Civil Engineering Commons^™

Identifying Influential Assets In Higher Order Interdependent Infrastructure Networks Through Population Impact, Akshat Chulahwat, Emad M. Hassan, Mersedeh Tariverdi, Miguel Nunez-Del-Prado, Hussam Mahmoud

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A significant increase in catastrophic events worldwide has had a disastrous impact on the built environment, as these disruptive events devastate critical infrastructure lifelines, resulting in a substantial reduction of services across a community. Management of critical infrastructure assets is essential, and this can be achieved by optimal resource allocation to key assets within interconnected systems. The majority of current literature focuses on capturing the behavior of infrastructure systems individually, which presents a computational problem when dealing with complex, interdependent infrastructure systems. In this study, a comprehensive framework to evaluate a type of influence metric for ranking node and edge …

Smart Highway Construction Site Monitoring Using Artificial Intelligence, Mehran Mazari, Yahaira Nava-Gonzalez, Ly Jacky N. Nhiayi, Mohamad H. Saleh

Mineta Transportation Institute

Construction is a large sector of the economy and plays a significant role in creating economic growth and national development,and construction of transportation infrastructure is critical. This project developed a method to detect, classify, monitor, and track objects during the construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation of transportation infrastructure by using artificial intelligence and a deep learning approach. This study evaluated the performance of AI and deep learning algorithms to compare their performance in detecting and classifying the equipment in various construction scenes. Our goal was to find the optimized balance between the model capabilities in object detection and memory processing requirements. …

The State Of The City's Bridges, Leo G. Miranda

Capstones

An analysis by NYCity News Service of 2024 federal bridge inspection found that 118 segments of city bridges are in poor condition, around 8% of all bridges citywide. Among these are segments of major highways and bridges like the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, FDR Drive, Harlem River Drive, Grand Central Parkway and even a part of the iconic Brooklyn Bridge. On a single stretch of highway, where the Grand Central Parkway and the Whitestone Expressway meet in Queens, there are seven parts of highway or ramps in poor condition.

Bridge segments can be any raised roadway that passes over another parkway, …

Proposed Charlotte To Atlanta High-Speed Passenger Rail Line: An Economic, Infrastructural, And Developmental Analysis In The Upstate Of South Carolina, Ian C. Macurda, Kimberly Whitehead

SC Upstate Research Symposium

This research paper is an in-depth analysis of the high-speed passenger rail line proposed between Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA and its impact on the economy, infrastructure, and future development of the Upstate of South Carolina. Currently, passenger rail service between Charlotte and Atlanta is offered on Amtrak at late hours throughout the night on its long-distance passenger rail line The Crescent from New York City, NY to New Orleans, LA. The train is often delayed and is operating at a deficit for Amtrak, like most of their long-distance routes. Traffic on Interstate 85 through the Upstate is another issue …

Improving Decision-Making Processes In Construction And Infrastructure Bidding: Qualitative And Quantitative Approaches Including Graph Theory, Game Theory, And Machine Learning, Muaz Osman Elzubeir Ahmed

Doctoral Dissertations

"Construction and infrastructure bidding is a highly competitive process that entails various uncertainties faced by contractors. Contractors weigh various factors to determine the expected benefits of a construction project and decide their bid value. However, the situation is more complex in multi-stage bidding (MSG), where general contractors must account for the bids of their subcontractors and face a greater threat of the winner’s curse (i.e., situation where the winning contractor underestimates the actual cost of the project). As such, bidding-related complexities, risks, and uncertainties, if uncontrolled, can lead to the rise of claims and disputes between stakeholders. Existing research falls …

Streamlining Public Engagement In Transportation Projects Using Text Analytics, Alireza Shamshiri

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Infrastructure projects impact a broad range of stakeholders, particularly local communities, whose engagement is critical for successful outcomes. Despite the importance of public engagement in these projects, traditional methods of capturing and analyzing public opinion often fail to fully represent the diverse, genuine perspectives involved. This has led to conflicts between community members and project sponsors. On the other hand, despite advancements in text analytics, including natural language processing (NLP) and its subfields such as topic modeling, sentiment analysis, and neural networks, their functionalities and effectiveness in analyzing public opinion in the domain of infrastructure projects have not been fully …

Digitalization Of Railway Transportation Through Ai-Powered Services: Digital Twin Trains, Salih Sarp, Murat Kuzlu, Vukica Jovanovic, Zekeriya Polat, Ozgur Guler

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Digitalization is a key concept that transformed the various industries through technologies like Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Digital Twin (DT). Although innovations provided by the advancement of digitalization have paved the way for more efficient operations and products for transportation, the rail transportation sector struggles to keep up with the rest of the transportation industry, since trains are designed to last for decades, and the insufficient infrastructure investment leads to multiple railroad derailments across the globe. Therefore, the primary aim is to transform current railway systems into human-centric, adaptable, sustainable and future-proof networks, aligning with Industry …

