Civil Engineering Commons^™

Performing Motorized-To-Non-Motorized Crash Analysis Using Multi-Model Lbs Traffic Data Calibrated Through Random Forest Models, Nicholas Aldridge

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

Traditionally, traffic prediction has been an engineering challenge due to insufficient quantities of data. In this thesis, the use of a new type of data called location-based service (LBS) data from StreetLight (StL) and a large database of multi-modal traffic counts are used to infer vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle volumes on all road segments in Lincoln, Nebraska. Additional land use features are incorporated into the model from the EPA Smart Location Database (EPA-SLD). The use of random forest models provides strong measures of fit for all modes, with R² scores of 0.98 for both the bicycle and pedestrian modes …

Probability Distribution Fitting For Censored Data: A Practical Guide For Survival Analysis Of Nbi Data For Concrete Bridge Decks In Oregon, Asmaa Almeshaileh

Dissertations and Theses

Many sophisticated statistical models and analyses have been proposed to analyze datasets derived from the national bridge inventory (NBI). These objectives range from creating an understanding of the factors that drive the deterioration of bridge members to providing agencies with quantitative information for their maintenance and repair decisions. As these models become increasingly sophisticated and difficult to comprehend and implement, practicing engineers and owners are less likely to use them. Often, however, grouping data intuitively, for example, per a select structure type or condition rating and analyzing them using prescriptive statistics such as distribution fitting, does not only lie in …

Study On Performance And Dynamic Response Of Composite Stress Absorber Layer, Yang Sanqiang, Li Pengfei, Liu Lu, Cao Zilong

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

In order to compare the performance difference among the composite stress absorption layer, SBS stress absorption layer, and glass grille stress absorption layer, the dynamic response law of the composite stress absorption layer was explored. In this paper, based on the composite stress absorption layer composed of glass grille + rubber-modified asphalt gravel sealing layer, the UTM-25 test system was employed to carry out inter-layer shear, inter-layer tension, low temperature bending, and four-point fatigue test. By laying test sections and sensors, strain information of the stress absorption layer under different conditions was collected. It was found that the bonding force …

Digital Construction Annual Survey 2022 Report, Davitt Lamon, Ted Mckenna

Reports

The Annual Survey 2022 was conducted to assess the state of digital transformation in the Irish construction and built environment sector. This report presents the analysis of survey data, with a focus on implications for the Build Digital project and Build Digital’s five pillars: Digital Leadership & Cultural Change, Digital Standards, Digital Education & Training, Digital Procurement, and Sustainability & Circular Economy. Key findings from the survey indicated that a significant number of organisations have started their digital transformation journey, with many identifying themselves as proactive and possessing a clear business-focused strategy. However, a considerable cohort of respondents are keen …

International Information Management And Bim Best Practice Report, Ted Mckenna, Davitt Lamon

Reports

In order to inform the Digital Leadership and Cultural Change pillar of the Build Digital, a study of international best practice in digital adoption within the built environment sector globally was undertaken and is presented here-in. In order to identify key learnings for Ireland in the context of digital transformation, eight countries were included in this study, namely, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Germany, United Kingdom (UK), New Zealand, Australia and Singapore. These countries were selected for various reasons, including the level of digital maturity, the scale of the built environment sector and geographic spread. Key data for each country is included …

Sustainability And Circular Economy Horizon Scan And Needs Analysis, Sadaf Dalirazar, Mark Kelly, Derek Sinnott, James O'Donnell

Reports

The construction industry plays a crucial role in addressing the climate crisis as it is the largest global consumer of raw materials and contributes significantly to global energy consumption and emissions. Considering the world’s continuous population growth and the imperative to address infrastructure and housing demands the construction sector needs to adopt further sustainable strategies in its activities to reduce the pressure on natural resources. In addition, the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector is responsible for generating substantial amount of waste known as Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW), which is projected to increase due to the future construction developments. …

Information Management And Bim Standards And Supports Inventory, Ryan Dempsey, Barry Mcauley, David Burke

Tools

The Digital Standards pillar consists of industry experts who champion the benefits of common rules, guidelines, and workflows that facilitate the improvement of information flow and information management across asset life cycles. Digital standards provide a common language that can be translated to technical specifications enabling clients, designers, contractors, and facilities managers, irrespective of their preferred tools, to communicate efficiently and reduce cost, rework, and disputes. Working closely with the Digital Procurement and Digital Education and Training pillars, this pillar is developing and delivering Irish Information Management/BIM (Digital Construction) guidelines for the sector.

