Transportation Engineering Commons^™

The Potentials Of Faecal Sludge Treatment Using Local Conditioners In Tanzania: A Review, Doglas Benjamin1

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Worldwide, every day human beings generate millions of tons of Faecal Sludge (FS), which is rich in water, nutrients, energy, and organic compounds. Yet FS is not being managed in a way that permits us to derive value from its reuse, while at the same time, millions of farmers struggle with depleted soils and lack of water. In most of the developing countries, energy for cooking is mainly derived from cutting of trees, either as wood or charcoal. Resource recovery and reuse from FS can create livelihoods, enhance food security, support green economies, reduce waste and contribute to cost recovery …

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 …

Integrated Full-Scale Physical Experiments And Numerical Modeling Of The Performance And Rehabilitation Of Highway Embankments, Navid Jafari, Anand Puppala, Sayantan Chakroborty, Burak Boluk

Data

Corresponding data set for Tran-SET Project No. 18GTLSU06. Abstract of the final report is stated below for reference:

"The study aimed to fundamentally understand how soil strength and hydraulic properties are impacted by recurring cycles of wetting and drying induced by climate variability, with the practical implication of forecasting the stability of highway embankment slopes. The review of literature on the effects of long-term cyclic wetting-drying phases on hydro-mechanical properties of clayey soils suggests that only a few cycles of wetting and drying can impact the strength and hydraulic conductivity, where the latter can increase several orders of magnitude. Laboratory …

Performance Of Drilled Shaft Under Combination Of Complicated Loads Under Hurricane Event, Jie Huang, Sazzad Bin-Shafique

Data

Corresponding data set for Tran-SET Project No. 18GTTSA02. Abstract of the final report is stated below for reference:

"This project includes experimental and numerical studies to investigate and assess the impact of vertical loads on a laterally loaded drilled shaft under various conditions. The experimental study includes lab testing and lab-scale load test to examine a drilled shaft subjected to vertical and lateral loads at a reduced scale. With the data obtained from the lab-scale testing, a numerical model was calibrated, which was used to perform a parametric study to scrutinize the effect of many possible factors such as soil …

Performance Of Drilled Shaft Under Combination Of Complicated Loads Under Hurricane Event, Jie Huang, Sazzad Bin-Shafique

Publications

This project includes experimental and numerical studies to investigate and assess the impact of vertical loads on a laterally loaded drilled shaft under various conditions. The experimental study includes lab testing and lab-scale load test to examine a drilled shaft subjected to vertical and lateral loads at a reduced scale. With the data obtained from the lab-scale testing, a numerical model was calibrated, which was used to perform a parametric study to scrutinize the effect of many possible factors such as soil stiffness, soil friction angle, and drilled shaft geometry. With all the factors considered in this study, the vertical …

Integrated Full-Scale Physical Experiments And Numerical Modeling Of The Performance And Rehabilitation Of Highway Embankments, Navid Jafari, Anand Puppala, Sayantan Chakraborty, Burak Boluk

Publications

The study aimed to fundamentally understand how soil strength and hydraulic properties are impacted by recurring cycles of wetting and drying induced by climate variability, with the practical implication of forecasting the stability of highway embankment slopes. The review of literature on the effects of long-term cyclic wetting-drying phases on hydro-mechanical properties of clayey soils suggests that only a few cycles of wetting and drying can impact the strength and hydraulic conductivity, where the latter can increase several orders of magnitude. Laboratory model-scale experiments of Louisiana and Texas soils are still ongoing and will relate the laboratory test results to …

Karst Sinkhole Detecting And Mapping Using Airborne Lidar, Su Zhang, Shirley Baros, Susan Bogus

Data

Corresponding data set for Tran-SET Project No. 18GTUNM01. Abstract of the final report is stated below for reference:

"The focus of this study is to detect sinkhole hazards using airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data. The premise is sinkholes, particularly those close to transportation infrastructure assets, could cause substantial damages to infrastructure assets, and therefore, being able to accurately and rapidly detect them is essential. However, it is expensive, time-consuming, labor-intensive, and unsafe to survey sinkholes using conventional ground observation methods. This research project was focused on developing accurate and rapid airborne LiDAR-based sinkhole detection and mapping methods, and …

Development Of Metals Corrosion Maps Of Arkansas And Maintenance Of Cross-Drains, Zahid Hossain, Ashraf Elsayed, Mdariful Hasan

Data

Corresponding data set for Tran-SET Project No. 18GTASU01. Abstract of the final report is stated below for reference:

