Observations of Structural Damage Caused by Hurricane Katrina on the Mississippi Gulf Coast

The loads associated with Hurricane Katrina led to the destruction or severe damage of approximately 130,000 homes and over 200 deaths in the state of Mississippi. This paper discusses the results of a field inspection of structural damage along the state’s Gulf Coast area caused by this hurricane. It was found that reinforced concrete, steel frame, and heavy timber structures generally performed well, with minimal structural damage. Precast concrete, light frame wood, and bridge structures generally performed poorly. Non-structural components of all building types, in particular facades and interior partitions subjected to storm surge, were typically destroyed. For various structures, the primary cause of failure was found to be insufficient connection strength. A comparison of Katrina’s storm surge and wind loads is made to those specified in current design standards. It was found that Katrina’s forces exceeded those specified in design standards in many parts of the state

2015 ASEE Southeast Section Conference Algal Research -A Case for Teaching Environmental Engineering

Abstract Active research provides excellent opportunities for teaching engineering design principles. In this paper, algal research is used as basis to teach environmental engineering concepts and train the emerging civil and environmental engineers is presented. Research focused on algal cultivation, harvesting, processing for biofuel production and beneficial applications to resolve energy-environmental issues has provided opportunities for a number of undergraduate and graduate civil and environmental engineering students at Mississippi State University. Coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation and filtration concepts and design principles were taught through practical demonstrations for the junior and senior civil engineering students in the environmental engineering laboratory. The source water was collected from the algae contaminated ponds at the Mississippi State University campus. The student learning was greatly enhanced by the practical and hands-on research experiences provided to them, and it was evidenced by the number of research excellence awards received at local, regional and national conferences and national level design competitions. This paper discusses the integration of research activities into environmental engineering courses (junior, senior and graduate level courses) and the enrichment of student learning experiences and their success. Keywords Environmental engineering, research based instruction, higher order of learning, cognitive skills, project-based learnin

Problem-Based-Learning and Learning-Through-Service for Sustainability Education

This paper shows how problem-based-learning (PBL) and learning-through- service (LTS) can provide a strong framework for fostering students\u27 adaptive expertise, flexibility, creativity, innovation, and passion in the classroom. Mississippi State University (MSU) represented by its Civil and Environmental Engineering Department (CEE) is currently in the design-development stage for the construction of a new Civil and Environmental Engineering Complex (CEEC). CEE is garnering a new focus on sustainability with special emphasis on environmentally responsible design, construction, and operation of constructed facilities. To this end, the authors have mentored a group of 22 undergraduate junior students under the High Performance Sustainable Construction class to provide a comprehensive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) analysis for the new CEEC using the 2009 Reference Guide for Green Building Design and Construction, the student work shows that CEEC can possibly earn up to 74 points to acquire a Gold LEED Certification. This study shows that PBL and LTS can enhance students\u27 abilities of understanding and solving real world civil infrastructure problems and challenges. Also, this student-driven teaching approach instills a creative learning environment, understanding of the surrounding world, and a sense of social responsibility

Assessing Sustainability Effect of Infrastructure Transportation Projects using Systems-Based Analytic Framework

Sustainability means providing for the necessities of today without endangering the necessities of tomorrow within the technical, environmental, economic, social/cultural, and individual contexts. However, the assessment tools available to study the sustainability of the transportation infrastructure are limited in their approach and lacking in their content due to several reasons: (1) differences amongst the actors within the industry; (2) fragmentation as represented by lack of communication and understanding between the industry and those whom it serves; and (3) regionalism as represented by the disconnection between the transportation construction projects and their host community systems. The narrow focus of the currently available assessment methods does not collectively address the technical, environmental, economic, social/cultural, and individual sustainability indicators as well various aspects of sustainability. To this end, this research develops three innovative system-based concepts to assess sustainability of the transportation infrastructure projects: (1) work, (2) nature, and (3) flow. The “work benchmark” defines the socio-behavioral relationships amongst the products and the actors of the built environment. It also attempts to delineate how the end-product is affected by how well the producers are connected to the product. The “nature benchmark” focuses on the effects of the infrastructure system on the environment through studying the interaction between the transportation projects actors, their associated processes, and the end-products within their host systems. The “flow benchmark” identifies the overall system changes within the host systems and the effects of these changes on the natural environment and the socio-economic setting. For testing and evaluation of “nature” and “work” on five different transportation and civil infrastructure projects, which are in a relation to a transportation project, the authors utilized a three-step methodology comprising: (1) structured survey; (2) data collection; and (3) analysis. This process provided an improved understanding of the environmental, social, and economic effects of these projects from a systems perspective. For future work, the concept of “flow” will be further explored using macro-level system dynamics modeling, micro-level agent-based simulation, and multi-objective optimization to measure the overall system change

