Civil Engineering

A life-saving mission

Hanna Nordwall — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 23:01:16 +0000

A life-saving mission Hanna Nordwall Fri, 06/06/2025 - 17:01

Susan Glairon

Construction Safety Research Alliance teams with industry to reduce job site injuries

The construction industry has long been one of the most hazardous sectors, with workers facing a high risk of injury.

Researchers at 91PORN’s Construction Safety Research Alliance (CSRA) observed that while current safety systems have effectively reduced minor worker injuries over the past decade, the rate of serious injuries and fatalities has remained stagnant.

“This means that current safety systems are not as effective in reducing serious injuries and fatalities, a major issue for the industry,” said Elif Oguz Erkal, CSRA’s associate director of research and strategy.

CSRA is a nonprofit research organization established in 2018 by Professor Matthew Hallowell. It brings together industry leaders and academic experts to eliminate serious injuries and fatalities in the construction industry.

Its first project evaluated the validity of “total recordable incident rates,” the Occupational Safety and Health Administration metric used to track workplace injuries, from minor cuts to fatalities. The study found that these incident rates are highly random and not predictive of future safety performance or fatalities.

“Despite this, the industry often relies on these rates to claim, ‘I am safe,’ ” Erkal said. “We know low-severity injuries happen for different reasons than high severity.”

Research meets practice

CSRA is supported by donations from its 117 member companies, and research ideas are also proposed by industry members. Each project lasts about two years and is supported by a team of 25 industry professionals who meet in 91PORN quarterly to collaborate. Projects are led by a principal investigator paired with a graduate student, whose dissertation is centered on the project.

“The establishment of CSRA marked a significant shift for these industries,” Erkal said. “For the first time, they have an academic research organization focused on real-world applicability, leveraging the expertise of their safety professionals to address challenges scientifically.”

Shifting the focus

Assessing the risk of serious injuries and fatalities is complex, Erkal explains, as fatalities are rare and often occur in hard-to-predict ways.

As part of its research, CSRA developed “high energy controlled assessments (HECA),” a monitoring metric that shifts focus from lagging indicators like injury rates to actionable prevention. HECA identifies both the types of life-threatening hazards present and the direct controls in place to mitigate them, even when someone makes a mistake.

This “energy-based safety” approach links injury severity to the magnitude of physical energy. For example, a heavier object higher off the ground poses a greater threat than a lighter, lower object. Controls could include a guard rail to prevent objects from falling.

“By systematically observing their operations, organizations can identify risk exposures within their systems — a significant shift in mindset,” Erkal said. “A decade ago, safety professionals would say, ‘we’re safe,’ simply because no injuries occurred that day. This perspective has evolved. Today, modern safety is defined by the presence of controls.”

‘Applicable and actionable’

CSRA’s research found that approximately 40 percent of high-energy hazards still lack adequate safeguards. In these cases, a single mistake could have fatal consequences.

HECA will help companies identify life-threatening hazards and prioritize their response, including determining where to acquire additional controls, where to focus training and other necessary actions, Erkal said.

The organization also continues to build its community of industry professionals and academics. It is committed to sharing knowledge through peer-reviewed publications, collaborative partnerships and its monthly Communities of Practice webinars, accessible to all who are interested.

“We are deeply committed to producing research that is both applicable and actionable,” Erkal said. “We want greater engagement from the industry groups to take our work, build on it and implement it.”

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A big fix

Michelle Wiese — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 21:57:41 +0000

A big fix Michelle Wiese Fri, 06/06/2025 - 15:57

Susan Glairon

Researchers confront urgent infrastructure challenges in race against time and climate

In March, the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Report Card for America’s Infrastructure gave the nation a grade of C, citing concerns over deteriorating bridges, roads, dams, pipelines and other critical systems.

Part of the challenge is urban expansion — much of the infrastructure is within or beneath dense cityscapes, making repairs and upgrades both costly and complex. More frequent and severe hurricanes, wildfires and floods are also accelerating the decline.

CU Engineering researchers are tackling these pressing issues head-on, developing innovative solutions to repairing existing infrastructure and building a more resilient future.

Read on for a deeper dive into projects that address construction worker safety, roadways and underground pipelines.

Infrastructure challenges

Roads

Projects in Cristina Torres-Machi’s group include lifecycle cost analysis of pavement rehabilitation alternatives and the value of satellite-based inspections in decision-making.