This report summarises existing digital construction standards, …

Surrogate-Assisted Simulation-Optimization Framework For Groundwater Management In A Multi-Aquifer System, Melika Mani

LSU Master's Theses

Uncontrolled groundwater exploitation can lead to aquifer depletion, land subsidence, and saltwater intrusion. Effective groundwater management is challenging due to the intricate nature of subsurface hydrogeology and spatiotemporally variable pumping, especially in a multi-aquifer system. To ensure sustainable withdrawal, multi-objective optimization is an effective tool for balancing management goals and drawdown effects. However, running simulation-optimization using detailed groundwater models is computationally expensive, pushing decision-makers to decide based on limited scenarios. In this study, a hydrogeological framework was constructed for the Capital Area, Louisiana, allowing for individual assessment of each unit to better understand each aquifer's condition. Moreover, a surrogate-assisted simulation-optimization …

Integrated Tire Wear Buildup And Rainfall-Runoff Model To Simulate Tire Wear Particles In Stormwater, Matthew Dupasquier, Jaime Hernandez, Alondra Gonzalez, Cesar Aguirre, Walter M. Mcdonald

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

This paper presents an approach to integrate tire wear buildup and rainfall-runoff models to simulate tire wear buildup on road surfaces and its subsequent transport in stormwater runoff events. To do so, a buildup model is presented based on vehicle kilometers traveled, vehicle type, vehicle speed, and road roughness within a watershed. This buildup model was integrated into an EPA SWMM model that simulated the runoff of tire wear particles in twelve watersheds in the San Francisco, CA bay area. Results demonstrate that tire wear particle buildup within the watersheds ranged between 0.4 and 0.51 (kg/km2) per hour. Applied to …

Analyzing Major Elements Of Crash Injury Severity Involving Priority-I Detriments Of Vision-Zero Plan, Muhammad Umer Farooq, Cole Madson, Aemal Khattak

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Road traffic crashes result in significant economic losses for individuals, their families, and entire nations. These losses stem from the expenses associated with injury treatment, as well as the productivity lost due to fatalities or disabilities caused by these injuries. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development set an ambitious target of halving the global number of fatalities and injuries from road traffic crashes by 2020 and achieving zero deaths by 2030, commonly referred to as the 'Target Zero Plan.' The Target Zero Plan prioritizes traffic safety issues into three distinct levels. The three priority levels are determined based on the …

Exploring Statistical And Machine Learning-Based Missing Data Imputation Methods To Improve Crash Frequency Prediction Models For Highway-Rail Grade Crossings, Muhammad Umer Farooq, Aemal Khattak

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Highway-rail grade crossings (HRGCs) are critical spatial locations of transportation safety because crashes at HRGCs are often catastrophic, potentially causing several injuries and fatalities. Every year in the United States, a significant number of crashes occur at these crossings, prompting local and state organizations to engage in safety analysis and estimate crash frequency prediction models for resource allocation. These models provide valuable insights into safety and risk mitigation strategies for HRGCs. Furthermore, the estimation of these models is based on inventory details of HRGCs, and their quality is crucial for reliable crash predictions. However, many of these models exclude crossings …

Road Work Zone Safety: Investigating Injury Severity In Motor Vehicle Crashes Using Random Effects Multinomial Logit Model, Aemal Khattak, Muhammad Umer Farooq

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Work zones serve the purpose of facilitating maintenance and rehabilitation activities on roadways. However, these areas can also present unforeseen conditions to drivers, including narrowed right-of-way, lane shifts, and traffic disruptions. These conditions frequently contribute to vehicular crashes within work zones, resulting in property damage, injuries, and even loss of life. This paper aims to highlight work zone related crash data insights and presents statistical estimates of significant determinants of injury severity by analyzing ten-year crash data (2008-2018) from Nebraska, USA. The examination of crash data helped in highlighting work zone attributes that are empirically associated with serious injury crashes …

Durability Of Cfrp/Steel Bond In Natural Weather, Mastour Alsulami

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) are increasingly being used for infrastructurestrengthening and repair of steel structures. Though there have been several durability studies, exposures used are not representative of outdoor service conditions. Fewer studies have explored the effect of changing outdoor conditions typical in infrastructure use. The goal of the research is addressing this gap by evaluating the performance of commercially available CFRP systems under natural weather characteristic of hot, humid tropical conditions mainly and cold weather secondary in three different locations.

Thirty CFRP/steel joint specimens were prepared in laboratory conditions and exposed to ambient temperature on the Engineering building roofs …

Optimizing The Dynamic Replacement Of Soft Soils With Sand Using A Fem Tools, Walid Salem A Elsiwi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

First a dynamic finite element methodology (FEM) was developed to simulate an entire dynamic replacement (DR) program of clay with sand involving multiple poundings. The main objective of this research was to employ FEM and geotechnical test data such as cone penetration test (CPT) data at the site to predict the maximum achievable sand column (SC) depth and the corresponding optimum levels of attributing parameters such as number and height of pounder drops. Another goal was to predict the pore pressure generated in clay due to pounding. A full-scale ground improvement project was used to guide the analytical process. Comparison …

A Bayesian Network-Based Methodology For Improved Bridge Load Rating And Asset Management, Jeffery Mark Roberts

Dissertations and Theses

From the day a new structure is made available for use, to the day that the structure is no longer able to fulfill an intended purpose, structural safety is a vital interest. Managing a portfolio of structures can be a difficult undertaking for an asset manager, particularly if different types of structures are being maintained. The goal is to manage assets in the most efficient manner which can be influenced by, at a minimum, safety and financial concerns.

