Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Permanent URI for this community

https://hdl.handle.net/10217/100369

These digital collections include theses, dissertations, Civil Engineering Reports and other publications, materials relating to conferences including "Hydrology Days," other faculty and student publications, and datasets from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Due to departmental name changes, materials from the following historical departments are also included here: Civil Engineering; Irrigation Engineering.

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 2377

Open Access
1985 riprap tests in flood control channels
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1985-08) Ruff, James F., author; Shaikh, Alaeddin, author; Abt, Steven R., author; Richardson, Everett V., author; Fluid Mechanics and Wind Engineering Program, Fluid Dynamics and Diffusion Laboratory, Department of Civil Engineering, Colorado State University, publisher
Open Access
2' x 2' x 60' recirculating flume: terminal report
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1964) Simons, Daryl B., author; Colorado State University, Civil Engineering Research Section, publisher
Open Access
2002 municipal response to drought in the Colorado Front Range
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2003) Kenney, Douglas, author; Klein, Roberta, author; Morrison, Adam, author; Colorado State University, publisher
As part of its ongoing efforts to analyze the vulnerability of water resources in Colorado's South Platte River Basin to the impacts of climate variability and regional growth, the Western Water Assessment examined the drought response of nine cities along the Front Range during the summer of 2002. Our hypothesis was that outdoor watering restrictions imposed in response to drought result in less water being consumed than would normally be expected, given climatic conditions and population growth. The study compared water use during summer of 2002 during restrictions to use in 2000 and 2001 when such restrictions were not in place. An additional goal was to compare cities to each other, identifying potential trends between different strategies and different levels of success. Results for each city are tabulated using a standardized methodology, allowing cross-city comparisons. The goal is to help municipal water managers assess and refine drought coping strategies.
Open Access
40th annual AGU hydrology days
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) American Geophysical Union, author; Colorado State University, author; Colorado State University, publisher
Includes the schedule and presentation abstracts only. The 40th Annual American Geophysical Union Hydrology Days meeting, held on April 13-14, 2020, provides a unique opportunity for students, faculty, staff and practitioners to engage in wide range of water-related interdisciplinary research topics. In addition to hydrologic systems, the event covers a broad range of water concerns, including agriculture and water rights, sustainability and conservation, climate change and urbanization, economics and policy. Hydrology Days' 40th anniversary builds on CSU legacy of excellence in water-related studies. Program includes abstracts of presentations.
Open Access
41st annual AGU hydrology days
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) American Geophysical Union, author; Colorado State University, author
Includes the schedule and presentation abstracts only. The 41st Annual American Geophysical Union Hydrology Days meeting held on March 30-31, 2021, provides a unique opportunity for students, faculty, staff and practitioners to engage in wide range of water-related interdisciplinary research topics. Unfortunately, the global pandemic has left students with limited opportunities to share their research and satisfy graduation requirements. This year the spotlight focused on students to highlight the interconnections of water and linked systems. The 2021 Student Showcase provides an opportunity for students to exchange ideas, present their research findings and refine their science communication skills.
Open Access
42nd annual AGU hydrology days
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) American Geophysical Union, author; Colorado State University, author
Includes the schedule and presentation abstracts only. The 42nd Annual American Geophysical Union Hydrology Days meeting held on April 25-27, 2022, provides a unique opportunity for students, faculty, staff and practitioners to engage in wide range of water-related interdisciplinary research topics.
