Civil Engineering Commons^™

Integrated Corridor Management Framework For Severe Freeway Incidents, Sanjida Afroz Iqra

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Traffic incidents are a major source of non-recurrent congestion on urban freeways, generating substantial mobility, safety, and economic impacts. Severe incidents that block multiple or all travel lanes are particularly disruptive because they degrade freeway operations and propagate congestion onto surrounding arterials. Effective Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) requires the ability to identify severe incidents, estimate their network-wide impacts, and anticipate the traffic conditions and driver behaviors that contribute to instability. This dissertation develops a data-driven ICM framework to address these challenges using real-world incident, crash, detector, and connected vehicle data from major Central Florida corridors, including I-4 and SR-417. The …

Generating Boundary Conditions For Compound Flood Modeling In A Probabilistic Framework, Pravin Maduwantha Mahanthe Gamage

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Flooding in coastal riverine environments is often driven by the combined influence of multiple hydrometeorological flood drivers, including storm surge, rainfall, waves, and river discharge, which is referred to as compound flooding. A robust flood hazard assessment requires simulation of a wide range of flood driver conditions through dynamic compound flood models to capture the variability in resultant flooding. However, such assessments remain limited by the short length of observational records and the high computational cost of physics-based methods used to generate temporally varying boundary conditions. This dissertation develops a statistical framework to characterize compound flood drivers and generate large …

Discrete Element Modeling Of Granular Soils: Critical State Behavior Applied To Impact Pile Driving, Esteban Patino Marin

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This thesis investigates the use of the Discrete Element Method (DEM) to study two complementary aspects of granular soil mechanics: critical state behavior of granular materials and dynamic response of driven piles in sand, both of which are governed by the same particle-scale mechanisms of dilation, contraction, and fabric evolution.

The first examines the critical state behavior and fabric anisotropy of granular soils through DEM simulations of direct shear, direct simple shear, and true triaxial tests. Sphere-cluster particles representative of a uniform sand are used in two assemblages of approximately twenty-five thousand and one hundred twenty-five thousand spheres to evaluate …

Locations Of Outfalls In The Indian River Lagoon And Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida, Kelly M. Kibler, Melinda J. Donnelly, Vincent Encomio, Madison Giuntoli, Manisha Thenuwara, Brice Bennett, Laura Andrade Barron, Mariam Sonbol, Wynter Raine Seppala, Namritha Ramakrishnan, Jennifer Jordan Báez, Beth Orlando, Irene Arpayoglou, Melissa Meisenburg

Indian River Lagoon Shorelines

The spatial dataset: UCF_Outfalls_IRL_LWL.shp was created under grants from the Indian River Lagoon National Estuaries Program and Florida Sea Grant. These projects cumulatively led to creation of a living shoreline restoration prioritization model and hydrodynamic habitat suitability models for 1,550 km (963 miles) of estuarine shorelines in Indian River Lagoon (IRL) and Lake Worth Lagoon (LWL).

The dataset presented here includes the location of outfalls identified throughout the study region and general characteristics of the shoreline where they were identified.

Seagrass Persistence In The Indian River Lagoon And Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida, Kelly Kibler, Melinda Donnelly, Vincent Encomio, Madison Giuntoli, Manisha Thenuwara, Brice Bennett, Laura Andrade Barron, Mariam Sonbol, Wynter Raine Seppala, Namritha Ramakrishnan, Jennifer Jordan Báez, Beth Orlando, Irene Arpayoglou, Melissa Meisenburg

Indian River Lagoon Shorelines

The spatial dataset: UCF_seagrasspersistence_IRL_LWL.shp was created with support from the Indian River Lagoon National Estuaries Program and Florida Sea Grant. These projects cumulatively led to creation of a living shoreline restoration prioritization model and hydrodynamic habitat suitability models for 1,550 km (963 miles) of estuarine shorelines in Indian River Lagoon (IRL) and Lake Worth Lagoon (LWL). The dataset presented herein represents persistence of seagrass throughout waters of the IRL and LWL.