Managing the LEED Analysis for the New Civil and Environmental Engineering Complex at Mississippi State University

Mississippi State University (MSU) represented by its Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) department is currently in the design-development stage for the construction of a new CEE Complex (CEEC). The CEE is garnering a new focus on sustainability with special emphasis on environmentally responsible design, construction, and operation of constructed facilities. To promote the aforementioned goals of sustainability, the authors have mentored a group of 23 undergraduate junior students under the High-Performance Sustainable Construction class to provide a comprehensive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) analysis for the new CEEC. Based on the 2009 Reference Guide for Green Building Design and Construction, this paper presents a detailed overview showing (1) which credits are attainable in light of the current available design documents; (2) which credits are not incorporated in the current design documents but are achievable with some modifications and amendments; and (3) which credits are not obtainable regardless of any reasonable new design proposals. This case-study research shows that CEEC can possibly earn up to 71 points to acquire a LEED Gold certification. In addition, this study shows how undergraduate students can be mentored through active learning techniques to be effective and efficient participants in societal developments through their university curriculums

COMPARING SPECTRAL AND OBJECT BASED APPROACHES FOR CLASSIFICATION AND TRANSPORTATION FEATURE EXTRACTION FROM HIGH RESOLUTION MULTISPECTRAL IMAGERY ABSTRACT

An increasing need exists to update older transportation infrastructure, land use/land cover, environmental impact assessment and road network layer maps. Planning and development rely on accurate data layers for new construction and changes in existing routes. Recent developments in commercial satellite products have resulted in a broader range of high quality image data, enabling detailed analysis. This information differs in its characteristic features (e.g. spatial resolution and geolocational accuracy) as well as utility for particular tasks. Transportation features have historically been difficult to accurately identify and structure into coherent networks; prior analyses have demonstrated problems in locating smaller features. Roadways in urban environments are often partly obscured by proximity to land cover or impervious objects. Recent research has focused on object-based methods for classification and different segmentation techniques key to this approach. Software packages such as eCognition have shown encouraging results in assessing spatial and spectral patterns at varied scales in intelligent classification of aerial and satellite imagery. In this study we examine 2.44m QuickBird and 4m Ikonos multispectral imagery for a 7.5 ' quad (Dead Tiger Creek) near the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Both spectral and object-based approaches are implemented for pre-classification, after which road features are extracted using various techniques. Results are compared based on a raster completeness model developed. Challenges include intricate networks of smaller roads in residential zones and regions of tall/dense tree cover. Observations for these sites will assist in developing a larger-scale analysis plan for the CSX railroad corridor relocation project

Sustainable Construction Education using Problem-Based Learning and Service Learning Pedagogies

Incorporating the concepts of sustainable development in engineering education is becoming a necessity in order to prepare future professionals with the dynamic mindset and broad knowledge needed to effectively and efficiently solve the interdisciplinary challenges of the 21st century. To this end, utilizing the principles of active learning towards sustainable construction education leads to stronger learning outcomes and development for students. The objective is to enhance the undergraduate student skill-set that is required to make them more enabled, aligned, and supported to design, construct, and operate our infrastructure systems. In this paper, the authors provide the associated course development principles grounded in problem-based-learning (PBL) and service-learning (SL) pedagogies, course management strategy, as well as the educational and learning philosophies. To this end, the course PBL activities utilized interrelated and mutually supportive assignments and projects where the assigned problems were not created equally (i.e., varying in complexity and structuredness). Through the evolution of problem-based course activities, the students were engaged in a service-based assignment in relation to the LEED certification process for a new on-campus building. Also, the associated student work was shared with the project developers for potential usage, and resulted in a peer-reviewed journal paper that is forthcoming in the Journal of Management in Engineering. The results and analysis associated with this study were comprised of PBL activity characterization, instructor evaluation of student performance, and student self-reflections of the course. The results suggest that even with increased complexity of PBL activities, students\u27 performance increased throughout the semester. Although arriving with some resistance, students ultimately took ownership of the entire educational experience and completed a final open-ended, complex, and authentic service learning activity. Through engaging students in discussions and guiding their reflections on scientific material, instructors are regarded as facilitators and collaborators rather than sources of authority. This paper provides an example that could be followed by other engineering faculty in setting and planning big goals for engineering students