Civil Scoop, Winter 2010

THE CIVIL SCOOP www.d.umn.edu/civileng

The Department of Civil Engineering The University of Minnesota Duluth V O L U M E

Faculty & Staff

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Class highlights

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and research Building Scenes

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CE Student News

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In Print

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Grand Opening

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of the Swenson Civil Engineering Building The high bay lab during the Grand Opening ceremonies

June 28th, 2010 The Swenson Civil Engineering Building Grand Opening was a huge success with a big turnout from the community.

The festivities were held in the main high bay lab so that attendees could be immersed in the engineering on display. Current

students in the program gave tours where they proudly showed off the equipment and space for hands-on learning.

Our sincerest thanks go to the Swenson family for helping make this magnificent facility a reality.

OUR MISSION The mission of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Minnesota Duluth is to prepare graduates for professional practice and graduate study through a program firmly based in strong technical skills, fundamentals, hands-on learning, sustainability, and professionalism.

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Faculty and Staff A Message from the Department Head We’ve had an exciting year with the building grand opening and all the preparations to get the laboratories and courses ready. I feel very fortunate to be part of the beginning of what I think is developing into a great program – the excitement of the students, faculty, and staff is incredible. Our enrollment continues to be about 70 new students each year entering the program (with many more hoping to be able to join us as space allows).

We also started a Master of Engineering program this year and have applied to start a MS in Civil Engineering program next fall. Our faculty has been very successful in securing research funding and we anticipate being able to offer a number of fully funded research positions for top graduate students. A survey of our current students indicates that 95% are considering a graduate degree at this point and all students indicated that UMD would be a school they would consider for graduate work (with 72% picking UMD as their first choice). Please spread the word about our MEng professional degree – we will try to accommodate working engineers with class scheduling and other means of course delivery (such as recorded lectures). We also tailor which graduate courses we will offer each semester to demand from our graduate students, so input is welcome!

I hope you enjoy all of the updates in this issue. We have a new faculty member (Dr. Rebecca Teasley) joining us at the first of the year. She’s traveled from New Zealand (where it is summer) into the heart of the Duluth winter and we’re excited about her arrival.

Our students have been busy with their American Society of Civil Engineers student chapter and with the beginning of a Society of Women Engineers chapter. We’ve also started putting together a team for the Solar Decathlon in 2013. Updates on these initiatives are included in this newsletter.

Have a Happy Holiday Season!

Andrea Schokker

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Rebecca Teasley, PhD Dr. Rebecca Teasley will be joining the Civil Engineering faculty in the area of Water Resources in January 2011.

Dr. Teasley received her PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in the summer of 2009. She has spent the last 18 months as post-doctoral fellow in Water Resources Engineering in the Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering at the University

of Canterbury in New Zealand. Dr. Teasley has worked on a variety of problems including optimization use for sediment control, development and analysis of environmental flows, water management on a large-scale international river basin and developing water markets for water allocation. Dr. Teasley will be teaching Fluid Mechanics in spring 2011.

Outstanding Young Alumna Dr. Andrea Schokker was honored in October of 2010 with the Civil Engineering Outstanding Alumna Award from the University of Texas at Austin. The write-up that accompanied the announcement is below: Andrea Schokker, Professor and founding Head of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD), has been at the forefront of this new program since 2008. In this role she wears many hats – establishing a quintessential yet innovative curriculum, hiring a cohesive faculty, o u t f i t t i n g l a bs , a n d p a r ti c ipa t i ng i n t h e construction of a new, gold -certified LEED building that will eventually house the department and serve as a hands-on learning tool.

Schokker is considered an international authority on post tensioned grouts and is the author of a book on concrete sustainability that sold out shortly after its release. Her research in durability of post-tensioned bridges has been implemented into several U.S. codes and guide specifications. In addition to her responsibilities at UMD, she serves on the Board of Direction for the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and has served and has served as the principal technical resource for the American Segmental Bridge Institute (ASBI) Grouting Certification Training since 2001.

