Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Feasibility Of Aerial Tramway At Boise State University, Majed Alsaqyani

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The use of aerial tramways is becoming common in cities as a way to provide reliable, safe, sustainable, and cost-effective mass transportation. The aerial tramway is especially effective in the most congested areas of major cities. The growth of Boise State University (BSU) and downtown Boise makes this location especially attractive for a tramway. Moreover, based on data collected for this analysis, it is clear that the BSU community is open to using the tramway instead of more traditional modes of transportation.

The viability of the tramway is further enhanced because the computer science department has moved to City Center …

A Comprehensive Seismic Response And Slope Stability Analysis Framework For Evaluating The Stability Of Hydraulic-Fill Dams, Sayantan Chakraborty

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The stability and serviceability of earthen embankment structures such as dams and levees are extremely crucial to avoid the catastrophic consequences of the failure of these structures. Such man-made geo-structures are usually stable under normal working conditions; however, the stability and subsequent functionality may be affected during earthquake events. Hence, the evaluation of seismic response and structural stability of earthen dams is an important facet in the field of geotechnical earthquake engineering. Dams and levees built in earthquake-prone regions are usually designed to withstand expected seismic events, and in-depth time-history-based dynamic analyses are typically performed to assess the behavior of …

Algorithm Development For Sewer Pipe System Condition Assessment Using Multi-Sensor (Msi) Technology, Mohammed Al Asadi

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

This study investigates the performance of all the current large-diameter pipeline system of The City of Arlington (COA) sewer lines of 48 miles (24-inch inner diameter and above for rigid and flexible pipes). Proper inspection and rehabilitation plan for the city sewer pipeline system are better choice for the municipality and tax payers in terms of cost than dealing with pipe damage and collapsing problems when they happen. The City of Arlington (COA), University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) and RedZone Robotics have established a Technology Partnership Program (TPP) to perform a condition assessment on the all COA large diameter …

Validation Of 16 Degree Arced Labyrinth Weir Coefficients, Megan Gordon Montgomery

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Labyrinth weirs are frequently used to control flow in spillways. Arced labyrinth weirs have been developed and researched in an effort to pass additional flow. Arced labyrinth weirs are more efficient than labyrinth weirs due to their increased length and improved approach flow conditions. In the past research has been done to develop discharge coefficients, Cd, values for arced labyrinth weirs with varying sidewalls angles (a=6°, 12°, and 20°). The Cd data that has been developed can only be used for those specific geometries tested. The purpose of this study was to develop Cd data for an arced labyrinth weir …

Dynamic Cone Penetration Tests For Liquefaction Evaluation Of Gravelly Soils, Michael H. Talbot

Theses and Dissertations

Dynamic Cone Penetration Tests for LiquefactionEvaluation of Gravelly SoilsMichael H. TalbotDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, BYUDoctor of PhilosophyIn North American practice, the Becker Penetration Test (BPT) has become the primary field test used to measure penetration resistance of gravelly soils. However, this test is expensive and uncertainties exist regarding correlations and corrections for rod friction. As an alternative, the dynamic penetration test (DPT) developed in China has recently been correlated with liquefaction resistance in gravelly soils. The DPT equipment consists of a 74 mm diameter cone tip driven by a 120 kg hammer with a free fall height of …

Using Finite Element Output To Detect Damage In A Steel Frame Model, Ai D. Nguyen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many structural collapses, all over the world, are related to inspection errors. The U.S. I- 35 Bridge in Minneapolis and the Canterbury Television building in New Zealand are a few examples. U.S. infrastructure conditions are poor, scoring a D+ according to ASCE report 2017. When the structures are inspected, the cost is high and service is lost. Inspectors use their trained but subjective judgment, which can lead to errors. Improved inspection techniques are required to reduce the cost, time, and subjectivity.

SHETM (Structural Health EvaluationTM) is an in-house software that has the ability to employ data to improve damage detection …

A Framework For Assessing Sustainability Impacts Of Truck Routing Strategies, Haluk Laman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The impact of freight on our transportation system is further accentuated by the fact that trucks consume greater roadway capacity and therefore cause more significant problems including traffic congestion, delay, crashes, air pollution, fuel consumption, and pavement damage. Assessing the actual effects of truck traffic is a growing need to support the ability to safely and efficiently move goods and people in areas where roadway expansion is not the best option. On one hand, trucks need to efficiently serve commerce and industry, while at the same time their activities need not contribute to a decline in the quality or public …

Nanofiltration Of Perfluorinated Compounds As A Function Of Water Matrix Properties, Hadi Toure

