Other Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

The International Charter And Flood Mapping, Jie Shan

GIS Day

An overview of recent Purdue activities related to the International Charter for Space and Major Disasters, including general information about The Charter, 3 Indiana flood examples, and a summary of the lessons learned therefrom.

Nutrient And Bacterial Transport In Runoff From Soil And Pond Ash Amended Feedlot Surfaces, John E. Gilley, Jason R. Vogel, Elaine D. Berry, Roger Eigenberg, David B. Marx, Brian L. Woodbury

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

The addition of pond ash (fly ash that has been placed in evaporative ponds and subsequently dewatered) to feedlot surfaces provides a healthier environment for livestock and economic advantages for the feedlot operator. However, the water quality effects of pond ash amended surfaces are not well understood. The objectives of this field investigation were to: (1) compare feedlot soil properties, and nutrient and bacterial transport in runoff, from pond ash amended surfaces and soil surfaces; (2) compare the effects of unconsolidated surface materials (USM) (loose manure pack) and consolidated subsurface materials (CSM) (compacted manure and underlying layers) on nutrient and …

Investigation Of The Geotechnical Properties Of Municipal Solid Waste As A Function Of Placement Conditions, Wilson W. Wong

Master's Theses

An investigation of the variability of engineering properties of municipal solid waste as a function of placement conditions was conducted. Limited data have been reported for the engineering properties of municipal solid waste (MSW) as a function of placement conditions. Wastes have high variability of engineering properties due to heterogeneity in composition and component size; influence from time based effects; and presence of compressible solids. Control of moisture content of MSW at the time of waste placement provides opportunity for increased capacity at a given landfill site due to higher compacted unit weight as well as for control of other …

Embodied Energy Analysis: A Sustainable Construction Design Assessment Tool, Adolf Acquaye, Aidan Duffy, Biswajit Basu

Conference Papers

Embodied energy analysis can be used as a construction design assessment tool in a sustainable matrix for a building. Its implementation however remains challenging mainly because of data measurement errors. A comparison between the deterministic embodied energy (EE) of a building and the stochastic EE of the same building undertaken using Monte Carlo simulation showed a wide variation in results. It is recommended that the specification of EE intensity of building materials in the construction industry can assist in producing accurate and more credible EE values of building.

Reliability Assessment Of Railway Prestressed Concrete Sleepers, Sakdirat Kaewunruen, Alexander Remennikov

Alex Remennikov

This paper carries out the assessment of reliability indices of railway prestressed concrete sleepers designed in accordance with Australian Standard: AS1085.19. The current design approach of the prestressed concrete sleeper relies on the permissible stresses over crosssectional area. Loading condition acting on railway sleepers is considered from axle burden and dynamic amplification factor. On the basis of Australian design of railway prestressed concrete sleepers, only service limit states are considered; however, the design challenge is to provide adequate resistance of certain cross sections to both positive and negative bending moments. In this paper, the service limit states functions are formulated …

Impact Damage Classification Of Railway Prestressed Concrete Sleepers, Sakdirat Kaewunruen, Alexander Remennikov

Alex Remennikov

Commonly, railway tracks suffer with the extreme loading conditions, which are attributed to the train operations with either wheel or rail abnormalities such as flat wheels, dipped rails, etc. These loads are of very high magnitude but short duration, as well as they are of low-possibility occurrence during the design life of the prestressed concrete sleepers. In spite of the most common use of the prestressed concrete sleepers in railway tracks, their impact responses and behaviours are not deeply appreciated nor taken into the design consideration. Up until recently, a new limit states design approach, whereas the dynamic effects are …

Computer-Assisted Emergency Evacuation Planning Using Transcad: Case Studies In Western Massachusetts, Steven P. Andrews

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Disasters, ranging from manmade events to natural occurrences, can happen anywhere on the planet, and their consequences can range from economic loss to catastrophic loss of life. Determining how the transportation system fares in the face of these disasters is important so that proper planning can take place before, rather than after, an event has happened. Modeling the transportation system gives operators the ability to discover bottlenecks, to determine the possible benefit of using lane reversals, and to find out the influence of evacuation speed on system efficiency. Models have already been created that are able to model some of …

Making The Case For Community-Based Laboratories, Earthea Nance

Earthea Nance

No abstract provided.

Masw Tests For Detection Of Decayed Buried Timber Within Railway Embankments, Barry A. Palynchuk Phd, Chris Bunce Phd, Steve Sather M.Eng

Barry A. Palynchuk PhD

No abstract provided.

Interpreting Surface-Wave Data For A Site With Shallow Bedrock, Daniel W. Casto, Barbara Luke, Carlos Calderon-Macias, Ronald Kaufmann

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

The inversion of dispersive Rayleigh-wave data has been shown to be successful in providing reliable estimated shear-wave velocities within unconsolidated materials in the near surface. However, in a case where the multi-channel analysis of surface waves method was applied to a site consisting of clay residuum overlying basalt bedrock, inversion for the fundamental-mode Rayleigh wave resulted in shear-wave velocities within the rock that are less than half of expected values. Forward modeling reveals that the fundamental-mode dispersion curve is hardly sensitive to bedrock velocity perturbations over a practical range of wavelengths, leading to poorly constrained solutions. Standard surface-wave methods can …

Impact Of Microclimatic Data Measured Above Maize And Grass Canopies On Penman‐Monteith Reference Evapotranspiration Calculations, Suat Irmak, Lameck O. Odhiambo

