framework to account for systematic variations in attenuation within subregions defined in consideration of geologic differences. In recent years, cell-based methods which systematically account for spatial variations by summing the attenuation effects over a fine discretization of uniform-rectangular cells (e.g., Dawood and Rodriquez-Marek 2013; Kuehn et al. 2019) have been shown to be an effective alternative to regionalization and a step towards modelling non-ergodic path effects. The main drawbacks of …

Reliability Of Low Frequency Mhvsr Ordinates, F. J. Ornelas, C. C. Nweke, C. A. De La Torre, P. Wang, T. D. Mai, B. R. Cox, S. J. Brandenberg, J. P. Stewart

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Microtremor horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios (mHVSR) are frequency-dependent ratios of Fourier amplitude spectra of the horizontal to vertical components of a 3-component recording of ambient ground motions from microtremors. Results from mHVSR tests can identify the frequencies associated with site resonances at sites with large impedance contrasts, and hence have potential to provide useful parameters for predicting seismic site response. Site measurements are made by recording ground vibrations either from a temporarily deployed seismometer, typically recording for a relatively short period of time (~1-2 hrs.), or from a permanently-installed broadband seismometer. In this paper, we discuss ongoing work investigating the reliability …

User-Interaction With A Web-Served Global Ground Motion Relational Database, T. E. Buckreis, C. C. Nweke, P. Wang, S. J. Brandenberg, R. Shams, M. E. Ramos-Sepulveda, R. Pretell, S. Mazzoni

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

We present an application programming interface (API) which facilitates public access to a global relational database of earthquake ground motion intensity measures, associated metadata, and time-series data. Next Generation Attenuation (NGA)-East and NGA-West2 project spreadsheets have been adapted into a relational database format composed of multiple tables through a series of primary and foreign keys. The combined dataset has been expanded to include contributions from earthquakes, generally with magnitudes greater than M3.9, that have occurred since the conclusion of the data synthesis component of both projects in 2011. Currently the database includes 62,449 ground motions recorded at 9,092 stations for …

Modeling Coupled Driving Behavior During Lane Change: A Multi-Agent Transformer Reinforcement Learning Approach, Hongyu Guo, Mehdi Keyvan-Ekbatani, Kun Xie

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

In a lane change (LC) scenario, the lane change vehicle interacts with surrounding vehicles. The interactions not only affect their driving behaviors but also influence the traffic flow. This study aims to model the coupled behavior of the lane changer and the follower in the target lane during LC. Large-scale real-world connected vehicle (CV) data from the Safety Pilot Model Deployment (SPMD) program are used to extract LCs and study vehicle interactions. A multi-agent Transformer-based deep deterministic policy gradient (MA-TDDPG) method is proposed to model the coupled behaviors during LC. The multi-agent framework can handle the multiple agents’ behaviors with …

Implications Of Alternative Communications And Sensing Technologies For Implementing Variable Speed Limit Control Through Connected Vehicles: Sag Curve As A Case Study, Reza Vatani Nezafat, Mecit Cetin, Elizabeth Williams, George F. List

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Connected vehicles (CVs) will enable various applications to improve traffic flow. This paper's focus is to investigate how the potential implementation of variable speed limit (VSL) through different types of communication and sensing technologies on CVs makes it possible to mitigate congestion at a sag curve bottleneck. A VSL algorithm is developed and implemented in a simulation environment for controlling the inflow of vehicles to a sag curve to minimize delays and increase throughput. Both vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) options for CVs are investigated when implementing the VSL control strategy in a simulation environment. Also, for measuring traffic density …

Developing A Model To Predict Bleeding Areas In Asphalt Pavements Using Artificial Neural Network, Rami Khalifah, Mena I. Souliman, Pratik Lama, Omar Elbagalati

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Bleeding can have a negative effect on the performance of a pavement, as the layer of asphalt on the surface can become slippery, reduce skid resistance, and lead to premature wear and tear. Therefore, predicting the bleeding area in asphalt pavements will help in maintaining better pavements, increasing the safety of the drivers, and delivering timely maintenance. The aim of the study is to develop a model using a highly sophisticated analysis tool called an artificial neural network (ANN) to predict the bleeding areas in asphalt pavements as output, with one hidden layer and several neurons and using several independent …

Automated Flood Depth Estimation On Roadways, Kwame Ampofo, Megan A. Witherow, Alex Glandon, Monibor Rahman, Ahmed Temtam, Mecit Cetin, Khan M. Iftekharuddin

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Recurrent nuisance flooding is common across many parts of the globe and causes extensive challenges for drivers on the roadways. The prevailing monitoring methods for roadway flooding are costly and not automated or effective. The ubiquity of visual data from cameras and advancements in computing such as deep learning may offer cost-effective methods for automated flood depth estimation on roadways based on reference objects such as cars. However, flood depth estimation faces challenges due to the limited amount of data annotated with water levels and diverse scenes showing reference objects at various scales and perspectives. This study proposes a novel …

