Civil Engineering Commons^™

Effect Of Construction Worker Demographic On E-Learning With Hazard Communication Standard, Serhan Kaya

Wayne State University Theses

Construction safety and health training can be delivered by different training methods, such as traditional, online and blended learning. E-learning is a newly introduced method whose effectiveness is still being investigated. This study focuses on the effect of construction worker demographics on the effectiveness of e-learning. The univariate analysis technique was used to find out the distribution and frequency of data collected by an internet based system. Further, multivariate analysis (cross tabulation) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were performed to determine the association between the independent variables which are age, gender, ethnic background, union status, number of employees in the …

Wider Dissemination Of Household Travel Survey Data Using Geographical Perturbation Methods, Kelly J. Clifton, Steven R. Gehrke

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Public agencies spend vast amounts of money collecting information about passenger travel in household travel surveys. These data are valuable for the rich and detailed information they provide, which contribute to regional and statewide travel demand models. These data have utility beyond travel demand modeling in their application to transportation policy and travel behavior research. As the demand on these data increase, so have the quantity of information collected. Detailed geospatial referencing of the home, work and other travel destinations are common practice and permit the integration with other spatially archived data sources, such as land use characteristics, transportation system …

Quantifying Ultra-High Performance Concrete Flexural System Mechanical Response, Yulin Xiao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The research and application of Ultra-high Performance Concrete (UHPC) has been developed significantly within the last 1-2 decades. Due to the specific property of high strength capacity, it is potential to be used in bridge deck system without shear reinforcement so that it provides even lighter self-weight of the deck. However, one of the shear component, dowel action, has not been adequately investigated in the past. In this dissertation, a particular test was designed and carried out to fully investigate the dowel action response, especially its contribution to shear resistance. In addition, research on serviceability and fatigue behaviors were expanded …

Role Of Force Resultants Interaction On Fiber Reinforced Concrete, Titchenda Chan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) is a recently developed concrete gaining a lot of interest worldwide, and a lot research has been conducted to determine its material properties. UHPC is known for its very high strength and high durability. Association Francaise de Genie Civil (AFGC) has defined UHPC as a concrete exhibiting compressive strength greater than 150 MPa (22 ksi). To utilize the full compressive strength of UHPC, complementary tension reinforcement is required. A recent research study to find light weight yet high strength alternative deck systems for Florida movable bridges demonstrated that a composite UHPC and high strength steel (HSS) …

Stiffness Response Of Chemically Stabilized Sulfate Rich Soil Via Resonant Column Test, Miftah Semane

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Stabilization of expansive soils using lime and cement additives have been used by practitioners over the last few years. However, recent heaving and premature pavement failures in lime and cement-treated subgrades containing sulfates led to questioning the validity of calcium based stabilization. When expansive soils containing sulfates are treated with calcium-based stabilizers, the calcium from the stabilizer reacts with soil sulfates and alumina to form the expansive mineral Ettringite.A series of resonant column (RC) tests (ASTM D 4015-92) was conducted on several chemically stabilized specimens of high-plasticity, sulfate-rich expansive clay from Sherman, Texas. Test results were used to assess the …

Deformation And Shear Behaviors Of Weathered Compacted Shale, Xu Zhang

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

As an abundant sedimentary rock, shale is widely used as construction material around the world. However, shale is a fissile and laminated material and is therefore subject to deterioration due to environmental and chemical forces (i.e., weathering), which is possible to cause high maintenance cost on associated structures and failures of earth slopes and embankments. However, currently, there is lack of efficient method to monitor the weathering process of shale. This thesis uses several shale samples collected from the commonwealth of Kentucky to study the deformation and shear behaviors of weathered compacted shale. A new electrical approach was developed to …

Development Of Indirect Ring Tension Test For Fracture Characterization Of Asphalt Mixtures, Alireza Zeinali Siavashani

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Low temperature cracking is a major distress in asphalt pavements. Several test configurations have been introduced to characterize the fracture properties of hot mix (HMA); however, most are considered to be research tools due to the complexity of the test methods or equipment. This dissertation describes the development of the indirect ring tension (IRT) fracture test for HMA, which was designed to be an effective and user-friendly test that could be deployed at the Department of Transportation level. The primary advantages of this innovative and yet practical test include: relatively large fracture surface test zone, simplicity of the specimen geometry, …

Calibration Of Non-Nuclear Devices For Construction Quality Control Of Compacted Soils, Joshua E. R. Wells

