Civil and Environmental Engineering: Recent submissions
Now showing items 1-20 of 882
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Evaluation and improvement of robustness in drinking water treatment systems to manage turbidity- and natural organic matter (NOM)-related water quality upsets during extreme weather events
(University of Waterloo, 2024-05-17)Climate change poses significant challenges for drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs), with extreme weather events increasingly impacting water quality. While various aspects of climate adaptation, such as source water ... -
Enhancing Real-Time Data Acquisition from Embedded Road Structural Health Monitoring Systems
(University of Waterloo, 2024-04-23)Canada's economy heavily relies on its roadways, yet managing pavement assets faces challenges due to past infrastructure spending cuts. Addressing this, a pavement management system (PMS) is essential for efficient resource ... -
Effects of Prolonged Shutdown on the Performance and Microbial Activity of Intermittently Operated Biofilters for Manganese Removal from Groundwater: Pilot Scale Study
(University of Waterloo, 2024-04-18)Apart from aesthetic concerns, manganese (Mn) in drinking water has been associated with cognitive and neurobehavioral effects in children. Recently Health Canada has changed its drinking water guidelines for Mn from an ... -
Achieving contrapuntal balance at a lake outlet: Restoring salmon spawning habitat with gravel augmentation design
(University of Waterloo, 2024-04-09)The degradation of gravel bed rivers in logging and climate-impacted watersheds has led to an increase in salmonid habitat conservation and restoration efforts. Gravel augmentation is one such technique that seeks to restore ... -
Study of Performance of Geosynthetic-Reinforced Pavements by Full-Scale Field Study, Laboratory Testing, and Numerical Modelling
(University of Waterloo, 2024-03-19)This study provides a comprehensive understanding of geosynthetic-reinforced pavements from different perspectives including small-scale laboratory testing, a full-scale field study, and numerical simulation. This study ... -
Natural Language Processing using Deep Learning for Classifying Water Infrastructure Procurement Records and Calculating Unit Costs
(University of Waterloo, 2024-03-06)This thesis introduces a novel ontology-based deep learning classification model specifically tailored for civil engineering applications, focusing on automating the extraction and classification of water infrastructure ... -
Enabling Human-Machine Collaborative Inspections through Smart Infrastructure Metaverse
(University of Waterloo, 2024-02-08)Over the last ten years, novel Artificial Intelligence (AI) based structure assessment methods and tools have been proposed to identify and quantify structural damage indicators (e.g., cracking, spalling, corrosion, etc.) ... -
Valuation of in-situ Building Materials for Resource Recovery
(University of Waterloo, 2024-02-08)The construction industry is among the largest contributors to global raw material consumption and is responsible for 40% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. Recovery of building materials at the end of a building's life, ... -
Conventional and Oxidant-amended Biofiltration to Improve Treatment Resilience in Drinking Water Systems Vulnerable to Wildfire
(University of Waterloo, 2024-01-26)Climate-change-exacerbated landscape disturbances can create obstacles for the provision of safe drinking water. The threats posed by wildfires are of particular concern due not only to the potentially extreme nature of ... -
Towards a Better Understanding of Activated Carbon-Based Amendments for In Situ Treatment of Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Anaerobic Groundwater Systems
(University of Waterloo, 2024-01-11)Injected activated carbon (AC) particulate amendments for the in situ treatment of groundwater impacted by petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) is relatively new, and relies on a combination of AC sorption and biodegradation. ... -
A river's connective tissue: Lab observations of particle pathways and riffle formation during floods
(University of Waterloo, 2024-01-05)In rivers it is difficult to quantify bedform dynamics during storm events. Direct observation of sediment pathways would provide insight into the mechanisms that underly bedform formation and destruction. In the current ... -
A Methodology for Design and Adaptation of Infrastructure Under Deep Climate Uncertainty
(University of Waterloo, 2024-01-03)Proper decision-making in design, and adaptation management of infrastructure is essential, in the face of environmental uncertainties. As and example, current climate change models yield a range of widely diverging ... -
Performance of Soil Borehole Thermal Energy Storage System under Different Natural and Engineered Subsurface Conditions
(University of Waterloo, 2023-12-18)Borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) system, a type of underground thermal energy storage (UTES) systems, is a promising technology for sustainable space heating. BTES stores thermal energy in subsurface media (rock or ... -
Comparison of Condition Evaluation Methods for Flexible Pavement, and Exploration of Ride Quality Assessment through Vibration Frequency Analysis
(University of Waterloo, 2023-12-12)This thesis reviews and compares evaluation standards, distress manifestation manuals, and key performance indices for flexible road asset management across North America. Evaluation of pavement structural and functional ... -
Development of a novel methodology for the determination of the total solar energy transmittance of Building-Integrated Photovoltaic window technologies using outdoor measurements
(University of Waterloo, 2023-12-11)The urgent need to combat global warming and transition towards sustainable energy sources has focused attention on the building sector, a major contributor to energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve ... -
Real-Time Traffic Performance Measurement of Signalized Intersections Using Connected Vehicle Data: A Simulation-Based Study
(University of Waterloo, 2023-12-05)Traffic congestion has long become a major concern in many cities in Canada and around the world. It has been estimated that the annual total economic loss due to traffic congestion in major Canadian urban centers has ... -
Reliability-based Environmental Impact Assessment in Geotechnical Engineering
(University of Waterloo, 2023-11-30)A sustainable design is achieved by balancing the four aspects, so called the four Es, of sustainability – environment, economy, equity, and engineering. Given that geotechnical constructions involve land transformations ... -
Automatically Assessing the Need for Traffic Signal Retiming Using Connected Vehicle Data
(University of Waterloo, 2023-11-27)Traffic signal controllers are a critical element in managing urban traffic systems effectively. The emergence of Automated Traffic Signal Performance Measures (ATSPM), aided by recent technological advancements, allows ... -
Flow and Sediment Routing in Urban Channels with Flashy Hydrographs
(University of Waterloo, 2023-10-20)Urbanization has a major impact on flow and erosion in open channels. By replacing rural land surfaces with impervious surfaces, urbanization causes a decrease in infiltration and an increase in surface runoff and faster ... -
Rethinking the Split-Sample Approach in Hydrological Model Calibration
(University of Waterloo, 2023-10-16)Hydrological models, which have become increasingly complex in the last half century due to the advances in computing capabilities and data collection, have been extensively utilized to facilitate decision-making in water ...