The purpose of this research was to determine the accuracy of two test methods used in measuring the water to cement ratio (w/c) of fresh and hardened concrete. The microwave oven test based on a current ASTM Draft was used in determining the w/c of fresh concrete while the modified Norwegian PF-method was used to determine the w/c of hardened concrete. The microwave oven evaporates the water of a 1500 gram sample of fresh concrete to determine a w/c and can accurately measure the w/c within 0.05 of the true value. The modified PF-method uses an absorption method similar to ASTM C97 and Powers’ hydrations models to determine the w/c of hardened concrete. 100mm diameter concrete cores were prepared from slabs and 50mm thick concrete cylinders were tested. The results from this hardened concrete test had a large degree of variability; however, it was a useful indicator of concrete segregation.

This research investigates motivational and procedural aspects of households’ long-term decisions of residential locations. The main goal of the research is to develop microbehavioural models of location processes in order to implement this critical land use component within a microsimulation-based model of Integrated Land Use, Transportation and Environment (ILUTE). The research takes a disaggregate and longitudinal approach to develop the models, which is consistent with the real-world decision-making process of households concerning their movements from one residence to another over time. It identifies two sequential model components to represent households’ relocation behaviour: (1) a model of household residential mobility that determines whether a household decides to become active in the housing market, and (2) a (re) location choice model. Both components are empirically investigated using retrospective surveys of housing careers. For the residential mobility decision, the research tests continuous-time hazard duration models and discrete-time panel logit models, and attempts to capture heterogeneity effects due to repeated choices within both modelling techniques. A discrete-time random parameter model is selected for implementation within ILUTE since it incorporates time-varying covariates. Assuming a sequential decision process, this mobility decision model is linked to the (re) location choice model that establishes preference orderings for each active household for a given set of dwelling units that it considers to relocate within the housing market. A unique feature of the (re) location model developed in this research is that it incorporates reference dependence that explicitly recognizes the role of the status quo and captures asymmetric responses towards gains and losses in making location choice decisions. The research then estimates an asking price model, which is used to generate base prices for active dwellings to interact with active households through a market clearing process within a microsimulation environment. A multilevel model that simultaneously accounts for both temporal and spatial heterogeneity is developed in this research using multi-period property transaction data. Finally, this research simulates evolution of households’ location choices for a twenty-year period (1986-2006) and compares the results against observed location patterns.

A TLD (tuned liquid damper) is a passive control devise on top of a structure that dissipates the input excitation energy through the liquid boundary layer friction, the free surface contamination, and wave breaking. In order to design an efficient TLD, using an appropriate model to illustrate the liquid behaviour as well as knowing optimum TLD parameters is of crucial importance. In this study the accuracy of the existing models which are able to capture the liquid motion behaviour are investigated and the effective range of important TLD parameters are introduced through real-time hybrid shaking table tests.

Due to legally restrictive nature of public work, contracts are often awarded solely based on the price of the bid. This has often resulted in contracts being awarded to less qualified contractors. Between the practices developed to deal with this issue, prequalification has proven to be one of the most effective practices in dealing with this problem. As it was investigated in this research, practice of prequalification is widespread amongst the public owners in the region. However, an in-depth look at the practices has revealed that these owners are not currently using this process to its fullest potential and integration of some of the best practices suggested in this paper has the potential to make this process more effective. This research also contains a specially fabricated model which encumbers all of the suggested practices and aims at creating a simple, practical and transparent model for the public owners in the Southern Ontario region.

Designing durable concrete structures is becoming increasingly important with emphasis being placed on extending service life. This project focuses on the effect of low temperatures on chloride binding, chloride binding capacity and ion-binder interactions with respect to hydroxyl ions and pH. Three supplementary cementitious materials were used as well as two w/b ratios, and four curing times. The effect of temperature cycling on chloride binding, binding capacity and ion-binder interaction were also investigated. With temperatures decreasing from 23°C to -15°C, there is a decrease in bound chloride and chloride binding capacity, with GGBFS>GU>MK>SF being the order of binding. When temperature cycling was performed, the binding capacity changed depending on the exposure temperature, with warmer temperatures associated with higher binding capacities. When service life estimates were conducted using Life-365 software, it was found chloride binding capacities determined at 23°C may not be conservative when estimating service life in colder climates.

