Development of a New Process for Determining Design Year Traffic Demands, TR-528, 2007

Researchers should continuously ask how to improve the models we rely on to make financial decisions in terms of the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of roadways. This project presents an alternative tool that will supplement local decision making but maintain a full appreciation of the complexity and sophistication of today’s regional model and local traffic impact study methodologies. This alternative method is tailored to the desires of local agencies, which requested a better, faster, and easier way to evaluate land uses and their impact on future traffic demands at the sub-area or project corridor levels. A particular emphasis was placed on scenario planning for currently undeveloped areas. The scenario planning tool was developed using actual land use and roadway information for the communities of Johnston and West Des Moines, Iowa. Both communities used the output from this process to make regular decisions regarding infrastructure investment, design, and land use planning. The City of Johnston case study included forecasting future traffic for the western portion of the city within a 2,600-acre area, which included 42 intersections. The City of West Des Moines case study included forecasting future traffic for the city’s western growth area covering over 30,000 acres and 331 intersections. Both studies included forecasting a.m. and p.m. peak-hour traffic volumes based upon a variety of different land use scenarios. The tool developed took goegraphic information system (GIS)-based parcel and roadway information, converted the data into a graphical spreadsheet tool, allowed the user to conduct trip generation, distribution, and assignment, and then to automatically convert the data into a Synchro roadway network which allows for capacity analysis and visualization. The operational delay outputs were converted back into a GIS thematic format for contrast and further scenario planning. This project has laid the groundwork for improving both planning and civil transportation decision making at the sub-regional, super-project level.

Development of Self-Cleaning Box Culvert Design – Phase II, TR-619, 2013

Culverts are common means to convey flow through the roadway system for small streams. In general, larger flows and road embankment heights entail the use of multibarrel culverts (a.k.a. multi-box) culverts. Box culverts are generally designed to handle events with a 50-year return period, and therefore convey considerably lower flows much of the time. While there are no issues with conveying high flows, many multi-box culverts in Iowa pose a significant problem related to sedimentation. The highly erosive Iowa soils can easily lead to the situation that some of the barrels can silt-in early after their construction, becoming partially filled with sediment in few years. Silting can reduce considerably the capacity of the culvert to handle larger flow events. Phase I of this Iowa Highway Research Board project (TR-545) led to an innovative solution for preventing sedimentation. The solution was comprehensively investigated through laboratory experiments and numerical modeling aimed at screening design alternatives and testing their hydraulic and sediment conveyance performance. Following this study phase, the Technical Advisory Committee suggested to implement the recommended sediment mitigation design to a field site. The site selected for implementation was a 3-box culvert crossing Willow Creek on IA Hwy 1W in Iowa City. The culvert was constructed in 1981 and the first cleanup was needed in 2000. Phase II of the TR 545 entailed the monitoring of the site with and without the selfcleaning sedimentation structure in place (similarly with the study conducted in laboratory). The first monitoring stage (Sept 2010 to December 2012) was aimed at providing a baseline for the operation of the as-designed culvert. In order to support Phase II research, a cleanup of the IA Hwy 1W culvert was conducted in September 2011. Subsequently, a monitoring program was initiated to document the sedimentation produced by individual and multiple storms propagating through the culvert. The first two years of monitoring showed inception of the sedimentation in the first spring following the cleanup. Sedimentation continued to increase throughout the monitoring program following the depositional patterns observed in the laboratory tests and those documented in the pre-cleaning surveys. The second part of Phase II of the study was aimed at monitoring the constructed self-cleaning structure. Since its construction in December 2012, the culvert site was continuously monitored through systematic observations. The evidence garnered in this phase of the study demonstrates the good performance of the self-cleaning structure in mitigating the sediment deposition at culverts. Besides their beneficial role in sediment mitigation, the designed self-cleaning structures maintain a clean and clear area upstream the culvert, keep a healthy flow through the central barrel offering hydraulic and aquatic habitat similar with that in the undisturbed stream reaches upstream and downstream the culvert. It can be concluded that the proposed self-cleaning structural solution “streamlines” the area upstream the culvert in a way that secures the safety of the culvert structure at high flows while producing much less disturbance in the stream behavior compared with the current constructive approaches.

History of the Benton Street Bridge, Iowa City, Iowa, April 7, 2010

Video from the Iowa Department of Transportation about the construction and remodel of the Benton Street Bridge in Iowa City. This video is a interview of Samuel Cartsens interviewed but Hank Zeletel the Librarian of the DOT at the time the video was produced.

