Geotechnical Engineering Commons^™

Winter Maintenance On The Irish Road Network, Hugh Mcconnell, Brian Mccann

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Winter maintenance relates to those activities undertaken where the objective is to minimise the impact of frost, ice or snow on the travelling public. The responsibility for winter maintenance of all roads in Ireland currently rests with local authorities and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) (Formerly the NRA) on behalf of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTaS), (DTTaS, 2017). The aim of the study was to examine current winter maintenance practices undertaken in Ireland by local authorities and the Motorway Maintenance and Renewals Contracts (MMaRC) contractors and examine the potential financial, operational and environmental benefits if pre-wet and brine …

An Experimental Investigation Of The Optimum Properties And Conditions For Use Of Anionic Emulsions In Road Maintenance Applications, Simonas Ignatavicius, Alan Kavanagh, David Colleran, Michael J. Brennan, Shane Newell

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Bitumen emulsions are used for a range of road maintenance applications, including surface dressing, gravel seals, slurry seals, tack coating, cold-mix asphalt and in situ pavement recycling. The emulsions used can be classified as being either cationic (i.e. possessing a positive electrostatic surface charge) or anionic (i.e. carrying a negative electrostatic surface charge). The vast majority of emulsions used for such applications in Europe are cationic, while anionic bitumen emulsions are used widely throughout North America and Africa. The aims of the experimental study described in this paper were (a) to investigate why one or the other emulsion type is …

A Review Of Vision Based Methods For Pothole Detection And Road Profile Analysis, Darragh Lydon, S. E. Taylor, Myra Lydon, Julia Early

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

This paper is an overview of the development and application of Computer Vision for the detection of pothole, pavement distress and road profile analysis and categorisation. A brief explanation of the traditional methods for determining these factors is given, followed by a chronological description of the evolution and the challenges of using Computer Vision (CV) approaches to determine these conditions. The paper is separated into sections aligned to image capture and analysis methodologies. Qualitative evaluations and comparison of these methods have been provided along with the proposal of guidelines for new computer vision-based road analysis systems.

Analysis And Optimisation Of Tii’S Pams Reset Values And Deterioration Models For Irish Pavement Conditions, James Quinn, Raymond Mcgowan, Tomas O'Flaherty

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Ireland has a national road network of approximately 5300km that is managed by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). TII create yearly pavement maintenance and renewal programs from the operation of a Pavement Asset Management System (PAMS). Accurate pavement deterioration models and reset values are an essential part of PAMS and are required for life cycle cost analysis (LCCA). Pavement maintenance and renewal schemes are prioritised based on the LCCA's largest benefit to cost ratio, and therefore optimise the annual pavement maintenance and renewal budget. Currently, TII implement pavement deterioration models and reset values from Austria's and Belgium's PAMS, and are not …

An Analysis Of The Effectiveness Of Bitumen Additives On The Performance Of Pavement Surface Dressings, Alan Anderson, John Casserly, Alan Kavanagh, Jim Campbell

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Surface dressing is a maintenance technique that uses thin layers of bitumen emulsion and single sized aggregates. The surface dressing process seals and binds the surface of a road to protect its substructure from water ingress. It also provides increased skid resistance, which improves safety for road users. Early life chip-loss can occur if there is an insufficient degree of adhesion between the emulsion and aggregate used. The range of additives used in bitumen can have an effect on their adhesion properties. The focus of this research project was to investigate if the use of these additives in surface dressing …

Winter Maintenance On The Irish Road Network, Hugh Mcconnell, Brian Mccann

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020

Winter maintenance relates to those activities undertaken where the objective is to minimise the impact of frost, ice or snow on the travelling public. The responsibility for winter maintenance of all roads in Ireland currently rests with local authorities and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) (Formerly the NRA) on behalf of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTaS), (DTTaS, 2017). The aim of the study was to examine current winter maintenance practices undertaken in Ireland by local authorities and the Motorway Maintenance and Renewals Contracts (MMaRC) contractors and examine the potential financial, operational and environmental benefits if pre-wet and brine …

