Civil Engineering Commons^™

Tier 1 Highway Security Sensitive Material Dynamic Risk Management, Steven Douglas Kreis

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Each year, over 2 billion tons of hazardous materials are shipped in the United States, with over half of that being moved on commercial vehicles. Given their relatively poor or nonexistent defenses and inconspicuousness, commercial vehicles transporting hazardous materials are an easy target for terrorists. Before carriers or security agencies recognize that something is amiss, their contents could be detonated or released. From 2006 to 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) recorded 144,643 incidents involving a release of hazardous materials. Although there were no known instances of terrorism being the cause, accidental releases …

Estimating Air Pollution Concentrations Using Moves-Generated Site-Specific Traffic Emissions, Mayra Consuelo Chavez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The research presented here attempts to estimate air pollution concentrations using MOVES and site-specific traffic emissions particularly those emissions surrounding three different air-monitoring stations. The objectives of this research include using MOVES capability to conduct project-level analyses, choosing impact zones to create emissions inventories. Emissions inventories provided by the MOVES model for impact zones within the El Paso county area were used to identify a relationship between air monitoring stations' measured results and emission estimates from a project-level analysis. The research hopes to identify an optimum zone radius that can be used to compare MOVES estimates with air monitoring stations …

Estimating A Freight Mode Choice Model: A Case Study Of Commodity Flow Survey 2012, Nowreen Keya

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research effort develops a national freight mode choice model employing data from the 2012 Commodity Flow Survey (CFS). While several research efforts have developed mode choice model with multiple modes in the passenger travel context, the literature is sparse in the freight context. The primary reasons being unavailability and/or the high cost associated with the acquisition of mode choice and level of service (LOS) measures – such as travel time and travel cost. The first contribution of the research effort is to develop travel time and cost measures for various modes reported in the CFS. The study considers five …

Thermal Envelope Analysis Of Local Authority Low Rise Housing Based On Stock Aggregation Theory Using A Remote Feature Extraction Technique., James Pittam

Theses

Understanding the buildings thermal envelope is paramount to analysing existing problems which facilitate cold bridging and low surface temperatures. As no detailed housing stock database is in existence in Ireland which describes the geometrical configuration of the existing housing stock, and to create one would be a major challenge, this research set out to develop a high speed remote cataloguing and geometrical data extraction methodology to build such a database. Replacing traditional measurement methods with a remote method allows for the rapid extraction of fagade information. A remote surveying process is proposed named, the Virtual Survey Method, for the classification …

Laboratory Exercise- Mapping The Risk Of Structural Failure In Schools Due To An Earthquake, Joel Barker, Kimberly Sowards, Casey Webb

Engineering Applications of GIS - Laboratory Exercises

Utah’s present geology has been greatly dictated by tectonic stresses that have occurred over the last 0.7 Ga. A determining factor in much of this Geology is the Hingeline that runs through Salt Lake County. Throughout the history of the western North America, this has been an important weak zone. It is no surprise that this same zone is now home to the Wasatch Fault System, which accommodates some of the extension of Western North America. The steep mountains facing west toward Salt Lake City were formed from the tectonic processes of the Fault. The Wasatch Fault is a normal …

Laboratory Exercise X – Most Dangerous Places To Live In The United States Based On Natural Disasters, Joshua Alpers, Luke Kevan, Santiago Tovar

Engineering Applications of GIS - Laboratory Exercises

This laboratory assignment simulates the most dangerous places to live in the United States based on natural disasters. The natural disasters that will be used in this assignment include wild fires, earthquakes, landslides, hurricanes, tornadoes, and flooding. These inputs will be required in creating a heat map of the United States showing what locations are most likely to have a high probability of natural disasters.

Laboratory Exercise – Ideal Locations For A Family, Benjamin Barrett, Colin Esplin, Chris Garcia

Engineering Applications of GIS - Laboratory Exercises

Upon the successful completion of a college degree, many students (and their families) are offered job positions in various locations throughout the Unites States. As a result, these young families are tasked with the challenge of finding a suitable place to live in an area they are completely unfamiliar with. By using a model in ArcMap this task can be made much easier. In this lab a model will be created in ArcGIS Model Builder along with a corresponding map showing suitable locations.

Final Laboratory Project – Emergency Landing Site Map, John Chadwick, Daniel Pope, Todd Weichers

Engineering Applications of GIS - Laboratory Exercises

Utah County is constantly developing and expanding. New developments require new roads, new power lines, and changes to existing topography. GIS data is maintained and made available for the state of Utah by Utah AGRC (Automated Geographic Reference Center). GIS can be used to make an easy to update map that will display the current situation of roads, power lines, population density, and terrain. In this exercise a model will be created that will execute to create a map that will display safe emergency landing sites for recreational aircraft in Utah County.