Metric Training for the Transportation Industry Module III - Road and Bridge Design, HR-376

"Metric Training For The Highway Industry", HR-376 was designed to produce training materials for the various divisions of the Iowa DOT, local government and the highway construction industry. The project materials were to be used to introduce the highway industry in Iowa to metric measurements in their daily activities. Five modules were developed and used in training over 1,000 DOT, county, city, consultant and contractor staff in the use of metric measurements. The training modules developed deal with the planning through operation areas of highway transportation. The materials and selection of modules were developed with the aid of an advisory personnel from the highway industry. Each module is design as a four hour block of instruction and a stand along module for specific types of personnel. Each module is subdivided into four chapters with chapter one and four covering general topics common to all subjects. Chapters two and three are aimed at hands on experience for a specific group and subject. This module includes: Module 3 - Road and Bridge Design. This module provides hands on examples of how to use metric measurements in the design of roads and structures.

Bridge Deck Expansion Assembly on U.S. 20 in Sioux City, HR-505A, 1990

This project was to determine possible construction problems and evaluate the performance of experimental joint seals. Joints were installed in Woodbury County on US 20 over the Missouri River. ACME-Beta B-520 joints were used. Visual inspections were made yearly. Although the joints performed well for eight years, they deteriorated rapidly and have failed. It was concluded these joints did not perform satisfactorily.

Non-Grouted Bonded PCC Overlay City of Oskaloosa, HR-528, 1993

Based upon the success the Iowa Department of Transportation has had using thin bonded, low slump, dense portland cement concrete on bridge decks for rehabilitation, it was decided to pursue research in the area of bonded portland cement concrete resurfacing of pavements. Since that time, in an effort to reduce costs, research was conducted into eliminating the grouting operation. On this project a non-grouted overlay was used to modernize an existing urban street. This research project is located in the City of Oskaloosa on 11th Avenue from South M Street to South Market Street. Construction of the project went well and the non-grouted overlay has performed very well to date.

Inclusion and empowerment in public art and urban design

To involve citizens in developing the processes of city making is an objective that occupies part of the agenda of political parties in the context of the necessary renewal in representative democracy. This paper aims to provide some answers to the following questions: Is it possible to overcome the participatory processes based exclusively on the consultation? Is it possible to"train" residents to take an active role in decision-making? How can we manage, proactively, the relationship between public actors, technicians and politicians, in a participatory process? We analyse the process development for creating the Wall of Remembrance in the Barcelona neighbourhood of Baró de Viver, a work of public art, created and produced by its neighbours, in the context of a long participatory process focused on changing the image of the neighbourhood and the improvement of public space. This result and this process have been possible in a given context of cooperation among neighbours, local government and the research team (CR-Polis, Art, City, Society at the University of Barcelona). The development of a creative process of citizen participation between 2004 and 2011 made possible the direct management of decision making by the residents on the field of the design of public space in the neighbourhood. However, the material results of the process does not overshadow the great achievement of the project: the inclusion of a neighbourhood in taking informed decisions because of their empowerment in public space design and management of their remembrances.

Training system for conceptual design and evaluation for wastewater treatment

Rising population, rapid urbanisation and growing industrialisation have severely stressed water quality and its availability in Malawi. In addition, financial and institutional problems and the expanding agro industry have aggravated this problem. The situation is worsened by depleting water resources and pollution from untreated sewage and industrial effluent. The increasing scarcity of clean water calls for the need for appropriate management of available water resources. There is also demand for a training system for conceptual design and evaluation for wastewater treatment in order to build the capacity for technical service providers and environmental practitioners in the country. It is predicted that Malawi will face a water stress situation by 2025. In the city of Blantyre, this situation is aggravated by the serious pollution threat from the grossly inadequate sewage treatment capacity. This capacity is only 23.5% of the wastewater being generated presently. In addition, limited or non-existent industrial effluent treatment has contributed to the severe water quality degradation. This situation poses a threat to the ecologically fragile and sensitive receiving water courses within the city. This water is used for domestic purposes further downstream. This manuscript outlines the legal and policy framework for wastewater treatment in Malawi. The manuscript also evaluates the existing wastewater treatment systems in Blantyre. This evaluation aims at determining if the effluent levels at the municipal plants conform to existing standards and guidelines and other associated policy and regulatory frameworks. The raw material at all the three municipal plants is sewage. The typical wastewater parameters are Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), and Total Suspended Solids (TSS). The treatment target is BOD5, COD, and TSS reduction. Typical wastewater parameters at the wastewater treatment plant at MDW&S textile and garments factory are BOD5 and COD. The treatment target is to reduce BOD5 and COD. The manuscript further evaluates a design approach of the three municipal wastewater treatment plants in the city and the wastewater treatment plant at Mapeto David Whitehead & Sons (MDW&S) textile and garments factory. This evaluation utilises case-based design and case-based reasoning principles in the ED-WAVE tool to determine if there is potential for the tool in Blantyre. The manuscript finally evaluates the technology selection process for appropriate wastewater treatment systems for the city of Blantyre. The criteria for selection of appropriate wastewater treatment systems are discussed. Decision support tools and the decision tree making process for technology selection are also discussed. Based on the treatment targets and design criteria at the eight cases evaluated in this manuscript in reference to similar cases in the ED-WAVE tool, this work confirms the practical use of case-based design and case-based reasoning principles in the ED-WAVE tool in the design and evaluation of wastewater treatment 6 systems in sub-Sahara Africa, using Blantyre, Malawi, as the case study area. After encountering a new situation, already collected decision scenarios (cases) are invoked and modified in order to arrive at a particular design alternative. What is necessary, however, is to appropriately modify the case arrived at through the Case Study Manager in order to come up with a design appropriate to the local situation taking into account technical, socio-economic and environmental aspects. This work provides a training system for conceptual design and evaluation for wastewater treatment.

