civil & coastal research programs

Geosystems Engineering is a cross-disciplinary program team of faculty, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and staff dedicated to innovation in geotechnical and geoenvironmental technology for sustainable geo-infrastructure development.

The Geosystems Engineering postgraduate research program focuses on geotechnical and geoenvironmental solutions through collaborative efforts of multi-disciplinary faculty in five interdependent and mutually reinforcing areas:

• soil structure interaction
• geophysical testing and nondestructive evaluation
• computational poro-geomechanics
• smart waste management
• beneficial use of waste materials

Our inclusive and multi-disciplinary graduate curriculum offers a dynamic transformational point of view that leverages geotechnical and geoenvironmental technologies for environmental, economical, and social sustainability.

The graduate curriculum integrates in-depth training in a core engineering discipline into cross-disciplinary understanding of Geosystems Engineering. The comprehensive knowledge base of our graduates allow them to excel in her/his chosen specialization, adequately addressing the changing need in the global workforces of resilient geo-infrastructure.

Facilities

• 384 NPUs (64-bit 2.7 GHz) 20 RSU (8 TB) cluster
• Experimental laboratories for environmental pollutants
• A 2.5-m geotechnical centrifuge
• A 10-m testing chamber
• Seismic and ultrasonic test systems
• GPR testing system

Research Focus

Strength Envelopes for Florida Rock and Intermediate Geomaterials, Multiscale (mm to km) Material Imaging and Characterization, Dynamic Testing for Foundation Capacity and Integrity, Mechanical Wave Simulation and Inversion, Computational Modeling of Multiscale Multiphysics Problems, Theoretical and Numerical Modeling of Instability/Failure of Multiphase Geomaterials, Determining Bearing Resistance of Cantilever Sheet Piles, Discrete Particle Dynamics and Contact Mechanics, Impact and Ground Penetration, Bridge Foundation Engineering, Waste Management and Beneficial Reuse, Computational Mechanics, and Hydro(geo)chemical Processes.

Careers

Our graduates are in demand by various professions such as infrastructure/energy industries, R&D laboratories, academic institutions, and local and federal government agencies. An example of such is seen in established, professional relationships with state government agencies and major design firms both in the U.S. and world-wide.

Research, education, and service activities in the field of pavements and related materials.

The Materials and Pavement group is devoted to promoting sustainable practices in pavement engineering, enhance understanding of distress mechanisms and failure modes, and develop design approaches for pavement systems that optimize performance, develop sustainable construction materials, develop testing and conditioning procedures to improve material characterization. 

Education for Leadership Roles

• Innovative foundation systems and lifelines
• Safer embankments and retention systems
• More effective pavement systems
• Enhanced performance construction materials

Research Focus Areas

• Nano-modification and polymer modification of materials 
• Advanced sensing technologies 
• Advanced experimental methods 
• Geotechnical centrifuge 
• Low-environmental impact materials 
• Sustainable cementitious materials 
• Computed tomography 
• Non-destructive evaluation of materials and structures 
• Multi-scale computer modeling 

Research Outcomes

• Faster and more accurate condition assessment 
• Enhanced performance and durability 
• Lower environmental impact 
• More effective specifications for materials and construction 
• Real-time assessment techniques 
• Guidelines for recycling waste materials 
• Safer containment systems for waste 

Research Benefits

• Reduced risk in engineering decisions 
• Less pollution through recycling and material design 
• Reduced traffic disruption and highway user costs 
• Lower maintenance and rehabilitation costs 
• Sustainable and more reliable constructed infrastructure

Facilities

• Geotechnical centrifuges
• Mobile field sensing equipment
• 20-ton in situ truck
• Geophysics and NOT
• Advanced materials characterization
• Variable Pressure SEM
• Laser interferometry
• Deep foundation test chamber
• Full-scale pipe testing facility
• Extensive geotechnical, concrete and asphalt laboratories
• 16 node Silicon Graphics Inc. parallel processor supercomputer

New Infrastructure Planning, formerly Public Works, research focus areas include oil spill, radon mitigation, renewable energy, work zone safety, bridge management, in-situ pipe repair, high-speed rail, utility relocation, flowable fill, pavement marking, storm water infrastructure, fiber optics placement along the right-of-way, construction engineering & management, and highway construction, maintenance, quality control, and quality assurance.

