Regression models presented in the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Journal of Infrastructure Systems by researchers at Syracuse University’s L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science are expected to help utility companies predict the service life of wastewater pipeline infrastructure and take a proactive approach to pipeline replacements and maintenance.
Ossama (Sam) Salem, Yabroudi Chair of Sustainable Civil Infrastructures and professor of construction engineering and management at L.C. Smith, and his Ph.D. student Baris Salman, developed various statistical prediction models using data obtained from the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati, Ohio, to generate deterioration models that will help in the decision-making process regarding future infrastructure development.
“The models presented in this paper allow utility and wastewater management companies to develop a sound maintenance plan and predict potential failures,” Salem says. “This has impact not only economically, but socially and environmentally as well.”
As wastewater utilities seek to implement asset management strategies to help justify and optimize their expenditures, understanding the current and future behavior of wastewater lines may help utilities mitigate costly emergency repairs. The deterioration models developed by Salem and Salman are expected to assist utility officials in assessing risk and identifying pipes that have the highest probability and consequences of failure. Doing so will allow utilities to proactively prevent problems, rather than simply reacting to fix problems after they occur.
While the presented models are useful for the data set provided, their applicability to different sewer systems depends on the characteristics of those particular networks. Since weather conditions, soil properties and construction methods vary among cities and among infrastructure systems, different deterioration patterns may be observed in different regions. The published article is titled “Modeling Failure of Wastewater Collection Lines Using Various Section-Level Regression Models” and its abstract can be found online at
http://ascelibrary.org/iso/resource/1/jitsxx/v1/i1/p45_s1?isAuthorized=no.
For more information on other work by Salem and his research group, visit http://www.lcs.syr.edu/facultyandstaff/faculty.aspx?id=2145.
An international team of earth scientists has linked the establishment of the Mekong River to a period of major intensification of the Asian monsoon during the middle Miocene, about 17 million years ago, findings that supplant the assumption that the…
The Center for Advanced Systems and Engineering (CASE) has announced the hiring of Peter H. Zaehringer as deputy director. In this role, Zaehringer will contribute to the center’s strategic plan, oversee the implementation of goals and provide leadership and management…
In recent years, renewable energy has been on the rise in the United States. Still, the overwhelming majority of our energy comes from fossil fuels. And, renewable energy needs to overcome significant limitations and obstacles to contribute a greater share…
Professor Carl Rosenzweig will present ‘Stars ‘R’ Us’ at Wells College, benefiting Friends of Southern Cayuga Planetarium The old cliché that humans are made of stardust underscores an upcoming program by an astrophysicist in the College of Arts and Sciences….
The New York State Science and Technology Law Center at Syracuse University College of Law (NYSSTLC) and SU’s Center for Advanced Systems and Engineering (CASE) will welcome an audience of 250 members of the Central New York technology and manufacturing…
If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.