At UT, Schokker’s doctoral research provided the basis for improve ments in grouting technology for post

-tensioned concrete construction in the U.S. After receiving her Ph.D. in 1999, she began her academic career at Penn State University in the Department of Civil and Envi ron me ntal Engineering, where she remained until her move to UMD. She has received the ACI Young

Member Award for Professional achievement, the Post-Tensioning Institute Outstanding Educator Award, and the ASBI Leadership award. Schokker was recognized in October 2010 at the Alumni Banquet.

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Class Highlights & Research CE 3425 Engineering Geology Dr. Carlos Carranza-Torres

William Bond and John Arola giving an introduction to the Minorca Mine to UMD CE students.

This is the second semester that the civil engineering department is offering the course CE 3425 Engineering Geology. The course, currently co-taught by Prof.

Carlos Carranza-Torres (from the Department of Civil Engineering) and by Prof. Jim Miller (from the Department of Geological Sciences at UMD), teaches students basic aspects of geology from a civil engineering perspective. The course involves theory lectures, labs sessions and an eight-hour field trip session.

This semester the emphasis of the course has been on Minnesota Iron mining and

its particular relationship to geotechnical engineering. The field trip took place on Saturday, October 23. Students and instructors visited Arcelor Mittal Minorca Mine in Virginia in the morning, and the old underground Soudan Mine near Tower, Minnesota in the afternoon. The visit to Minorca Mine involved a technical introduction to the mine offered by William Bond, Division Manager at Minorca Mine, and John Arola, previously at Minorca, and now at the Division of

Lands and Minerals at Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The visit to Soudan Mine involved visiting old ground facilities (control rooms and crushing station), a technical description of the mine, and a ½ mile trip into the Earth to visit the deepest level of the mine, where iron ore was extracted until the mid1900s. During the fieldtrip students also had the opportunity to study rock outcrops and do measurements of rock structures using geological compasses.

Engineering geology students and faculty in the old crushing station at Soudan Mine.

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CE 3027 Infrastructure Materials Dr. Eshan Dave

The “Infrastructure Materials� course (CE 3027) is one of the foundation courses for Civil Engineering students at UMD. The course spans across a wide variety of infrastructure materials including metals, wood, aggregates, Portland cement concrete, asphalt concrete and composites. The main objective of this course is to help students develop an understanding of civil engineering material behavior, Above: CE 3027 students learning about asphalt and characterization, and manufacaggregates testing at Mn/DOT District I ture. This class dwells heavily on the material characterization Below: CE students Phil Koktan, Spencer Newaspect of civil engineering and man, and Waylon Munch conducting a slump test

thus includes 2 hours of experimentation each week. The labs are conducted in the new Swenson Civil Engineering Building. The availability of lab space, test equipment and experimentation resources have really made it possible to offer such a comprehensive course with a major lab component.

The students from CE 3027 also visited the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) District-I materials lab for a demonstration of asphalt concrete testing.

on fresh concrete

CE 3027 students Gary Doup, Allison Carlson, and Tim Gearns (L to R) taking measurements on a concrete cylinder

CE 3225 Hydraulics and Hydrology Dr. Nate Johnson

Green roof on S. side of CE building

Students from CE 3225, Hydraulics and Hydrology are working with Dr. Johnson on a preliminary design for flow monitoring devices to help assess the effectiveness of the Green Roof on the Civil Engineering building.

Oversize scuppers discharging to rock bed filtration system

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CE 3426 Soil Mechanics

Students in CE3426 Soil Mechanics lab measuring a cylindrical soil specimen to be tested under compression.

These photographs were taken during the lab session of the course CE 3426 Soil Mechanics, which has been offered for the first time in the Fall of 2010. The theory portion of the course has been taught by Dr. Carlos Carranza-Torres while the lab portion of the course has been taught by instructor Paul Burley.

