Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Sustainable Design In Ghana, Anthony Decosta, Amanda Laufer, Theresa Mcardle

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

Sustainable homes are difficult for the people of Gambibgo, Ghana to build, as there are few natural building materials in the area other than earth and water, and their subsistencefarming lifestyle leaves very little money for the purchase of sourced material like lumber, steel, or cement. Traditional homes in Gambibgo are constantly rebuilt, costing the communityaround $250 at least once every five years. Our team, with Father James Reites, S.J. and two alums, traveled to Gambibgo in March 2015 with an earthen roof design we had hoped to implement on the existing walls of thecommunity's homes. Upon our arrival we …

Santa Clara University Multicultural Center Redesign, Angela Non, Isaac Raven

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

The purpose of this project is to propose a resigned structure to better suit the activities of the Santa Clara University Multicultural Center. The renovation entails proposing a preliminary structural design system that includes a new, light-weight PLN3 metal deck roofing system provided by Verco Decking, Inc. Nine deep long span 56DLH truss joists will be implemented to support the metal deck. Two large trusses comprised of member sizes HSS9x9x½ and LL3½x3½x5/16x3/8 will be used to support the nine truss joists. Four concrete columns, 15 ft in height and 2 ft in diameter, will be erected to uphold each end …

Geomorphic Restoration And Stabilization Of A Reach Of Stevens Creek, Gretchen Kayser, Nick Roby, Travis Giffen

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

This project focuses on the restoration of a 460-foot reach of Stevens Creek in Santa Clara County, California. The new design will increase the stability of stream channels, riparian system functions, and fish passage while improving or maintaining the "level of service" based on geomorphic data. This project was completed in conjunction with the Santa Clara Valley Water District's standards and design criteria. The proposed design is needed to increase the stability of stream banks and rectify stream bed incision. This will, in turn, provide greater flood protection to the residents of Santa Clara County. In addition to safety for …

Designing With Bamboo: Frames And Connections In Underdeveloped Areas, Andrew Spencer, Bryson Kam

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

Designing With Bamboo: Frames and Connections in Underdeveloped Areas focused on the construction and testing of specific components of a proposed structure utilizing bamboo. This structure, proposed by the Ecological Building Network, would primarily be used in Haiti and other developing countries that are prone to seismic activity. The components of this structure will consist of concrete masonry units, bamboo frames, and rebar for the connection. This project focuses specifically on the bamboo frame and it's connection to the concrete masonry wall. Tests were performed on isolated unit specimens to gain a sense of the behavior of this mechanism. Information …

Hayward Shoreline Levee Protection, Samuel Beering, Karissa Canonizado, Caleb Young

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

The area from north of the San Mateo Bridge to Hayward Landing in the city of Hayward is at risk of flooding due to thirty-six inch sea level rise in the next 50-100 years. The areas that the this flooding would have a negative environmental impact as well as impact businesses and other residents near the project area. To protect these areas new shoreline protection was proposed. To begin designing new shore protection, the existing levee was analyzed on GeoSlope after doing numerous soil testing. It was found that the existing levee would fail against overtopping. After evaluating three alternatives, …

Homeless Garden Project, Caroline Ruwe, Tara Pozzi, John Miller

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

The Homeless Garden Project, a non-profit organization in Santa Cruz, California, was given 15-acres to expand in 1998 by the City of Santa Cruz. The main reason they have not moved to this area is that there is no readily available water to irrigate with. In this paper, we used GPS data and WaterCAD modeling to design a gravity water distribution system in order to irrigate this new land for the Homeless Garden Project. This system used two mountain springs as a water supply in which spring diversion box retrofits were designed. Multiple 2-inch high-density polyurethane (HDPE) pipelines were used …

Santa Clara Creek Restoration, Scott Cameron

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

The Santa Clara River Valley is an area that has traditionally had a considerably high water table and that remains relatively true today as a result of a local adoption of imported surface water to meet most needs. Historically, the result of this high water table was a network of meandering waterways throughout the valley, several of which came extremely close to our own Santa Clara University. Despite this, there are no natural surface water systems that exist in this location today. In 1851, a Santa Clara county surveyor report showed one creek in particular that flowed nearly to the …