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Inadequate compaction of a soil subgrade can lead to detrimental outcomes that are not only costly but dangerous to the general public. To avoid this, quality control (QC) devices such as the nuclear density gauge (NDG) are currently being used to monitor the compaction and moisture content of soil subgrades. However, regulatory concerns associated with the NDG have encouraged federal and state agencies, as well as the heavy civil construction industry to consider non-nuclear devices for QC testing of compacted soils. One such non-nuclear device is the Soil Density Gauge (SDG), which utilizes electromagnetic wave propagation to obtain soil properties …

Development Of Cementitious Materials For Adhesion Type Applications Comprising Calcium Sulfoaluminate (Csa) Cement And Latex Polymer, Joshua V. Brien

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

The objective of this research was to develop high performing polymer modified calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) cement materials for use in applications requiring superior adhesion characteristics. Little information is available describing interactions of CSA cement containing minor phase tri-calcium aluminate (C₃A) with commonly used admixtures. Given the scarcity of information, a basic approach for developing cementitious materials was followed. The basic approach consisted of four tasks: cement design, admixture design, polymer design and testing developed materials. The iterative, time consuming process is necessary for understanding the influence of specific constituent components on overall system behavior. Results from the cement …

Uncertainty Treatment In Performance Based Seismic Assessment Of Typical Bridge Classes In United States, Mohammad Mehdizadeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bridge networks are expensive and complex infrastructures and are essential components of today's transportation systems. Despite the advancement in computer aided modeling and increasing the computational power which is increasing the accessibility for developing the fragility curves of bridges, the complexity of the problem and uncertainties involved in fragility analysis of the bridge structures in addition to difficulties in validating the results obtained from the analysis requires precaution in utilization of the results as a decision making tool. The main focus of this research is to address, study and treatment of uncertainties incorporated in various steps of performance based assessments …

Transferability And Calibration Of The Highway Safety Manual Performance Functions And Development Of New Models For Urban Four-Lane Divided Roads, Kaaf, Khalid Al

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many developing countries have witnessed fast and rapid growth in the last two decades due to the high development rate of economic activity in these countries. Many transportation projects have been constructed. In the same time both population growth and vehicle ownership rate increased; resulting in increasing levels of road crashes. Road traffic crashes in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is considered a serious problem that has deep effects on GCC's population as well as on the national productivity through the loss of lives, injuries, property damage and the loss of valuable resources. From a recent statistical study of traffic crashes …

Applications Of Transit Signal Priority Technology For Transit Service, Frank Anthony Consoli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research demonstrated the effectiveness of Transit Signal Priority (TSP) in improving bus corridor travel time in a simulated environment using real world data. TSP is a technology that provides preferential treatment to buses at signalized intersections. By considering different scenarios of activating bus signal priority when a bus is 3 or 5 minutes behind schedule, it was demonstrated that bus travel times improved significantly while there is little effect on delays for crossing street traffic. The case of providing signal priority for buses unconditionally resulted in significant crossing street delays for some signalized intersections with only minor improvement to …

Beneficial Utilization Of Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Ashes As Sustainable Road Construction Materials, Kazi Tasneem

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Incineration of municipal solid waste (MSW) is common for energy recovery, and management of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) ashes has received a growing attention around the world. In the U.S., generation of MSW has increased up to 65% since 1980, to the current level of 251 million tons per year with 53.8% landfilled, 34.5% recycled and composted, and 11.7% incinerated with energy recovery. In the process of incineration, MSWI ash is being produced as byproducts; about 80 to 90% of the MSWI ash is bottom ash (BA) and 10 to 20% is fly ash (FA) by weight. The current …

A New Multidimensional Psycho-Physical Framework For Modeling Car-Following In A Freeway Work Zone, Taylor Lochrane

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the United States continues to build and repair the ageing highway infrastructure, the bearing of freeway work zones will continue to impact the capacity. To predict the capacity of a freeway work zone, there are several tools available for engineers to evaluate these work zones but only microsimulation has the ability to simulate the driver behavior. One of the limitations of current car-following models is that they only account for one overall behavioral condition. This dissertation hypothesizes that drivers change their driving behavior as they drive through a freeway work zone compared to normal freeway conditions which has the …

Traffic Safety Assessment Of Different Toll Collection Systems On Expressways Using Multiple Analytical Techniques, Muamer Abuzwidah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Traffic safety has been considered one of the most important issues in the transportation field. Crashes have caused extensive human and economic losses. With the objective of reducing crash occurrence and alleviating crash injury severity, major efforts have been dedicated to reveal the hazardous factors that affect crash occurrence. With these consistent efforts, both fatalities and fatality rates from road traffic crashes in many countries have been steadily declining over the last ten years. Nevertheless, according to the World Health Organization, the world still lost 1.24 million lives from road traffic crashes in the year of 2013. And without action, …