A potential tool for an asset manager or owner is the use of Bayesian Networks (BNs). When a BN is used to …

Interdependency Between Water And Road Infrastructures: Cases And Impacts, Shihab Uddin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation studies the interdependency between road and water infrastructures and associated interdependency impact on these two critical infrastructure systems. Critical infrastructures and the interdependency among these infrastructures have gained much attention recently because of its growing complexity, importance, and vulnerability to natural and man-made threats. In response, researchers have spent significant effort to study these infrastructures individually as well as when they are interdependent to understand complex interdependency relationship and to figure out ways to make these infrastructures more reliable, robust, and resilient. However, water and road infrastructure systems have not been studied as vastly as other critical infrastructures …

Hydrological System And Water Balance Of Ungauged Crater Lakes Of The Northern Crater Highlands, Godwin Lucas

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

The study aimed to unveil the hydrological system and water balance of the ungauged crater lakes with major focus on the Emakati Lake which occupy 46% of the Empakaai Crater associated to the East African Rift Valley and form part of the Northern Crater Highlands. Water samples for analysis of NO3- , Cl- and stable isotopes (2H and 18O) were collected from the Emakat lake, springs of the inner, outer and the foot of the Empakaai Crater rims. A combination of satellite data such as digital elevation model (DEM), Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS), net shortwave …

Building Services Engineering November/December 2023

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Integrating The Concept Of Complete Streets Into Pavement Preservation, Sirisha Gangireddy

LSU Master's Theses

This study is motivated by the evident gap in integrating Complete Streets principles into pavement preservation. Complete Streets opportunities, which aim to accommodate all road users, are typically encouraged in all kinds of projects including new construction, reconstruction, preservation, and rehabilitation. While the concept of Complete Streets is understood in terms of new construction (e.g., building sidewalks), its application through pavement preservation programs is not well-developed. To bridge the gap between the Complete Streets and pavement preservation, this study conducted a comprehensive review on how state Department of Transportation (DOTs) are currently incorporating Complete Streets into pavement preservation and identified …

Building Services Engineering September/October 2023

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Peroxi-Electrocoagulation For Treatment Of Trace Organic Compounds And Natural Organic Matter At Neutral Ph, Donald R. Ryan, Patrick J. Mcnamara, Claire K. Baldus, Yin Wang, Brooke K. Mayer

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Iron-based oxidation technologies can be advantageous for mitigating trace organic compounds (TOrCs) during water and wastewater treatment due to their production of hydroxyl radicals. However, iron-based oxidation often occurs at acidic pH to promote Fenton's reaction, which limits the processes' feasibility for treatment applications. This study focused on utilizing iron-electrocoagulation (EC) paired with ex situ H₂O₂ addition (peroxi-electrocoagulation [EC:H₂O₂]) to promote oxidative reactions at neutral pH conditions. The hydroxyl radical probe para-chlorobenzoic acid (pCBA) was used to gauge oxidant activity and serve as a representative TOrC. The impact of water …

Hurricanes And Tropical Storms’ Impact On Water Quality In Lake Okeechobee, Florida, Daniela Vasquez Diaz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hurricanes are natural events with catastrophic outcomes, while climate change's effects on their intensity and frequency remain discussed. However, it is crucial to analyze these through models and statistics to understand their behavior and impact on the basins. Particularly in lakes on tropical coasts since disruptive events such as hurricanes tend to be highly affected. Lake Okeechobee is a unique lake located in Florida and one of the largest freshwater lakes. The lake and some of its significant stations are the locations chosen to perform the investigation. The main focus of the investigation is determining the effect that hurricanes have …

Augmenting External Surface Pressures’ Predictions On Isolated Low-Rise Buildings Using Cfd Simulations, Md Faiaz Khaled, Aly Mousaad Aly

Faculty Publications

The aim of this paper is to enhance the accuracy of predicting time-averaged external surface pressures on low-rise buildings by utilizing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. To achieve this, benchmark studies of the Silsoe cube and the Texas Tech University (TTU) experimental building are employed for comparison with simulation results. The paper is structured into three main sections. In the initial part, an appropriate domain size is selected based on the precision of mean pressure coefficients on the windward face of the cube, utilizing Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) turbulence models. Subsequently, recommendations regarding the optimal computational domain size for an …