Influence Of Aggregates In Concrete On Fiber-Optic Based Thermal Integrity Profiling Analysis Of Concrete Structures, Ruoyu Zhong, Wen Deng

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Fiber-optic sensor has drawn wide attention in the non-destructive testing and evaluation of civil engineering materials due to its high accuracy and resolution as well as cost-efficiency. Currently, using optical fiber as the temperature sensor is proposed to conduct the thermal integrity profiling (TIP) of concrete structures. However, concrete is not a thermally homogeneous material as assumed in current studies of concrete TIP. Its essential components, such as aggregates may cause thermal inhomogeneity problems when implementing fiber-optic sensors for TIP. In this paper, we use the concrete structures with different grades of aggregates to conduct numerical simulation for non-destructive thermal …

Resonance Of Droplets In Constricted Capillary Tubes: Critical Factors And Nonlinearity, Chao Zeng, Wen Deng, M. Bayani Cardenas

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Resonance of droplets in constricted capillary tubes responding to external vibratory excitation can be theoretically characterized by the abstract coefficients such as resonant frequency and rate of damping. A physically sound model, however, is needed to relate these abstract coefficients to the fluid properties of two-phase fluid, geometric properties of tube, and features of excited waves. A hydrodynamic model, based on the moving-boundary control volume concept and the transient oscillatory velocity profile, was developed to characterize the resonance of droplets. This model was validated against computational fluid dynamics simulation results expressed in both time and frequency domains. Dominant factors including …

Three-Dimensional (3d) Characterization Of The Middle Ordoovician (Darriwilian) Strata In The Southern Great Basin, Western United States, Uday Mohamed Baheej Kara Ali

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Carbonates are mostly produced in shallow-marine environments and their deposition is sensitive to water depth changes on carbonate platforms. The water depth in depositional environments of a particular carbonate platform is controlled by the interplay of eustatic sea-level change, tectonic subsidence, platform morphology, and depositional rate. Due to the morphological variations of carbonate platforms in different tectonic settings, facies distribution across carbonate platforms varies significantly even during a single eustatic sea-level cycle. Carbonate platforms developed on passive continental margins are thought to be the most stable platforms and their facies distribution is commonly taken as examples in textbook depositional models. …

Relating Asphalt Concrete’S Pore Structure To Its Durability, Mohiuddin Ahmad

Civil Engineering ETDs

Most of the pavements in the USA are constructed using asphalt concrete (AC). AC changes its property over time due to moisture intrusion and aging. These two factors deteriorate AC significantly, and they are considered as the most important durability measures of AC. Moisture enters a pavement in both liquid and vapor form through the permeable pores that are interconnected. Similarly, oxygen, which is required for the aging process, access an asphalt concrete pavement through the connected pore. However, none of the previous studies correlated AC’s pore structure to the flow of moisture, moisture damage, and aging. In this study, …

A Comparison Of Half And Quarter Space Penetration Into Granular Media, Ivan L. Guzman, Magued Iskander, Stephan Bless

Publications and Research

In this study, two experimental techniques are compared for the purpose of visualizing projectile penetration at speeds ranging between 60 and 150 m/s into granular media. The two techniques are half space penetration into a transparent synthetic soil surrogate and quarter space penetration of an opaque natural sand and transparent soil surrogate against an observation window. In both techniques a pneumatic projectile accelerator was employed to launch the projectiles, and high-speed imagery was employed to visualize the penetration events unintrusively. Transparency in transparent targets was achieved by saturating angular fused quartz with a refractive index matched pore fluid made of …

Remediation Of Desiccation Cracking In Clayey Soils Through Bio-Cementation And Bottom Ash, Mark Vail

Theses and Dissertations

Desiccation cracking considerably impairs the hydraulic and mechanical properties of clayey soils and is critical to the long-term performance of infrastructure foundations and earth structures. Classical crack remediation methods are associated with high labor and maintenance costs or the usage of environment-unfriendly chemicals. Recycling waste materials and developing bio-mediated techniques have emerged as green and sustainable soil stabilization solutions. The objective of this study is to investigate the feasibility of soil crack remediation through the usage of microbial-induced calcite precipitation (MICP) and bottom ash admixtures. We carry out monotonic drying and cyclic drying-wetting tests to characterize the effects of bottom …