Lab session providing a demonstration of unconsolidated undrained triaxial test in a soil sample.

Transportation Systems Engineering Research Variable Speed Limit Control System for Improving Traffic Safety and Efficiency

The new Minnesota variable speed limit system on I-35W northbound

Effective mitigation of the shock waves in the traffic flows, caused by fixed or moving bottlenecks, such as incidents, is of critical importance in reducing rear-end collisions and improving the efficiency of traffic flows. While variable speed limit (VSL) control has been recognized as one of the most effective strategies in managing the shock waves, the existing VSL strategies developed to date either require extensive data collection, such as current status of shock waves, or time-consuming model calibration, which would not be realistic under the current operational environment. A new VSL control system addressing the above issues has been developed by Dr. Eil Kwon, Professor in

Civil Engineering, as part of the ongoing research sponsored by Mn/DOT. The new system, which has been in operation since July 29, 2010, in a 10 mile section of the 35W freeway corridor in Twin Cities, Minnesota, is designed to gradually reduce the speed levels of the traffic flows approaching downstream bottlenecks while minimizing the negative effects of speed control on travel times. Using the traffic data from the existing detectors, the Minnesota system first identifies multiple speed control zones and determines the advisory speed limits for those VSL signs available in each zone every 30 seconds. In particular,

the location of the bottlenecks and the VSL control zone for each bottleneck are identified by examining the speed deceleration patterns of the traffic flow between detector stations.

The preliminary evaluation with the real data collected from a 3-month period before and after the VSL control show very promising results in terms of reducing the average maximum deceleration levels, i.e., up to 25%, of the traffic flows in the study corridor. The results from this research will be presented at the 2011 Annual Transportation Research Board Conference (1/24/2011 – 1/27/2011) at Washington, D.C., by Dr. Eil Kwon.

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Concrete Blast Testing Research Eric Musselman and Andrea Schokker completed blast testing this summer at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for a sponsored research project funded by the Leonard Wood Institute. The testing examined the blast

resistance of long carbon fiber reinforced concrete.

Approximately 50 pounds of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil (ANFO) was placed approximately 5 feet from the surface of the slabs to determine the effectiveness

Plain concrete

of the fibers at reducing damage. As is shown in the figures, the fibers proved very effective at reducing the damage from the blast, greatly reducing the cracking and the amount of concrete that was ejected from

Fiber concrete

the slabs. The applications of this research include protection of equipment and personnel in hazardous situations as well as infrastructure protection.

Concrete testing group

Left: Undergraduate student Michael Saunders helping to mix carbon fiber reinforced concrete

Right: Carbon fiber reinforced concrete being placed in beam forms for testing at UMD

Research News: Dr. Nathan Johnson Dr. Johnson was recently awarded funds from the Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute for a project to study combining fine materials from dredging operations in the St. Louis

River Harbor with biosolids from WLSSD for beneficial reuse applications.

The 1-year project, envisioned to help assess the feasibility of reuse applications related to mine land

reclamation, will begin this winter and support the work of a part-time postdoc, Dr. Xianben Zhu.

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Scenes from the Swenson

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Civil Engineering Building

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Civil Engineering Student News UMD CE Students Win Scholarships

Thirteen Civil Engineering students received scholarships at the 22nd annual University of Minnesota Duluth Engineering/Industry Banquet on September 27, 2010. Pictured from left to right: (Back) Adam Zwak, Linnea Johns, David Nadeau, Chelsea Hanson, Justin Baker. (Front) Dylan Meyer, Matthew Fournier, Benjamin Cammack, Kyrstyn Haapala, Timothy Gearns, Dan Abramson. Not shown: Serena Glass and Benjamin Hayes.

