Browsing by Author "Lueker, Matthew"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    Bridge Scour Monitoring Technologies: Development of Evaluation and Selection Protocols for Application on River Bridges in Minnesota
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2010-03) Lueker, Matthew; Marr, Jeff; Ellis, Chris; Winsted, Vincent; Akula, Shankar Reddy
    Bridge failure or loss of structural integrity can result from scour of riverbed sediment near bridge abutments or piers during high-flow events in rivers. In the past 20 years, several methods of monitoring bridge scour have been developed spanning a range of measurement approaches, complexities, costs, robustness, and measurement resolutions. This project brings together the expertise of Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) bridge engineers and researchers, university hydraulic and electrical engineers, field staff, and inspectors to take the first steps toward development of robust scour monitoring for Minnesota river bridges. The team worked with Mn/DOT engineers to identify variables of scour critical bridges that affect the application of scour monitoring technology. The research team will used this information to develop a Scour Monitoring Decision Framework (SMDF) that will aid Mn/DOT in selecting the best technologies for specific sites. The final component of the project will involve testing the SMDF on five bridges in a case-study type demonstration; work plans for two of the sites were developed for demonstration of deployed instrumentation.
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    Data for "A Field Study of Maximum Wave Height, Total Wave Energy, and Maximum Wave Power Produced by Four Recreational Boats on a Freshwater Lake"
    (2022-01-27) Marr, Jeffrey; Riesgraf, Andrew; Herb, William; Lueker, Matthew; Kozarek, Jessica; Hill, Kimberly; marrx003@umn.edu; Marr, Jeffrey; St. Anthony Falls Laboratory
    Please see related report.
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    A Field Study of Maximum Wave Height, Total Wave Energy, and Maximum Wave Power Produced by Four Recreational Boats on a Freshwater Lake
    (2022-02-01) Marr, Jeffrey; Riesgraf, Andrew; Herb, William; Lueker, Matthew; Kozarek, Jessica; Hill, Kimberly
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    Hydraulic Model Study of the Stilling Basin with a Baffled Chute
    (2006-08) Mohseni, Omid; Lueker, Matthew; Carlson, Luke
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    Performance Evaluation of the BaySaver Stormwater Separation System
    (2006-02) Carlson, Luke; Lueker, Matthew; Mohseni, Omid; Stefan, Heinz G.
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    Physical Model Study of the Fairfax Water Off-Shore Intake: New Modifications and the Study of the Flow Patterns around the Sand Barrier
    (St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, 2008-09) Mohseni, Omid; Howard, Adam; Lueker, Matthew
    To withdraw better water quality from the Potomac River for a water treatment plant during flow conditions under 20,000 cfs, Fairfax Water in VA had an off-shore river intake built in 2004. The intake was comprised of a 36-ft diameter hexagon concrete structure sitting on the bed of the river with a sand barrier around it to minimize the sand withdrawal. The sand barrier is a nonagon concrete structure with approximately a 54 ft diameter. Since the intake started operating in late 2004, it has exhibited a significant amount of sand withdrawal. In 2007, a 1:10 scale model of the intake was built at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory (SAFL) to study the causes of sand withdrawal, to modify the structure and to minimize the amount of sand withdrawal. The modifications conducted on the sand barrier resulted in a new geometry for the sand barrier, which was comprised of two wingwalls at the downstream end, a nose wall at the upstream end and a crown over the entire structure. The results of the tests conducted on this geometry showed that by building the new geometry for the sand barrier, the prototype bedload withdrawal should decrease by more than 60%. To further reduce the sediment withdrawal, a new study was required which is the subject of the current report. In this study, three more modifications were made to the sand barrier and tested. A total of 11 tests were conducted on the new geometries and the original geometry. In addition, the flow patterns around the original geometry of the sand barrier as well as the modified geometry were studied to determine if any further modification could decrease the bedload withdrawal. By studying the flow patterns and turbulence intensities around the structure, the final geometry was designed to include the crown, wingwalls and nose wall of the sixth geometry with a screen mounted on the half height of the walls around the structure. The screen was designed to prevent the eddies from dispersing the resuspended sediments in the water column along the height of the wall. The results of the tests conducted on this geometry suggest that the prototype bedload withdrawal should decrease by approximately 70%.
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    Scour Monitoring Technology Implementation
    (Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2014-09) Lueker, Matthew; Marr, Jeff
    Bridge scour is the removal of sediment around bridge foundations and can result in the failure of the bridge. Scour monitoring is performed to identify unacceptable scour on bridges considered to be scour critical and determine when scour reaches elevations that could cause potential bridge failure. Two types of monitoring are available: portable monitoring and fixed monitoring. Prior to this project, MnDOT was only using portable monitoring devices, which requires the deployment of personnel to make physical measurements of scour depths. For some scour critical bridges, especially during high-water events, fixed instrumentation capable of continuous scour monitoring was preferred, but MnDOT lacked the experience or expertise to install this type of equipment. This project installed fixed monitoring equipment at two bridge sites and monitored them for three years to determine the effectiveness and reliability of fixed scour monitoring deployments. Several device options were installed to allow MnDOT to analyze the installation and performance of different types of sensors. Both systems operated for the three years with some outages due to various causes but overall performance was acceptable. The outages were mostly related to power issues and communication issues. Valuable lessons were learned through the deployment, which may be applied to future installations. The deployment executed in this project has provided the confidence to deploy other fixed scour monitoring equipment at key bridges around the state of Minnesota. In addition, the data collected during deployment of the scour monitoring equipment has been stored and provides insight into scour processes. This data can be used by other research groups for design or research purposes.