Stethoscope-Based Detection Of Detorqued Bolts Using Impact-Induced Acoustic Emissions, Joe Guarino, Robert Hamilton

Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Results of a preliminary study investigating a simple method for detecting looseness in bolted fasteners of a steel structure are presented. Extensive research by many investigators demonstrates that the frequency response of a bolted structural member changes when one or more bolts are loosened. A simple and effective method for detecting looseness can be applied to bolted joints, using inexpensive and commonly-available equipment and software. The difference between spectrograms associated with tight and loose bolts is clearly apparent due to the presence of a tell-tale mode when one or more bolts are loosened. Further, a striking difference can be elucidated …

Automatic Turning Movements Identification System: Intersection Error Analysis, Brandon Ross Orr, Joseph Thomas Lanni

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

To lessen congestion at intersections, traffic identification systems are placed at roadway intersections in order to collect vehicle data. These traffic identification systems include various types of detectors that can identify the presence of vehicles in real-time. However, these detectors can only detect their presence and not their turning movements. To fix this issue, The University of Akron has developed a program that can automatically identify vehicle turning movements and is called the Automatic Turning Movement Identification System, or ATMIS. ATMIS uses mathematical algorithms to compute the vehicle’s turning movements based on a sink and feed detector paring. During traffic …

Civil Engineering/ Graduate Students/ Johnston & Jeffryes/ University Of Minnesota/ 2012, Lisa Johnston, Jon Jeffryes

Data Information Literacy Case Study Directory

From the University of Minnesota, this case study describes the seven modules that comprise their data information literacy program for students in Civil Engineering. The modules include: data management, organization and documentation, data access and ownership, data sharing and re-use, and preservation. Materials include a book chapter describing the case study, the syllabus for the program, a template for developing a data management plan and the evaluation forms that were used.

Civil Engineering And Construction News, Georgia Southern University

Civil Engineering & Construction: News & Publications (2011-2022)

• Department Update

Straw Bale Seismic Design Capacities 2, Beth Avon, Brittnie Swartchick

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

Straw bale is a sustainable building material that repurposes agricultural waste for use in the structural system of buildings. This material will be used as a component in the lateral force resisting systems of walls, especially helpful in the California seismic environment and under heavy wind loads. The four main components of a post-and-beam method straw bale wall are timber framing, straw bales, wire mesh, and plaster. This report will focus on the design of the exterior plaster and the design of “workhorse” and “strong” walls for simple construction and areas of higher seismic activity, respectively. Our test results will …

Cold Climate Solar Thermal Greenhouse Design, Samuel Health, Ashley Husbands, Cora Lemar, Moriko Tollan

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

The design of a cold climate solar thermal greenhouse was inspired by a trip the design team took to the Denali Education Center (DEC) in Alaska. The DEC expressed the need for a greenhouse because the soil in Alaska is too cold to grow fresh vegetables and fruits during the late Spring and Summer months. A solar array located on the campus, currently used to heat Water, produces an excess amount of heat that needs to be directed elsewhere. By heating the inside of the greenhouse through the solar array, the DEC will be able to extend its growing season …

California Highway 1 Improvement Project Northern Monterey County, Ca, Marie Adams, Nick George, Shaun Shapiro

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

This project focuses on improving traffic flow and safety on a 4-mile segment of California Highway 1 between Moss Landing and Castroville in Monterey County. Improvements include partial widening, signalization, and intersection upgrades.