The scholarship donors included: Duluth Engineers Club; Krech, Ojard & Associates; LHB, Inc; Minnesota Power; Enbridge Energy Partners LP; Johnson-Wilson Constructors; Lake Superior Consulting; Oscar J. Boldt; Ulland Brothers; 44th Engineer Battalion Memorial Scholarship; Bergman-Wickstrom Engineering Scholarship; Roy LaBounty Scholarship; and Mary Ann & Jerry Ostroski Engineering Scholarship.

Goepier Foundation Scholarship: Chris Bruhn The Geopier Foundation Scholarship is a $2,500 scholarship typically awarded to a student of geotechnical focus. Criteria for the scholarship were academic standing, involvement in school activities and work experience, and an emphasis in the other interests of the applicant (a well-

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rounded individual). The scholarship was administered through the ACEC Scholarship program. A day of interviews of the candidates was set aside to choose the winners.

In total, roughly seventyfive percent of the competition was eliminated after the interviews and the remaining candidates

were chosen for scholarships.

The range of value of the scholarships awarded this day was $1,500 - $2,500. I'm truly grateful to the Charles Allgood family and to ACEC for the opportunity and the award.

Submitted by Chris Bruhn

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3M Scholarship: Miranda Anderson I was awarded the University of Minnesota Duluth 3M Scholarship for an outstanding entering first-year student with both impressive academic credentials and extra-curricular activi-

ties. This prestigious scholarship has a total value of $12,000 and will be awarded in the amount of $3,000 per year for four years. The 3M Scholarship is renewable for four years

based on maintenance of a 3.0 cumulative grade point average and full-time enrollment status.

Submitted by Miranda Anderson

Solar Decathlon Student Competition During the fall of this year UMD put together an interdisciplinary team to investigate submission of an entry into the Solar Decathlon. The solar decathlon is a worldwide student competition focusing on cutting edge sustainable housing that incorporates the use of solar energy.

The competition requires a major commitment of time and resources for an entry. We initially planned a submission this fall for the 2012 competition in Madrid, Spain, but realized that we’d need additional time for fundraising and developing contacts for material contributions. We have

decided to submit our proposal in 2011 for the 2013 competition in Washington, D.C. This location reduces our travel and shipping costs while providing a great location to showcase the Minnesota products and systems that we hope to use in the house.

The competition requires that the student team design, test, and build a solar house with a maximum footprint of 800 square feet.

The house must be assembled by the student team onsite at the competition.

The house is then tested in place on the following criteria: architecture, market appeal, engineering, communications, affordability, comfort zone, hot water, appliances, home entertainment, and energy balance.

Our team comprises students and faculty from UMD and NRRI (the Natural Resources Research Institute) MIT entry 2010: 17th place, with collaboration from a local archipeople’s choice

Virginia Tech entry 2010: 1st place tect known for her sustainable building expertise: Carly Coulson. The scope of expertise for the project is significant and thus involves departments all across UMD, including all of the engineering departments (Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical), math, science, business, marketing, fine arts, liberal arts, and facilities. We intend to house the project in the Civil Engineering high bay area during testing and construction. The majority of the team at this time consists of Civil Engineering students.

Andrea Schokker’s graduate course in Sustainable Design and Construction worked in coordination with Carly Coulson, Patrick Donahue (NRRI), and advisory members to start to develop preliminary ideas

for the structure.

The competition has a $250,000 limit on the market value of the house, so careful decisions have to be made on selecting highly innovative materials.

The students presented their preliminary layouts during the fall semester.

We will be moving forward in 2011 with developing relationships with sponsors and with testing critical components of the house.

If you are interested in helping as a sponsor (through monetary support or in-kind donations), please contact Pat Donahue (pdonahue@d.umn.edu).

Technical assistance and other types of participation are welcome as well. Contact Andrea Schokker (aschokke@d.umn.edu) for more information.

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Internship in Italy

Waylon Munch

On June 17th, I embarked on a solo voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to work a two month internship for a private firm in Brixen, Italy.

Having minimal experience with the native languages (German and Italian) would prove to be a challenge, but would also add to the adventure aspect which I was seeking.

