Civil Engineering Commons^™

Use Of Ultra-High-Performance Fiber-Reinforced Concrete (Uhp-Frc) For Fast And Sustainable Repair Of Pavement And A New Sustainable Structural Member With Ultra-High-Performance Fiber-Reinforced Concrete (Uhp-Frc) And Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (Frp) Reinforcement, Ashish Karmacharya

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

The first part of this research presents a new methodology, which enables streets, roads, highways, bridges, and airfields to use an advanced fiber-reinforced concrete material, which can delay or prevent the deterioration of these transportation infrastructure when subjected to traffic and environmental loadings. The major problem of concrete is its considerable deterioration and limited service life due to its brittleness and limited durability. As a result, it requires frequent repair and eventual replacement, which consumes more natural resources. Ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHP-FRC) introduces significant enhancement in the sustainability of concrete structures due to its dense microstructure and damage-tolerance characteristics. These …

Identification Of Legal And Policy Barriers To Timely Post-Disaster Reconstruction And Strategy Development For Effective Recovery Processes In United States, Vaibhav Dhamangaonkar

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Communities resilient to disasters have the ability to return to the normal state quickly and with the least possible delay; however, the causes of delays in the post-disaster recovery phase remain an important concern. Yet, different scholars have studied the long-term post disaster recovery process, barriers in the long-term disaster reconstruction have been studied rarely. This study fills the major gap in the research by identifying barriers in post disaster reconstruction and best practice to increase the speed of the recovery. In this regard, an in-depth review of more than one-hundred scholarly papers in this area was performed, policies and …

Experimental Investigation Of Concrete Breakout Strength Of Anchor In Tension Within Fiber Reinforced Concrete, Karthik Vidyaranya

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

This research investigates the effects of steel fibers on the concrete breakout of the cast-in-place headed stud anchors in tension. High strength anchors (F1554 G105) is used in this study for varying steel fiber dosage of 0.0%, 0.5% and 1.0% by volume fraction of concrete. The physical properties of steel fiber reinforced concrete were calculated through various test at the Civil Engineering laboratory Building. In total, 9-cylinder specimens of 4” diameter and 8” height, and 9 beam specimens, 6”x6”x20” were made and tested. After 28 days of curing, the specimens were tested for their compressive strength and modulus of rupture, …

Economical Design Of Cold-Resistant Biogas Digesters For Degrading Household Waste In Mountainous Areas Of Developing Countries, Sunita Baniya

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Energy is a basic tool for social and economic development. However, approximately 90% of rural households in low-income countries still rely on unprocessed traditional biomass fuel as the major source of daily energy. These biomass fuels are typically burned indoors, which leads to exposures to high levels of indoor smoke and associated health risks. Sustainable management of household waste is another environmental problem for rural peoples of developing countries. Currently, 90-95% of total generated wastes in most of developing countries is disposed of in open areas and street curbs.Anaerobic decomposition of waste to produce methane is a cost-effective way of …

Identification Of The Manageable Construction Rework Indicators And Related Successful Strategies, Piyush Taneja

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

In construction projects whether small or large scale, in the design and construction phases, contractors and owners face numerous reworks which finally leads to schedule delays and cost overruns. Although studying the causes of the rework has been of interest of many scholars and researchers, they have mainly focused on identifying the entity-based rework indicators. It is pivotal to identify the key project, organizational, and human factors that lead to the rework. Therefore, this study investigated, identified, and prioritized the human, organization, and project-based manageable indicators of rework. In addition, successful strategies which lead to overcoming rework challenges were evaluated. …

Long Term Performance Monitoring Of Shallow Slope Stabilization Utilizing Recycled Plastic Pins, Cory Alan Rauss

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Shallow slope failures are prevalent within the North Texas region. As highway slopes are underlain with high plastic clayey soils that experience cyclic shrinking and swelling, the soils shear strength generally decreases as the soil softens, making the soil more susceptible to sloughing and landslides. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) generally executes a rapid repair method as an economical option for repairing the slope. This method includes the failed soil removal, replacement, and recompaction to rectify the slope surface. While economical initially, this rapid repair technique may potentially prove to be costly with repeated repairs as the method does …

Applications Of Deep Learning Models For Traffic Prediction Problems, Rezaur Rahman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Deep learning coupled with existing sensors based multiresolution traffic data and future connected technologies has immense potential to improve traffic operation and management. But to deal with complex transportation problems, we need efficient modeling frameworks for deep learning models. In this study, we propose two different modeling frameworks using Deep Long Short-Term Memory Neural Network (LSTM NN) model to predict future traffic state (speed and signal queue length). In our first problem, we present a modeling framework using deep LSTM NN model to predict traffic speeds in freeways during regular traffic condition as well as under extreme traffic demand, such …