Bannan Engineering Laboratories Redesign, Pia Johanna Candelaria, John-Carlo Guevara, Andy Chi Truong

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

Due to the growing student body within Santa Clara University's School of Engineering, an increase in classrooms, laboratories, offices, and study spaces is needed to for student engineering resources. The objective of the Bannan Engineering Laboratories Redesign is to provide a preliminary structural design and corresponding construction management schedule and budget as an alternative to the existing single-story Bannan Engineering Laboratories building. The proposed design consists of three floors of versatile spaces: one basement and two stories above ground. The 160-ft by 68-ft building features eleven hybrid classroom/laboratories in the basement, seven standard classrooms on the first floor, fourteen faculty …

Design And Evaluation Of A Home- Scale Arsenic Removal System, Megan Alferness, Alexandria Casares

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

The problem of arsenic contamination affects millions of people worldwide. A home-scale arsenic removal system could provide families in Nepal access to clean drinking water. It would also reduce the risk of adverse health issues that are associated with ingesting arsenic contaminated water. Our experiments show that using electrocoagulation is an effective method of removing arsenic from water. We were able to get the level of arsenic below 10 ppb in 60 minutes of treatment using various system configurations. We identified several parameters that affect the treatment process, the most important being the charge loading, or the amount of charge …

Life Water, Colin Boyle, Scott Hanson

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

A rainwater harvesting and treatment system was designed and constructed for the Hope for Life Ministry's home for street boys, located outside of Kigali, Rwanda. This system included two different components: a showering system and a potable system. The design and construction of the shower system utilized the roof space of the property's main building to capture water in two separate 10,000-liter tanks on either side of the building. Manual hand pumps were then installed in shower rooms located on either side of the building and were connected to the tanks with piping. 55-gallon barrels were placed in the shower …

Mission San Jose Well Initiative, Mary Foran, Nonda Kozas, Daniel Lafranchi

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

The objective of this community base project is to develop an irrigation system for a community garden that is sustainable and watered by one of the three wells on the Dominican Sisters' Convent property located in Fremont, California. The overall goal of this project is to have a submersible solar powered pump, which will pump water to a tank that will store water and function on a timer. This tank will then deliver water to the community garden as well as other areas on the property. This project focuses on both an environmental and water resources aspects of design work. …

Design Of A Low-Impact Wastewater Collection And Treatment System For Siladen Island In Indonesia, Kyle Astill, Charles Rymer, Joseph Sarmiento

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

Untreated wastewater is highly destructive to human health and the environment. Choosing an island location, Pulau Siladen, which has no wastewater treatment solution, the design team embarked upon designing a centralized collection and treatment system to treat the island population's wastewater, in the interests of preserving human health and the sensitive coral reefs surrounding the island. This system features a gravity sewer system, flow equalization, sequencing batch reactor, sand filter and disinfection as part of the treatment process. This project will emphasize the reduction in use of highly specialized and manufactured components, in an effort to minimize the economic, environmental …

Rainwater Catchment System At Walden West Outdoor Science School, Melissa Crapps, Jessica Bolanos, Alessandro Folchi

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

Walden West Outdoor Science School is a science camp in the hills of Saratoga where children learn science as it relates to the environment and the importance of using sustainable practices. A full-scale bioswale was designed to capture and reuse the rainwater runoff from the main parking lot and lodge on the site. To encourage future implementation of the design as well as to provide a learning tool for future science camps, a model bioswale was built using materials required in actual bioswale construction. A synthetic water sample was developed to mimic the characteristics of rainwater runoff. The synthetic sample …

Developing Improved Bridge Parapet Designs, Lauren A. Hedges

ETD Archive

The Ohio Department of Transportation has identified that premature parapet cracking is a significant problem in Northeast Ohio. Background research related to concrete cracking and parapet cracking was conducted to determine possible causes of the premature cracking that ODOT has discovered. To further look at possible causes of this cracking, current ODOT bridge parapet practices were reviewed. In addition to ODOT practices, ten other state DOTs were surveyed to identify the bridge parapet practices used. These practices include the parapet design characteristics, construction joint spacing and depth, and the class of concrete used for construction. Various differences among all of …

Installation And Field Testing Of High Performance Repair Materials For Pavements And Bridge Decks, Andrew Lesak