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Estimation of reference evapotranspiration (ET_ref) using measured microclimatic data and the Penman‐Monteith (PM) method provides a powerful means of quantifying actual plant evapotranspiration (ET_a) needed for use in various disciplines. When applying the PM method to estimate ET_ref, it is desirable to measure the required microclimatic data over a reference grass or alfalfa surface rather than above non‐reference surfaces. However, in reality, establishing and maintaining a reference surface for long periods of time is a difficult task. Other surface energy balance systems, such as the Bowen ratio energy balance system (BREBS), eddy covariance system, …

Magnitude And Trends Of Reference Evapotranspiration Rates In South Central Nebraska: Daily, Monthly, Growing Season Total, And Annual Total, Suat Irmak

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Reference evapotranspiration (ET_ref ) is used to determine the actual water use (ET_a) rate for various crops and is one of the key variables that needs to be determined accurately for effective irrigation management. This extension circular provides information on the magnitude and temporal distribution of daily, monthly, annual, and growing season alfalfa-reference evapotranspiration (ET_ref)) in south central Nebraska. It also discusses why long-term average ET_ref values may not represent non-average years or be accurate enough for irrigation management.

The most common way to calculate actual crop water use (ET_a) for a …

Integration Of An Extended Octagonal Ring Transducer And Soil Coulterometer For Identifying Soil Compaction, Santosh Pitla, L. G. Wells, S. A. Shearer

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

The soil coulterometer is an “on‐the‐go” electro‐mechanical system which collects impedance force data at multiple depths using an oscillating coulter. During the initial testing (summer 2006), only vertical soil impedance force data was collected using a pressure sensor. To improve the performance of the coulterometer, an extended octagonal ring transducer was integrated into the system to collect both the horizontal and vertical impedance forces given by the soil. In the summer of 2007, data was collected using the revised sensor from a typical central Kentucky field setting in a 0.8‐ha (2‐acre) plot. Four passes were made with the coulterometer. Seventy …

Regional Co2 And Latent Heat Surface Fluxes In The Southern Great Plains: Measurements, Modeling, And Scaling, W. J. Riley, Sebastien C. Biraud, Margaret S. Torn, Marc L. Fischer, David P. Billesbach, Joe A. Berry

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

[1] Characterizing net ecosystem exchanges (NEE) of CO2 and sensible and latent heat fluxes in heterogeneous landscapes is difficult, yet critical given expected changes in climate and land use. We report here a measurement and modeling study designed to improve our understanding of surface to atmosphere gas exchanges under very heterogeneous land cover in the mostly agricultural U.S. Southern Great Plains (SGP). We combined three years of site-level, eddy covariance measurements in several of the dominant land cover types with regional-scale climate data from the distributed Mesonet stations and Next Generation Weather Radar precipitation measurements to calibrate a land surface …

Special Issue On Evapotranspiration Measurement And Modeling, Samuel Ortega-Farias, Suat Irmak, R. H. Cuenca

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Water availability for irrigation throughout the world has been reduced in recent years due to a combination of frequent droughts and competition for water resources among agricultural, industrial, and urban users. In addition, some major agricultural areas face moderate to significant reductions of rainfall, or changes in timing of stream flow due to changes in timing of snowmelt, as a result of global climate change. Under such conditions, sophisticated irrigation water management will be required to optimize water use efficiency and maintain sufficient levels of crop productivity and quality. A key factor to achieve these targets is the estimation of …

Special Issue On Evapotranspiration Measurement And Modeling, Samuel Ortega-Farias, Suat Irmak, R. H. Cuenca

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Water availability for irrigation throughout the world has been reduced in recent years due to a combination of frequent droughts and competition for water resources among agricultural, industrial, and urban users. In addition, some major agricultural areas face moderate to significant reductions of rainfall, or changes in timing of stream flow due to changes in timing of snowmelt, as a result of global climate change. Under such conditions, sophisticated irrigation water management will be required to optimize water use efficiency and maintain sufficient levels of crop productivity and quality. A key factor to achieve these targets is the estimation of …

Estimating Percent Residue Cover Using The Line-Transect Method, David P. Shelton, Paul J. Jasa

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Leaving crop residue on the soil surface is one of the easiest and most cost-effective methods of reducing soil erosion. Research in Nebraska and other midwestern states has shown that leaving as little as 20 percent of the soil surface covered with crop residue can reduce soil erosion by one-half of what it would be from residue-free conditions. Greater amounts of residue cover will further reduce erosion. Many Conservation Plans specify crop residue management or residue left on the soil surface as the primary erosion control method. Generally, the amount of cover required after planting ranges from 30 percent to …

Preserving Assets In At-Risk Municipalities: Financial Strategies For Climate Change Adaptation, New England Environmental Finance Center

Climate Change

A large share of America's population, businesses and economic activity now occurs in coastal areas. At the same time, during this century many coastal communities are likely to be severely impacted by sea level rise and increased storm surge and tidal flooding.

“What to do” about this vulnerability is the subject of this brief. It is intended to help municipalities identify courses of action and steps they might take toward increasing their resilience, especially regarding financial resources that will need to be allocated toward the various strategies identified.

Making The Case For Community-Based Laboratories, Earthea Nance

Earthea Nance, PhD (Stanford University, 2004)

No abstract provided.