Graduate Course Descriptions

The following directory lists the graduate courses which the University expects to offer, although the University in no way guarantees that all such courses will be offered in any given academic year, and reserves the right to alter the list if conditions warrant. Click on the links below for a list of courses in that subject area. You may then click “View Classes” to see scheduled classes for individual courses.

5010. Seminar in Structures and Applied Mechanics

Zero credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Registered

Presentations and discussions contributed by staff, students and outside speakers. Required every semester for all full-time students in the Structures and Applied Mechanics Area of Concentration in the Civil Engineering Field of Study.

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5020. Independent Graduate Study in Civil Engineering

1.00 - 6.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 12 credits.

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Special problems in civil engineering as arranged by the student with a supervisory instructor of his or her choice.

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5030. Seminar in Transportation and Urban Engineering

Zero credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Registered

Extended discussions on presentations contributed by staff, students and outside speakers. Required every semester for all full-time students in the Transportation and Urban Engineering Area of Concentration in the Civil Engineering Field of Study.

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5090. Advanced Topics in Civil Engineering

1.00 - 3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 12 credits.

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Classroom or laboratory courses as announced for each semester. For independent study see CE 5020.

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5122. Advanced Mechanics of Materials

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Stress and strain, combined stress, and theories of failure. Torsion of non-circular sections. Shear center, unsymmetrical bending, curved flexural members, and beams on elastic foundations. Energy methods. Plane theory of elasticity, plate bending, and pressurized cylinders.

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5125. Reliability for Engineers

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Recommended preparation: Basic knowledge or course taken on statistics and/or random processes.

Grading Basis: Graded

Fundamentals of reliability analysis. Load and resistance models, first order reliability methods, and probabilistic simulation techniques. Calibration of design codes. System reliability.

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5128. Elastic Stability

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Buckling of elastic and inelastic columns; lateral buckling of beams; buckling of plates, rings and tubes; stability of frames.

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5130. Numerical Methods in Civil Engineering

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Solution of linear and nonlinear systems of equations and algebraic eigenvalue problems. Interpolation, numerical integration, and regression. Ordinary and partial differential equations by finite difference method. Computer programming.

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5150. Structural Vibrations

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Vibrating systems; application to design; discrete and continuous systems, free and forced vibrations; response to periodic and non-periodic loads; analytical and numerical techniques; earthquake loading; response spectra.

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5151. Experimental Structural Dynamics

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Characteristics of random data; vibration test hardware; data acquisition and analysis; and experimental modal analysis and system identification. Laboratory experiments will be used to enhance understanding of taught concepts.

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5161. Structural health monitoring and sensors

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Concepts and applications of structural health monitoring using sensors. Data acquisition, digital signal processing, random vibration, basic control theory, modal analysis, damage detection algorithms, and decision support system. Experimental methods for structural health monitoring of civil structures.

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5163. Fracture Mechanics

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Focuses on fundamental concepts and applications of fracture mechanics. Topics include linear elastic fracture mechanics, elastic plastic fracture mechanics, computational fracture mechanics, fracture mechanisms in metals and non-metals, fracture testing, dynamic and time-dependent fracture, fatigue crack growth, interfacial fracture, fracture in advanced materials, and engineering applications.

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5164. Finite Element Methods in Applied Mechanics I

Also offered as: ME 5520

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Not open for credit to students who have passed CE 5162.

Grading Basis: Graded

Formulation of finite elements methods for linear static analysis. Development of two and three dimensional continuum elements, axisymmetric elements, plate and shell elements, and heat transfer elements. Evaluation of basic modeling principles including convergence and element distortion. Applications using commercial finite element programs.

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5166. Finite Element Methods in Applied Mechanics II

Also offered as: ME 5521

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Not open to students who have passed ME 5521.

Grading Basis: Graded

Formulation of finite elements methods for modal and transient analysis. Development of implicit and explicit transient algorithms. Stability and accuracy analysis. Formulation of finite element methods for material and geometric nonlinearities. Development of nonlinear solution algorithms. Applications using commercial finite element code.

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5200. Operations Research in Civil and Environmental Engineering

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Recommended preparation: CE 2251 or equivalent. May not be taken for credit after passing CE 4210.

Grading Basis: Graded

Resource allocation subject to constraints. Facility location problems. Simplex method for linear programming. Introduction to integer programming and network flow problems.

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5210. Environmental Engineering Chemistry - I

Also offered as: ENVE 5210

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Quantitative treatment of chemical behavior in environmental systems. Thermodynamics and kinetics of acid/base, complexation, precipitation/dissolution, sorption and redox reactions; degradation and partitioning of organic contaminants; software for speciation and partitioning computation.