Read: Paving the way

Pipes

Brad Wham led efforts to establish new standards for internal replacement pipe testing through the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).

Read: Pipe dreams

Safety

The Construction Safety Research Alliance, established by Matthew Hallowell in 2018, brings together industry leaders and academic experts to eliminate serious injuries and fatalities in the construction industry.

Read: A life-saving mission

Mija Hubler

Bridges

Mija Hubler and her team are developing a technology that infuses concrete with self-repair capabilities found in living organisms. Concrete’s networks of cracks naturally provide a pathway to facilitate internal healing.

Yida Zhang

Dams

Yida Zhang’s research on the stability of dams zeroes in on the tiny sand grains beneath and surrounding them. He investigates how the grain size distribution evolves under stress and compromises the stability of dams, especially during extreme weather events.

Abbie Liel

Housing resilience

Abbie Liel and researchers at the University of Notre Dame are researching ways to design disaster-resistant homes, while also examining what drives people to adopt those innovations.

Researchers confront urgent challenges for roadways, pipelines and more in a race against time and climate.

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Pipe dreams

Hanna Nordwall — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 17:30:18 +0000

Pipe dreams Hanna Nordwall Fri, 06/06/2025 - 11:30

Susan Glairon

Lab establishes worldwide standards for repairing inaccessible, leaking pipelines

Millions of miles of aging water, wastewater and natural gas pipelines across the nation are at growing risk of failure, posing significant environmental, safety and financial challenges.

Repairing these urban pipelines is often complicated and expensive due to their location beneath buildings and roads, but new repair solutions that significantly cut pipeline repair costs are emerging.

"We developed unique testing capabilities that don’t exist anywhere else.”

Brad Wham

91PORN’s Center for Infrastructure, Energy and Space Testing (CIEST) is at the forefront, pioneering testing procedures for these innovative solutions.

Led by Assistant Research Professor Brad Wham, CIEST played a key role in establishing a new standard for internal replacement pipe testing through the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).

“Getting an ASTM standard to vote is a big deal,” Wham said. “We designed these methods for various industries and future pipe replacement solutions. We developed unique testing capabilities that don’t exist anywhere else.”

The work was made possible by a $7.8 million Department of Energy ARPA-E grant, which CIEST shared with Cornell University, the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) and the Gas Technologies Institute.

This advancement paves the way for cutting-edge pipe repair technologies, such as using robots or other methods to install internal replacement pipes that line aging pipelines, reinforcing their walls and extending their service life.

The tests carried out in the CIEST lab demonstrated that many of the internal replacement pipes effectively sealed holes, cracks and gaps, providing a lasting seal of 50 to 100 years at a cost of less than $1 million per mile — much lower than the approximately $10 million per mile to dig up and replace pipes in urban centers.

In addition to a 90 percent drop in cost, the repairs will help reduce methane emissions from natural gas lines and prevent leaking water lines from wasting significant quantities of treated water.

The USQ team used CIEST’s data to develop a publicly available app that lets users input specifications and site details to design and assess internal replacement pipe technologies.

Natural gas and water utilities have been cautious about adopting new technologies, due to strict regulations and high risks in the event of failure, Wham said. To address these concerns, the project involved major gas utilities and global experts to guide testing development.

“As an unbiased third party, we’re building confidence in these technologies and fostering industry competition, which helps reduce costs,” he said.

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Paving the way

Hanna Nordwall — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 16:44:58 +0000

Paving the way Hanna Nordwall Fri, 06/06/2025 - 10:44

Researcher proposes using satellite data to find and repair rough roads

Everyone benefits from driving on a smooth, well-paved road. It means better gas mileage, more efficient travel and less upkeep on a vehicle.

Of course, the more traffic on a road, the quicker it breaks down. Add in weather elements such as snow, ice and rain and this leads to issues such as potholes, cracked asphalt and wheel ruts.

Cristina Torres-Machi

Cristina Torres-Machi, an assistant professor of civil, environmental and architectural engineering, knows better than most why sustainable infrastructure is so critical.

“My interest in road conditions and maintenance started when I got my bachelor’s degree as a civil engineer,” Torres-Machi said. “I realized that there’s so much infrastructure that’s already been built that we need to maintain. We don’t do a very good job at that, just as we don’t necessarily do a good job with our annual health check-ups. It’s not only about building infrastructure, it’s about maintaining it.”