Urban Expressway Safety And Efficiency Evaluation And Improvement Using Big Data, Qi Shi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In an age of data explosion, almost every aspect of social activities is impacted by the abundance of information. The information, characterized by alarming volume, velocity and variety, is often referred to as "Big Data". As one fundamental elements of human life, transportation also confronts the promises and challenges brought about by the Big Data era. Big Data in the transportation arena, enabled by the rapid popularization of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) in the past few decades, are often collected continuously from different sources over vast geographical scale. Huge in size and rich in information, the seemingly disorganized data could …

Utilization Of Simulated Ground Motions For Engineering Performance Assessment Of Tall Buildings, Nenad Bijelic, Ting Lin, Gregory Deierlein

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Non-Hydrostatic Models For Wave Propagation, Breaking, And Run-Up, Zhangping Wei

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation develops a series of non-hydrostatic pressure wave models based on the finite element free surface flow model, CCHE2D, for simulating propagation, breaking, and run-up of coastal wave processes. The first non-hydrostatic formulation presented in this dissertation directly introduces a non-hydrostatic pressure module into CCHE2D. An edge-based pressure allocation method is implemented, and a depth-integrated vertical momentum equation is introduced. The depth-integrated horizontal momentum equations are solved for a provisional velocity field, and then the non-hydrostatic pressure is obtained by satisfying the divergence-free velocity field condition, subsequently the velocity field is corrected by the non-hydrostatic pressure. Finally the free …

Evaluation Of Physico-Mechanical Properties Of Clayey Soils Using Electrical Resistivity Imaging Technique, Golam Kibria

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Resistivity imaging (RI) is a promising approach to obtaining continuous profile of soil subsurface. This method offers simple technique to identify moisture variation and heterogeneity of the investigated area. However, at present, only qualitative information of subsurface can be obtained using RI. A study on the quantification of geotechnical properties has become important for rigorous use of this method in the evaluation of geohazard potential and construction quality control of landfill liner system. Several studies have been performed to describe electrical resistivity of soil as a function of pore fluid conductivity and surface conductance. However, characterization tests on pore water …

Non-Destructive Sasw Evaluation Of Controlled Low Strength Material As A Pipeline Bedding Material, Rathna Phanindra Mothkuri

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Evaluation of stiffness properties of subsurface soil layers provides vital insight into the performance of a geotechnical entity. Stiffness properties can be determined by both field and laboratory tests. Owing to their advantages over laboratory tests, the field tests are often given priority. non-destructive seismic method Spectral Analysis of Surface Waves (SASW) has been implemented in the current research to investigate the stiffness properties of buried materials.The SASW technique works on the principle of wave propagation. The surface wave velocity obtained through the test is used to determine the shear modulus, and thus the stiffness, of the geotechnical entity. In …

Evaluation Of Truck Signal Priority At N Columbia Blvd And Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd Intersection: Vissim Micro Simulation Analysis Of Truck Signal Priority, Maisha Mahmud

Civil and Environmental Engineering Master's Project Reports

Given the importance of over growing freight transportation system worldwide, engineers and planners are faced with the challenge of improving freight service in urban area using low cost measure. Truck Signal Priority is one of the strategy that can be used to improve operational efficiency with enhance safety benefits (red light running) of freight service, without major capital investment. In light to this interest this study focus on evaluating the impacts of freight signal priority on a high truck density intersection like N Columbia Blvd and NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Using a simulation tool, VISSIM, these impacts were …

Making Bridges Outlast Rising Waters, Daniel Cox

TREC Project Briefs

During Hurricanes Ivan in 2004 and Katrina in 2005, at least 11 highway and railroad bridges along the U.S. Gulf Coast were damaged by wave forces. The spans of these bridges typically rested on bent column supports, and were attached to the supports by a variety of connection methods. Failure of these connections caused bridge spans to be washed away when the water rose high enough to lift them off. To build bridges that can withstand such forces, engineers must be able to estimate the effects the forces will have.

Investigator Daniel Cox of Oregon State University has conducted wave …

Testing And Strengthening Bridge Connections, Christopher Higgins, Peter Dusicka, Michael Scott

TREC Project Briefs

Researchers evaluate and improve the strength of gusset plate connections, essential pieces in bridge design that can fail due to buckling.

