Civil Engineering
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The Department of Civil Engineering has strong affiliation with the Western Transportation Institute (WTI) and the Center for Biofilm Engineering (CBE), a graduated NSF research center. The department is also affiliated with a Montana Department of Transportation Design Unit located on the MSU campus.
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Item Effect of Fines Content on Calcium Carbonate Precipitation and Thermal Properties of Biocemented Sand(American Society of Civil Engineers, 2024-04) Gunyol, Pinar; Khosravi, Mohammad; Phillips, A. J.; Plymesser, Kathryn; Parker, Albert E.In this study, the impacts to soil thermal properties during and after biocementation via microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) method on silty silica sand specimens with varying fines content (0%, 5%, and 15%) were investigated. Firstly, calcium conversion was measured after each pulse; then, the MICP-treated specimens were tested for cementation uniformity. The evolution of thermal conductivity of silty soils with the MICP treatment was assessed using a thermocouple probe. The results show that thermal conductivity of silty saturated sands increased by 17% for specimens treated to 9.7% CaCO3. The improvement in thermal conductivity was attributed to the formation of calcium carbonate bridges binding the soil grains together. The results suggested that the thermal conductivity of silty soil depends on water content, the number of treatment pulses, and the treatment uniformity through the soil specimen. Presence of fines content in the soil was found to play an important role in the distribution and uniformity of biocementation through the soil specimen. However, no statistically significant difference in the thermal conductivity values of MICP-treated specimens with different fines content was observed (𝑝>0.05). The average calcium carbonate content ranged between 10.7% and 7.2% for the soils with 0% and 15% fines content, respectively. The findings of this research could be used to improve the efficiency of geothermal boreholes and other energy geostructures using MICP by improving thermal conductivity of dry and partially saturated soil.Item Flow-Control Plates to Manage Denil Fishways in Irrigation Diversions for Upstream Passage of Arctic Grayling(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2023-06) Plymesser, Kathryn; Blue, Tyler; Kappenman, Kevin M.; Blank, Matthew; Cahoon, Joel; Dockery, DavidSmall-stream irrigation diversions are key elements of many on-farm irrigation systems but can act as barriers to aquatic species. Denil fishways have been installed at irrigation diversion structures throughout the Big Hole River watershed in Montana to provide upstream passage for a population of Arctic Grayling Thymallus arcticus. When stream flows are low and irrigation demand is high, irrigators look for ways to maintain adequate diversion, but doing so may reduce the effectiveness of the fishways. In response, agencies and irrigators have proposed flow-control plates placed at the upstream end of fishways. We conducted laboratory-based fishway efficiency experiments with Arctic Grayling placed in an open-channel flume fitted with a Denil fishway and three flow plates. Of the total 200 fish that we used, the fishway entrance attracted 154 fish and we counted these fish as participants. We operated the fishway under varying flow conditions using three flow-control plate treatments and a control to investigate 1) the extent to which each treatment reduced flow compared to the control, and 2) the extent to which each treatment impacted passage success of Arctic Grayling relative to the control. We measured passage success as the ratio of the number of fish that fully ascended the fishway treatment to the number of participant fish attracted to the fishway treatment. One of the three plates, the Denil slot treatment, showed no evidence of reducing either flow or passage success. Another plate, the standard treatment, showed no evidence of reducing flow but moderate evidence of reducing passage success (P = 0.03). The only treatment to significantly reduce water flow rate was the narrowed Denil slot treatment and there was no evidence this treatment reduced passage in comparison to the control. Over all trials, water flow rate through the Denil fishway had a strong positive influence on fish passage success.Item Swimming Performance of Rainbow Trout and Westslope Cutthroat Trout in an Open-Channel Flume(2020-06) Blank, Matt D.; Kappenman, Kevin M.; Plymesser, Kathryn; Banner, Katharine M.; Cahoon, JoelWe used an open-channel flume to characterize the swimming performance of Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss and Westslope Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi ranging nominally in fork length from 15 to 30 cm. With an open-channel flume, we observed volitional swim performance of wild-caught Rainbow Trout and Westslope Cutthroat Trout; the fish were not coerced, prodded, or spooked into action. We also observed the maximum short-duration swim speed of the fish, providing important effective leap or velocity challenge information for the design of intentional barriers. We conducted the experiment with a consistently low water velocity challenge and characterized swim speeds by using weighted least-squares regression, revealing no evidence of a difference in swim speeds between the two species. We estimated the overall average swim speed for Rainbow Trout to be 0.84 m/s (SE = 0.02), with a 95% confidence interval of 0.79–0.89 m/s, and that for Westslope Cutthroat Trout to be 0.84 m/s (SE = 0.03), with a 95% confidence interval of 0.78–0.90 m/s. The maximum swim speeds observed were 2.72 m/s for Rainbow Trout and 3.55 m/s for Westslope Cutthroat Trout. The project results provide new information on the swimming ability of wild Rainbow Trout and Westslope Cutthroat Trout that can be used to improve fish passage or barrier design.