Living Shoreline Prioritization And Hydrodynamic Habitat Suitability Models For Restoration In The Indian River Lagoon And Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida, Kelly M. Kibler, Melinda J. Donnelly, Vincent Encomio, Madison Giuntoli, Manisha Thenuwara, Brice Bennett, Laura Andrade Barron, Mariam Sonbol, Wynter Raine Seppala, Namritha Ramakrishnan, Jennifer Jordan Báez, Beth Orlando, Irene Arpayoglou, Melissa Meisenburg

Indian River Lagoon Shorelines

The spatial dataset: UCF_shorelinemodel_IRL_LWL.shp, was created with support from the Indian River Lagoon National Estuaries Program and Florida Sea Grant. These projects cumulatively led to creation of a living shoreline restoration prioritization model and hydrodynamic habitat suitability models for 1,550 km (963 miles) of estuarine shorelines in Indian River Lagoon and Lake Worth Lagoon.

The dataset presented herein includes:

1. shoreline data from >15,000 transects collected in the field,
2. shoreline wave climate data created through hydrodynamic modeling and frequency analysis of historic data,
3. categorization of potential risk for shoreline boat wake impact,
4. persistence of seagrass within 210 m of the shoreline, …

Development Of Generalizable Data-Driven Traffic State Prediction Solutions: A Comprehensive Approach, Md Mobasshir Rashid

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Increased urbanization and population growth lead to more traffic in the transportation system, causing severe congestion. Particularly during disruptive events such as hurricanes or traffic incidents, the traffic flow in the network worsens significantly. As a result, there is a need for data-driven traffic prediction models to reduce congestion in real-time, and the prediction model should be generalizable to be applicable across different dynamic scenarios. Additionally, a robust and adaptable traffic prediction model can help traffic managers to take proactive actions to optimize traffic flow. However, the majority of data-driven traffic prediction models suffer from limited applicability as they are …

Investigating Emerging Technologies In Civil Structural Health Monitoring: Generative Artificial Intelligence And Virtual Reality, Furkan Luleci

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Condition assessment of civil engineering infrastructure systems is of growing importance as they face aging and degradation due to both human-made activities and environmental factors. Nevertheless, challenges persist in data collection, leading to "data scarcity", and the need for frequent site visits in inspections, presenting significant obstacles in the assessment of the civil infrastructure systems. This dissertation aims to overcome these challenges by exploring the potential of two emerging technologies: Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR). In tackling the issue of data scarcity, the research question revolves around how Generative AI can be utilized to mitigate data collection-related …

Understanding Evacuation Traffic Safety Issues During Hurricane Evacuation Using Machine Learning And Connected Vehicle Data, Zaheen E Muktadi Syed

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Hurricane evacuation, ordered to save lives of people of coastal regions, generates high traffic demand with increased crash risk. To mitigate such risk, transportation agencies need to anticipate highway locations with high crash risks to deploy appropriate countermeasures. With ubiquitous sensors and communication technologies, it is now possible to retrieve micro-level vehicular data containing individual vehicle trajectory and speed information. Such high-resolution vehicle data, potentially available in real time, can be used to assess prevailing traffic safety conditions. Using vehicle speed and acceleration profiles, potential crash risks can be predicted in real time. Previous studies on real-time crash risk prediction …

Transportation Electrification In Interdependent Power And Transportation Systems - Analysis, Planning, And Operation, Sina Baghali

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Electric vehicles (EVs) are one of the eminent alternatives to decarbonize the transportation sector. However, large-scale EV adoption brings new challenges and opportunities to both transportation and power systems (TPSs). The challenges include the lack of understanding of EV driving behaviors and the associated charging demand (CD) distribution, the complex interaction of the decentralized decision-makers from TPSs, and the insufficient infrastructure from TPSs to accommodate the growing CD of EVs. On the other hand, the opportunities include benefiting the power systems by leveraging vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technologies and improving transportation mobility by incorporating strategic infrastructure planning. The goal of this dissertation …

Investigation Of Ground Deformations And Vibrations Due To Impact Pile Driving: Measurements And Prediction Model, Berk Turkel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Pile driving, a commonly used method for installing deep foundations, has gained prominence as a foundation solution to transfer structural loads to deep competent strata. However, this method of installation can generate noise, ground vibrations, and deformations. These effects pose risks to adjacent structures and buried utilities, jeopardizing the safety and serviceability of urban infrastructure. Researchers and public and private agencies have proposed many vibration limit criteria to avoid damage to infrastructure. However, these criteria for construction vibrations are not linked to the ground densification associated with repetitive and cumulative loadings in sandy soils. This dissertation focuses on developing a …