Design, implementation, and evaluation of an online water quality monitoring system in Lake Saimaa, Finland

Environmental threats are growing nowadays, they became global issues. People around the world try to face these issues by two means: solving the current affected environs and preventing non-affected environs. This thesis describes the design, implementation, and evaluation of online water quality monitoring system in Lake Saimaa, Finland. The water quality in Lake Saimaa needs to be monitored in order to provide responsible bodies with valuable information which allows them to act fast in order to prevent any negative impact on the lake's environment. The objectives were to design a suitable system, implement the system in Lake Saimaa, and then to evaluate the applicability and reliability of such systems for this environment. The needs for the system were first isolated, and then the design, needed modifications, and the construction of the system took place. After that was the testing of the system in Lake Saimaa in two locations nearby Mikkeli city. The last step was to evaluate the whole system. The main results were that the application of online water quality monitoring systems in Lake Saimaa can benefit of many advantages such as reducing the required manpower, time and running costs. However, the point of unreliability of the exact measured values of some parameters is still the drawback of such systems which can be developed by using more advanced equipments with more sophisticated features specifically for the purpose of monitoring in the predefined location.

Le design urbain au Québec : étude de la transposition des prescriptions empiriques dans la pratique urbanistique

Le design urbain, dimension de la pratique urbanistique, consiste principalement en la manipulation de la forme urbaine selon une démarche ciblée et encadrée. Les approches sont aussi nombreuses que diversifiées. On peut néanmoins les classer en deux catégories : les approches visant la forme urbaine en tant qu‟objet qui contient l‟organisation formelle de la ville et celles qui visent le travail sur la forme urbaine afin d‟organiser la dynamique urbaine humaine. Les deux types d‟approches soutiennent différentes démarches d‟aménagement qui contribuent à développer la forme urbaine et la dynamique des lieux. Parmi celles-ci se trouve la vision de type empirique, laquelle vise l‟expérience urbaine à l‟échelle du piéton. Les écrits et les théories à ce sujet sont variés et pertinents. La présente recherche porte sur la transposition des prescriptions empiriques dans la planification d‟un projet qui intègre une démarche de design urbain. Au moyen d‟une étude de cas, la Cité multimédia à Montréal, il s‟agit de comprendre plus spécifiquement comment le canevas maître du design urbain, soit l‟espace public, est étudié et reformulé et ce, en accordant une attention particulière pour la dimension empirique du futur aménagement. Quelles sont les balises ou les composantes qui permettent à la dimension empirique de se déployer dans la conception d‟un projet urbain qui vise une reformulation de la forme urbaine?

Le rôle de la rhétorique dans le projet en design : une exploration du concept d’argumentation de Perelman et Olbrechts-Tyteca