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) have been manufactured and used in various industries including food packaging, paintings, and coating industries. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) are the most commonly investigated PFCs that have bioaccumulative properties and a strong persistence in environment. Despite the growing interest in using membrane technology to remove PFOA and PFOS from water, little information is available on the impact of natural water matrices on the removal of PFOA and PFOS when using nanofiltration (NF). The presence of natural organic matter (NOM) and cations (Ca2+ and Mg2+) in water matrices and their interactions with the PFCs …

Experimental And Numerical Investigation On The Bond Strength Of Self-Sensing Composite Joints, Shafique Ahmed, Thomas Schumacher, Jennifer Mcconnell, Erik T. Thostenson

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Laboratory experiments demonstrate that a novel carbon nanotube (CNT)-based sensing layer embedded in the bondline of an adhesively bonded structural joint can detect and monitor deformation and damage progression of the adhesive layer. In this study, experimental and numerical investigations were performed to identify any effect of an embedded CNT-based sensing layer on the bond strength of that joint. To evaluate the mechanical behavior of such a bondline configuration, two sets of single-lap specimens, with and without sensing layer, were prepared and tested to determine the bond strengths of the respective types. Two-dimensional digital image correlation (2D DIC) was utilized …

Selecting The Most Effective Energy Modeling Tool Based On A Project Requirement, Sodiq Akande

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Building energy usage can be derived and controlled by performing building energy modeling. BEM can be performed using numerous software tools such as DesignBuilder, OpenStudio, EnergyPlus etc. These modeling tools can be sorted into three different modeling categories: Black-box, Gray-box and White-box. It is important for a modeler to be able to quickly select the proper tool from the proper category to meet the need of the project. To validate the method of categorizing tools, the three models generated using tools from each category and the modeling outputs required were compared. Each model was designed to estimate the amount of …

Demonstrating The Pollutant Loading From Stormwater Discharge To The Lower Jordan River Using High-Frequency Data, Ryan Dupont, Jacob Richardson, D. Willey, Rosa A. Fernández Valasquez

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Evaluate Stormwater Loading Above & Below Liberty Lake

Evaluation And Development Of Cpt Based Pile Design In Nebraska Soils, Alex Silvey

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Cone penetration testing (CPT) is a well established geotechnical subsurface investigation technique commonly used for site characterization and soil classification. The CPT gives real time end resistance, side friction, and pore pressure readings. Axially loaded piles also share these two resistance mechanisms, suggesting the cone can be considered similar to a miniature pile. This study focused on evaluating eight CPT methods prediction of pile bearing capacity. The Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) conducts dynamic load tests (PDA) of driven pile to verify pile capacity for bridge foundations. 91 comparisons of CPT logs and PDA data were evaluated. CPT prediction methods …

Coupled Hydrological-Geotechnical Model For Determinine Bearing Capacity And Elastic Settlement Of Foundations, Vahidreza Mahmoudabadi Arani

All Dissertations

This dissertation presents a coupled hydrological-geotechnical framework to investigate the performance of shallow and deep foundations under hydrological events such as heavy rainfall and drought. The variation in performance of foundation, interface between the structure and ground surface, is caused by the uncertainties associated with not only the geotechnical parameters but also the hydrological parameters that include intensity and duration of hydrological events and water table depth. The impact of such hydrological events significantly alters the performance of foundations by changing the soil strength and stiffness parameters of subsurface soil which may lead to foundation failures. Such failures can cause …

Studying The Applicability Of Biostimulated Calcite Precipitation In Stabilizing Expansive Soils, Md Touhidul Islam

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Of the four types of soils, clays are often associated with issues related to low bearing capacity, high compressibility, swelling and shrinking nature. For example, expansive soils swell and shrink with moisture ingress and digress and are prevalent in several parts of the world causing billions of dollars in damages annually to various civil infrastructures. Several ground improvement techniques such as chemical stabilization, deep soil mixing, moisture barriers, and others were employed to counteract these soils. However, these methods are impractical in certain situations and unsustainable in others due to their economic and environmental impacts. Microbiological treatment of soils could …

Quantifying Dominant Heat Fluxes In An Arctic Alaskan River With Mechanistic River Temperature Modeling, Tyler V. King

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Temperatures strongly affect physical, chemical, and biological processes in rivers and streams. The processes that influence river temperatures are known across most geographic regions, but the relative importance varies significantly. Little is known about what controls water temperature Arctic rivers, limiting our ability to understand the impacts of climate change. This dissertation addresses this knowledge gap by incorporating field measurements with river temperature modeling to estimate the relative importance of key factors that affect Arctic river temperatures. Results indicate that shortwave radiation (e.g., sunlight) and net longwave radiation are significant throughout an Arctic watershed in all flow conditions. In areas …

On Thermal Bowing Of Concrete Sandwich Wall Panels With Flexible Shear Connectors, Fray Pozo

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Thermal bowing, often referred as bulging or out-of-plane wall deflection, is a common issue on sandwich panel walls caused by a temperature differential between a building interior temperature and the environment. The stresses caused by temperature changes in concrete members are widely known in the practice of bridge design, but not on sandwich wall panels. For sandwich wall panel applications, it is common to have non-composite panels when the designer expects a high temperature gradient, what yields a less economical design, but reduces the bowing.