Optimizing Information Values In Smart Mobility, Fatima Afifah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Smart mobility, enabled by advanced sensing, communication, vehicle, and emerging mobility technologies, has transformed transportation systems. Real-time information shared by public and private entities plays a pivotal role in smart mobility, which facilitates informed decision-making, including effective mode choice, dynamic vehicle control, optimized travel routing, and strategic vehicle relocation. While more information is believed to benefit individual decision makers, it is crucial to acknowledge that the effects of information on transportation network performance are contingent; more information may not always benefit the safety and mobility of the whole system. The goal of this dissertation is to investigate the effects of …

Design Of Stormwater Bmps For Surface And Groundwater Protection Based On Site-Scale Soil Properties: Phase I, Kelly Kibler, Lisa Chambers, Melanie Beazley

Florida DOT

Much of Earth’s nutrient cycling takes place in soils. Characteristics of soils control physical, chemical, and biological processes that determine rates of nutrient fluxes, storage, or transformation. As remediation of excess nutrients in stormwater runoff is one function of stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs), the soil profile constitutes one of the most important factors of BMP design. Variation observed in BMP effectiveness (e.g., why one BMP design works effectively in one place and not another) can often be explained by variations in the soil profile, either through direct means or by a soil’s influence on hydraulics of stormwater flow through …

Developing A Physics-Informed Deep Learning Paradigm For Traffic State Estimation, Jiheng Huang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The traffic delay due to congestion cost the U.S. economy $ 81 billion in 2022, and on average, each worker lost 97 hours each year during commute due to longer wait time. Traffic management and control strategies that serve as a potent solution to the congestion problem require accurate information on prevailing traffic conditions. However, due to the cost of sensor installation and maintenance, associated sensor noise, and outages, the key traffic metrics are often observed partially, making the task of estimating traffic states (TSE) critical. The challenge of TSE lies in the sparsity of observed traffic data and the …

Social Media-Based Crisis Communication: Analysis Of Twitter Data From Local Agencies During Hurricane Irma, Naiyara Noor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

As social media platforms have become vital means of communications, it has become imperative for emergency managers and policy makers to understand how people are interacting with different agencies on these platforms for enhancing community response coordination during disasters. Although many public agencies have already adopted social media platforms for crisis communication purposes, empirical evidence on whether and how these agencies are effectively engaged on these platforms is lacking. This research aims to examine crisis communication activities of a variety of agencies on Twitter in response to Hurricane Irma in 2017. In this study, we analyzed 13,353 hurricane-related tweets posted …

Modeling Individual Activity And Mobility Behavior And Assessing Ridesharing Impacts Using Emerging Data Sources, Jiechao Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Predicting individual mobility behavior is one of the major steps of transportation planning models. Accurate prediction of individual mobility behavior will be beneficial for transportation planning. Although previous studies have used different data sources to model individual mobility behaviors, they have several limitations such as the lack of complete mobility sequences and travel mode information, limiting our ability to accurately predict individual movements. In recent years, the emergence of GPS-based floating car data (FCD) and on-demand ride-hailing service platforms can provide innovative data sources to understand and model individual mobility behavior. Compared to the previously used data sources such as …

Smart Mobility Sensing Of Origin-Destination Pairs Using Computer Vision, Seyed Sina Shid Moosavi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The measurement of the origin-destination (OD) flow of individual passengers within the public transportation system plays a vital role in understanding resident mobility and facilitating route planning. Particularly in resource-limited communities, where access to advanced technologies like smart card systems may not be available, bus transportation systems play a crucial role in daily life. Traditional methods, such as driver logs, are not only time-consuming but also difficult to provide precise measurements of individualized OD pairs. Therefore, the primary objective of this study is to propose an automatic passenger sensing system (software) capable of accurately measuring OD pairs for individual passengers …

Development,Validation, And Integration Of Ai-Driven Computer Vision System And Digital-Twin System For Traffic Safety Dignostics, Ou Zheng