The faculty’s research is recognized for its prominence and for its impact in understanding new house evaluation and Radon mitigation, effective oil spill response capabilities, truck damage factor determination, durability of in-situ pipe repair, guidelines for storm water infrastructure, durability of pavement marking, preventive maintenance strategy, use of flowable fill in pavement sections, and user cost data for bridge management.

Education for Leadership Roles

• Sustainable infrastructure management
• Innovative solid waste management
• Timely and effective disaster management
• Innovative information delivery
• State-of-the-art education for public works leaders
• Innovative public versus private services
• Creative public works finance
• Sustainable growth management
• Air and water quality control

Research Focus Areas

• New house evaluation and radon mitigation
• Effective oil spill response capabilities
• Truck damage factor determination
• Durability of in-situ pipe repair
• Guidelines for storm water infrastructure
• Durability of pavement marking
• Preventive maintenance strategy
• Use of flowable fill in pavement sections
• User cost data for bridge management
• Renewable energy

Research Outcomes

• Sustainable public safety
• Cost savings for both public and private sectors
• Enhanced disaster response capabilities
• Sustainable infrastructure management

Research Benefits

• Cost-effective infrastructure maintenance
• Public safety
• Effective data management
• Infrastructure durability

Facilities

• Florida Department of Transportation
• Soil Mineralogy and Pedology Lab in the Soil and Water Sciences Department
• Based on future research needs, our department facilities can also be used
• Vehicles within our department
• Ample computer access within our program
• GIS facilities within the University

The structural engineering faculty have a complementary set of expertise in theoretical, analytical, computational, experimental and field investigation techniques well suited to address critical infrastructure issues.

This program includes infrastructure system response to extreme-event loading, durability of infrastructure and materials, health monitoring, evaluation and strengthening of existing structures, and the development of construction methods to improve long-term sustainability of new infrastructure.

Structural Engineering research within ESSIE at the University of Florida includes:

• Infrastructure system response to extreme-event loading, durability of infrastructure and materials
• Health monitoring, evaluation and strengthening of existing structures
• The development of construction methods to improve long-term sustainability of new infrastructure

Education for Leadership Roles

• Structural Engineering Analysis
• Bridge and Building Structural Design

Research Focus Areas

• Extreme event loading and infrastructure system behavior
  • Wind
  • Vessel Impact
  • Blast
• Durability, evaluation, and strengthening of existing structures
• Connections to concrete
• Computational mechanics, structural dynamics, and structural analysis

Research Outcomes

• Improved safety and reliability of structures
• Lower maintenance and rehabilitation costs
• Improved understanding of structural behavioral under extreme events

Research Benefits

• Building code enhancement
• Sustainable and more reliably constructed infrastructure
• Cost-effective repair methods

Facilities

• Two parallel-processing supercomputers
• Structural testing laboratory with strong wall and floor
• Electronic data acquisition systems
• Field instrumentation for monitoring structural performance during extreme events
• Building enclosure wind teaching and testing laboratory
• Full-scale hurricane simulation facility

The future of construction in the US and around the world includes the need to maintain and build new housing, schools, healthcare facilities, shopping, government and safety services; more clean water and waste water treatment facilities; and more sustainable energy resources. We will need more roads, rail, public transit and ports to move people and goods. Coupled with retirement projections, employers seek new, qualified professionals able to complete these big projects while maintaining the sustainability triple bottomline: people, planet and profit.

The Department of Civil & Coastal Engineering conducts funded sustainable construction engineering research which considers this future state and prepares our graduates to be leaders in the field. While considering the interconnection of people and technology, research projects investigate:

Smart and Intelligent Construction

This theme of research focuses on the development and test of the next generation Intelligent Information Systems (IIS) and Intelligent Physical Systems (IPS) for the design, engineering, construction and operations of built environments (e.g., buildings, industrial facilities, and smart transportation systems etc.). Specifically, it aims at augmenting human cognitive and physical capabilities and developing a 21st century data-capable civil engineering workforce via Intelligent Cognitive Assistants (ICAs) and Collaborative Robots (Cobots).

Sustainable Workforce

This research bridges the space between understanding the future of work in civil engineering in the United States and characterizing the competencies, learning technologies, and ecosystems that equip and sustain an inclusive workforce for that future. Topics include hazard recognition, safety, leadership, satisfaction, personal resilience, organizational culture, training, informal learning and social considerations. When employees thrive in the workplace and are professional prepared for work, organizational outcomes such as sustaining the workforce; achieving safety, productivity, and profitability goals; planning, designing and constructing intelligent and/or resilient infrastructure; and addressing current and future challenges such as infrastructure and disaster management are also achieved.