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5370. Environmental Monitoring

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Introduction to complexities and challenges associated with acquisition of information on environmental processes and characteristics of natural systems. Hands-on experience with selection of measurement strategy and sensing technology; sampling network and protocol design; and deployment, acquisition and interpretation of measurements in natural systems.

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5380. Bridge Structures

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Common types of bridges; AASHTO bridge loads; design of composite plate girders; fatigue; design of bridge substructure; design project.

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5381. Subsurface Contaminant Transport Modeling

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Fate and transport of contaminants in groundwater. Convection, dispersion, adsorption, and biological and radioactive decay. Field scale modeling. Galerkin finite elements. Application to field sites. Also offered as ENVE 5381.

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5382. Load Rating of Bridges

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering or relevant work experience.

Grading Basis: Graded

Load and Resistance Factor Rating of Bridges (LRFR); National Bridge Inspection Standards; ASHTOWare; AASHTO Manual for Bridge Evaluation.

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5383. Design of Bridges for Extreme Events

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Bachelor's degree in civil engineering or relevant work experience.

Grading Basis: Graded

Highway bridges; AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications; seismic design; force-based and displacement-based design methods; vessel collision, truck collision, and ice loading. Bachelor's degree in civil engineering or relevant work experience is required for this course.

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5384. Accelerated Bridge Construction

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Bachelor's degree in civil engineering or relevant work experience.

Grading Basis: Graded

Common ABC methods and technologies; prefabricated bridge elements; bridge systems including Self-Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTs) and Lateral Slide Bridge Construction; construction methods and planning.

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5530. Advanced Soil Mechanics

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: This course and CE 4541 may not be both taken for credit.

Grading Basis: Graded

Introduction of soil as a multi-phase material; stress and strain analysis in soil; soil compression and consolidation; shear strength of sand and clay; critical state soil mechanics; advanced topics in complex constitutive relationships; introduction to fracture mechanics; term paper.

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5541. Advanced Soil Mechanics

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Introduction of soil as a multi-phase material; stress and strain analysis in soil; soil compression and consolidation; shear strength of sand and clay; critical state soil mechanics; advanced topics in complex constitutive relationships; introduction to fracture mechanics; term paper.

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5542. Earthquake Engineering

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: This course and CE 4542 may not be both taken for credit.

Grading Basis: Graded

Global tectonics and earthquake sources, seismic wave propagation, strong ground motion analysis, seismic hazards, site effects and liquefaction, seismic load to slopes, retaining structures and foundations, structure response to dynamic loads; term paper.

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5543. Advanced Foundation Design

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Soil behavior in retaining systems, shallow foundations, deep foundations.

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5549. Soil Shear Strength

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Failure theories for particulate media, plastic equilibrium, laboratory testing and interpretation.

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5560. Coastal Hazard Engineering

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Characteristics of wind hazards; characteristics of flooding and wave hazards; design of coastal infrastructures and resilience assessment. Individual project and report.

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5570. Bituminous Materials

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Properties, performance and design of bituminous materials for highway and airport paving; physical and chemical properties of binders; testing methods; specifications; production and construction.

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5610. Advanced Reinforced Concrete Structures

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Behavior and design of reinforced concrete for flexure, shear, torsion, bond, and axial loads; two way slabs; beam-column joints; general flexure theory; seismic considerations; review of design specifications.

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5620. Advanced Steel Structures

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Metal plasticity; plastic hinging and plastic analysis of beams; bolted and welded connections; seismic lateral load resisting systems; prequalified moment-resisting connections; blast design considerations for steel structures, term project.

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5630. Wood Design

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Physical and mechanical properties of wood. Behavior of wood beams, columns, beam columns, connectors and fasteners; introduction to plywood and glued-laminated members; analysis and design of structural diaphragms and shear walls.

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5640. Prestressed Concrete Structures

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Analysis, design, and behavior of pretensioned and post-tensioned concrete; simple and continuous span structures; time dependent behavior; review of design specifications.

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5650. Structural Health Monitoring and Sensors

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Concepts and applications of structural health monitoring using sensors. Data acquisition, digital signal processing, random vibration, basic control theory, modal analysis, damage detection algorithms, and decision support system. Experimental methods for structural health monitoring of civil structures.

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5710. Case Studies in Transportation Engineering

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Not open to students who have passed CE 4710.

Grading Basis: Graded

Analysis of transportation case studies in transportation design, and transportation and land use planning. Application of transportation engineering and planning skills. Oral and written group reports, group discussions, individual papers.

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5715. Sustainable Transportation

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Recommended preparation: CE 2710.

Grading Basis: Graded

Assesses the role of the land-based transportation system in terms of how it affects the environmental, social and economic goals for a sustainable society. How the concept of sustainability can be used as a holistic framework for assessing the transportation and land use system. Strategies for reducing the environmental, social and economic footprint of the transportation/land use system and ways they can be implemented.