Comminution Characteristics Of Lithium Bearing Mica Ores From Different Devices, Alphonce Wikedzi

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

This paper highlights on the comminution and to the lesser extent liberation properties of two greisen-type lithium bearing-mica ores (L1, L2) subjected to different breakage devices; cone crusher (CC), roller crusher (RC), rotor beater mill (RBM) and a screen mill (SM). The particle size distributions (PSD) of the products from each device were evaluated to search for an appropriate PSD model using Gates-Gaudin-Schuhmann (GGS) and Rosin-Rammler (RR) functions. To determine an appropriate function, coefficients of determination (R2) were used as a criterion. Due to budget constraint, only products from rotor beater mill (RBM) were examined for mineral liberation by an …

Evaluating Cracking Performance Of Polymer Enhanced And Fiber Reinforced Microsurface Mixtures Using Asphalt Laboratory Testing, George Joseph Shackil

Theses and Dissertations

This study presents a method to improve and evaluate the cracking resistance of microsurfacing mixtures using common asphalt laboratory testing. A preliminary optimal timing study and a study to evaluate improvements to cracking performance were conducted. The control mixture was based on NJDOT standard mix design specifications. Three mixtures were tested in this study: a fiber reinforced mixture using one-quarter inch glass fibers, an emulsion with increased SBR (polymer) contents, and a mixture using the one-quarter inch glass fibers combined with the increased polymer contents. Three laboratory tests were used to evaluate three different cracking resistance parameters: crack initiation (Semi-Circular …

Numerical Analyses Of Pile Foundation For Support Structure Of Offshore Wind Turbine At Changhua Coast In Taiwan, Der-Guey Lin, Sheng-Hsien Wang, Jui-Ching Chou, Cheng-Yu Ku, Lien-Kwei Chien

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This study investigates the bearing capacities of group pile foundation (jacket foundation) installed on the seabed of offshore wind farm (OWF) at the Changhua coast of Western Taiwan for the jacket support structure of offshore wind turbine (OWT) using three-dimensional (3-D) finite element method (FEM). The jacket foundations are subjected to a combined Vertical-Horizontal-Moment (V-H-M) loading for the operational period. The responses of installed group pile foundations are investigated under the combined loading in marine silty sand-low plasticity silt & clay (SM-ML-CL) layers determined by 19 offshore boring logs. The validity of numerical procedures was verified by a large-scale lateral …

Study Of The Effect Of Heating - Cooling Cycles On The Clay - Concrete Pile Interface Characteristics, Abedalqader Ahmad Idries

LSU Master's Theses

This study aimed at investigating the effect of heating-cooling cycles on the interface strength parameters of clay soil-concrete for potential applications to improve the side capacity of piles driven in clayey soil by the heating process, and also to assess the behavior of geothermal piles regarding interface shear strength parameters. A modified large-size direct shear test device with the dimensions 12” x 12” x 8”, was used in this study. A concrete block (12” x 12” x 4”) of similar texture and smoothness to the concrete piles was used to simulate the pile interface. The tested clays are low plasticity …

Evaluation Of Undrained Shear Strength Of Soil, Ultimate Pile Capacity And Pile Set-Up Parameter From Cone Penetration Test (Cpt) Using Artificial Neural Network (Ann), Md Ariful Hassan Mojumder

LSU Master's Theses

Over the years, numerous design methods were developed to evaluate the undrained shear strength, S_u, ultimate pile capacity and pile set-up parameter, A. In recent decades, the emphasis was given to the in-situ cone and piezocone penetration tests (CPT, PCPT) to estimate these parameters since CPT/PCPT has been proven to be fast, reliable and cost-effective soil investigation method. However, because of the paucity of a vivid comprehension of the physical problem, some of the developed methods incorporate correlation assumptions which might compromise the consistent accuracy. In this study, the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was exerted using CPT data …

Forecasting The Gas Fluiding Process Deposits With Application Of The Universal Regression Model, Sh.Zh. Mirboboev, Z.A. Razykov, S.K. Sokhoshko, Yu. Sultonov

Gorniy vestnik Uzbekistana

This article discusses mathematical methods for predicting the degree of flooding of gas deposits using the Universal regression model, using the example of actual data from observation wells of the Yamburgskoye oil and gas condensate field.