Examining The Effectiveness Of Oiled Ballast Water Treatment Processes: Insights Into Hydrocarbon Oxidation Product Formation And Environmental Implications, Maxwell L. Harsha, Danielle E. Verna, Yanila Salas-Ortiz, Eduardo Osborn, Eduardo Turcios Valle, Aleksandar I. Goranov, Patrick G. Hatcher, Ana M. Aguilar-Islas, Patrick L. Tomco, David C. Podgorski

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Ballast water released from ships into coastal environments has been identified as a mechanism that introduces contaminants of concern into coastal ecosystems. This study investigates the treatment processes employed at a ballast water treatment facility in Valdez, Alaska, that remove hydrocarbons from unsegregated ballast water. Specifically, the aim is to quantify and characterize hydrocarbons of emerging concern, known as dissolved hydrocarbon oxidation products (HOPs) and heavy metals (HMs), throughout the treatment process. Specialized analytical techniques were employed, such as non-volatile dissolved organic carbon analysis, fluorescence spectroscopy, Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance-mass spectrometry, and inductively coupled plasma triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. Results …

Digitalization Of Railway Transportation Through Ai-Powered Services: Digital Twin Trains, Salih Sarp, Murat Kuzlu, Vukica Jovanovic, Zekeriya Polat, Ozgur Guler

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Digitalization is a key concept that transformed the various industries through technologies like Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Digital Twin (DT). Although innovations provided by the advancement of digitalization have paved the way for more efficient operations and products for transportation, the rail transportation sector struggles to keep up with the rest of the transportation industry, since trains are designed to last for decades, and the insufficient infrastructure investment leads to multiple railroad derailments across the globe. Therefore, the primary aim is to transform current railway systems into human-centric, adaptable, sustainable and future-proof networks, aligning with Industry …

Urban Flood Extent Segmentation And Evaluation From Real-World Surveillance Camera Images Using Deep Convolutional Neural Network, Yidi Wang, Yawen Shen, Behrouz Salahshour, Mecit Cetin, Khan Iftekharuddin, Navid Tahvildari, Guoping Huang, Devin K. Harris, Kwame Ampofo, Jonathan L. Goodall

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

This study explores the use of Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN) for semantic segmentation of flood images. Imagery datasets of urban flooding were used to train two DCNN-based models, and camera images were used to test the application of the models with real-world data. Validation results show that both models extracted flood extent with a mean F1-score over 0.9. The factors that affected the performance included still water surface with specular reflection, wet road surface, and low illumination. In testing, reduced visibility during a storm and raindrops on surveillance cameras were major problems that affected the segmentation of flood extent. …

Kiloton Class Isru Systems For Lo2/Lch4 Propellant Production On The Mars Surface, Steven R. Oleson, Elizabeth Turnbull, Julie Kleinhenz, Wesley Johnson, Ryan Grotenrath, Nicholas Uguccini, Benjamin Abshire, Lee Mason, Thomas Packard, Anthony Colozza, John Z. Gyekenyesi, James Fittje, Stephen Hoffman, Leslie S. Gertsch

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

As part of the 2023 strategic analysis cycle to explore the trade space, the NASA Mars Architecture Team wanted to explore what it takes to produce in situ on Mars many hundreds of tons of propellants for a large all-chemical transportation system. The conceptual operations and design of the LO₂/LCH₄ in situ resource utilization (ISRU) water acquisition, propellant production and liquification system was assigned to the NASA Compass concurrent engineering team with support from various NASA ISRU, cryogenic fluid management, and surface power experts. The conceptual point design examined one case producing 300 t of LO_{2 …}

Beneficiation Of Lunar Regolith Simulants Through Electrostatic Sieving And Magnetic Separation, Peter Bachle, Jeffrey Smith, Fateme Rezaei, David Bayless, William Schonberg, Daoru Han

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In the light of future development of lunar structures, in-situ feldspar beneficiation is imperative for metal extraction. This research incorporates the tandem use of electrostatic sieving and magnetic separation for collecting a specific size range and mineral composition from lunar soil that optimizes subsequent chemical processing. While earlier works focused on silt-sized particles, this work expands that range up to medium-grained sand with a greater variety of potential lunar regolith compositions. This work shows that a 2.5 kV, 7 Hz to 30Hz frequency, single-phase square wave can lift silt and fine sand for collection. This lifting is successful directly from …

Kinetic Modeling Of Electrostatic Sieving For Lunar Regolith Beneficiation: Case Studies, Easton Ingram, Emmanuela Amen Eze, Jeffrey Smith, Fateme Rezaei, David Bayless, William Schonberg, Daoru Han

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A new kinetic particle modeling framework was developed to investigate electrostatic transport of lunar regolith particles with applications to the concept of electrostatic sieving. The new approach is based on kinetic particle dynamics and includes major modules of sampling the particle size distribution, solving electric fields, and tracking motion of charged dust grains. Case studies for a concept of electrostatic sieving were chosen to validate the new model. The simulation achieved similar yields reported in previous works, which served as validation of the model. The new model is computationally efficient and could serve as a design, analysis, and optimization tool.