Enhancing Resilience Of Critical Infrastructural Systems Against Severe Weather Conditions, Miaomiao Li

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

As climate change intensifies natural hazards and extreme weather events, critical infrastructure systems like power networks and pavements are increasingly vulnerable to damage. While significant progress has been made in studying individual hazards for specific systems, there remains a need for comprehensive frameworks addressing parametrized fragility for key components in critical infrastructure and their application in system risk and resilience evaluation. This dissertation investigates the failure mechanisms and fragility of power systems and pavements under extreme conditions, including winter storms, hurricanes, heatwaves, and flooding. Using structural analysis, numerical modeling, and statistical methods, this work evaluates system vulnerabilities, develops fragility models, …

Measuring Accessibility For Pedestrians, Bicyclists, And Transit Riders To Grocery Stores In The Excelsior/Outer Mission Neighborhoods Of San Francisco, Alexandra Lee-Gardner

Master's Theses

Grocery stores are an important amenity in neighborhoods and access to grocery stores is important for health and well-being. While grocery store accessibility is a popular topic of research, studies measuring access for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit riders are extremely rare. When a new store opened in the Excelsior/Outer Mission districts of San Francisco on a street lacking basic infrastructure for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit riders, the importance of this study became apparent. The Excelsior/Outer Mission neighborhood has a shocking number of collisions (over 1,100 between 2015 and 2019), elevated levels of walking, biking, and transit ridership, and minimal safe …

Evaluating Climatic Influences On The Technical Performance Of Built Infrastructure Assets, Sarah L. Brown, Steven J. Schuldt, Michael N. Grussing, Michael A. Johnson, Justin D. Delorit

Faculty Publications

Asset performance evaluations serve as a benchmark that can be used to make asset manufacturer selection decisions, i.e., choosing the brand of manufacturer that provides the highest performance among all brand competitors. Understanding the environmental conditions to which assets are subjected provides facility managers another data point to understand asset performance. This research builds upon a previously published performance-based manufacturer selection metric by investigating the linkage between asset performance and exposure to local climate, using chiller and air handler data from 20 United States Air Force installations. The link between environmental factors such as Heating Degree Days (HDD); Cooling Degree …

Cognizant Composites: Seamless Integration Of Circuitry And Sensors Into Structural Composites, Reuben Fresquez

Computer Science ETDs

This thesis describes a set of novel techniques for embedding sensors, circuitry, and electronics into structural composites. I leverage recent developments in human computer interaction to create sensors and circuitry that are seamlessly incorporated into structural composites. I fabricate bend and compression sensors, along with circuitry, from textiles, which enables me to add electronic capabilities without impacting the composite’s structural integrity. I describe the construction of these “cognizant composites” and demonstrate their functionality. I also explore techniques for embedding standard electronic components, including microcontrollers, into structural composites. Potential applications of this technology include buildings that can warn occupants if load-bearing …

Corrosion Propagation Of Stainless Steel Reinforced Concrete, Nelly Sofía Orozco Martínez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Structural durability is a growing concern in global infrastructure. The infrastructure report card released by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) indicates that approximately 9.1% of the total bridges in the United States were structurally deficient in 2016. In addition, it suggests that about 40% of the total bridges in the country are now 50 years or older. This issue becomes even more critical in structures exposed to aggressive environments such as marine structures. Thus, federal and regional efforts are now being directed towards infrastructural durability improvement to improve the long-term cost-efficiency of civil infrastructure.

Corrosion prevention strategies may …

Digital Twin Technology Applications For Transportation Infrastructure - A Survey-Based Study, Hector Cruz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In the past couple of decades, various industries have taken advantage of emerging advanced technologies, such as digital twin (DT), to find more effective solutions in their respective areas. In the transportation infrastructure sector, the concept and implementation of DT technologies are slowly gaining traction but lagging behind other major industries. To better understand the limitations, opportunities and challenges for the adoption of DT in this sector, a survey questionnaire was distributed to collect information from industry professionals involved in transportation infrastructure projects. The purpose of this study is to understand how DT technology is being perceived by the industry. …

Investigating Manufacturer Selection Decisions For Built Infrastructure Assets Using A Technical Performance Metric, Sarah L. Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Facility and built infrastructure asset management are necessary functions of any organization that utilizes buildings to operate their businesses. However, most organizations require facility managers to ensure the successful operation of their assets without providing sufficient resources to accomplish this task. Therefore, in resource-scarce environments, facility managers require data-driven solutions to manage their assets and make the best decisions. Facility managers need novel solutions to help make asset life-cycle decisions. This research provides such a solution. Capitalizing on available data, a technical performance metric is created, allowing facility managers to calculate their assets' operational performance. This performance metric provides a …