2-D Non-Linear Finite Element Analysis Of Folsom Dam: Seismically Induced Separation And Pore Pressure Along The Soil-Concrete Interface, Grace Amoussou

Master of Science in Civil Engineering Theses

The seismic soil-concrete interface stability of composite dams has been an area of interest to many researchers. However, the true interface behavior during a seismic event has not been well understood. During a ground shaking, bonding and de-bonding action along the interface may cause significant separation of soil and concrete surfaces, and such a separation may take place at any depth along the interface creating a stability concern for the overall dam. Moreover, the repetitive nature of bonding/debonding behavior may induce excess pore pressure along the interface, which in turn, may trigger a liquefaction failure or a hydraulic fracture in …

Development Of Vs Profiles And Site Periods In The Mexico City Basin, Landon Joel Woodfield

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study presents dynamic site characterization measurements at 25 sites within the Mexico City Basin. The primary focus of the testing was along the western edge of the Mexico City Basin. At each site, active source Multi-channel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) arrays and passive source Microtremor Array Measurements (MAM) L-arrays and circular arrays were used to acquire dispersion data. Horizontal to Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR) data was collected to determine site periods at each location. These experimental dispersion data and site periods were fit using a joint inversion of Rayleigh and Love wave dispersion data and HVSR site period …

Development Of Multi-Axial Fatigue Retrofits For Lock Gate Components, Logan Verkamp

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lock gates are essential infrastructure components to the United State (US) supply chain. They create large cost savings and environmental benefits when compared with traditional methods of transport (freight and rail). Because of the large quantity of goods and dependence on these shipping chains, the US economy can be drastically affected by an unexpected gate closure. Unfortunately, many lock gates within the US have reached or exceeded their designed life. Due to the intensity of cyclic loads and the environment, fatigue cracks have become a prominent issue. Developed cracks near the pintle region (a joint which the gate rotates and …

Preliminary Investigation Of Required Bsca Amount For Soil Cement Mixtures, Mariel Mayori Rivero

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The recent increase of flooding in the United States and the high expenses related to the damage that these floods have caused to waterway structures suggests a potential interest in rapid setting soil cement to make effective repairs. For this thesis, mix designs of soil only at three different sand-clay proportions were prepared and tested for moisture content and maximum dry density. Due to the early closing of the laboratory and research activities, reliable results were collected from the 70% sand and 30% clay proportions. At those proportions of soil, the optimum moisture content was found to be 8.88% with …

Soil Moisture Content Determination By Means Of The Electromagnetic Spectrum, Julia Loshelder

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Soil moisture content provides information about the strength, permeability, and compressibility of the soil under investigation. In the research described herein, the relationship between moisture content and reflectance values obtained from spectroscopy was developed to investigate whether in-situ moisture content can be determined in a faster and more efficient way than the current methods. The soil under investigation was laboratory-compacted kaolinite clay mixed with pyranine dye. These specimens were placed beneath an ultraviolet light and a halogen illuminator where reflectance values were collected over a 24-hour period. Correlations were developed from the following methods: 1) spectral indices, 2) continuum analyses …

Impact Of Compactive Effort On Soil Strength Of Glacial Lake Columbia Soils, Alexander M. Navarra, Dwight Hendrickson, Jaremy Shaw