Laboratory Exercise – Determining Evacuation Route For Deer Creek Dam Failure, Eleise Hinton, Matt Randall, Brian Packer

Engineering Applications of GIS - Laboratory Exercises

Deer Creek Reservoir holds a volume of approximately 153,000 acre-ft of water. All of this water is held back by Deer Creek dam. Below the dam, the Provo River flows through Provo Canyon and down into Provo before terminating at Utah Lake. While the chance of a dam break is considered unlikely, an extreme event such as a major earthquake could trigger a break. In the case of a dam break, residents of Provo who live in the flood path will need to know where to evacuate. This exercise will create a model to show the nearest evacuation sites for …

Laboratory Exercise — Safety On Roads, Elise Estep, Kyungmin Kim, Danielle Nixon

Engineering Applications of GIS - Laboratory Exercises

In transportation study area, safety is a great issue. GIS is appropriate to perform spatial analysis the accident history in define area. Specifically, GIS allow researchers to find an area or road segment that have high probability of any type of car accident such as Vehicle to Vehicle, Vehicle to Pedestrian, and Vehicle to Bicycle.

Final Laboratory Project - Finding The Ideal Camping Location In The Uintas, Jeffrey Baker, Josh Curtis, Ryan Egbert

Engineering Applications of GIS - Laboratory Exercises

GIS is used extensively by the United States Forest Service in mapping and research. Many resources are available online including raster data and shapefiles. The use of GIS tools allows for analyzing entire forests and finding specific points within large areas that meet certain criteria. The Ashley National Forest, High Uinta Mountains Wilderness, in northeastern Utah contains many shapefiles including roads, forest, highway, points of interest, lakes, streams, etc. The purpose of this lab is to use these available datasets to identify ideal locations to set up camp in the Uinta Mountains.

Child Safety Near Pot Shops In Denver, Jacob Flansberg, Elise Jackson, Amelia Theobald

Engineering Applications of GIS - Laboratory Exercises

Some major factors in deciding where one’s family should live include relative safety of the neighborhood, available green space such as parks and schools, grocery stores, and other commercial retail in the area. With the legalization of marijuana in states such as Colorado, proximity of these marijuana dispensaries has become another factor. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) can be used as a measure of vegetation, and to determine areas with high levels of irrigated vegetation. Using ArcGIS Modelbuilder, the data from an NDVI analysis can be used to determine the proximity of marijuana shops to these types of greenspaces …

Precast Full-Depth Deck Panels Supported On Inverted Bulb-Tee Bridge Girders, Michael James Mingo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) currently uses precast double-tee bridge deck systems for many of its county bridges because they are economical and fast in construction. Current bridges are designed for a service life of 75 years. However, many double-tee girder bridges are deteriorating and some need total replacement after 40 years in service. Furthermore, the double-tee bridge system only has one supplier in South Dakota. Alternative durable precast or prefabricated bridge systems are needed to provide more options to local governments when designing a new bridge. Different alternatives will also give local governments more flexibility to select …

Reuse Of Aqueous Waste Streams For Transportation-Related Applications, Gregory L. Hansen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Aqueous waste streams produced from commercial, industrial, and municipal processes may be potentially reused for transportation applications. The objectives of this project were to identify potential transportation-related applications for aqueous waste streams available in South Dakota, develop guidance for the beneficial reuse of aqueous waste streams, and evaluate the reuse of MIEX® brine generated by the Watertown Municipal Water Treatment Plant (WMWTP). This study identified many aqueous wastes from municipal water and wastewater treatment facilities, industrial and agricultural processes in South Dakota that can be potentially used for ice and dust control. Beneficial reuse of these waste streams requires a …

Using Photovoltaics To Power Electrochemical Chloride Extraction From Concrete, Sean Bond, Lynette O'Callaghan, Niall Holmes Dr., Brian Norton

Conference papers

Corrosion of embedded steel in reinforced concrete (RC) is a world-wide problem, that reduces structural performance and lifespan. Chloride attack may be a result of seawater, de-icing salts or contaminated admixtures, brought on by ingress of chlorides into the concrete. Electrochemical Chloride Extraction (ECE) is a non-destructive treatment for contaminated RC structures, that due to uncertainty of treatment times and applied current densities, is only 50% effective. It is often diesel powered has an environmental impact and often very costly due to the long treatment times. To improve the efficiency of ECE the influences of concrete resistance, cement type and …

Modeling Long-Term Deformations Of Unbound Pavement Materials Using The Miniaturized Pressuremeter Creep Data, A. M. Shaban, P. J. Consentino

