The main objective of this research is to develop new unbiased plotting position formulas for two general probability distributions which are widely used in hydrologic frequency analyses: the Pearson type III (P3) and the General Extreme Value (GEV) distributions. The research study is divided into three parts. First, using the Probability Weighted Moment (PWM) theory an analytical method is proposed to derive the exact plotting positions for systematic flood records (i.e., complete flood samples which occurred during the period of systematic gauging). Second, for the convenience of practical application, simple unbiased plotting position formulas representing a very reliable approximation to the exact plotting positions are developed. Third, new unbiased plotting position formulas for P3 and GEV distributions are proposed for historical flood records (i.e., data on very large floods which occurred outside or within the systematic gauging period). The incorporation of historical flood information in plotting position formulas would significantly improve the estimation of flood quantiles. / The analytical method and plotting position formulas proposed in the present study are verified and compared with various existing techniques and formulas. The suggested analytical method was found to be preferable to the conventional direct numerical integration and the Monte Carlo simulation procedure in the estimation of expected values of P3 and GEV order statistics. Results of the numerical and graphical comparisons have also demonstrated that the plotting position formulas developed in this study provided a better agreement to the exact plotting positions than several existing formulas. In particular, the suggested formulas are more flexible because they can take explicitly into account the skewness coefficient of the underlying distribution. Moreover, for illustration purposes, the proposed formulas were applied to observed flow data of various rivers. It was found that the proposed formulas provided better estimates of flood quantiles than many existing formulas including the well-known Weibull formula. Finally, special probability papers for various skewness values are developed for the P3 and GEV distributions. It can be concluded that the development of new plotting position formulas and probability papers for the P3 and GEV distributions in the present study has provided a convenient and practical tool for the application of these distributions in engineering practice.

Ductile coupled walls are important elements in resisting seismic loads in tall buildings. Ductile coupling beams must possess excellent energy absorption characteristics and significant ductility. Coupling beams with small span-to-depth ratios typically utilize diagonal bars to resist the shear and flexure. The present method for the confinement of the diagonal reinforcement requires closely spaced seismic hoops. This type of coupling beam is difficult to assemble and has several areas of congested steel bars. To simplify construction and ease the steel congestion, it is proposed that the confinement of the diagonal bars be provided by headed bars. / Two full-scale coupling beam specimens, one with confining hoops and one with headed bar confinement, were tested under reversed cyclic loading at McGill University. Both specimens contained identical diagonal bars and distributed reinforcement and were constructed from the same batch of concrete. The responses of the specimens were compared with respect to the general hysteretic responses, including ductility, energy absorption and load sustainability. The specimen using headed bar confinement performed as well as, or better than the specimen with seismic hoops. The ease of construction and excellent performance of the specimen containing headed bars make this type of confinement a viable alternative for ductile coupling beams.

In this research, numerical models are used to perform dynamic nonlinear analyses of a line section subjected to sudden component failures. This line section is composed of five suspension structures and two dead-end structures, for a total of six spans. The event studied involves the simultaneous rupture of two conductors that initiates the subsequent failure of two suspension towers in torsion. / For each analysis performed, cable tensions at suspension points, insulator string rotations and the longitudinal reactions at supports are computed. For the first time, numerical results are reported based on the response at dead-end structures in the line section subjected to cable ruptures. As observed, the peak longitudinal load at dead-end structures is significant. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

The purpose of this research program was to study the behaviour of full-scale deep beams with realistic reinforcement details. In the overall research program, a total of eight deep beams were tested. A companion study by Li (2003) presents the results of four of these beams. This research examines the other four beams, two without uniformly distributed crack control reinforcement and two with distributed horizontal and vertical reinforcement. The specimens' dimensions were 2000 mm long and 400 mm thick, with two specimens having heights of 1160 mm and the other two heights of 1840 mm. The specimens were loaded with a central loading plate 300 mm long and 400 mm wide. The end bearing plates were 250 mm long and 400 mm wide. All specimens contained seven 15M bars forming the main tension tie reinforcement. / The test results provided information on the influence of the uniformly distributed reinforcement and the crack and strain development up to failure. The ductility of the specimens containing only the main tension ties was limited due to the formation of splitting cracks along the anchorages of the main tension ties during the later stages of testing. The uniformly distributed reinforcement provided additional tension ties that increased the capacity and the ductility. Strut-and-tie models were developed to predict the capacities. The FIP Recommendations (FIP 1996) were used to determine the contributions of the two major mechanisms, direct strut action and indirect strut action. This approach gave very conservative strength predictions. More refined strut-and-tie models were developed for the specimens with uniformly distributed reinforcement. These refined models gave more accurate predictions of the capacities of the deep beams.