A TLD (tuned liquid damper) is a passive control devise on top of a structure that dissipates the input excitation energy through the liquid boundary layer friction, the free surface contamination, and wave breaking. In order to design an efficient TLD, using an appropriate model to illustrate the liquid behaviour as well as knowing optimum TLD parameters is of crucial importance. In this study the accuracy of the existing models which are able to capture the liquid motion behaviour are investigated and the effective range of important TLD parameters are introduced through real-time hybrid shaking table tests.

Designing durable concrete structures is becoming increasingly important with emphasis being placed on extending service life. This project focuses on the effect of low temperatures on chloride binding, chloride binding capacity and ion-binder interactions with respect to hydroxyl ions and pH. Three supplementary cementitious materials were used as well as two w/b ratios, and four curing times. The effect of temperature cycling on chloride binding, binding capacity and ion-binder interaction were also investigated. With temperatures decreasing from 23°C to -15°C, there is a decrease in bound chloride and chloride binding capacity, with GGBFS>GU>MK>SF being the order of binding. When temperature cycling was performed, the binding capacity changed depending on the exposure temperature, with warmer temperatures associated with higher binding capacities. When service life estimates were conducted using Life-365 software, it was found chloride binding capacities determined at 23°C may not be conservative when estimating service life in colder climates.

Due to legally restrictive nature of public work, contracts are often awarded solely based on the price of the bid. This has often resulted in contracts being awarded to less qualified contractors. Between the practices developed to deal with this issue, prequalification has proven to be one of the most effective practices in dealing with this problem. As it was investigated in this research, practice of prequalification is widespread amongst the public owners in the region. However, an in-depth look at the practices has revealed that these owners are not currently using this process to its fullest potential and integration of some of the best practices suggested in this paper has the potential to make this process more effective. This research also contains a specially fabricated model which encumbers all of the suggested practices and aims at creating a simple, practical and transparent model for the public owners in the Southern Ontario region.

This research investigates motivational and procedural aspects of households’ long-term decisions of residential locations. The main goal of the research is to develop microbehavioural models of location processes in order to implement this critical land use component within a microsimulation-based model of Integrated Land Use, Transportation and Environment (ILUTE). The research takes a disaggregate and longitudinal approach to develop the models, which is consistent with the real-world decision-making process of households concerning their movements from one residence to another over time. It identifies two sequential model components to represent households’ relocation behaviour: (1) a model of household residential mobility that determines whether a household decides to become active in the housing market, and (2) a (re) location choice model. Both components are empirically investigated using retrospective surveys of housing careers. For the residential mobility decision, the research tests continuous-time hazard duration models and discrete-time panel logit models, and attempts to capture heterogeneity effects due to repeated choices within both modelling techniques. A discrete-time random parameter model is selected for implementation within ILUTE since it incorporates time-varying covariates. Assuming a sequential decision process, this mobility decision model is linked to the (re) location choice model that establishes preference orderings for each active household for a given set of dwelling units that it considers to relocate within the housing market. A unique feature of the (re) location model developed in this research is that it incorporates reference dependence that explicitly recognizes the role of the status quo and captures asymmetric responses towards gains and losses in making location choice decisions. The research then estimates an asking price model, which is used to generate base prices for active dwellings to interact with active households through a market clearing process within a microsimulation environment. A multilevel model that simultaneously accounts for both temporal and spatial heterogeneity is developed in this research using multi-period property transaction data. Finally, this research simulates evolution of households’ location choices for a twenty-year period (1986-2006) and compares the results against observed location patterns.

Collaborative consumption is the culture of sharing instead of ownership in consumer behaviours. Transportation services such as ridesharing, carsharing, and bikesharing have recently adopted collaborative business models. Such services require real-time management of the available fleets to increase revenues and reduce costs. This thesis proposes two dynamic models for real-time management of carsharing and ridesharing services. In ridesharing, an assignment problem is solved to match drivers with passengers. The model is expanded to include multi-passenger and multi-driver matches. In carsharing, vehicles are relocated between parking stations to service the users. Results of the two models are compared to benchmark models which provide lower-bound solutions.