Development Of A Mechanical Device For Measuring Connection Rotations During Seismic Loading, Garrett Tatum

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This engineering design project sought to design a cheap and easy-to-use sensor to monitor seismic connection rotations in steel buildings during earthquakes by using a linear ratchet mechanism. The idea for the project goes against the mainstream of research that is seeking to develop complex digital networks for monitoring structures in earthquake regions. Whereas many modern sensor networks require high-cost, professionally maintained digital networks, an analog sensor could provide much of the same information at a fraction of the cost, allowing sensors to be more widely utilized, particularly in developing countries. This project required an iterative engineering design process to …

Point Cloud Technology For Analysis Of Existing Structures, Jacob Cano

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For this thesis, a study was completed on two different structures on the UCF Orlando campus through the use of both structural plans and point cloud technology. The results sought to understand the viability of point cloud technology as an accurate tool for the static and dynamic modal analysis of existing structures. For static analysis, a portion of the framing of Spectrum Stadium was rendered, modeled, analyzed and compared to a previous case study. The results emphasized how different users can render dissimilar member sizes and lengths due to human judgment on point cloud visuals. The study also found that …

A Comprehensive Behavioral Study On Lane Changing Manuevers, Saeed Reza Ramezanpour Nargesi

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Since changing lanes might cause traffic congestion and car crashes, the investigation on different aspects of this behavior remains critical. In the past decades, most of lane changing behavior studies have continued to model this behavior mathematically. Lack of qualitative studies in traffic flow theory concepts, especially lane changing behavior is noticeable. This study tries to conduct a comprehensive view of lane changing behavior maneuvers with consideration and analysis the steps of the lane changing process. The author uses the mixed methodological approach to understand the factors which may cause drivers to change lane. After understanding the reasons that make …

Improving Multi-Reservoir Water Supply System Operation Using Ensemble Forecasting And Global Sensitivity Analysis, Reza Limon

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The objective of this research is to improve the cost-effectiveness, reliability and resilience of water supply system operation through the utilization of ensemble forecasting and optimization of the operating policies. For the effective operation of a multi-reservoir water supply system skillful inflow and outflow forecasts are required. To that end, this research first assesses the value of medium-range ensemble precipitation forecasts generated with the HEFS developed by the US NWS in increasing skill and lead time of ensemble inflow forecasts. The skill of reservoir outflow forecasts is then assessed using three different models with varying complexity. Also assessed in the …

Full Scale 13-Story Building Implosion And Collapse: Effects On Adjacent Structures, Kanchan Devkota

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

Two dormitory halls at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln known as Cather and Pound halls were demolished via controlled implosion on December 22, 2017. Cather and Pound halls were two thirteen-story reinforced concrete structures. The demolition of these two structures included the implosion of controlled charges at selected columns on alternating floors which initiated the progressive collapse of these structures. Three nearby structures in the vicinity of Cather and Pound halls were instrumented with high sensitivity uniaxial piezoelectric accelerometers to record the response of the adjacent structures during the event of the implosion and the progressive collapse. While these two thirteen-story …

Application Of Remote Sensing Technology In Water Resources Management, Mahesh Pun

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

The primary goal of this dissertation was to leverage the capabilities of remote sensing technology for capturing detailed spatial information at different spatial resolutions to monitor agricultural crops and generate accurate input datasets for water resources models. This dissertation is divided into three different research studies. In the first study, a remote sensing classification method was developed for classifying irrigated and non-irrigated fields that integrates Vegetation indices with surface energy balance fluxes. The method was applied in the COHYST2010 hydrological model region with wide climate variation and to multiple growing seasons with results that were 92.1% accurate and explained 97% …

A Microfluidic Platform For The Simultaneous Quantification Of Methanogen Populations In Anaerobic Digestion Processes, Prince Peter Mathai, Hannah M. Dunn, Kaushik Venkiteshwaran, Daniel Zitomer, James Maki, Satoshi Ishii, Michael J. Sadowsky

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Methanogens are a diverse group of archaea that play a critical role in the global carbon cycle. The lack of appropriate molecular tools to simultaneously quantify numerous methanogenic taxa, however, has largely limited our ability to study these communities in a wide variety of habitats, such as anaerobic digesters (ADs). In this study, 34 probe-based quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays were designed to target all known methanogenic genera within the archaeal phylum Euryarchaeota. These qPCR assays were adapted to a high-throughput microfluidic platform, which allowed for the simultaneous detection and absolute quantification of numerous taxa in a single run. The …