A Comparative Assessment Of Crowded Source Travel Time Estimates: A Case Study Of Bluetooth Vs Inrix On A Suburban Arterial, Fahad Fasha Alhajri

Civil and Environmental Engineering Master's Project Reports

Travel time is one of the most widely used measures of traffic performance monitoring for the transportation systems. It is a simple concept that refers to the time required to traverse between two points of interest. Travel time is communicated and used by a wide variety of audience such as commuters, media reporters, and transportation engineers and planners. Recent developments within the wireless communication area made it possible to collect travel time data at a relatively low cost. These emerging technologies include mobile phone based technologies, in-vehicle navigation technologies and automatic vehicle identification technologies. Although these technologies offer a great …

State-And-Transition Modeling And Adaptive Management: Tools For Future Co-Development Of Madagascar’S Natural Resources And People, Patrick Thomas Spencer

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Madagascar’s terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems have long supported a unique set of ecological communities, many of whom are endemic to the tropical island. Those same ecosystems have been a source of valuable natural resources to some of the poorest people in the world. Nevertheless, with pride, ingenuity and resourcefulness, the Malagasy people of the southwest coast, being of Vezo identity, subsist with low development fishing techniques aimed at an increasingly threatened host of aquatic seascapes. Mangroves, sea grass bed, and coral reefs of the region are under increased pressure from the general populace for both food provisions and support of …

Age-Dependent Fragility And Life-Cycle Cost Analysis Of Timber And Steel Distribution Poles Subjected To Hurricanes, Abdullahi M. Salman

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Power distribution systems are susceptible to extreme damage from natural hazards especially hurricanes. Hurricane winds can knock down distribution poles thereby causing damage to the system and power outages which can result in millions of dollars in lost revenue and restoration costs. Timber has been the dominant material used to support overhead lines in distribution systems. Recently however, utility companies have been searching for a cost-effective alternative to timber poles due to environmental concerns, durability, high cost of maintenance and need for improved aesthetics. Steel has emerged as a viable alternative to timber due to its advantages such as relatively …

Beneficial Reuse Of Locally-Available Waste Materials As Lightweight Aggregate In Lightweight Concrete, Brienna E. Rust

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

This study investigated the physical characteristics of lightweight concrete produced using waste materials as coarse aggregate. The study was inspired by the author’s Peace Corps service in Kilwa, Tanzania. Coconut shell, sisal fiber, and PET plastic were chosen as the test waste products due to their abundance in the area. Two mixes were produced for each waste product and the mix proportions designed for resulting compressive strengths of 3000 and 5000 psi. The proportions were selected based on guidelines for lightweight concrete from the American Concrete Institute. In preparation for mixing, coconut shells were crushed into aggregate no larger than …

Evaluation Of Potential Transload Facility Locations In The Upper Peninsula (Up) Of Michigan, Irfan Rasul

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Shippers want to improve their transportation efficiency and rail transportation has the potential to provide an economical alternative to trucking, but it also has potential drawbacks. The pressure to optimize transportation supply chain logistics has resulted in growing interest in multimodal alternatives, such as a combination of truck and rail transportation, but the comparison of multimodal and modal alternatives can be complicated.

Shippers in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (UP) face similar challenges. Adding to the challenge is the distance from major markets and the absence of available facilities for transloading activities. This study reviewed three potential locations for a transload facility …

Evaluation Of Structural Properties Of The Freeze–Thaw-Damaged Rc Beam Members By Nonlinear Finite-Element Analysis, Hiroshi Hayashida, Yasuhiko Sato, Tamon Ueda

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

On RC beam members damaged by freeze–thaw cycles, the authors performed nonlinear finite-element analysis using distributed reinforcement and smeared cracking models, toward evaluating the structural properties of such RC beams. We then compared the analysis results to test results. The comparison found that the accuracy of analysis depends on the severity of concrete deterioration. It was clarified that the test values do not agree with the analysis values for RC beams that experience shear rigidity reduction from freezing damage to the compressive area or for RC beams that experience decreased rebar–concrete bonding strength from freezing damage to the tensile area. …

Research On Microscopic Pore Structure And Permeability Of Air-Entrained Fly–Ash Concrete Subjected To Freezing And Thawing Action, Zhuo Zhao, Dawang Li, Feng Xing, Ningxu Han, Dongwei Wang

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

In this paper, rapid freezing and thawing test of air-entrained fly–ash concrete was carried out. Gas adsorption of concrete pores, mass loss, dynamic elastic modulus, and chloride diffusion coefficient of concrete after different freezing and thawing cycles was tested; scanning electron image was used to study the microscopic pore structure of the specimens. Results show that after certain freezing and thawing cycles, microscopic pores of the sample had a brittle failure, which results in sudden changes of cumulative desorption pore volume and cumulative desorption surface area obtained by Barrett, Joyner, and Halenda method. It was found that the variation of …