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The use of data and deep learning algorithms in transportation research have become increasingly popular in recent years. Many studies rely on real-world data. Collecting accurate traffic data is crucial for analyzing traffic safety. Still, traditional traffic data collection methods that rely on loop detectors and radar sensors are limited to collect macro-level data, and it may fail to monitor complex driver behaviors like lane changing and interactions between road users. With the development of new technologies like in-vehicle cameras, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and surveillance cameras, vehicle trajectory data can be collected from the recorded videos for more comprehensive …

A Generalized Accelerated Failure Time Model To Predict Restoration Time From Power Outages, Tasnuba Binte Jamal

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Major disasters such as wildfire, tornado, hurricane, tropical storm, flooding cause disruptions in infrastructure systems such as power outage, disruption to water supply system, wastewater management, telecommunication failures, and transportation facilities. Disruptions in electricity infrastructures have negative impacts on sectors throughout a region, including education, medical services, financial, and recreation sectors. In this study, we introduce a novel approach to investigate the factors which can be associated with longer restoration time of power service after a hurricane. Considering restoration time as the dependent variable and utilizing a comprehensive set of county-level data, we have estimated a Generalized Accelerated Failure Time …

Time-Specific Safety Performance Functions For Different Advanced Traffic Management Strategies, Jingwan Fu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Time-specific Safety Performance Functions (SPFs) were proposed to achieve accurate and dynamic crash frequency predictions and bridge the gap between annual crash frequency prediction and real-time crash likelihood prediction. This research proposed time-specific SPFs considering the temporal variation in crashes and traffic characteristics. Firstly, the developed time-specific SPFs that include different ATM strategies (i.e., HOV, merge, diverge and reversible lanes segments) were investigated in this study. The results indicate that the traffic turbulence during specific hours would relate to crash occurrence. Further, the variables that represent the speed and occupancy differences between the HOV lanes/reversible lanes and general-purpose lanes were …

Hydrodynamic Limitations To Mangrove Seedling Retention In Subtropical Estuaries, Kelly M. Kibler, Christian Pilato, Linda Walters, Melinda Donnelly, Jyotismita Taye

Flow-biota Interaction and Natural Infrastructure Design

Mangrove forest sustainability hinges upon propagule recruitment and seedling retention. This study evaluates biophysical limitations to mangrove seedling persistence by measuring anchoring force of two mangrove species (Rhizophora mangle and Avicennia germinans). Anchoring force was measured in 362 seedlings via lateral pull-tests administered in mangrove forests of two subtropical estuaries and in laboratory-based experiments. Removal mechanism varied with seedling age: newly-established seedlings failed due to root pull-out while seedlings older than 3 months failed by root breakage. Anchoring force of R. mangle seedlings was consistently and significantly greater than A. germinans (GLM: p = 0.002), however force to …

Hydrodynamic Signatures Of Recreational Boat Wakes And Their Influence To Sediment Entrainment Along The Shoreline Of A Shallow Estuary, Kelly M. Kibler

Predicting Boat Wake Bank Erosion Risk

Wave energy from recreational boat wakes is associated with erosion and degradation of shoreline ecotones. However, wake effects are often assumed to be negligible when boating lanes are located far from shore. In this study, field experiments were conducted to characterize hydrodynamics of recreational boat wakes at the shoreline of a shallow estuary as offshore sailing-line distance varied from 50 to 200m. Results indicate that wake events were considerably more energetic than ambient conditions, with an average 20% increase in wave height, 190% increase in near-bed orbital velocity, and 110% increase in wave-induced shear stress. Wake events generated farther from …

Detecting And Tracking Vulnerable Road Users' Trajectories Using Different Types Of Sensors Fusion, Zhongchuan Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Vulnerable road user (VRU) detection and tracking has been a key challenge in transportation research. Different types of sensors such as the camera, LiDAR, and inertial measurement units (IMUs) have been used for this purpose. For detection and tracking with the camera, it is necessary to perform calibration to obtain correct GPS trajectories. This method is often tedious and necessitates accurate ground truth data. Moreover, if the camera performs any pan-tilt-zoom function, it is usually necessary to recalibrate the camera. In this thesis, we propose camera calibration using an auxiliary sensor: ultra-wideband (UWB). USBs are capable of tracking a road …