These two months spent working with members of Ingenieurteam Bergmeister taught me a great deal not only about engineering, but also about the intercultural relationships that face many civil engineers.

My duties with the firm including drafting and testing of various steel and concrete elements, preparing cost analysis data for projects, and conducting seminars about American engineering practices, namely the process of LEED

certification. I was also fortunate enough to tour several engineering projects currently in progress, including the Brenner Basis Tunnel, which will be the world's longest rail tunnel upon completion in 2022.

While in Italy I enjoyed hiking, climbing, and mountain biking in the Dolomite mountain range of northern Italy. Along the way, I developed many lasting friendships with the very hospitable people of Italy.

Every day was a br and new lear ning experience and adventure, both in and out of the office, and the experience is one I will never forget.

Submitted by Waylon Munch, UMD Civil Engineering class of 2012

Waylon inside the Brenner Basis Tunnel

Women in Engineering Form New Student Group at UMD Faculty Advisor, Dr. Katherine Acton Across the country, women are under-represented as engineering students and engineers in the workforce.

At UMD, a group of female students in Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Computer Engineering has been working this semester to organize a student group for women in engineering. The goal of the effort is to create a Collegiate Interest Group as part of Society of Women Engineers, and, ultimately, to encourage more women to find their place in the engi-

neering programs at UMD. The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is a national organization dedicated to encouraging the professional development of women in engineering.

The organization sponsors scholarships, competitions and national conferences, and provides a resource for networking and career connections. A list of scholarships for the fall of 2011 is posted at http:// www.swe-mn.org/ (applications should be postmarked by March 15, 2010). Students at UMD have made the decision

to pursue development as a Collegiate Interest Group, and have received support for this effort from the Swenson College of Science and Engineering. On December 13, a workshop was held for the group to discuss upcoming career fairs, resume writing and interviewing skills. Plans for similar workshops, social and outreach events are under development for the upcoming spring semester. Contact Katherine Acton at kaacton@d.umn.edu for more information.

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UMD ASCE Student Chapter Update The UMD ASCE Student chapter celebrated its one year anniversary mark this fall. Over the past year, the club has done quite a bit to promote civil engineering to the student body even with limited resources.

The student chapter has taken the lead in organizing tours, ordering merchandise, supplying volunteers and laying the framework for future student competitions. This coming spring, we anticipate doing some traveling to evaluate how other teams facilitate their student competitions and to get a feel for what it’s like to participate in one.

We are hoping to send at

least one team to an American Concrete Institute competition this spring.

Ultimately, we would very much like to be participating in both the ASCE Steel Bridge and Concrete Canoe competitions.

The student chapter has expressed other interests that we would like to fulfill as well. Inherently with having nearly twohundred people enrolled in a program, there is a certain demand for such things as internships, speakers, club funds and other information that other students cannot provide. The ASCE Stu-

dent Chapter is currently seeking local practicing engineers and academics to give lectures pertaining to all facets in civil engineering.

Also, tours of project sites and internship/co-op opportunities are topics that always end up at the top of the priority list at meetings.

Additionally, with the 20112012 school year approaching, it will be the first year of senior design courses offered at UMD. The club will be looking for design project ideas and partnerships with local firms as there will be a good number of seniors enrolled.

Submitted by Chris Bruhn

2010 Cardboard Boat Race Waylon Munch, Chris Bruhn and Zach Schmitz paddled the "Civil Sinker" to near victory in the 2010 Cardboard Boat Race held on Bagley pond.

The canoe-styled vessel held up well to the challenge and proved to be a strong contender to the outrigger-styled boat built by the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering students. Wait until next year, MIE!

UMD Civil Engineering Attire For Sale Two options are available for UMD Civil Engineering attire. A lightweight pullover jacket (black, $40), and a cotton polo (maroon, $25). Both are embroidered as shown on the left. To place an order, either contact Waylon Munch (munch010@d.umn.edu) or go in person to the main office (Room 221) of the Swenson Civil Engineering Building to place your order!