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

This research was undertaken to study the predictive capability of the pressuremeter test for characterizing in situ creep behavior of unbound pavement layers. Although the creep potential of granular pavement materials is less pronounced than fine-grained soils, consideration of actual creep deformations in the pavement evaluation process will improve long-term pavement performance. In this investigation, the long-term deformations determined from laboratory one-dimensional creep tests were compared with those investigated by field pressuremeter tests. The pressuremeter test consisted of inflating a cylindrical probe incrementally up to a given stress level, and then maintaining the pressure constant for a 5-min single stage. …

Validation Of Integrated Coast-Ocean Model Cche2d-Coast And Development Of Wind Model, Afshin Gazerzadeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The eastern and southern coastlines of the United States are two of the most cyclone-prone areas of the world. The effects of tropical cyclones vary mainly depending on wind intensity and geological features of the coast that it is crossing. Higher winds potentially generate higher storm surges and consequently larger floods occur along the coastlines. Therefore, it is critical to accurately predict winds, storm surge, and waves associated with a hurricane. In the present study, an integrated coastal and ocean process model, CCHE2D-Coast, is validated by assessing the model’s capabilities in simulating coast-ocean circulations driven by the astronomical tides on …

Flood Disaster Resilient Bridge Structures For Sustainable Bridge Management Systems, Alper Durmus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Extreme weather events are occurring at an increasing ferocity and frequency. Floods are the most comand damaging natural disaster. More than 4,400 occurrences of flood disasters have been reported globally between 1900 and 2016. As a result, around seven million people were killed and millions more were displaced. Climate impacts are expected to intensify weather related flooding events, and sea level rise expected worldwide will increase the risk of coastal disasters. Transportation infrastructure, vital to the economy and society of every country, is especially prone to the inland and coastal floods. Bridge structures are under the constant threat of these …

Use Of Biochar-Ultrafiltration Membrane Processes For Removal Of Humic Acid, Vaibhavi Shankar

Theses and Dissertations

The performance of an ultrafiltration (UF)-biochar process was evaluated in comparison with a UF membrane process for the removal of humic acid (HA). Bench-scale UF experiments were conducted to study the rejection and flux trends under various hydrodynamic, pH, conductivity, and pressure conditions. The resistance-in-series model was used to evaluate the processes and it showed that unlike stirred conditions, where low fouling resistance was observed, comparable trends were obtained for UF-biochar and UF alone for unstirred conditions. Thus, the processes were further evaluated under unstirred conditions. Additionally, total fouling resistance was decreased in the presence of biochar, indicating that HA …

Enhanced Pump Schedule Optimization For Large Water Distribution Networks To Maximize Environmental And Economic Benefits, Seyed Mohsen Sadatiyan Abkenar

Wayne State University Dissertations

For more than four decades researchers tried to develop optimization method and tools to reduce electricity consumption of pump stations of water distribution systems. Based on this ongoing research trend, about a decade ago, some commercial pump operation optimization software introduced to the market. Using metaheuristic and evolutionary techniques (e.g. Genetic Algorithm) make some commercial and research tools able to optimize the electricity cost of small water distribution systems (WDS). Still reducing the environmental footprint of these systems and dealing with large and complicated water distribution system is a challenge.

In this study, we aimed to develop a multiobjective optimization …

Finite Element Modeling Of Frp Strengthened Concrete Beams And Columns At Different Temperatures, Bassma Ibrahim Gawil

Wayne State University Dissertations

FINITE ELEMENT MODELING OF FRP STRENGTHENED CONCRETE BEAMS

AND COLUMNS AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES

By

BASSMA I. GAWIL

October 2016

Advisor: Dr. Hwai-Chung Wu

Major: Civil and Environmental Engineering (Structural Engineering)

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Collapse of buildings or bridges is one of the worst scenarios to which built-infrastructure

may be subjected during their lifetime. In recent years, due to external environmental conditions

(temperature and humidity). Often times these effects are not immediately evident and develop

years later – making determination of responsibility difficult and repair expensive.

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) has proven efficient and economical for the development

and repair …

Do Characteristics Of Walkable Environments Support Bicycling? Toward A Definition Of Bicycle-Supported Development, Christopher D. Muhs, Kelly Clifton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Does walkability equate with bikeability? Through a comprehensive review of studies of the built environment and bicycling, including mode choice, route choice, safety, and urban design literature, this paper addresses this question. Previous work has raised the issue that the two modes are functionally different, despite them often being combined into a nonmotorized category, and has highlighted research challenges. Existing studies of bikeability have largely focused on infrastructure. This paper contributes to the literature on bicycling and the built environment by providing a thorough review of past research with a focus on the relationships between land use, urban form, and …

Triclosan Adsorption Using Wastewater Biosolids-Derived Biochar, Yiran Tong, Brooke K. Mayer, Patrick J. Mcnamara