ETD Archive

Pavement patching is a common maintenance activity in the state of Ohio, due to numerous freeze-thaw cycles. The Ohio Transportation (ODOT) has a need for durable, more permanent high performing pavement and bridge deck materials that allow for a faster repair and for user safety. New or proprietary products were chosen, installed, and monitored in order to specify for use in future ODOT construction, based on the field performance of the products. The objective of this study was to document the investigation, installation, and field testing of the previously chosen high performance patching materials. The investigation determined the proper field …

Civil Engineering Accreditation Document 2013 (Revised 2014), Georgia Southern University Libraries

Program Accreditation Reports (2013-2023)

This is the revised 2013 report for 2014.

Pile-Soil Interaction In Unsaturated Soil Conditions, Megan Hamilton

Honors Theses and Capstones

The degree of saturation has been proven to significantly affect geotechnical engineering designs for foundations. The changes in water content will influence the way the soil behaves, including its strength and stiffness parameters. These characteristics were analyzed for a uniform silty sand by developing P-Y curves, which relate lateral loading to lateral deformations. These P-Y curves were input into FB-Multipier, a software developed by the Bridge Software Institute. The software is capable of generating deformations as a result of user-defined loading cases. The results indicated that the middle range of degrees of saturation produced the least amount of deformation. This …

Dynamic Testing Procedures For Performance Assessment Of Nuclear Fuel Rods, Travis M. Adams

Honors Theses and Capstones

Existing transportation probabilistic risk assessment for spent nuclear fuel in the United States is based on short-term (decades) on-site storage at power plants before transport. Updated risk assessment estimates will be required as extended on-site storage (centuries) and higher burnup levels in fuel become standard. Nuclear fuel rods under these two conditions are more brittle than rods from short-term storage and intermediate burnup due to several mechanisms, including hydrogen embrittlement. Development of risk assessment requires characterizations of dynamic behavior of these degraded rods under transportation scenarios. This Honors thesis provides an initial literature review for a larger project that will …

Analysis Of Shear Lag In Steel Angle Connectors, Benjamin Sawyer

Honors Theses and Capstones

Previous research has found an empirically based method for calculating the effective net area defined by stress distributions created by tensile loads in steel connections. Based on the results from that method a theoretical alternative is explored to simplify the process of determining the effective net area.

About The Library (2013), Georgia Southern University, Zach S. Henderson Library

Program Accreditation Reports (2013-2023)

This document includes information about the Zach S. Henderson Library's mission, facilities, collection and services. The data in the document is based on the fiscal year 2013 Annual Report.

Library Holdings (2013) Ce Report, Georgia Southern University, Zach S. Henderson

Program Accreditation Reports (2013-2023)

This document is a part of the 2013 Library Holdings Report for the Zach S. Henderson Library at Georgia Southern University. The report includes data for the library resources and services supporting the research of the Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Computing, Department of Civil Engineering and Construction.

How Rapidly Should Developing Countries Implement Intelligent Transportation Systems (Its) To Solve The Growing Urban Traffic Congestion Problem?, Mandar Khanal

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Many newly developing countries are growing rapidly. One example is India, currently the second most populous country in the world. According to the Indian Ministry of Urban Development, from 1981 to 2001, the population in six major Indian cities increased twofold while motor vehicles increased eightfold. Such rapid growth in vehicles without a comparable growth in transportation infrastructure leads to increasing traffic congestion. Cities in India are already considered congested today, and are going to be even more congested in the coming years since the rate of urbanization in India in 2006 was only 29% and is expected to grow …

Estimating Connecticut Stream Temperatures Using Predictive Models, Erik Carlson

Honors Theses and Capstones

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) seeks to better classify their streams into thermal regimes (cold, cold transitional, warm transitional, and warm water). A prediction model was created based upon physical characteristics such that CT DEEP could classify streams into thermal regimes based upon the parameters described in Lyons et al. 2009 and compare them to their own classification system. Accurately classifying these thermal regimes determines the environmental protection provided to a stream as well as the potential for establishing fisheries.