The re-circulating region of the turbulent flow produced by a sudden lateral expansion in the width of an open-channel flow was study experimentally for the effect of bed friction on the flow. Dye was introduced into the recirculating region at a steady rate and the depth-averaged concentration of the dye was determined by the video imaging method. Instantaneous dye concentration images were recorded by a digital video camera. The advantage of video imaging method is its simplicity and its ability to acquire data over a large area of the turbulent flow at the condition when the lighting condition is highly non-uniform. / Experiments of the re-circulating flow were conducted over a range of water depth to study the friction effect on the transverse mixing by the horizontal turbulence. A series of four tests was carried out. / Mean concentration and root-mean-square concentration profiles were obtained at a number of cross sections along the flow in the open channel. The data were analysed for the length of the recirculating eddies, the width of the mixing layer, the width of the wake, and the dominant period of the flow oscillation. The dye concentration in the wake as an indicator of the mixing process by the horizontal turbulence, is a strong function of the bed-friction number. The results obtained from the present measurements have shown the friction effect on the horizontal turbulence to be far more significant than that was able to be detected by the previous investigation conducted in a smaller facilities using a light absorption probe.

This thesis provides details on the 109 specimen main testing program as well as a summary of past wood frame and steel frame shear wall research. An extensive review of existing data interpretation methodologies is presented. The equivalent energy elastic-plastic (EEEP) technique is chosen as most suitable for the wall systems under study to deduce key design parameters including the yield wall resistance, elastic stiffness, and system ductility. It is recommended that the EEEP methodology be implemented for all future steel frame/wood panel shear wall data interpretation. The calibration of a resistance factor for use with the limit states design philosophy consistent with the upcoming draft version of the 2005 National Building Code of Canada (NBCC) is also presented. / It was found that a resistance factor (phi) of 0.7 provided sufficient reliability and a reasonable factor of safety under the NBCC wind loading case. Final nominal strength and unit elastic stiffness values for use in design are presented in tabular format according to given perimeter fastener schedules. Finally, recommendations for future research and testing are outlined. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

In this research, the seismic response of an existing bridge bent built in the 1960's in the Montreal area is studied in order to determine its seismic deficiencies. Bridges built in the 1960's were designed with outdated codes which had inadequate seismic design detailing provisions and therefore, are expected to behave poorly during an earthquake. The existing bridge bent examined has three major design deficiencies such as large spacing of ties in the column, total lack of shear reinforcement in the beam, and lack of shear reinforcement in the beam-column joint. A one-half scale model of the existing bridge bent was designed and constructed in the laboratory. This model was tested under reversed cyclic loading to determine the maximum applied load and failure mechanisms. The experimental results of the specimen are then compared to the response predictions. Both the experimental and predicted results revealed that the bridge bent is vulnerable to shear failure in the cap beams and hence, has inadequate performance. Research should be continued on the damaged specimen to determine the repair and retrofit techniques.

Major dams in the world are often instrumented in order to validate numerical models, to gain insight into the behavior of the dam, to detect anomalies, and to enable a timely response either in the form of repairs, reservoir management, or evacuation. Advances in automated data monitoring system makes it possible to regularly collect data on a large number of instruments for a dam. Managing this data is a major concern since traditional means of monitoring each instrument are time consuming and personnel intensive. Among tasks that need to be performed are: identification of faulty instruments, removal of outliers, data interpretation, model fitting and management of alarms for detecting statistically significant changes in the response of a dam. / Statistical models such as multiple linear regression, and back propagation neural networks have been used to estimate the response of individual instruments. Multiple linear regression models are of two kinds, (1) Hydro-Seasonal-Time (HST) models and (2) models that consider concrete temperatures as predictors. / Univerariate, bivariate, and multivariate methods are proposed for the identification of anomalies in the instrumentation data. The source of these anomalies can be either bad readings, faulty instruments, or changes in dam behavior. / The proposed methodologies are applied to three different dams, Idukki, Daniel Johnson and Chute-a-Caron, which are respectively an arch, multiple arch and a gravity dam. Displacements, strains, flow rates, and crack openings of these three dams are analyzed. / This research also proposes various multivariate statistical analyses and artificial neural networks techniques to analyze dam monitoring data. One of these methods, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is concerned with explaining the variance-covariance structure of a data set through a few linear combinations of the original variables. The general objectives are (1) data reduction and (2) data interpretation. Other multivariate analysis methods such as canonical correlation analysis, partial least squares and nonlinear principal component analysis are discussed. The advantages of methodologies for noise reduction, the reduction of number of variables that have to be monitored, the prediction of response parameters, and the identification of faulty readings are discussed. Results indicated that dam responses are generally correlated and that only a few principal components can summarize the behavior of a dam.