High Fidelity Injury Severity Analysis Using Econometric Modeling Approaches, Ahmed Kabli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Crash severity models are typically developed using police reported injury severity databases. However, several research studies have identified various challenges associated with police reported data. Therefore, the current dissertation is focusing on developing high resolution crash severity models based on medical professional driver injury severity reported using Abbreviated Injury Scale for eight body regions. The dissertation focused on developing a disaggregate injury severity modeling framework that can enhance the estimation accuracy of independent variable impacts on severity. Within this broad research vision, the dissertation has multiple objectives. First, a joint random parameters multivariate model structure with as many dimensions as …

Machine Learning Algorithms For Forecasting The Impacts Of Connected And Automated Vehicles On Highway Construction Costs, Amirsaman Mahdavian

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

A multitude of externalities affects transport efficiency and numbers of trips. Population expansion, urban development, political issues, fiscal trends, and growth in the field of connected, automated, shared, and electric (CASE) vehicles have all played prominent roles. While the market is keenly aware of the upcoming shift to the CASE vehicles, the transformation itself is reliant upon the development of technologies, customer outlook, and guidelines. The purpose of this research is to establish an overview of the possible network design problems, as well as potential consequences to vehicle automation systems by employing machine learning and system dynamics analysis. Finally, the …

A Spatiotemporal Evaluation Of Freeway Traffic Demand In Florida During Covid-19 Pandemic, Md Istiak Jahan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This thesis contributes to our understanding of the changes in traffic volumes on major roadway facilities in Florida due to COVID-19 pandemic from a spatiotemporal perspective. Three different models were tested in this study- a) Linear regression model, b) Spatial Autoregressive Model (SAR) and c) Spatial Error Model (SEM). For the model estimation, traffic volume data for the year 2019 and 2020 from 3,957 detectors were augmented with independent variables, such as- COVID-19 case information, socioeconomics, land-use and built environment characteristics, roadway characteristics, meteorological information, and spatial locations. Traffic volume data was analyzed separately for weekdays and holidays. SEM models …

Enhancing The Decision-Making Process For Public-Private Partnerships' Concession Agreements: Socio-Economic Sustainability Approaches, Faisal Alghamdi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Designing a concession for Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) agreements is a complicated process due to the number of variables that need to be considered. The PPP concession has many parameters and components, and a change in one component will considerably impact other components. Hence, the determination of the fair values of the concession components needs to be based on mutual benefits between the concession participants. The concession participants have different parts in the development of the concession; hence, they have different perspectives and goals. Therefore, the concession design needs to be constructed to balance the interests of the involved parties to …

Using Machine Learning Technique To Develop A Deterioration Predicting Model For Pavement Marking In Florida, Ehab Abdelmaksoud

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Longitudinal pavement markings play a significant role on the roadways by delivering information to motorists to help them navigate and follow the road. These markings are also considered to be a crucial control device that can enhance ideal nighttime visibility, especially on rural roads where the surrounding luminance is insufficient. Hence, the main question for public agencies or officials is about when the replacement of the pavement markings needs to take place. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is considering proposing a minimum level of retroreflectivity standard and based on that, the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) set aside …

Generative Modeling Of Human Behavior: Social Interaction And Networked Coordination In Shared Facilities, Saumya Gupta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Urbanization is bringing together various modes of transport, and with that, there are challenges to maintaining the safety of all road users, especially vulnerable road users (VRUs). Therefore, there is a need for street designs that encourages cooperation and resource sharing among road users. Shared space is a street design approach that softens the demarcation of vehicles and pedestrian traffic by reducing traffic rules, traffic signals, road markings, and regulations. Understanding the interactions and trajectory formations of various VRUs will facilitate the design of safer shared spaces. It will also lead to many applications, such as implementing reliable ad hoc …

Numerical Study And Optimization Of Post-Tensioning Energy Dissipating Connections With Inerters, Hector Blanco Gavillan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Posttensioned connections for steel moment resisting frames (MRF) can reduce residual deformations through self-centering capabilities. Devices are added to improve the connections energy dissipating capability and includes energy dissipating (ED) bars, friction dampers, and steel angles located at the top and bottom of the beam-to-column connections. The Post-Tensioned Energy dissipating (PTED) connection reduces inelastic deformation to the beams and columns, is installed with minimum welding, displays self-centering thus reducing residual deformations, and allows for easy replacement of the ED devices. An inerter is a two-terminal mechanical device that generates a force proportional to the relative acceleration between its nodes. The …