"Corrosion potential of metallic structures in alluvial soils is governed by chemical and electromagnetic properties of the soils. Geotechnical engineers are generally more concerned about different types of soils and their physical and mechanical properties than the chemical aspects. The main objective of this study is to analyze the geotechnical, electrochemical and electromagnetic properties of soils in Arkansas. Important parameters (e.g., soil resistivity) related to corrosion potential of metal culverts have been predicted through neural network (NN) models. The developed NN models …

Karst Sinkhole Detecting And Mapping Using Airborne Lidar, Su Zhang, Shirley Baros, Susan Bogus

Publications

The focus of this study is to detect sinkhole hazards using airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data. The premise is sinkholes, particularly those close to transportation infrastructure assets, could cause substantial damages to infrastructure assets, and therefore, being able to accurately and rapidly detect them is essential. However, it is expensive, time-consuming, labor-intensive, and unsafe to survey sinkholes using conventional ground observation methods. This research project was focused on developing accurate and rapid airborne LiDAR-based sinkhole detection and mapping methods, and transfer the technologies to transportation engineers for implementation and workforce development. The project team also identified best practices …

Development Of Metals Corrosion Maps Of Arkansas And Maintenance Of Cross-Drains, Zahid Hossain, Ashraf Elsayed, Mdariful Hasan

Publications

Corrosion potential of metallic structures in alluvial soils is governed by chemical and electromagnetic properties of the soils. Geotechnical engineers are generally more concerned about different types of soils and their physical and mechanical properties than the chemical aspects. The main objective of this study is to analyze the geotechnical, electrochemical and electromagnetic properties of soils in Arkansas. Important parameters (e.g., soil resistivity) related to corrosion potential of metal culverts have been predicted through neural network (NN) models. The developed NN models have been trained and verified by using laboratory test results of soil samples collected from Arkansas Department of …

Developing Implementable Climatic Input Data And Moisture Boundary Conditions For Pavement Analysis And Design, Rifat Bulut, Amir Hossein Javid

Publications

The main objective of this study is to develop a practical and implementable numerical model for predicting the moisture (suction) regime within the pavement subgrade system. The research quality and uniformly-dispersed climate data over short distances from Oklahoma Mesonet and the Mitchell based moisture (suction) prediction methods establish the main background of the research study. The study involved numerical modeling and statistical analysis of climatic weather data. The proposed moisture variation model predicts the suction distribution throughout the soil subgrade by solving the diffusion equation and incorporates the measured suction from the Oklahoma Mesonet to estimate the diffusion coefficient. The …

Field Performance And Cost Effectiveness Of Crack Sealing In Flexible And Composite Pavements, Momen Ragab Mousa

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Surface cracking is one of the major surface distresses in asphalt concrete (AC) pavement, allowing water infiltration through the cracks, causing stripping in asphalt pavement layers, and weakening and deteriorating the base and/or subgrade. Its treatment, therefore, is one of the major activities in pavement preservation for many state DOTs. Among the various treatment methods currently available to preserve AC pavement with existing surface cracking are various forms of crack sealing. Crack sealing is not a common practice to Louisiana highways since the benefit of such treatment appears to be affected by the elevation of the ground water table. Studies …

Unl-Cc Outdoor Education Center Master Plan, Marie Wagner

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The following report contains the work done by the group Griswold Engineering in completion of the Senior Design requirements for Civil Engineering and the Honors Requirements of the Project Manager. As the project manager, my job was to organize the project as a whole and to work alongside the Structural Engineer on the project. One of the main problems to overcome was the division of labor amongst the group. The project was originally conceived as a group project with one project manager and five other students to serve as the project engineers in each subdiscipline. Since this group only had …

Civil Engineering Design Of Cornhusker Council's Outdoor Education Center, Kelly Weiler

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

A team of geotechnical, structural, hydraulic, environmental, and transportation experts collaborated to provide engineering solutions to the Cornhusker Council in an effort to solve the current problems facing their Outdoor Education Center. This results of this project provided the structural design of three bridges on the property, transportation plans for two parking lots and roadway design, geotechnical recommendations for soil testing and erosion prevention, and an environmental and hydraulic analysis of the property. A major challenge in the design of this project is the consideration of the dangers and regulations that accompany the floodway and floodplain regions on site. Various …

Synthesis Of Fault Traces In Se Louisiana Relative To Infrastructure, David Culpepper, Elizabeth Chinn Mcdade, Nancye Dawers, Mark Kulp, Rui Zhang

Data

Corresponding data set for Tran-SET Project No. 17GTLSU12. Abstract of the final report is stated below for reference:

"Geological faulting has been implicated as a contributor to subsidence, coastal land-loss and submergence of marshlands in southern Louisiana. This report reviews whether fault motion, either by slow creep or more sudden slip, can cause deformation of engineered structures resulting in increased infrastructure maintenance and repair costs. The impact of surface, or near-surface, geologic faulting on critical infrastructure is insufficiently documented in southeastern Louisiana, but the state has a vast amount of energy-sector subsurface data that to date has been under-utilized for …