Impact Of Quenching Intensity Conditions On Using A Finite Element Model To Investigate The Microstructure And Hardenability Of Low-Alloy Steel, J. S. Alabi, E. Heidari, M. F. Buchely, K. Chandrashekhara, S. N. Lekakh, R. J. O'Malley, V. Athavale, A. Kumar

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Quenching is one of the primary processes to improve mechanical properties in steels, particularly hardness. Quenching is well established for different geometries of individually treated steel components; while in-steam quenching of large diameter continuously cast steel bar has several specific features which are difficult and costly to experimentally optimize. the end-quench Jominy test has been used extensively to study the hardenability of different steel grades. Different numerical, analytical, and empirical models have been developed to simulate the Jominy process and to understand quenching of steels. However, it is not straight forward to translate experimental data from Jominy test on instream …

Cal Poly Craft Center Wedging Tables, Cooper Christopher Strong

Construction Management

The Craft Center, located on Cal Poly's campus, is where students can unwind from stressful coursework and engage in activities like pottery, surfboard shaping, and stained glass. The pottery studio needed new wedging tables, which are essential for removing air from clay before shaping it. The project involved building two new 7’ x 2.5’ tables that would fit well in the space and be durable. Designed to be 33” tall, these tables are accessible to students of varying heights. They feature a concrete surface that is both durable and porous, helping to absorb some moisture during use. The previous tables …

Reinstatement Of The Poly Canyon Caretaker Program Through The Development Of A Tiny Home Community, Leily Martin

Construction Management

The Poly Canyon Experimental Structures Laboratory, through its Design/Build program, is unique in the educational opportunity it provides Cal Poly College of Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED) students. However, since the conclusion of the Caretaker Program in 2011, the facility’s structures have deteriorated due to vandalism, purposeful destruction, and weathering. This study examines the perspectives of CAED students, the interim CAED Dean, Kevin Dong, and Cal Poly Risk Manager, Mike Morgan, on the effectiveness in reinstating the Caretaker Program through the development of a tiny home community. Results indicated educational value in this facility, so addressing these issues must occur …

Valorization Of Spent Vetiver Roots For Biochar Generation, Sameer Neve, Dibyendu Sarkar, Manas Warke, Teresa Bandosz, Rupali Datta

Michigan Tech Publications

Vetiver root is widely used to produce essential oils in the aromatherapy industry. After the extraction of oil, the roots are disposed of as waste. The central objective of this research was to explore the conversion of this waste into a resource using a circular economy framework. To generate biochar, vetiver roots were pyrolyzed at different temperatures (300, 500, and 700 °C) and residence times (30, 60, and 120 min). Analysis showed the root biochar generated at 500 °C and held for 60 min had the highest surface area of 308.15 m2/g and a yield of 53.76%, in addition to …

Materials Of Lightweight Concrete Research, Meganne Chapman, Kathryn Burns, John Grubb

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The objectives for this research project are to explore options for innovative and sustainable materials in lightweight concrete. Various materials including granite powder, hydrated lime, latex, and recycled glass beads will be used in the concrete testing for this project. The question the team wants to answer is how these additives affect the concrete’s mechanical properties. Weekly mix designs will be performed, and control cylinders will be compared to experimental cylinders. Compression and tensile testing will also be performed to further aid the research. The motivation for performing this research is to aid mix development for the University of Akron …

Battery Dunnage, Paul Hirsch, Alex Cox, Ben Strubbe

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Schaeffler is launching a new assembly line for a battery in 2025. As part of the project, it is necessary to design and fabricate a reusable dunnage (packaging) specialized for the battery, meant for safe domestic transportation in the United States. Through an iterative process, the team developed a final dunnage design out of steel components that had a maximum footprint of 62 in X 43.5 in X 29.25 in and a weight of 821.682 lbs. The dunnage is stackable on itself up to two high, weighing a total of 4,918.724 lbs. when loaded with four batteries. The design was …

Nfpa Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge, Rachel Wasik, Kimberly Griggy

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The objective of this project is to design a system which prioritizes safety and efficiency that uses human power converted to hydraulic power to drive a bicycle. This project is being done to compete with other university teams in making the best vehicle that runs on fluid power. It will help the members of the team to gain design and testing experience, learn about fluid power systems, and gain experience with working as a team and sharing/distributing responsibilities.