Paul W. Richards and Dr. Kyle M. Rollins, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Pheonix Gunite is an engineering firm responsible for the ongoing construction of several culverts (underground tunnels) in the Las Vegas area. These reinforced culverts serve a variety of purposes including pedestrian walkways and water transportation. My proposed project was to instrument the rebar going into one of these culverts and then obtain stress data while the completed culvert experienced a loading sequence. I then intended to reduce the data and use it to aid in optimizing the design of future culverts.
Jason Smith from Pheonix Gunite provided plans for a culvert that was scheduled for construction in November 1999. We determined to position a total of 24 strain gauges in the new culvert; 3 cross sections along the culvert would each be instrumented with gauges in 8 different locations. The plan was to instrument the reinforcing steel in the structures lab at BYU and then transport the instrumented rebar to Las Vegas where it would be incorporated into the culvert.
After obtaining the rebar, I prepared a site on each piece to mount the gauge. This required the ribs on the rebar to be removed by grinding, and the area to be sanded until perfectly smooth. The process was labor intensive, but necessary to ensure a solid bond between the gauges and the steel.
The gauges that were ordered and intended for use on the project came with a waterproof shell. We knew that protection would be necessary for the gauge during the construction of the culvert because each gauge would be surround by concrete. Unfortunately, the waterproof shell made the gauges difficult to mount on the rebar. The protective coating was quite rigid and prevented the gauges from laying flat around the radius of the rebar. This discovery came too late to order new gauges, and I was unable to instrument steel in time for the construction of the November culvert.
Another culvert was planned for construction in March 2000, so I hoped to be able to try again. New gauges (without the waterproof shell) were ordered. I intended to mount the plain gauges and then apply a protective epoxy coating to the area. Plans were moving along until I was notified that construction of the culvert had been postponed until the fall.
Since I was unable to see my proposed project through to completion, I felt I should invest time on another project to justify the scholarship I received. As I was unable to obtain and analyze data of my own, I assisted Ryan Olsen with some data reduction associated with his Master’s Thesis project.
The project involved a study of the effects of lateral loading on a pile group. Strain gauges on nine piles provided deformation data during a lateral loading sequence. The raw data from the gauges filled several spreadsheets, and needed to be reduced to a workable configuration. I assisted in organizing the data into a more useful format and applied basic equations to derive the stresses in each of the piles based on the strain data.
Although I was unable to complete the project I proposed, my experience working with these two projects has provided valuable lessons that will be beneficial in my future research activities. I found that a significant part of “research” is labor-intensive work that requires more sweat and determination than intellect or experience. I also learned how important good communication is, as almost any project requires the coordinated efforts of several individuals or groups. Most importantly, I realized how much I enjoy the challenge of searching for answers to new questions and learning through hands on experience.