Synthesis Of Fault Traces In Se Louisiana Relative To Infrastructure, David Culpepper, Elizabeth Chinn Mcdade, Nancye Dawers, Mark Kulp, Rui Zhang

Publications

Geological faulting has been implicated as a contributor to subsidence, coastal land-loss and submergence of marshlands in southern Louisiana. This report reviews whether fault motion, either by slow creep or more sudden slip, can cause deformation of engineered structures resulting in increased infrastructure maintenance and repair costs. The impact of surface, or near-surface, geologic faulting on critical infrastructure is insufficiently documented in southeastern Louisiana, but the state has a vast amount of energy-sector subsurface data that to date has been under-utilized for transportation and other near-surface engineering applications. Recent and on-going work by research groups at Tulane University, University of …

Prediction And Rehabilitation Of Highway Embankment Slope Failures In Changing Climate, Navid Jafari, Anand Puppala

Publications

Highway slopes constructed with clayey soil are prone to desiccation cracks due to wetting and drying weather cycle, which allows greater moisture infiltration into the embankment from precipitation. Fissures formed due to extended wetting and drying cycles allow water to seep deeper into the soil than surficial wetting and increase the water content. This increases the moisture content in the soil and results in reduction in shear strength to the fully softened strength. On the other hand, development of desiccation cracks and reduction of the soil matric suction ultimately result in higher hydraulic conductivity value which causes development of higher …

Development Of Environmentally-Friendly Stabilization Methods For Transportation Infrastructure Based On Geopolymers, Miladin Radovic, Anand Puppala

Publications

Geopolymers (GPs) have received much attention as an eco-friendly and sustainable alternative to conventional chemical additives, since they can be processed at room temperatures from aqueous solutions by utilizing waste materials (e.g. fly ash) or abundant natural sources (e.g. clay). A collaborative research study is carried out by teams from Texas A&M University (TAMU) and University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) to investigate the effectiveness of GPs for stabilizing base and subgrade materials by considering the strength and shrink-swell characteristics. Two types of clay, obtained from the North Dallas area, were mixed with a potassium-based GP synthesized from metakaolin and …

Understanding Asphalt Concrete Aging Using Nanoindentation, Hasan M. Faisal

Civil Engineering ETDs

Asphalt concrete (AC) is created by mixing liquid asphalt binder with solid aggregates. When asphalt binder is mixed with aggregates, it creates a thin film (about 7-16 microns thick) around the aggregate surface. Fine aggregate (smaller than 0.075 mm size) get entrapped within the binder film or mixed with the binder, and create a phase called mastic. Both asphalt film and mastic play significant roles in aging of asphalt pavement. To this day, tests were performed mainly on the bulk liquid asphalt, but not on the film or mastic. In this study, for the first time, nanoindentation tests were done …

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. …

Practical Overview Of Revised Section 918, Geosynthetics_Piccoli, Santino Piccoli

Purdue Road School

INDOT Standard Specifications Section 918, Geosynthetics, has been revised and updated, broadening the tools available to designers and contractors challenged with variable soil types and site conditions. The revision effort included harmonizing Section 200, 600, and 900 language relative to the design and use of geosynthetics. Section 918 broadly pertains to geosynthetics, which includes geotextiles, geogrids, geocells, geomembranes, and geocomposites. This session includes a practical discussion about specific changes to geotextile specifications and the addition of geotextile types.

Spot-R By Triax, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

Triax’s Spot-r system was developed to tackle the construction industry’s unique safety and productivity challenges, stemming from a demonstrated lack of total jobsite visibility and automatically collected, easily accessible field data. Spot-r by Triax combines a proprietary mesh network with sensor technology to record and transmit previously unattainable workforce and equipment location, activity and safety data within a defined area – all in real-time.

The Spot-r network is installed around the site and operates in a 900 MHz network, with a subset using a cellular connection to forward Spot-r sensor data to Triax’s custom, cloud dashboard. In the hazardous construction …

Purdue’S Biowall, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

Mechanical ventilation, energy recovery ventilation, and infiltration (air that leaks into a building) are commonly used to introduce fresh air. These are all valid approaches, but a living plant-based filter is an innovative complement to these traditional technologies. A Biowall has the potential to improve indoor air quality while reducing the quantity of air needed for ventilation, creating the potential for energy savings. Figure 1 shows a Biowall prototype being evaluated in the ReNEWW House, a research home located near the Purdue University campus (http://www.renewwhouse.com/).