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5720. Street and Highway Design

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Recommended preparation: CE 2710 or equivalent. Not open for credit to students who have passed CE 4720.

Grading Basis: Graded

Urban street and highway design: vertical and horizontal alignment, cross-section elements, traffic barriers, interchanges and intersections, pedestrian and bike facilities, traffic calming, community and roadside elements.

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5725. Transportation Safety

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Recommended preparation: CE 2211, 2251 or equivalent.

Grading Basis: Graded

Human factors in traffic safety, economic costs of crashes, crash data collection and database management, elements of statistics and crash count distributions, exploratory analysis of crash count data, regression analysis of crash count data, before-after studies, network screening and diagnosis, roadway and roadside design, crash modification factors.

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5730. Transportation Planning

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Recommended preparation: CE 2251 or equivalent, CE 2710 or equivalent. Not open for credit to students who have passed CE 4730.

Grading Basis: Graded

Transportation economics, urban transportation planning process, local area traffic management, evaluation of transportation improvements, land use and transportation interaction.

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5735. Public Transportation Systems

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Recommended preparation: CE 2251, 2710; CE 4210/5200 or equivalent.

Grading Basis: Graded

Characteristics of public transportation systems, public transport network planning, station spacing and design, public transportation and land use development, public transportation network design problems, and introduction to transit assignment.

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5740. Traffic Engineering I

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Recommended preparation: CE 2251, 2710, or equivalent. Not open for credit to students who have passed CE 4740.

Grading Basis: Graded

Traffic flow characteristics; traffic control devices; traffic signs and markings; traffic data collection; traffic signal timing and operation; capacity of streets, intersections, and highways; traffic impact studies; traffic simulation; term paper.

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5750. Pavement Design

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: This course and CE 4750 may not both be taken for credit.

Grading Basis: Graded

Analysis and design of flexible and rigid pavements; testing and characterization of paving materials.

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5812. Ecohydrology

Also offered as: ENVE 5812

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Focuses on the interactions between ecological processes and the water cycle, emphasizing the hydrological mechanisms underlying various terrestrial ecological patterns and the ecological properties controlling the hydrologic and climatic regimes. Topics include conceptual understanding of hydrological cycle over vegetated land, quantifying and modeling flux exchanges in the soil-vegetation-atmosphere continuum, case studies on the hydrological impact of land use land cover changes, ecosystem response to environmental changes, and vegetation-climate feedback at the regional and global scales.

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5820. Unsaturated Flow and Transport

Also offered as: ENVE 5820

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Modern approaches to water flow and solute transport in partially-saturated porous media including media characterization (review); unsaturated flow in porous media (governing equations, hydraulic functions, numerical and analytical solution methods); solute transport in unsaturated media (convection dispersion, transfer functions, solutions); modeling and observational scales; coupled water flow and solute transport (model applications); special topics (preferential flow, effects of spatial variability, stochastic aspects of flow and transport, gas exchange and transport measurement methods).

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6725. Statistical and Econometric Methods for Transportation Data Analysis

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Recommended preparation: CE 2251, CE 5720 or 5730 or 5740 or equivalent.

Grading Basis: Graded

Application of various statistical methods for analysis of transportation data, including linear regression, count data models, logistic regression, discrete outcome models, ordered probability models, random parameter models, and duration models among others.

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6730. Travel Demand Forecasting

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Recommended preparation: CE 5730 or equivalent.

Grading Basis: Graded

Alternative formulations and calibration of trip generation, trip distribution and travel mode choice prediction models. Traffic network equilibrium and assignment.

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6735. Transportation Network Analysis

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Recommended preparation: CE 4210/5200 and CE 5730 or equivalent.

Grading Basis: Graded

Network modeling and graph theoretical applications to transportation systems. Algorithmic approaches to common network problems. System optimal and user equilibrium traffic assignment modeling and solution techniques.

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6740. Traffic Engineering II

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: Recommended preparation: CE 5740 or equivalent.

Grading Basis: Graded

Driver, pedestrian and vehicle operating characteristics; microscopic and macroscopic representations of traffic flow; microscopic and macroscopic traffic stream models; safety analysis; traffic management; shock wave analysis; queueing analysis.

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6830. The Flood Problem

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Flood hazards. Preventing or alleviating damages. Flood frequency analysis. Effect of land-use/land-cover and soil moisture on flooding. Remote sensing in flood prediction. Flood and dam-break modeling. Multiple purpose projects.

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6920. Doctoral Teaching Practicum

Also offered as: ENVE 6920

Zero credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Offered by special arrangement. Practical experience in classroom teaching with mentoring from a member of the graduate faculty.

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