Open Access
43rd annual AGU hydrology days
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) American Geophysical Union, author; Colorado State University, author; One Water Solutions Institute, author
Includes the schedule and presentation abstracts only. The 43rd Annual American Geophysical Union Hydrology Days meeting held on March 21-22, 2023 provides a unique opportunity for students, faculty, staff and practitioners to engage in wide range of water-related interdisciplinary research topics. The 2023 event lands on the United Nations' annual World Water Day (March 22) with an emphasis on accelerating change to solve the water and sanitation crisis. In addition, building upon the University's Courageous Strategic Transformation we endeavor to broaden participation across campus as well as regional institutions. This year we encourage presentations from a wide variety of sessions designed to highlight the interconnections of water and linked systems. The Student Showcase will provide an opportunity for students to exchange ideas, present their research findings and refine their science communication skills. Select students will be invited to contribute to a special issue of Colorado Water! Students interested in entering the student competition must adhere to posted deadlines, register and submit an abstract to confirm their participation. Faculty, staff, practitioners and industry representatives are encouraged to attend the event and learn just how poised our students are to enter the workforce – take this opportunity to enhance the student experience and invest in the future! The spring meeting endeavors to expand our attendance beyond engineering and hydrology by engaging colleges across campus to holistically represent the far-reaching facets of water.
Open Access
44th annual AGU hydrology days
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024-04) Stout, Morgan, compiler; American Geophysical Union, author; Colorado State University, author; One Water Solutions Institute, author
Includes the schedule and presentation abstracts only. The 44th annual AGU Hydrology Days was an event with over 40 presentations and keynote addresses by Dr. Martha Anderson, USDA, and Dr. Christa Peters-Lidard, NASA. The topics of this year's Hydrology Days included ecohydrology, climate & meteorology, geoscience & groundwater, hydraulics & geomorphology, water, and hydrologic systems. There was also the annual showcase that allowed students from all disciplines to give 5-minute lightning presentations about a topic within one of those areas. Students were also given the unique opportunity to expand on their research and present a technical presentation.
Open Access
8' x 4' x 200' adjustable recirculating flume
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1965) Simons, Daryl B., author; Colorado State University, Civil Engineering Department, publisher
Open Access
A case study of radioactive fallout
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1963-01) Reiter, Elmar R., author; Colorado State University, publisher
During September 1961 a series of balloon ascents made from Flin Flon, Canada, carrying scintillation counters sensitive to gamma radiation, revealed the existence of shallow stable atmospheric layers carrying radioactive debris, presumably from the Russian test series during the same month. The debris layers encountered on September 14 and 15 have been studied in particular. The debris detected over Flin Flon on September 14, 2221 GCT, at 650 mb had undergone strong sinking motion. One may conclude that it came out of the stratosphere shortly prior to September 13, 12 GCT, entering the troposphere through the stable layer underneath the jet core, sometimes referred to as "jet-stream front". Beginning with September 17 a distinct area of radioactive fallout begins to appear at the surface over the eastern United States. Some of this debris seems to be identical with the one detected over Flin Flon, and it apparently was transported by the same jet stream. Part of the fallout is associated with a small collapsing cold dome travelling ahead of this jet stream.
Open Access
A case study of radioactive fallout
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1963) Reiter, Elmar R., author; Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, publisher
Open Access
A case study of severe clear-air turbulence
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1962) Reiter, Elmar R., author; Colorado State University Research Foundation, publisher
Open Access
A collaborative planning framework for integrated urban water management with an application in dual water supply: a case study in Fort Collins, Colorado
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Cole, Jeanne Reilly, author; Sharvelle, Sybil, advisor; Grigg, Neil, advisor; Arabi, Mazdak, committee member; Goemans, Chris, committee member
Urban water management is essential to our quality of life. As much of our urban water supply infrastructure reaches the end of its useful life, water managers are using the opportunity to explore alternative strategies that may enable them to better meet modern urban water challenges. Water managers must navigate the labyrinth of balancing stakeholder needs, considering all costs and benefits, reducing decision risk, and, most importantly, ensuring public health and protecting the environment. Innovative water managers need guidance and tools to help manage this complex decision space. This dissertation proposes a collaborative, risk-informed, triple bottom line, multi-criteria decision analysis (CRTM) planning framework for integrated urban water management decisions. The CRTM framework emerged from the obstacles and stakeholder needs encountered during a study evaluating alternative dual water supply strategies in Fort Collins, Colorado. The study evaluated four strategies for the dual supply of raw and treated water including centralized and decentralized water treatment, varying distribution system scales, and integration of existing irrigation ditches with raw water landscape irrigation systems. The results suggest that while the alternative dual water supply strategies offer many social and environmental benefits, the optimal strategies are dependent on local conditions and stakeholder priorities. The sensitivity analysis revealed the key parameters driving uncertainty in alternative performance were regulatory and political reinforcing the importance of participation from a wide variety of stakeholders. Evaluation of the decision process suggests the CRTM framework increased knowledge sharing between study participants. Stakeholder contributions enabled a comprehensive evaluation of the option space while examining the financial, social and environmental benefits and trade-offs of the alternatives. Most importantly, evolving the framework successfully maintained stakeholder participation throughout the study.