2020 Symposium Posters

Glacial Lake Columbia (GLC) existed from 15,550 (+/- 450) to 13,050 (+/- 650) years ago (Atwater, 1986) as a result of the Okanagan Lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet damming the Columbia River near present-day Grand Coulee Dam. The lake deposited a fine-grained basal layer that had interbeds of coarse Missoula Flood deposits and later lake deposits above. Because these GLC deposits are present around most of the Spokane area, they are important to civil engineering and development. We sampled the basal layer of GLC soils from the Peone Prairie, WA. We performed prerequisite testing before the main experiment, with …

P-Y Curve Of Small-Spaced Row Piles Subjected To Lateral Loads In Marine Clay, Runze Xue, Shean Bie, Linlin Guo

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Newly proposed pile wall frame structures (PWFSs), notably with small-spaced row piles, have great potential for cofferdams of artificial islands applied for oil recovery in shallow seas. Studies have been called to analyze the bearing performance of small-spaced row piles subjected to lateral loads. A numerical investigation of laterally loaded row piles with small pile spacing was conducted to achieve a fitted algebraic expression of the P-Y curve. Significantly different from the hyperbolic P-Y curves of a single pile reported in other studies, the P-Y curve of small-spaced row piles is similar to an elastic–perfectly plastic curve, which simply depends …

Estimation Of The Axial And Lateral Capacity Of Driven Piles From The Results Of Cone Penetration Test And Finite Element Analysis, Mohsen Amirmojahedi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Piles play an important role in transportation and bridges. They are used to resist axial and lateral loads transferred to them from structures, earth pressures, incline loads, vehicles, etc. In this study, the capacity of piles for axial and lateral loads is investigated.

The ultimate axial capacity of piles can be estimated using different approaches including static pile load tests, dynamic load tests, statnamic load tests, and static analysis based on laboratory tests (effective and total stress approaches) or in-situ tests (SPT, CPT, etc.). For each approach, different researchers have proposed different solutions for different soils and different piles. Mostly, …

Structural Design Of Pool House In The City Of Columbia, Nathan F. Gates

Senior Theses

This report presents a structural design for a one-story pool house in the City of Columbia. The most important part of the project was determining critical horizontal and vertical loads, and designing each member in accordance to those governing loads. The loads we analyzed were dynamic, dead, live and seismic. By means of the LRFD method, the greatest possible load combination was calculated, combining the previously mentioned loads. These load combinations were different for each analysis, as the loading pressures will change depending on what structural system is being analyzed. This comprises the large part of the report and of …

Besнtentyak Oil And Gas-Condensate Field Water Analysis, Sh.Zh. Mirboboev, Z.A. Razykov, S.K. Sokhoshko

Gorniy vestnik Uzbekistana

The article deals with the analysis of waterlogging and development dynamics oil and gas condensate field Beshtyentyak. As a result, have been determined the distribution of wells by the accumulated oil and liquid withdrawals, the periods of water manifestations of the wells in this field, and the changes in the oil-and-gas concentration and water supply. The further work of gas and gas condensate wells is estimated at the Beshtyentyak oil and gas condensate field.

Residual Strength Of Franciscan-Derived Clay, Yingyi Xu

Master's Theses

In February of 2017 after a period of heavy rainfall, a slope destabilized behind Fremont Hall on the campus of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The geology of this slope stability failure is the Franciscan Complex. The Franciscan Complex, when weathered in place, results in clay soil that makes up the typical soil mantle on the hills throughout the region. Peak strength is the typical parameter tested to assess the strength of the soil. For the Franciscan-derived clay, the residual strength is the focus of this study to understand slope failure since the clay is the weakest portion of the …

Undrained Cyclic Shear Resistance Of Low Plastic Silts, Rawan Almoumen

Dissertations and Theses

A magnitude 9 Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake is expected to trigger widespread liquefaction in loose material in Oregon. The geotechnical engineering studies have determined that the Willamette Silts may be susceptible to liquefaction or cyclic softening, as their plasticity indices ranges between non-plastic to low plasticity. While the majority of past studies have focused on liquefaction of sand and cyclic behavior of clays, there is not enough data on the cyclic response behavior of silty soils and the liquefaction susceptibility of these soils. A research focus in the geotechnical engineering program at Portland State University revolves around is performing cyclic …