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Organic micropollutants are ubiquitous in the environment and stem from municipal wastewater treatment plant discharges. Adsorption can be used as a tertiary treatment to complement the conventional activated sludge process to remove micropollutants prior to discharge. This research evaluated the performance of wastewater biosolids-derived biochar as an adsorbent to remove triclosan from water. Pre-conditioning of the biochar using hydrochloric acid (HCl) was an essential step for triclosan adsorption. Using acid-conditioned biochar, maximum adsorption of 872 μg triclosan per g biochar was achieved with biochar produced at 800 °C. Biochar produced at higher pyrolysis temperatures tended to have higher triclosan sorption …

Emerging Investigators Series: Pyrolysis Removes Common Microconstituents Triclocarban, Triclosan, And Nonylphenol From Biosolids, J. J. Ross, Daniel Zitomer, T. R. Miller, C. A. Weirich, Patrick J. Mcnamara

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Reusing biosolids is vital for the sustainability of wastewater management. Pyrolysis is an anoxic thermal degradation process that can be used to convert biosolids into energy rich py-gas and py-oil, and a beneficial soil amendment, biochar. Batch biosolids pyrolysis (60 minutes) revealed that triclocarban and triclosan were removed (to below quantification limit) at 200 °C and 300 °C, respectively. Substantial removal (>90%) of nonylphenol was achieved at 300 °C as well, but 600 °C was required to remove nonylphenol to below the quantification limit. At 500 °C, the pyrolysis reaction time to remove >90% of microconstituents was less than …

Transient Analysis Of Analyte Desorption Due To Thermal Cycling With Varying Pulse Duration, Patrick Getz, Christopher Carron, Stephen M. Heinrich, Fabien Josse, Oliver Brand

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

This paper introduces heating pulse duration modulation on a chemically sensitive, polymer-coated resonant cantilever platform for analyte discrimination during the desorption phase. As in our previous work, the embedded heaters enable real-time measurements of analyte sorption into the polymer film, without the need for traditional valve systems and reference gases [1-2]. This work particularly looks at the effects of varying pulse lengths on the sensor responses, while holding the heating power constant. A model differential equation is developed for the sensor response based on both the device sensitivity and transient response. This model can then be used together with estimation …

On The Role Of Adsorbate Position, Geometry, And Binding Characteristics On The Multi-Modal Response Of Cantilever-Based Resonators For Higher-Order Discrete-Mass Detection, Stephen M. Heinrich, Pierre-Henri Ducrot, C. Ayela, Hongjian Zhang, Isabelle Dufour

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Traffic Incident Locations On A Metropolitan Evacuation, Karzan Bahaaldin, Ryan N. Fries, Michael R. Williamson, Mashrur Chowdhury

SIUE Faculty Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Modeling emergency evacuations can help engineers, planners, and emergency managers identify the approximate time it would take for evacuees to leave a disaster area. Unfortunately, many evacuation studies do not account for traffic incidents. This study examined the effect of traffic incidents during a no notice emergency evacuation in the eastern St. Louis metropolitan area road network. The roadway network was modeled using traffic micro-simulation software VISSIM, which utilized the expected traffic volumes that were determined by the regional planning agency, and guided by input from the transportation engineers at the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). Because traffic speeds are …

Structural Health Monitoring Of Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels, Luca Letizia

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This work is focusing to study the structural behavior of Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels (COPVs). These COPVs are found in many engineering applications. In the aerospace field, they are installed onto spaceships and aid the reorientation of the spacecraft in very far and airless, therefore frictionless, orbits to save energy and fuel. The intent of this research is to analyze the difference in performance of both perfectly intact and purposely damaged tanks. Understanding both the source and location of a structural fault will help NASA engineers predict the performance of COPVs subject to similar conditions, which could prevent failures of …

Evaluating Arterial Congestion And Travel Time Reliability Performance, Galen T. Smith

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

This thesis presents an investigation of arterial travel time and reliability. Specifically an examination of the proposed arterial travel time reliability performance measures detailed in Federal Highway Administration’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on national performance management measures are performed. These measures, including level of travel time reliability and peak hour travel time ratio, are computed and compared to those currently used to quantify congestion and travel time reliability. Within this process several commonly used data sources are evaluated to determine the effects of data quality and data source on performance measure evaluation. The newly created Urban Streets Reliability tool is …

Using Unmanned Aerial Systems (Uas) And Photogrammetry To Remotely Assess Landslide Events In Near Real-Time, Jordan T. Keeney

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Commercially available unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and photogrammetry software have undergone rapid advancements in recent years. However, the use of UAS and photogrammetry techniques for monitoring surface landform deformation has not been adopted for the most part due to complicated workflows and complex UAS systems. This study demonstrates the ability to monitor landslides in near-real time with commercially available UAS and photogrammetry software using direct georeferencing and co- registration techniques. The results of this research were then assessed to develop an optimal workflow for the rapid assessment of surface deformations with direct georeferenced UAS obtained imagery and photogrammetry software.