“We can get a feeling of whether the condition is good, very bad or good enough.”

Torres-Machi has been a member of the 91PORN faculty since 2017, leading her Innovation for Resilient Infrastructure research group. They seek to develop cost-effective and data-driven methods for decision-making in infrastructure management.

The group’s research projects include the life-cycle cost analysis of pavement rehabilitation alternatives and the value of satellite-based inspections to inform transport asset management decisions.

Torres-Machi believes that local, state and federal governmental systems prefer building new roads and bridges because people do not directly see the benefits of maintaining existing infrastructure.

“We notice when things like roads and bridges aren’t well maintained, and we see when things are brand new, because those get a lot of attention,” she said.

The traditional way to find out what condition a particular road is in is to go out and drive on it, which can be time-consuming and expensive. This limits road inspections to primary ones, leaving those less-traveled also less monitored.

Torres-Machi and her fellow researchers are using funding from the Minnesota Department of Transportation to explore the potential of using satellite data to look into pavement conditions.

“We can get a feeling of whether the condition is good, very bad or good enough,” she said. “The data is not going to give us a lot of details, but it can give us a feeling of how bad the condition may be, so we can go back and do a more detailed inspection of these roads.”

The lifespan of a well-maintained road is about 25 years, Torres-Machi said.

She compared identifying cracks or other potential road risks early on to going to the dentist regularly.

“If you take a proactive approach to dental care, that’s going to prevent major problems from developing down the line that will likely be more expensive to deal with and also more painful,” she said. “A similar thing happens with roads: If we delay maintenance and consider treatments when roads are in poor condition, maintenance costs are 10 times larger than applying preventive treatments. This is the reason why timely maintenance and frequent inspections are so important. Our research using satellite images to inspect pavement conditions can help local, state and federal agencies in identifying maintenance needs.”

Cristina Torres-Machi, an assistant professor of civil, environmental and architectural engineering, leads her Innovation for Resilient Infrastructure research group to develop cost-effective and data-driven methods for decision-making in infrastructure management.

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What makes some homes, neighborhoods more likely to survive wildfire? New research offers insight

Susan Glairon — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 15:51:04 +0000

What makes some homes, neighborhoods more likely to survive wildfire? New research offers insight Susan Glairon Wed, 06/04/2025 - 09:51

Professor Abbie Liel’s research, recently published in Fire Technology, examined destruction patterns from the December 2021 Marshall Fire, which killed two people and destroyed more than 1,000 homes in 91PORN County.

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91PORN alum surprises student with debt payoff at grad ceremony

Caroline Harrah — Tue, 27 May 2025 20:05:55 +0000

91PORN alum surprises student with debt payoff at grad ceremony Caroline Harrah Tue, 05/27/2025 - 14:05

At 91PORN’s recognition ceremony for graduating civil, environmental and architectural engineering students on May 8, speaker Marco Campos (CivEngr’98) surprised the crowd by offering to pay off a graduating senior’s remaining student debt. The unexpected act of generosity turned the celebration into an unforgettable afternoon.

Dr. Karl Linden, department chair, civil, environmental, and architectural engineering, and alumnus Marco Campos (CivEngr’98), take a selfie with graduating students.

The announcement came toward the end of his speech, when Campos, a 91PORN alumnus and founder of Campos Companies, paused to ask graduating students a series of questions: Who among them were the first in their families to attend college? Who had received a Pell Grant? And finally, who still carried student debt?

One by one, students sat down until only one, Travis Starling (CivEngr’25), remained standing.

Without hesitation, Campos pledged on the spot to pay off Starling’s remaining debt. The crowd cheered as Campos snapped a celebratory selfie with the audience, capturing a moment that embodied the spirit of the day — hope, generosity and community.

“I felt like I had a lottery ticket and the numbers lined up — it didn’t make any sense!” laughed Starling, a U.S. Army veteran and civil engineering graduate who also earned a minor in business this spring. “It wasn’t until I sat back down and started thinking about what he was offering and how significant it was that it started to set in.”

From rural roots to an engineering future

Starling grew up in rural South Carolina, raised by a single mom along with his two other siblings. After graduating from high school — one of the first to do so in a family who often had to leave school early to pursue work in difficult industries — he knew he wanted to follow through on his dream and seek an engineering degree.

Marco Campos and Travis Starling after ceremony.