This project aimed to validate current assumptions regarding the heat flow in sandwich wall panels …

Barge Prioritization, Assignment, And Scheduling During Inland Waterway Disruption Responses, Liliana Delgado-Hidalgo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Inland waterways face natural and man-made disruptions that may affect navigation and infrastructure operations leading to barge traffic disruptions and economic losses. This dissertation investigates inland waterway disruption responses to intelligently redirect disrupted barges to inland terminals and prioritize offloading while minimizing total cargo value loss. This problem is known in the literature as the cargo prioritization and terminal allocation problem (CPTAP). A previous study formulated the CPTAP as a non-linear integer programming (NLIP) model solved with a genetic algorithm (GA) approach. This dissertation contributes three new and improved approaches to solve the CPTAP.

The first approach is a decomposition …

Human-Centered Design Of An Air Quality Feedback System To Promote Healthy Cooking, Chantal Iribagiza

Dissertations and Theses

Household air pollution (HAP) is responsible for almost 4 million premature deaths every year, a burden that is primarily carried by women and children in developing countries. The mortality and morbidity impact of HAP can be significantly alleviated through clean cookstove interventions. However, for these interventions to be effective, the new intervention stove must be a substantially cleaner technology and adoption should be high and sustained over time.

Woody biomass is the fuel of choice in many developing communities, and contributes substantially to HAP. Several organizations have launched clean cooking interventions to address this issue. However, the majority of those …

Understanding Asphalt Concrete Aging Using Nanoindentation, Hasan M. Faisal

Civil Engineering ETDs

Asphalt concrete (AC) is created by mixing liquid asphalt binder with solid aggregates. When asphalt binder is mixed with aggregates, it creates a thin film (about 7-16 microns thick) around the aggregate surface. Fine aggregate (smaller than 0.075 mm size) get entrapped within the binder film or mixed with the binder, and create a phase called mastic. Both asphalt film and mastic play significant roles in aging of asphalt pavement. To this day, tests were performed mainly on the bulk liquid asphalt, but not on the film or mastic. In this study, for the first time, nanoindentation tests were done …

Decision-Making Framework For The Selection Of Sustainable Alternatives For Energy-Retrofits, Amirhosein Jafari

Civil Engineering ETDs

Buildings are major consumers of energy worldwide. On the other hand, over 60% of the US housing inventory is over 30 years old and a large number of these homes are energy inefficient. Therefore, it is essential to target the existing building stock for energy efficient interventions as a key to substantially reduce the adverse impacts of buildings on the environment and economy.

Building energy retrofitting has emerged as a primary strategy for reducing energy use and carbon emissions in existing buildings. An energy retrofit can be defined as a physical or operational change in a building, its energy-consuming equipment, …

Automated Merging Control Algorithm: A Cooperative Approach For Connected Automated Vehicles In Platoons, Sogand Karbalaieali

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Transportation systems are being transformed by advanced vehicular connectivity and automation. Human-driven vehicles are being replaced by Connected Automated Vehicles (CAV). The US Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Intelligent Transportation System Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) promotes automated vehicle research which encourages the development and deployment of automated vehicles by infrastructure-based solutions. Advancements in traffic design and operation can offer solutions to the challenges that CAVs face. An example of these challenges is merging on highways where traffic operation could be enhanced by the use of Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) communication between the onramp and the mainline vehicles and roadside units …

My Catalyst, Gabrielle Gambino Lyon

Celebration of Learning

Over the course of my internship and shadow program with Pepper Lawson Construction and Ziegler Cooper Architects, I was able to explore the various career paths involved in the design, construction, and civil engineering fields. My work on the construction site of a high-rise apartment building located in the heart of Houston, TX allowed me first-hand experience working and learning alongside project engineers, contractors, building developers, and the construction team.