Les projets interdisciplinaires constituent rarement le terrain des études 
sur le processus de conception en design. Les théories générales du design, en tentant de définir ce qui est commun à toutes les disciplines du design, ont davantage étudié les cas typiques que les cas atypiques. Or, nous croyons qu’il existe dans les projets interdisciplinaires une négociation argumentative et une ouverture vers l’autre, propice à l’analyse du processus de conception en design. Pour réaliser l’étude de ce processus, la stratégie empruntée a été la «recherche-projet» qui propose une participation active sur le terrain. 
À l’intérieur de cette stratégie méthodologique, nous avons réalisé l’étude de cas d’un projet hybride, une signalétique identitaire destinée à marquer les écocentres montréalais et orienter leurs usagers. Comme plusieurs autres pratiques du design, la complexité des projets interdisciplinaires demande l’apport de plusieurs acteurs dans le processus. 
Ces personnes conçoivent le projet à travers des représentations visuelles et des échanges verbaux, nous avons choisi de faire porter notre étude principalement sur le second. Pour ce faire, nous avons choisi comme cadre théorique le Traité de l’argumentation de Chaïm Perelman et Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca en nous intéressant plus spécifiquement aux concepts d’«accord» et d’«auditoire». Parce que le véhicule de l’action en design est la notion de «projet», l’Anthropologie du projet de Jean-Pierre Boutinet sera notre guide à travers cette conduite. L’objet de recherche de ce mémoire sera donc le processus de conception en design qui sera étudié à travers le regard de l’argumentation. L’argumentation s'est révélée la clé du problème que posent les jugements de valeur, commune à toutes les disciplines du design. Qu’est-ce qu’un «bon» projet réalisé? Est-il possible de répondre à cette question, sans tomber dans un cadre argumentatif, sans devoir révéler les arguments qui nous permettent de croire vraisemblable une telle proposition? C’est en mettant en lien la théorie du projet en design et la théorie de l’argumentation que nous avons éclairé la pratique du designer, sa relation à ses collègues et ultimement avec lui-même. L’argumentation s’est avérée un outil permettant la construction de la réalité dans le projet interdisciplinaire.

Reinventing the academic conference: how delegates design productive cities

During the 6th International Sustainable Food Planning Conference, the so-called Design LABs partly replaced the regular parallel sessions. The reason for this change was twofold. On the one hand it aims to break through an endless series of parallel presentations, and on the other hand the LAB’s aim was to produce innovative design solutions for increasing the amount of food production in the city. This article describes this experiment to enhance the delivery of urban design concepts, which could substantially produce more food than current models. During the conference each of the parallel sessions half of the time consisted of a design-LAB, in which participants were brought together around a map with the task to design a substantial amount of food productive spaces in the case study site. The results of this experiment were dual: 1. a very committed attitude of delegates to this part of the conference and 2. the design tasks resulted in innovative design results. These results not only emphasise the potential design measures onsite but also pledged for a strong and more intensive connectivity with the city and the landscape around it. This makes it possible to link the supply and use of resources with the typology of the region, hence determining an effective and productive urban agriculture system.

Cultivating the City: Infrastructures of abundance in urban Brazil

Urban agriculture, if it is to become integrated into the city, needs landscape architectural thinking in order to be woven into the larger urban fabric. Thinking at the scale of ecosystems running through a city creates a framework for spatial change; thinking in assemblages of stakeholders and actors creates a framework for social investment and development. These overlapping frameworks are informed and perhaps even defined by the emergent field of landscape democracy. Cultivating the City is a prospective design project seeking to embody landscape democratic principles. The intention is to reclaim the meaning of landscape as the relationship between people and place, both shaping each other. The design in question is a proposed network of urban agriculture typologies in Porto Alegre, Brazil. These hypothetical designs, emphasizing agroforestry with native species, serve as a basis for dialogue between potential stakeholders and as catalysts for future projects. This landscape architecture project sets out to be a mediator in processes of spatial evolution in order to envision just and sustainable urban landscapes.

Mobile P2Ping: A Super-Peer based Structured P2P System Using a Fleet of City Buses

Recently, researchers have introduced the notion of super-peers to improve signaling efficiency as well as lookup performance of peer-to-peer (P2P) systems. In a separate development, recent works on applications of mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) have seen several proposals on utilizing mobile fleets such as city buses to deploy a mobile backbone infrastructure for communication and Internet access in a metropolitan environment. This paper further explores the possibility of deploying P2P applications such as content sharing and distributed computing, over this mobile backbone infrastructure. Specifically, we study how city buses may be deployed as a mobile system of super-peers. We discuss the main motivations behind our proposal, and outline in detail the design of a super-peer based structured P2P system using a fleet of city buses.

Design factors affecting the success of settlement upgrading projects. Favela Bairro Program, Rio de Janeiro

One of the main stated objectives of the Favela Bairro program was to allow squatter settlements to become part of the formal city. The focus of the study is to assess how different project solutions in the Favela Bairro program have used urban design tools to achieve this objective. A subsequent question concerns the extent to which urban design factors helped to improve the social integration of the settlements, and specifically to overcome poverty and exclusion conditions.This bring us to a another group of problems related to indicators to measure the attainment of these objectives from four perspectives: Spatial, Social, Economical and Political (citizenship and participation)This analysis highlights the major difficulties confronted by the design teams, and allows pinpointing the positive and negative impacts of the interventions on the communities and the city