In-Situ Field Monitoring Of A Uhpc And Hpc Bridge Superstructure Under Diagnostic Load Testing Using Digital Image Correlation, Prajwol Sharma

Civil Engineering Theses

New innovative methods of bridge design are being sought to increase the service life of these structure. High Performance Concrete (HPC) and Ultra-High-Performance Concrete (UHPC) utilizes a mix of high strength concrete with steel fibers to create a strong and ductile reinforced concrete mix. While not new to civil engineering construction, this material still has some uncertainty of its performance both long and short term. As a result, in-situ experimental monitoring is important to verify methods of design and the suitability of the materials. A two-span pre-stressed UHPC and HPC reinforced concrete bridge superstructure was designed at New Mexico State …

Experimental Investigation Of Adobe Structures With Digital Image Correlation, Ashmita Wasti

Civil Engineering Theses

Adobe brick (or Mudbrick) is commonly used as a construction material for residential structures in the Southwest portion of the United States. Adobe bricks are formed from mud that is composed of sand, silt, clay and water that is further mixed with straw then allowed to dry in the open environment. The straw aids in providing reinforcement for the brick and helping the brick dry more evenly which in turn reduces the amount of shrinkage cracks. The final product is a strong, durable, heavy brick used in the construction of homes. While this practice of adobe brick construction has been …

Boy Scouts Of America Concept Site Master Plan And Improvements, Anna Cole, Jacob Chekal, William Seeger, Shanon Al-Brady, Nicholas Cowles

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Our team, G1 Engineering, has partnered with the Boy Scouts of America to provide an update to their master plan for the Outdoor Education Center site located at 600 S. 120^th Street, Lincoln, NE. Our work included providing transportation solutions; drainage evaluations; investigation of geotechnical conditions; environmental evaluation and determination of permitting requirements; preparation of concept design plans for bridges, drainage, utilities, and overall site plan; and evaluation of structural elements included in the project.

Two streams cross the property presenting site access issues. Our team provided pedestrian, UTV, and emergency vehicle access bridges to address these issues. With …

Evaluation Of Best Practices For Implementation Of Slope Repair Methods In Texas, Milad Nabaei

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Embankment slope failures occur frequently in areas with extreme weather (frequent wetting and drying periods) and unstable soil conditions (high swelling potential clay) such as state of Texas. Despite all progresses in the geotechnical knowledge and the advancement of slope repair methods, still, many repaired slopes fail again after a period of time. The primary objectives of this study are to (1) Review and evaluate existing repair methods for shallow slope failures from the construction perspective, and (2) Recommend appropriate implementation procedures for successful implementation of slope repair methods. The research approach which has been followed to achieve the project …

Streamflow Prediction In Ungauged Basins Located Within Data-Scarce Regions, Mohammadhossein Alipour

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Preservation and or restoration of riverine ecosystem requires quantification of alterations inflicted by water resources development projects. Long records of streamflow data are the first piece of information required in order to enable this analysis. Ungauged catchments located within data-scarce regions lack long records of streamflow data. In this dissertation, a multi-objective framework named Streamflow Prediction under Extreme Data-scarcity (SPED) is proposed for streamflow prediction in ungauged catchments located within large-scale regions of minimal hydrometeorologic observation. Multi-objective nature of SPED allows for balancing runoff efficiency with selection of parameter values that resemble catchment physical characteristics. Uncertain and low-resolution information are …

A Unified Risk-Based Framework For Assessing Sustainability And Resiliency Of Civil Infrastructure, Thomas Adam Robbins

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

As of February 2019, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has reported since 1880 the average global temperature has increased 1°C, with the warmest year on record being 2016. As the years continue to pass, it is becoming more evident that climate change is occurring, which is known to be a catalyst for climatic weather events. Statistically speaking, these events are more prevalent, and catastrophic exemplified as hurricanes, earthquakes, flooding, and fires. In addition to the increase of potentially catastrophic events, society as a whole has become more conscientious in the use and preservation of natural resources, waste generation, …

Sustainable Ground Improvement Method Using Recycled Plastic Pins, Md Nur Basit Zaman

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Failure of civil engineering infrastructures due to insufficient bearing and shearing capacity of the unsuitable foundation soil is a common problem in the area of North Texas which results in significant maintenance issues for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The major concerns regarding construction over such foundation soil includes excessive total and differential settlement of footing resulting in bearing capacity failure and sliding failure of the Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) retaining structure due to inadequate shear resistance. The most common technique followed by TxDOT to counter such problem is to remove and replace the existing soil with appropriate fill …

Outdoor Education Center Concept Site Master Plan And Improvements As Designed By Wingineers, Christina Thibodeau

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This thesis builds on a basis of four years of engineering education to produce a final project for the capstone course. The idea behind this project was to provide a workable master plan and conceptual site improvements for a real application, the Outdoor Education Center in east Lincoln, Nebraska. The Boy Scouts of America Cornhusker Council and the University of Nebraska – Lincoln Department of Civil Engineering have cooperated throughout the Senior Design capstone course to make this possible for the students involved.