Workshop Outcomes Report: 1st International Workshop On Seismic Resilience Of Arctic Infrastructure And Social Systems, Majid Ghayoomi, Katharine Duderstadt, Alexander Kholodov, Alexander Shiklomanov, Matthew Turner, Elham Ajorlou

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Building Materials And Environmental Indicators For Urban Planning-Exposure, Afrim Syla

UBT International Conference

Sustainable development is a key component in urban studies. The sustainability of buildings has become a headline topic in recent years. Buildings do not exist in isolation from their environment, however, but are integrated with infrastructure. In defining sustainable buildings, the issue arises how to incorporate the influences of not only user behavior, building design and technologies, but the associated infrastructure that comprises the entire built environment. The built environment considered here includes all buildings and infrastructure, and in this context, comprises approximately 10% of global GDP. The building and construction sector alone is not only the largest consumer of …

Strategies For Managing The Colorado River In An Uncertain Future, Jian Wang

All ECSTATIC Materials

Colorado River managers face a deeply uncertain future. Projections of declining watershed runoff are likely to necessitate restructuring of the present interpretation of the Law of the River that allocates water supply among Mexico and the seven states of the Basin. Additionally, the magnitude and distribution of consumptive uses of water will change. Outcomes for river and reservoir ecosystems are poorly predicted. How should we make better decisions given these uncertain factors? To help answer this question and expand conversation about the Colorado River management issues, we (1) classify different levels of uncertainty to guide decisions about which modeling tools …

A System-Of-Systems Model To Simulate The Complex Emergent Behavior Of Vehicle Traffic On An Urban Transportation Infrastructure Network, Rayan Assaad, Cihan H. Dagli, Islam H. El-Adaway

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Transportation agencies face escalating challenges in forecasting the traffic demand. Traditional prediction methods focused on individual transportation sectors and failed to study the inter-dependencies between the different transportation systems. Hence, there is a need for more advanced and holistic modeling techniques. To this end, this paper models and analyses an urban transportation system-of-systems incorporating seven various systems: population and GDP, CO₂ emission, gasoline price and total vehicle trips, traffic demand, public and private transportation, transportation investment, and traffic congestion. Accordingly, this research simulates transportation networks as a collection of task-oriented systems that combine their resources to form a complex …

Development Of Geopolymer-Based Cement And Soil Stabilizers For Transportation Infrastructure, Miladin Radovic, Anand Puppala

Data

Corresponding data set for Tran-SET Project No. 18CTAM03. Abstract of the final report is stated below for reference:

"Geopolymer Cement (GPC) has drawn much attention in the recent years as an alternative to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) for soil stabilization, pavements, bridges and other transportation structures due to their good mechanical properties in comparison to OPC. In addition, GPC can be processed at room temperatures from aqueous solutions of waste materials (e.g. fly ash) or abundant natural sources (e.g. clay), thereby significantly reducing CO2 production associated with processing of OPC. As such, GPC proves to be a more sustainable and …

Development Of Geopolymer-Based Cement And Soil Stabilizers For Transportation Infrastructure, Miladin Radovic, Anand Puppala

Publications

Geopolymer Cement (GPC) has drawn much attention in the recent years as an alternative to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) for soil stabilization, pavements, bridges and other transportation structures due to their good mechanical properties in comparison to OPC. In addition, GPC can be processed at room temperatures from aqueous solutions of waste materials (e.g. fly ash) or abundant natural sources (e.g. clay), thereby significantly reducing CO2 production associated with processing of OPC. As such, GPC proves to be a more sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative than OPC. This research explores methods to develop GPC with desired properties and evaluate their …

Bamboo As A Sustainable Engineering Material: Mechanical Properties, Safety Factors, And Experimental Testing, Lorena Sánchez Vivas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With exponential global population growth occurring and associated environmentally destructive consumption of natural resources, alternative materials that are fast growing and sustainable are being sought out to satisfy human needs. One material that is fast growing and sustainable that can be used to meet most basic needs of humans (i.e. shelter, food, tools) is the plant bamboo, of the grass family Poaceae. Bamboo was used in the past by native peoples who lived in the environment where bamboo natively grows (all continents except Europe and Antarctica) with proven success for uses such as shelter, piping, tools, wells, food, fencing, baskets …

The Effect Of Particles Pm10 And Pm2.5 In Dust Emission Of Urban Infrastructure From Thermal Power Plant Technology Kosovo, Afrim Syla

International Journal of Business and Technology

Airborne particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters less than 10 microns (referred to as PM10) is one of the six criteria pollutants used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as indicator of air quality. During the last decade, the health effects of urban aerosols have become a major concern for the society.