Quantifying The Effect Of Covid-19 On Port Congestion, Corey R. Mayeux

LSU Master's Theses

The Covid-19 pandemic caused unprecedented disruptions in global supply chains and port operations, leading to congestion, delays, and container shortages. Governments implemented containment measures, affecting social behavior and economic activity. Ports faced significant challenges due to shifts in demand, labor shortages, and supply chain bottlenecks. E-commerce surge and other disruptions intensified pressures on ports. The pandemic's impact exacerbated challenges for ports and supply chains, and triggered inflationary pressures. This research aims to investigate the impact of Covid-19 on port congestion and the global supply chain at the Port of Long Beach, Port of New York and New Jersey, Port of …

Effects Of Downdrag On Pile Performance, Ruthvik Pendyala

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The behavior of piles under varying load conditions has sparked significant interest and research within the geotechnical engineering field. Specifically, in the context of MSE wall-type embankments, piles are installed before embankment construction commences. In these scenarios, soil settlement beneath the embankment initiates following pile installation, consequently generating downward lateral shear loads on the piles, known as downdrag.

Research pertaining to the downdrag phenomenon in cohesionless granular soils is limited. Hence, the primary focus of this study revolves around examining the impact of downdrag on pile performance in sandy soils using numerical modeling as the investigative approach. To accomplish this, …

Investigation Of The Effective Parameters On The Phenol Removal From The Groundwater By Response Surface Method, Khatereh Ahmadi, Farhad Qaderi, S. Mustapha Rahmaninezhad, Reza Shidpour

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

The discharge of industrial waste containing organic pollutants like phenol has caused a surge in environmental complications in water, soil, and air. In recent years, the concentration of phenolic pollutants has risen due to their high toxicity and environmental persistence. This research used geotextile/activated carbon (GTX/AC) adsorbent to purify groundwater contaminated with phenol, owing to its easy availability. A low-cost geotextile carrier was utilized to avoid the dispersion of active carbon in the groundwater. Response surface method (RSM) was used in the present research to design and optimize experimental tests. The results indicate that the initial concentration, pH, and adsorbent …

Critical Buckling Coefficient Of Tapered Web Plate Girder Under Compression And Bending Stresses, Saad A. Yehia, Ramy I. Shahin

Mansoura Engineering Journal

The tapered girders were developed as a cost-effective solution to the problem of long-span building construction. These systems are very attractive from an economic viewpoint, combining wide spans, quick erection, and easy access to services between the shallow parts of the beam and the ceiling below. Elastic-local buckling is one of several modes of failure that must be considered during the structure design. Although elastic-local buckling has been studied for decades, there is still a need to develop quick and comprehensive procedures that will reduce product design time, particularly during the pre-sizing stage. Most design codes have no specific provisions …

Additive Manufacturing And Characterization Of Auxetic Structures, Jayesh P. Moore, Stephanie R. Ruzicka

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

An auxetic structure is an arrangement of unit cells that under a uniaxial load experiences expansion in both the longitudinal and transverse directions, resulting in a negative Poisson’s ratio (NPR). Research in auxetics has led to new insights into how non-linear mechanical reactions can be applied to various engineering fields. This project utilized stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing to manufacture auxetic test specimens to analyze of geometry-driven NPRs. With the distinctive mechanical properties of auxetic structures and vast applications, the future of product development of these geometries seems promising.

An Effective Model For Dynamic Properties Of Local Soils And Their Influence On Seismic Response Of A Typical Reinforced Concrete Building, Kaveh Zehtab

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation presents an effective model to determine the dynamic properties of local soils and their impact on the seismic response of a typical mid-height reinforced concrete building. The results of the study suggest that the use of global models and empirical relationships for the dynamic properties of soils may not consider the effects of unique stress conditions on the cyclic response of the foundation soil. The study also investigates the seismic response of a site in central Adapazarı, Turkey, where four- to seven-story buildings suffered significant damage during the 1999 Kocaeli earthquake. A new model is presented that combines …

Lithium Extraction From Aqueous Solution Using Magnesium Doped Lithium Ion-Sieve Composite, Ujjwal Pokharel

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This study focused on the development of a magnesium doped ion-sieve composite to extract lithium from an aqueous solution using adsorption process. The extraction process will provide a sustainable alternative to the currently practiced solar evaporation/concentration method which is very slow (takes 24 months) and water intensive. Currently, most of the lithium in the world comes from the mining of lithium or from the evaporative extraction process from the brine. Additionally, the Salton Sea area geothermal brines are recognized as potentially important domestic sources of lithium. Lithium concentration in geothermal brines from the Salton Sea area is reported to be …