Climatic loads (wind speed and ice accumulation) are the main factors that govern the planning and design of telecommunication towers and electric transmission lines. Whilst wind loads are covered comprehensively in the literature and in design standards, ice loads and rules for combination of wind speed on ice-covered-structures are still in development. The main difficulty in achieving a design that meets a target reliability level as specified in design codes is the uncertainty in the temporal and spatial variation of ice accretion. Due to the lack of sufficient direct field measurements, empirical models are usually utilized in combination with meteorological data to estimate the intensity of ice accumulation at specific locations. / A unique database of direct measurements on ice accumulation is available in Quebec. More than 20 years of observations from a network of 180 Passive Ice Meters (PIM) are available throughout the province. The objective of this study is to analyze this data set in order to improve existing regional design criteria and for better understanding of the atmospheric icing phenomena in Quebec. The research is limited to the study of glaze ice, which occurs in conjunction with freezing precipitation. / Firstly, several extreme-value statistical models are investigated to determine the best one or ones for describing the intensity of glaze ice accumulation. In order to increase the sample size, an event-based model, in which every icing event is counted as an independent event, is adopted. Twelve probability distribution functions are examined. The distributions are compared on the basis of the overall fit to the data and the sampling characteristics of the right tail of the distributions. No single distribution fits the data perfectly at all stations. However, the three-parameter distributions, and in particular, the Pearson type III, Generalized Pareto, Generalized Normal, and Generalized Extreme-Value distributions are the best on average. The commonly used Gumbel distribution is consistently outperformed by the three-parameter distributions. / Secondly, a reliability-based procedure is proposed for the analysis of the combined wind and ice loads and in particular for associated pressure on overhead transmission lines. Finally, a procedure for the spatial interpolation of design criteria is investigated. Spatial interpolations of the design ice thickness for a 50-years return period is performed using Kriging.

Seismic loss estimation for Montreal, Canada is performed for a 2% in 50 years seismic hazard using the HAZUS-MH4 tool developed by US Federal Emergency Management. The software is manipulated to accept a Canadian setting for the Montreal study region, which includes 522 census tracts. The accuracy of loss estimations using HAZUS is dependent on the quality and quantity of data collection and preparation. The data collected for Montreal study region comprise: 1) the building inventory 2) hazard maps regarding soil amplification, liquefaction, and landslides 3) population distribution at three different times of the day 4) census demographic information and 5) synthetic ground motion contour maps using three different ground motion prediction equations. All these data are prepared and assembled into geodatabases that are compatible with the HAZUS software. The study estimated that roughly 5% of the building stock would be damaged with direct economic losses evaluated at 1.4 billion dollars for a scenario corresponding to the 2% in 50 years scenario. The maximum number of casualties associated with this scenario corresponds to a time of occurrence of 2pm and would result in approximately 500 people being injured. Epistemic uncertainty was considered by obtaining damage estimates for three attenuation functions that were developed for Eastern North America. The results indicate that loss estimates are highly sensitive to the choice of the attenuation function and suggests that epistemic uncertainty should be considered both for the definition of the hazard function and in loss estimation methodologies. The next steps in the study should be to increase the size of the survey area to the Greater Montreal which includes more than 3 million inhabitants and to perform more targeted studies for critical areas such as downtown Montreal, and the south-eastern tip of Montreal. The current study was performed mainly for the built environment; the next phase will need to include more information relative to lifelines and their impact on risks. / Une analyse de risques sismiques est effectuée pour Montréal, pour un scénario de tremblement de terre correspondant à un aléa de 2% en 50 ans avec le logiciel HAZUS-MH4 développé par le FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). Les fichiers d'entrée des données ont été adaptés afin d'accepter les données pour la région de Montréal. L'analyse est effectuée en discrétisant le territoire selon les secteurs de recensement, soit 522 au total. La précision des estimations sur les conséquences d'un séisme dépend de la qualité et la quantité des données compilées. Les données recueillies pour la présente étude sur la région de Montréal incluent: 1) l'inventaire des bâtiments 2) les cartes de risques pour les effets de site, la liquéfaction et les glissements de terrain et 3) la répartition de la population à trois moments différents de la journée 4) le recensement démographique et 5) les cartes des mouvements du sol pour trois différentes équations de prédiction. Toutes ces données ont préparées et compilées dans des bases de données géo-référencées en format compatible avec le logiciel HAZUS. L'étude indique qu'environ 5% du parc immobilier serait endommagé pour des pertes économiques directes de 1,4 milliards de dollars. Le nombre de victimes maximum est associé avec un scénario d'occurrence à 14:00 heures avec environ 500 personnes blessées. L'incertitude épistémique a été considérée en considérant trois modèles d'atténuation proposés dans la littérature pour l'est de l'Amérique du Nord. Les résultats indiquent que les risques sont très sensibles à l'incertitude épistémique et il est recommandé de considérer cette incertitude autant dans les études de risque que pour les analyses de l'aléa sismique. Les prochaines étapes d'un projet d'évaluation des risques devrait étendre l'étude à la grande région métropolitaine et cibler des secteurs critiques tels que le centre-ville et le sud-est de l'île de Montréal. La présente étude est limitée aux dommages aux bâtiments. Il serait important de modéliser la vulnérabilité des lignes de vie et de quantifier leur impact sur l'estimation des risques.