Education for Leadership Roles

• More Effective Project Delivery Systems
• Advanced Project Management and Control Systems
• Advanced Safety Management Methods
• Sustainable Infrastructure Renewal Research Focus Areas
• Advanced Project Planning and Delivery
• Intelligent Infrastructure Asset Management Systems
• Advanced Project Safety Management
• New Construction Methods, Material and Equipment
• Intelligent Real Time Construction Information Management Systems

Research Outcomes

• Improved Project Planning
• More Efficient and Cost Effective Project Delivery
• Improved Infrastructure Management Decisions
• Safer more cost effective work technologies and processes

Research Benefits

• Improved Project Outcomes
• Infrastructure Assets Conservation and Optimization
• More Cost Effective Investment in Capital Projects
• Safety of the Work Force and the Public Facilities
• State of the Art Project Controls Laboratory
• Multiple Digital Recording Equipment Systems for Data Collection
• Multiple Vehicles Available for Project Trips
• Research Assistants Assigned Individual State of the Art Work Station Research Opportunities
• Activity funded research program with multiple sponsors
• Research Assistantships and fellowships
• Competitive stipend and full tuition

Transportation engineers continue to pursue innovative solutions to meet urban and regional mobility needs.  

The Water Systems group develops the science and engineering for conveyance, treatment and reuse of urban waters including potable, wastewater and stormwater, manage water resources, model and measure the fate and transformation of chemicals, particulate matter and pathogens impacting water resources, and assess the human and environmental health impacts from these constituents while modeling the components of the hydrologic cycle and the impacts of climate on water resources, human and environmental health.

The National Academy of Engineering considers access to clean water as a critical social, environmental, and economic challenge for the 21st century. Accordingly, the Potable Water research is at the forefront of addressing global water quality issues, investigating innovative treatment technologies and addressing the challenge using alternative water sources as a replacement for high quality fresh groundwater. The development of hydrologic restoration systems to restore the urban water cycle and also reduce chemical and thermal loadings to the surrounding environs is the hub of Storm Water research.

Studies conducted in Florida and throughout the World have demonstrated the sustainability of municipal maintenance practices and resilience of storm drainage systems to provide chemical and particulate load control compared to current best management practices. Major foci of Wastewater research are the development of reuse processes pertinent to human urine, landfill leachate, and membrane concentrate. Research follow an integrated urban water system simulation and optimization approach, and it shows the volumetric benefits of wastewater reuse while identifying the need for advanced wastewater treatment to manage chemicals such as nutrients, metals or emerging contaminants such as endocrine disruptors.

Education for Leadership Roles

• Developing innovative methods for hydrologic assessments
• Elucidating the generation, transport, fate and cycling of rainfall-runoff (stormwater) quantities and chemical loads from biogenic and anthropogenic sources
• Improving the understanding of water use to optimize water conservation ethodology Preserving Surface Water and Groundwater Quality
• Improving Drinking Water Quality
• Improving Stormwater Collection and Treatment
• Improving Wastewater Treatment
• Developing more sustainable urban water systems

Research Focus Areas

• Contaminant transport and fate
• Decision support systems
• Ecohydrology and hydrologic restoration
• Hydrology
• Stormwater control
• Water resources planning and management
• Water conservation
• Urban water infrastructure
• Fundamental characterization of aqueous and particulate-phase contaminants including emerging contaminants: representative ambient monitoring, methodology and load quantification.
• Sourcing and generation of aqueous and particulate phase contaminants, physics and chemistry of contaminant transport and fate.
• Water contaminant control: systems, unit operation and processes, and materials development, in particular innovative mass transfer materials and low impact development materials.
• Water reuse as part of the urban water cycle: volumetric and contaminant load impacts.
• Unit operation and process modeling: scalable physical models and computational fluid dynamics (CFD).
• Integrated physical, chemical, biological and thermal treatment phenomena for water cycle components.
• Coupling fundamental monitoring and material balance testing with urban water modeling.
• Fundamental and applied studies of physical-chemical water treatment processes, such as adsorption, coagulation, ion exchange, and oxidation, for a wide range of water qualities including surface water, groundwater, membrane concentrate, landfill leachate, and human urine.
• Innovative applications of ion exchange for water treatment.
• Fundamental studies in aquatic chemistry with a focus on the role of natural organic matter.
• Fundamental and applied studies of adsorption and photocatalysis, including surface optimization.
• Bottom up integrated urban water system simulation and optimization.