Wildfire Smoke: Trends, Challenges, Unknowns, And Human Response, Mariah Dawn Fowler

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Wildfire smoke is a growing threat to human livelihood in the Western United States. The economic and the health burden of smoke is accelerating in response to a growing fire season and escalating fire activity. This study first evaluates the trends in air quality over Boise, Idaho and the entire Northwest (and Montana) to assess the impacts of wildfire smoke in the region. The Mann-Kendall trend analysis shows that there is a statistically significant trend in the average and maximum air quality index (AQI) during the fire season (July-August-September) in the Boise area. The AQI shows a decreasing trend, although …

Bs News May/June

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Design And Analysis Of Fiber Reinforced Concrete Structure For Transportation Infrastructures, Salam Adil Mutlag Wtaife

Theses and Dissertations

Concrete is one of the most popular materials in superstructures (buildings), substructures (foundation) and infrastructure facilities (bridges, pavements, and tunnels). However, concrete is a brittle material that cracks easily under tension. Fiber may be used as reinforcement to impede the concrete from cracking as well as to increase the concrete flexural strength. Nevertheless, current design codes do not include this design enhancement. Furthermore, there are discrepancies in the design methodology concerning the inclusion of discrete fibers in concrete structures. Therefore; there is a need to develop new analysis methodology and design methodology for fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) and fiber reinforced …

Structural Design Guidelines For Pervious Concrete Pavements, April Smith

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Pervious pavements have gained popularity in recent years as the transportation industry focuses on sustainability and environmental impact. This research investigated the structural design of pervious concrete pavements. There is no standard design method; therefore, the goal was to lessen ambiguity surrounding the use of pervious concrete for pavement structures. By characterization of the rigid pavement design equation from the 1993 AASHTO Structural Design Guide for Design of Pavement Structures through laboratory exploration and review of existing literature, a guide was created to assist engineers in the design of pervious concrete pavements.

Asphalt Concrete As A Flooring Material, Aleinys Villarreal

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The need for having a good quality flooring has become something very important in order to enhance people’s spaces and living lifestyle. Some of the most common tile materials are cork, vinyl, concrete, and ceramic. While these four materials mentioned before are still capable materials, asphalt concrete has a distinct pattern that may be an attractive alternative to the standard tile types. To try and find solutions to these problems and give people another material option, asphalt concrete was evaluated as a flooring material.

The reason why asphalt concrete could have this new application is based on the outstanding properties …

The Influence Of Citric Acid On Setting Time And Temperature Behavior Of Calcium Sulfoaluminate-Belite Cement, Edgar Soriano

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Today the need to opt for alternative cementitious materials is growing due to environmental reasons and construction time frames that portland cement cannot always satisfy. Calcium Sulfoaluminate (CSA) cements are a strong candidate to supplement or replace portland cement in the construction field for certain applications. In the United States, CSA cement has been limited mostly to pavement repairs because of its rapid initial setting time. The chemical compound responsible for this phenomenon is the alumina. This compound and sulfate are present in larger proportions compared to portland cement. The purpose of this research is to study how the use …

Tension Splitting Strength Of Bcsa Concrete Cylinders, Andrew Steven Deschenes

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The focus of this research was to compare the tension splitting strength (TSS) of belitic calcium sufloaluminate (BCSA) cement concrete to tensile strength predicted by the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and to similarly proportioned portland cement (PC) concrete. BCSA is a rapid-setting cement with higher early strength, higher ettringite content, and lower calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) content than PC. PC and BCSA cement concrete cylinders were broken at different ages in both uniaxial compression and TSS. It was found that BCSA had a similar TSS to both the ACI prediction and PC TSS, but the results require further testing for …

Damping Coefficient Sensitivity Analysis Of High Rebound Soils In Florida, Aline Franqui

Theses and Dissertations

The dynamic response of soils is related to a damping factor, which represents the energy absorbed by the soil as the pile moves. Certain blends of fine sands, silts and clays are producing pile rebound during driving. For that reason, the objective of this thesis is to conduct a damping coefficient sensitivity analysis of high rebound soils in Florida. Forty cyclic triaxial tests from six sites in Central and Northern Florida were analyzed to evaluate damping. Two approaches were used, one based on the change in stress over time and a second based on the viscous energy absorbed per cycle. …