The main environmental problems in Kosovo include all issues related to water supply and sanitation system, air quality, solid waste management and urban infrastructure. The major problem remains high pollutions, energy losses and low collection efficiency. The awareness of environmental issues among the general public is poor. Air quality …

Artificial Intelligence In Wet Weather Infrastructure, Matt Hammerstein

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Effective management of runoff from rain and snowmelt is critical as increased water flows can negatively affect efficiency and reliability at treatment facilities, as well as potentially damage property or the natural environment. Implementation of artificial intelligence for real-time decision making and support in wet weather infrastructure is a recent technological development; as such, a problem has emerged: experience and knowledge of best practices for successful implementation is limited. Artificial intelligence is being employed to inform operational decisions that are intended to improve the efficiency and reliability of physical wet weather infrastructure. The goal of municipalities and utilities in utilizing …

Stormwater Infrastructure And The Threat Of Climate Change, Eric Mccaslin

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this report is to analyze the modernization of stormwater infrastructure systems and the growing impact of climate change on said systems. Growing population rates and increasing urban settlement are leading to the water demand approaching the water supply capacity. Climate change is the root of several potentially severe issues affecting water resources as well as the rapidly increasing coastal and urban populations including but not limited to rising sea levels and the increasing severity and frequency of storms. Many cities, especially older or low income ones, also may not have adequate systems in place to handle the …

Novel Infrastructure Monitoring Using Multifaceted Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems - Close Range Photogrammetry (Uav - Crp) Data Analysis, Surya Sarat Chandra Congress

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Remote sensing is a method of collecting data without making any physical contact with the object under inspection. Modern day remote sensing kicked off with the invention of the camera and continued on to the invention of advanced satellite mounted sensors. Photogrammetry is defined as a science that measures distances using one or more images captured remotely. Remote collection of images within a range of 1000 ft is termed close-range photogrammetry (CRP). Unmanned aerial vehicle systems (UAV or UAS) have become a popular means of remotely gathering information and assessing infrastructure conditions due to their versatile nature. Multirotor and fixed-wing …

An Investigation Of Water Pipeline Renewal Practices, Abbas Abed Salman

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Globally, the use of trenchless technologies is gradually increasing due to the growing need to replace and renew aging utility infrastructure and the need for more flexible solutions for the installation of new pipes. In the United States of America, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in 2017 assessed that America’s infrastructure is close to failing. It faces an annual shortfall of at least $11 billion to replace the aging facilities that are near the end of their useful lives. In this research, surveys and interviews of professionals working in trenchless technologies for the North American Society for Trenchless …

Introduction To Infrastructure - The Influence Of Natural Disasters On Infrastructure, Tri Tam Nguyen, Sean M. Raday, Daniel Leverick

STEM Student Research Symposium Posters

In this paper, three major hurricanes in 2017 were examined to determine the damage these hurricanes have done to the infrastructure. Infrastructure has an important role in the nation’s sustained economic development. Infrastructure consists of two main types which are “hard” infrastructure and “soft” infrastructure. Hard infrastructure is the physical networks which include transportation, power, etc. while soft infrastructure is institutions and human capital. Inadequate and inefficient performance of “hard” or “soft” infrastructure would prevent economy from achieving full growth. In the past decades, a significant increase in the number of natural disasters has had great impact on infrastructure systems. …

The Need For Enhanced Physical Infrastructure In The United States, Tanvi Gandham

CMC Senior Theses

An examination of necessary infrastructure improvements in the United States.

The Effect Of Particles Pm10 And Pm2.5 In Dust Emission Of Urban Infrastructure From Thermal Power Plant Technology Kosovo, Afrim Syla

UBT International Conference

Airborne particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters less than 10 microns (referred to as PM10) is one of the six criteria pollutants used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as indicator of air quality. During the last decade, the health effects of urban aerosols have become a major concern for the society.

The main environmental problems in Kosovo include all issues related to water supply and sanitation system, air quality, solid waste management and urban infrastructure. The major problem remains high pollutions, energy losses and low collection efficiency. The awareness of environmental issues among the general public is poor. Air quality …

Development Of A New Joint System For A Circular-Shaped Infrastructure, Sugyu Lee

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

This dissertation focused on development of new carbon fiber joint systems for all types of underground gravity and sewer pipe systems. Specifically, the external CFRP wrap and, particularly, the carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) internal coupler can be used for concrete pipes with regular or reduced wall thicknesses. The concrete pipes with reduced wall thickness are classified as semi-rigid pipe and are referred to as thin-wall (TW) concrete pipe. The performance of the CFRP coupler is presented in this report based on full-scale experimental tests and three dimensional non-linear finite element studies for regular and thin wall pipes. Finally, design …