Research Outcomes

• Sustainable solutions to water quantity and quality problems.
• New technologies for assessing contaminant transport in surface and groundwater.
• Sustainability of urban rainfall-runoff systems.
• Improved methods water conservation and decision support systems for implementation.

Research Benefits

• Sustainability of surface and groundwater systems
• Restoration of groundwater, wetlands and other hydrologic systems
• Improved surface and groundwater quality
• Improved drinking water quality
• Beneficial water reuse
• Balanced development of supply and demand management systems

Facilities

• Laboratory and field sites for research
• Environmental Engineering Science Unit Operations and Process (UOP) Testing facilities
• The Water Institute at the University of Florida provides important university-wide linkages for collaborative research and education
• Environmental Engineering Science Unit Operations and Process (UOP) Testing facilities
• Water Treatment Process Labs and associated state-of-the-art analytical instrumentation
• Water Reclamation and Reuse Laboratory

The Coastal and Oceanographic Engineering group comprises faculty who are recognized for their research related to coastal and estuarine physical processes. Their work spans sediment transport in beaches, estuaries, and lakes; wave transformations over varied seabed types; inlet hydrodynamics, morphodynamics, and wave-current interactions; estuarine and coastal physics; extreme storms; storm surge and inundation modeling; coastal erosion; nature-based coastal defense systems; water quality processes; saltwater intrusion into estuaries and aquifers; and the impact of climate and sea level variability on coastal systems. In the face of climate extremes and increasing coastal populations, this research has never been more crucial, while striving to inform sustainable coastal development, hazard mitigation, and adaptation strategies. Funded primarily by federal agencies, the group’s research is deeply integrated with teaching and training programs, equipping future professionals with tools to tackle these urgent global challenges.

Education for Leadership Roles
The Program

• prepares students for leadership roles in academia, government and industry; and 
• sensitizes students to sustainable environments. 

Research Focus Areas

• Physical processes associated with sediment transport in beaches, estuaries and lakes 
• Wave transformations over sandy and muddy bottoms 
• Inlet/breach hydrodynamics, morphodynamics and wave-current interactions 
• Estuarine and coastal physics 
• Extreme storms: storm surge, inundation, and coastal erosion 
• Hurricane resilience  
• Interannual variability of climate and sea level  
• Implications of sea level rise on coastal processes 
• Salt intrusion into estuaries and aquifers 
• Coastal Nature based solutions 
• Coastal water quality  

Research Outcomes

• Enhanced understanding of coastal and estuarine processes 
• Forecasting of storm surge and flooding 
• Impacts of sea-level rise on freshwater resources and coastal sustainability 

Research Benefits

• Safeguard people and infrastructure from storms
• Assess salinization threats to freshwater resources
• Optimize beach nourishment costs
• Enhance safety of ports and harbors
• Facilitate safe coastal navigation and recreation
• Aid in search and rescue operations

The Coastal Ecosystem Dynamics (CESD) specialization brings together faculty with expertise in coastal hydrodynamics, geo-mechanics, and ecology.

The Coastal Ecosystem Dynamics (CESD) program brings together students and faculty with interests in coastal hydrodynamics, geo-mechanics, and ecology. The goal is to advance fundamental science, provide solutions for resilient coastal communities, and train the next generation of scientists and engineers to succeed in academic and non-academic careers. 

With nearly 40% of the world’s population living within 100 kilometers of the coast, understanding the dynamics of coastal ecosystems is critical to ensure the resilience of human and natural coastal communities. As coastal ecosystems sit at the interface between marine and terrestrial environments, their structure and stability are driven by complex interactions among hydrodynamic forces, geotechnical properties of natural and man-made substrates, and organisms that biogenically build coastal reefs and wetlands. Thus, advancing knowledge of these systems and developing solutions for sustaining natural and built coastal environments requires multi-disciplinary research. 

Students trained in this specialization will be prepared to pursue academic and industry careers in the fields of coastal, environmental, and geotechnical engineering, as well as complementary engineering disciplines, such as mechanics, structures, ecology, environmental science, geology, natural resource management and coastal resilience, depending on their individual interests. 

Additional information on the CESD specialization