Open Access
A combined field analysis and modeling approach for assessing the impact of groundwater pumping on streamflow
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Flores, Luke, author; Bailey, Ryan T., advisor; Gates, Timothy K., committee member; Sanford, William E., committee member
The magnitude of volumetric water exchange between streams and alluvial aquifers impacts contaminant transport rates, channel erosion and sedimentation, nutrient loading, and aquatic and riparian habitat. Quantifying the interactions between stream water and groundwater is also critically important in regions where surface water and tributary groundwater are jointly administered under a prior appropriation doctrine, such as in the western United States. Of particular concern is the effect of a nearby pumping well on streamflow. When the cone of influence of a pumping well reaches a nearby stream, the resulting hydraulic gradient can induce enhanced seepage of streamflow into the aquifer or decrease the rate of groundwater discharge to the stream. The change in these rates is often modeled using analytical or numerical solutions, or some combination of both. Analytical solutions, although simple to apply, can produce discrepancies between field data and model output due to assumptions regarding stream and aquifer geometry and homogeneity of hydraulic parameters. Furthermore, the accuracy of such models has not been investigated in detail due to the difficulty in measuring streamflow loss in the field. In the first part of this thesis, a field experiment was conducted along a reach of the South Platte River in Denver, Colorado to estimate pumping-induced streamflow loss and groundwater head drawdown, and compare data against analytical modeling results. The analytical solutions proved accurate if streamflow was low and constant, but performed poorly if streamflow was high and variable. In particular, the models are not capable of accurately simulating the effects of increasing stream width and bank storage due to rapid increases in streamflow. To better account for these effects a new analytical modeling framework is introduced which accounts for all major factors contributing to streamflow loss for a given site for both periods of pumping and periods between pumping. For the reach analyzed herein, the method illustrates that pumping wells often only caused half of the given streamflow loss occurring along the reach. This method can be used in other stream-aquifer systems impacted by nearby pumping. The U.S. Geological Survey's three-dimensional finite-difference groundwater flow model, MODFLOW, was also used to assess the impacts of pumping on streamflow. While MODFLOW removes many of the restrictive assumptions that define analytical solutions, certain limitations persist when the program is applied on local, fine scales with dynamic interactions between a stream and alluvium. In particular, when the average stream width is greater than the computational grid cell size, the model will return systematically biased, grid-dependent results. Moreover, simulated streamflow loss will be limited in the range of values that can be modeled. To address these limitations, a new stream module is presented which (1) allows for streams to dynamically span multiple computational grid cells over a cross section to allow for a finer mesh; (2) computes streamflow and backwater stage along a stream reach using the quasi-steady dynamic wave approximation to the St. Venant equations, which allows for more accurate stream stages when normal flow cannot be assumed or a rating curve is not available; and (3) incorporates a process for computing streamflow loss when an unsaturated zone develops under the streambed. Streamflow loss is not assumed constant along a cross section. It is shown that most streamflow loss occurs along stream banks and over newly inundated areas after increases in upstream streamflow. The new module is tested against streamflow and groundwater data collected in a stream-aquifer system along the South Platte River in Denver, Colorado and to estimate the impact of nearby pumping wells on streamflow. When compared with existing stream modules more accurate results are obtained from the new module. The new module can be applied to other small-scale stream-aquifer systems.