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In Print A sample of recent faculty publications Katherine Acton’s paper “Viscoelastic behavior of polymer tape in a wound roll” is in press in the Journal of Applied Polymer Science. The paper investigates the long term behavior of LTO tape, which is widely used as a backup data storage medium. The so-called “wound-in” stresses in a reel of polymer tape are subject to time-dependent stress relaxation. Related changes in dimension of each tape layer may cause loss of data over time. The predictive model detailed in this work follows a yearlong project sponsored by the Information Storage Industry Consortium (INSIC).

Alejano L. and C. Carranza-Torres have submitted the manuscript entitled, “An empirical approach for estimating shear strength of decomposed granites in Galicia, Spain”, to the journal Engineering Geology (the manuscript is under review, as of December 2010). The manuscript is a result of ongoing research on strength characterization of granites, carried out as part of a project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education (Dr. Carranza-Torres is acting as external collaborator to the project).

Eshan Dave’s paper on “Development of a Flattened Indirect Tension Test for Asphalt Concrete” is in press in Journal of Testing and Evaluation for publication in May 2011. Co-authors for this paper are A. F. Braham, W. G. Buttlar and G. H. Paulino. The paper describes modified indirect tensile test geometry for conducting low-temperature strength and creep evaluation of asphalt concrete mixtures.

This study was conducted through integration of numerical simulations with experimental testing.

Nathan Johnson and MS student, Brian Beck, presented the poster, “Sulfate and iron reduction in St. Louis River sediment” at the MN Water Resources Conference, Minneapolis, MN in October 2010.

Andrea Schokker’s second book in the Sustainable Concrete Guide series was released in November 2010 at the Greenbuild conference in Chicago.

The first book focused on strategies and examples and is now available in a Spanish version. The follow-up book provides readers with specific sustainable benefits of concrete’s various applications to assist in selecting/specifying concrete materials and products. The book is 177 pages and is available through the US Green Concrete Council.

Thank you to US Steel for their generous donation. A formal luncheon will be held in early 2011 officially dedicating the classroom.

Look for the story and more photos in the next issue.

Pledge Card Pledge amount $______________ _______ Check if you are interested in a named option (named labs or logo display) Donor Name(s) __________________________________ Address___________________________________________

A donation to the CE program in any amount is greatly appreciated — our hands on type of program requires a significant amount of equipment to properly train students.

Named giving options are available as well.

Please contact Tricia Bunten with any questions (address at the bottom of this form).

City ____________________ST _________ Zip __________ (For named giving options, Tricia Bunten will contact you for plaque and/or logo information)

Payment Options: ____

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Named Giving Options: High Bay Lab $300,000

Credit Card Number ____________________________________________ Structures Lab Exp. Date ______________Security Code _________________ Name on Credit Card ___________________________________________

$300,000 Construction Material Lab $100,000

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Check (Payable to University of Minnesota Duluth)

Soils Lab $75,000

I would like to be reminded of my pledge ____ quarterly Classroom (1 remaining) ____ semi-annually or ____ annually. ____

Securities (Please contact me with information about making my

$50,000 Transportation Lab $10,000

gift with securities).

Model Shop Signature _________________________________________ Date ____________

$10,000 Conference Room

Please return completed form to: Tricia Bunten Senior Development Director 102 Engineering Building, 1303 Ordean Crt Duluth, MN 55812 218-726-6995 or tbunten@d.umn.edu

$10,000 Logo Display in Hallway (large company logo in hallway between Engineering Building and Civil Engineering) $5000

Department of Civil Engineering 221 SCiv 1405 University Drive Duluth, MN 55812 Dept of Civil Engineering 218-726-6444 221 SCiv 1405 University Drive Duluth, MN 55812 Civileng@d.umn.edu

http://www.d.umn.edu/ civileng/