This project was the perfect confluence of my main areas of interest: structural, mechanical, civil, and environmental engineering, as well as architecture. My daily work consisted of on-site walk throughs, …

Irrigation Management, Environment, And Profits: Who Wins?, Emily O'Donnell

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The impact of irrigation technology on farmers’ management strategies and resulting environmental benefits depends upon agronomic properties and market forces. We evaluate the role of deficit irrigation using soil moisture probe technology on corn yield and evapotranspiration, which is a measure of water use efficiency. Evapotranspiration represents the water that transits through the plant during planting to harvest (transpiration) and the evaporation from the soil into the environment, or the displaced water in the production process. We develop yield and evapotranspiration response functions to inform a constrained profit maximization model used to identify the optimal irrigation level across a variety …

Plant Community Composition, Floristic Quality, And Establishment Of Roadside Revegetation In Nebraska, Usa, Jonathan M. Soper

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Roadside revegetation poses a challenge and opportunity for biodiversity conservation, as the land area occupied by roadsides is not expected to decline in the future. In the context of roadside revegetation activities in rural regions dominated by agricultural land uses, revegetation efforts can establish plant communities that offer unique species that would otherwise be absent on the landscape. To determine the efficacy of roadside revegetation efforts in 1) providing plant communities of high biodiversity value and 2) meeting the expectations of roadside revegetation managers for establishment, we quantified botanical composition, floristic quality, and success in seeding efforts to meet manager …

Including Farmer Irrigation Behavior In A Sociohydrological Modeling Framework With Application In North India, Jimmy O’Keeffe, Simon Moulds, Emma Bergin, Nick Brozovic, Ana Mijic, Wouter Buytaert

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Understanding water user behavior and its potential outcomes is important for the development of suitable water resource management options. Computational models are commonly used to assist water resource management decision making; however, while natural processes are increasingly well modeled, the inclusion of human behavior has lagged behind. Improved representation of irrigation water user behavior within models can provide more accurate and relevant information for irrigation management in the agricultural sector. This paper outlines a model that conceptualizes and proceduralizes observed farmer irrigation practices, highlighting impacts and interactions between the environment and behavior. It is developed using a bottom-up approach, informed …

Dna Identification Of Polyculture, Andrew Schuler

Energize New Mexico (NSF EPSCoR Track 1 IV)

DNA sequencing of algae polyculture growing in oilfield produced water. It is dominated by the algae species Parachlorella kessleri and Cyanobacterium aponinum.

Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study On The Possible Factors Affecting Stability Of Ods Steel, M. Mustafa Azeem, Zhongyu Li, Qingyu Wang, Abid Hussian

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Oxide-dispersed-strengthened (ODS) steel has excellent mechanical, thermodynamic and radiation resistant properties, which makes it an important candidate material for high-Temperature reactors applications. Radiation stability of oxide is very important to study at the atomic level. In present case molecular dynamics (MD) simulation is used to study stabilities of Y₂O₃ particles in ODS steel as a function of particle sizes. The size dependence is obvious for particle sizes larger than 2.8 nm. Furthermore, the stabilities depend on charges of Y and O atoms.

Cyclists' Queue Discharge Characteristics At Signalized Intersections, Kirk Thomas Paulsen

Dissertations and Theses

Wider bike facilities intuitively accommodate a greater number of cyclists in the same amount of time, but specific queue discharge characteristics associated with varying widths and/or types of bike facilities have not been thoroughly documented.

The focus of this research analyzed queues of cyclists at four signalized intersections in Portland, OR with varying widths on the approach and downstream intersection legs. A total of 2,820 cyclists within 630 groups of queued cyclists were observed at five different intersection layouts in Portland, Oregon. The layouts consisted of: a standard bike lane six feet wide connecting bicyclists to a standard bike lane …

Assessment Of Seismic Retrofit Prioritization Methodology For Oregon's Highway Bridges Based On The Vulnerability Of Highway Segments, Selamawit Tesfayesus Mehary

Dissertations and Theses

Geologists have indicated that the question is not if a catastrophic earthquake will occur in Oregon but when one will occur. Scientists estimate that there is close to 40 percent conditional probability that a Cascadia subduction zone earthquake of magnitude 8.0 or above will strike Oregon in the next 50 years. In addition, the majority of Oregon's bridge inventory was built prior to the current understanding of bridge response and prior to current understanding of the expected earthquake demands. In order to minimize potential bridge damage in the case of an earthquake, one approach is to retrofit seismically deficient bridges. …

Data-Driven Development Of A Roadside Safety Marketing Campaign For Tree Removal – Phase I, Cody S. Stolle, Thomas Ammon, Chris M. Vargas, Ronald K. Faller, Karla A. Lechtenberg, Erin L. Urbank

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Since the 1970s, tree crashes have been one of the most common and deadly fixed-object fatal crash types, resulting in more than 3,000 fatal crashes and 3,500 fatalities each year. While fatal tree crashes could be prevented by removing trees adjacent to the roadway, an extensive national tree removal project would be unnecessary, cost-prohibitive, and would experience significant political resistance.

The Midwest Pooled Fund Program jointly funded a research study to develop marketing methods and approaches which would focus on tree removal, replacement, or relocation in the most critical areas. Researchers conducted an extensive background investigation into tree crashes, other …