Open Access
A comparative study of momentum transfer, heat transfer, and vapor transfer. Part I, Forced convection, laminar case
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1950-09) Yih, Chia-shun, 1918-1997, author; Colorado Agricultural and Mechanical College, Civil Engineering Department, publisher
Open Access
A comparative study of momentum transfer, heat transfer, and vapor transfer. Part II, forced convention, turbulent case
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1951-06) Yih, Chia-shun, 1918-1997, author; Civil Engineering Department, Colorado A & M College, publisher
Open Access
A comparative study of momentum transfer, heat transfer, and vapor transfer. Part III, Free convection
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1951-02) Yih, Chia-shun, 1918-1997, author; Civil Engineering Department, Colorado A & M College, publisher
Open Access
A comparison of a coaxial focused laser Doppler system in atmospheric measurements
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1973-06) Karaki, Susumu, author; Colorado State University, Engineering Research Center, publisher
Open Access
A comparison of electrocoagulation and chemical coagulation treatment effectiveness on frac flowback and produced water
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Hutcherson, John Ryan, author; Carlson, Ken, advisor; Omur-Ozbek, Pinar, committee member; Stednick, John, committee member
Development and production of tight shale for crude oil and natural gas is increasing rapidly throughout the United States and especially in the Wattenberg field of Northern Colorado. Hydraulic fracturing is used to stimulate the shale formation, which allows previously trapped oil and gas to flow to the surface. According to Goodwin (2013), approximately 2.8 million gallons of water are required to hydraulically fracture a horizontal well. Freshwater makes up the vast majority of water used to create these fracturing fluids with a small portion coming from recycling of previously used fracturing fluid. In a semi-arid climate such as Northern Colorado, there are multiple demands for freshwater, often exceeding the supply. Once a well is fractured, water flows back to the surface along with the targeted oil and gas. This fluid is typically referred to as flowback or produced water. In some areas around the United States as much as 10 barrels of water flows to the surface for every barrel of oil recovered. For the purposes of this research, flowback is defined as water that flows to the surface within the first 30 days after fracturing. After fracturing, up to 71% of the water (produced water) used to fracture the well flows back to the surface along with oil and gas, with approximately 27% flowing back in the first 30 days (Bai et al, 2013). The flowback and produced water is currently being disposed of either by deep underground injection or in evaporation ponds. There has been very little effort to capture, recycle, and reuse this flowback or produced water as it has traditionally been considered a waste product. Due to the limited freshwater supply in Colorado, recycling and reuse should be explored in greater detail and with a sense of urgency. The ultimate goal for the oil and gas industry should be to recycle and reuse 100% of flowback and produced water in the creation of hydraulic fracturing fluid for other production wells, creating a closed-loop system. Before flowback and produced water can be reused, treatment of the water is required. Treatment for reuse typically consists of removal of solids, organic compounds, and some inorganic ions. Historically, chemicals have been the dominant method used for coagulation to remove solids, as they are readily available and in many cases can be cheaper than other methods. Electrocoagulation (EC) is now also being considered as a produced water treatment method. EC involves running electric current across metal plates (sacrificial anodes) in a solution, which creates an in situ coagulant dose (Emamjomeh and Sivakumar 2008). There is a time component to water quality changes over the life of a well. Early flowback typically has higher concentration of aluminum, solids, and total organic carbon (TOC) as it is influenced mostly by the makeup of the fracturing fluid. At some point around the 30-day mark, a transition in water quality begins. The formation or connate water seems to have a greater influence on water quality than does the fracturing fluid. Treatment seems to correlate to the changing water quality, as treatment is less effective on the early flowback compared to produced water. TOC and low ionic strength may be the reason early flowback is more difficult to treat. Also, chemical coagulation (CC) is more effective than EC at removing TOC and aluminum in early flowback water compared to EC, while EC is more effective at removing iron. However, both treatments are effective after day 27.
Open Access
A computer study of transition of wall boundary layers
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1972) Anyiwo, J. C., author; Meroney, Robert N., author; Fluid Dynamics and Diffusion Laboratory, College of Engineering, Colorado State University, publisher