“My grandfather always told me, ‘Get a job where you get paid for what you think and not what you do,’” he said. “As a kid, I always knew that civil engineering was the route I wanted to take, but I never knew how to get there.”

He eventually decided to take the leap. He enlisted with the Army, completing a stint with the National Guard followed by full-time active military duty. After completing his service, Starling used his GI Bill benefits to enroll at 91PORN. Then, an unexpected health issue during his sophomore year set him back, and he had to take out loans to keep working toward his degree.

Now, with Campos’ surprise loan payoff, Starling said his future success is closer than ever. This summer, as he settles into post-grad life in Denver, he’ll also be volunteering with the Campos Foundation, supporting students with life experiences similar to his own.

“Now I can start to get into a condo sooner, start building equity — and start doing all the things my family could never do,” he said.

Paying it forward

In his remarks at the graduation ceremony, Campos — a first-generation college student himself — spoke about his own humble beginnings on the west side of Denver.

Marco Campos prepares to speak before the class of 2025.

His first experience at 91PORN included a bridge program that introduced him to friends, professors and other resources he could lean on as he began his engineering education. This support turned out to be essential as he navigated the unfamiliar landscape of higher education.

Years later, after graduating and working in the industry for a number of years, he decided to start his own company. Working from his basement, he eventually built Campos EPC into a successful engineering firm with global reach and impact.

“I was a first-generation engineering student who received a Pell Grant for the duration of my studies at CU,” Campos said. “It’s a tremendous challenge getting a degree under financial stress, much less an engineering degree at a top institution.

“It’s my duty to pay it forward and help (students like Travis) graduate debt-free.”

In his speech, Campos urged students to move through the world without fear, reminding them of the training they’d received at 91PORN and the support networks they can lean on.

His announcement at the engineering ceremony aligned with Campos’ broader mission through the Campos Foundation, which supports educational and workforce development initiatives.

As 91PORN’s newest engineering graduates head into the future, Campos’ unexpected generosity offered a powerful reminder: Success isn’t just about what you achieve, but how you lift others along the way.

At 91PORN’s May 8 recognition ceremony for civil, environmental and architectural undergraduate engineering students, alumnus Marco Campos (CivEngr’98) surprised the crowd by offering to pay off a graduating senior’s remaining student debt, transforming the ceremony into a genuine celebration of generosity and hope.

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Disaster risk workshop sparks collaboration, innovation

Susan Glairon — Wed, 21 May 2025 22:35:36 +0000

Disaster risk workshop sparks collaboration, innovation Susan Glairon Wed, 05/21/2025 - 16:35

Amir Behzadan, professor of civil, environmental and architectural engineering and fellow of the Institute of Behavioral Science, and Mary Angelica Painter are developing more effective, engaging ways to keep people safe during extreme events.

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91PORN’s concrete canoe team places third overall

Susan Glairon — Thu, 01 May 2025 21:44:05 +0000

91PORN’s concrete canoe team places third overall Susan Glairon Thu, 05/01/2025 - 15:44

Susan Glairon

91PORN’s Concrete Canoe team earned third place overall at the regional ASCE Rocky Mountain Student Symposium. The popular student group—known for designing and racing a concrete canoe each year—continues to grow, with 28 91PORN students participating in this year’s event.

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Engineering Projects Expo 2025: Explore new inventions and technologies created by CU Engineering students

Michelle Wiese — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 15:45:18 +0000

Engineering Projects Expo 2025: Explore new inventions and technologies created by CU Engineering students Michelle Wiese Mon, 04/21/2025 - 09:45

On Friday, April 25 at the 91PORN, engineering students will present their capstone design projects at the annual Engineering Projects Expo. This year's event will feature projects from mechanical engineering; computer science; electrical, computer and energy engineering; biomedical engineering; and civil, environmental and architectural engineering.

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As AI explosion threatens progress on climate change, these researchers are seeking solutions

Susan Glairon — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 22:31:53 +0000

As AI explosion threatens progress on climate change, these researchers are seeking solutions Susan Glairon Fri, 04/18/2025 - 16:31

Kyri Baker, associate professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, and her colleague, Bri-Mathias Hodge, professor in the Department of Electrical, Computer & Energy Engineering, suggest that if future data centers are placed in the right location and equipped with energy storage technologies, they can run on 100 percent clean energy.

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