Mdp (Machine Drive Power) Intelligent Compaction Technology, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

Caterpillar developed MDP (Machine Drive Power) technology to fill this gap. Rather than an accelerometer and vibratory drum, it uses the principle of rolling resistance to provide indications of soil stiffness. This allows it to perform more reliably on cohesive and granular soils with less variability than accelerometer systems. It also means that the technology can be used on both vibratory and static drum compactors, which are often used on larger sites. While the technology is quite useful on its own, it is even better as a complementary technology to the existing accelerometer-based systems. Contractors who use vibratory soil compactors …

Direct Measurement Of Crosstie-Ballast Interface Pressures Using Granular Material Pressure Cells, Travis James Watts

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

The magnitudes and relative pressure distributions transmitted to the crosstie-ballast interface of railroad track significantly influences the subsequent behavior and performance of the overall track structure. If the track structure is not properly designed to distribute the heavy-axle loads of freight cars and locomotives, deficiencies and inherent failures of the crossties, ballast, or underlying support layers can occur, requiring substantial and frequent maintenance activities to achieve requisite track geometrical standards. Incorporating an understanding of the pressure distribution at the crosstie-ballast interface, appropriate designs can be applied to adequately provide a high performing and long-lasting railroad track. Although this can be …

Tire-Derived Geo-Cylinders And Polymer Products For Enhancing The Properties Of Base/Sub Base Materials In Pavement Systems, Justin Scott Smith

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As a critical part of the transportation network, pavements offer a safe means for vehicular traffic. Pavements are subjected to many forms of stress during their service life, and they are susceptible to environment related cracking and failures. Failures can be attributed to poor subgrade, freeze-thaw variations, and fatigue under repetitive axle loadings. Reinforcement products such as tire-derived geo-cylinders (TDGC) which make-up mechanical concrete and geo-polymers have been utilized in civil engineering practice, and this research aims to understand the potential life of tested pavement system components set at displacement limitations when reinforced with TDGCs and geo-polymers from exposure to …

Characterization And Modeling Of Asphalt Concrete For Dynamic Properties And Performances, A S M A. Rahman

Civil Engineering ETDs

The recently developed mechanistic-empirical pavement design guide (MEPDG, also known as Pavement M-E design method) uses the nationally calibrated, binder viscosity-based dynamic modulus predictive model for the design and analysis of asphalt pavements. In this study, this model is assessed for its appropriateness for asphalt-aggregate mixtures typically used in New Mexico. In essence, this study investigates the predictability issue of complex modulus of New Mexico mixes. A total of 54 Superpave mixes with different aggregate gradations, air voids, and binder grades were collected from the mixing plants and from the pavement construction sites. The loose asphalt mixtures were then compacted, …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Hybrid Geosynthetic Reinforcement System To Mitigate Differential Heave On Flexible Pavement Due To Expansive Subgrades, Mir Md. Tamim

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Transportation industries encounter substantial challenges with respect to ride quality and serviceability when they deal with expansive soils underneath roadway structures. These soils exhibit swell-shrink behavior with moisture variations, which cause surficial heaving on the pavement structure and cost billions of dollars for the maintenance of pavements. For the past four decades, a particular stretch of US-95 (Oregon line to Elephant Butte) exhibited recurrent swelling distresses due to the underlying expansive soils. Despite remedial measures that exhibited satisfactory results for most of the sections, recurrent damage still continued in few sections. Further research indicated that the problematic soils were located …

Datumate, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

Datumate is digitally transforming civil engineering processes used in construction, surveying and infrastructure inspection markets with fully automated, highly precise, cost effective and safe tools. It utilizes state-of-the-art image processing and advanced drones and camera technologies dramatically reducing the amount of time surveying crews spend in the field, speeding up construction progress checks and shortening infrastructure inspection duration, while maintaining survey grade accuracy. The intuitive, simple and automated solutions increase productivity by saving field and office time in civil engineering and inspection projects of roads, intersections, stockpile volumes, topography, piping, industrial facilities, bridges, property surveys, building facades, railways, cellular infrastructure …

Technology To Manufacture Oriented Pvc (Pvc-O) Pipes, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

The development of Molecor´s technology, which is based on the application of a Molecular Orientation process, has delivered a significant turning point in the pipelines sector. With this technological development, the company has begun to manufacture TOM® PVC-O pipes, the most eco-friendly pipes on the market. The Molecor technology enabled eradicating many of the existing disadvantages of thermoplastic pipes.

This technology delivers a clear objective; to provide the water industry with a solution for pipes carrying pressurized water in an environmentally friendly, yet cost efficient manner. This also extends a service life compared to pipeline materials currently in use.

The …