Theodore Cleveland - Associate Professor
Contact Information
Theodore Cleveland, Ph.D., P.E.
Department of Civil Engineering
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, TX 79409-1022
Tel:(806) 742-2801
Fax: (806) 742-3449
Email:
Long Vita
Education
- Ph.D. - Civil Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA(1989)
- M.S. - Civil Engineering, University of California, Lo Angeles, CA (1987).
- B.S. – Environmental Resources Engineering, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA (1986).
Area of Practice: Dr. Cleveland blends strong skills in water resources investigation using laboratory and field methods with equally strong skills in information management, experimental design, and computational modeling. He is a competent code developer, experimental researcher, and modeler. His technical background includes environmental and civil engineering, and his research work is focused on water resources problems encompassed by both of these areas. His recent work has been in surface water hydrology both in the acquisition of data but also its
interpretation.
Synopsis of Water Resources Experience: Dr. Cleveland has experience in the development of computational and experimental tools to support hydrologic research and development as well as having conducted research in solid-liquid separation. He has supervised numerous studies of natural water, storm water,
and wastewater systems. He has personally conducted sewer infiltration studies, field dye-tracer studies, and rapid biological assessments of a coastal stream. In addition to possessing experimental capabilities, to include the invention and fabrication of instruments when commercial devices are cost prohibitive, he is an accomplished computer programmer. He has personally constructed three cluster computers to support hydrologic data processing and has built image collection systems to measure flows by image interpretation.
Project Activity: Current projects include research on hydrologic modeling approaches for low-slope watersheds, applicability of the rational and modified rational method for transportation infrastructure design, and culvert hydraulics that facilitate solids transport through the culvert to preserve the natural stream-bed gradient. Dr. Cleveland is also designing a laboratory research program to support the development of a flexible armoring system for wave protection and erosion reduction in inland waterways.
Past projects include: research to estimate the effect of urbanization on storm water runoff quantity and timing; research to quantify performance of temporary sediment controls in highway construction, including use of rapidbiological assessment to quantify impact to receiving streams; research to identify pollutant sources in an urban underground storm drainage system and mitigation strategies; use of agricultural-derived filter-aids to produce burnable filter-cake. Dr. Cleveland also developed techniques to identify rainfall induced inflow and infiltration by ammonia dilution in the collection system.
In addition to these kinds of projects, Dr. Cleveland has developed internetbased computational tools to facilitate fate and transport estimation of suspended and dissolved constituents and interpret groundwater pumping data. He has also built instrumentation to make requisite measurements.
Academic Experience
- Associate Professor, 2008-present; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Texas Tech University.
- Associate Professor, 1990-2008; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Houston.
- Hydrogeologist,1989-1990; CH2M-HILL, Emeryville, California
Project Experience:
Listed below are selected examples of Dr. Cleveland’s project experience.
Subdivision of Watersheds for Modeling: Dr. Cleveland participated as part of a threeinstitution team to develop a protocol for appropriate subdivision of watersheds into subwatersheds for hydrologic modeling.
Guidance for Design in Areas of Extreme Bed-Load Mobility: Dr. Cleveland participated as part of a multi-institution team to research a recurring problem for rural highways that involves low-water crossings and other low-height structures crossing streams within the Edwards Plateau (Hill Country) region of central Texas. The flows typically exhibit high velocities, and a large concomitant flux of gravel and cobble size bed load. This bed load often covers or buries lowwater crossings, damages structures, and contributes to partial or complete failure of structures. Dr. Cleveland’s role in the project was to design, build, and operate a physical model to simulate the solids flow behavior observed in the field and explore design features that could accommodate solids flow.
Floodwise, Block B, Harris County Flood Control District: Dr. Cleveland supported the Block B team with hypothetical watershed modeling. Two kinds of models were examined: generic models and semi-realistic models. The generic models allow the modeling team refined control over hydraulic elements, basin development factor, etc. The semi-realistic models ensure the modeling effort produces results (hydrographs) that were similar to observed hydrographs without an involved calibration exercise.
BMP Effectiveness: Dr. Cleveland co-operated with Harris County on a BMP effectiveness study that involved the selection and monitoring of two water quality enhancement ponds. In addition to developing a scoring scheme (to evaluate adherence to design guidelines and policy), an ideal flow model of a dozen or so ponds was used to identify short circuit potential.
Use of Agricultural Fibers to Produce Burnable Filter Cake: Dr. Cleveland supervised several studies in the use of Kenaf fibers to enhance industrial filtration processes and recover net energy when the processes were complete. Using fibers as admixtures to enhance sludge dewatering, oil-water separation, and as a poly-electrolyte substitute in centrifuges we concluded that fibers were beneficial to the processes but at the time (circa 1995) the energy recovery was not sufficient to overcome the added economic cost of handling fibers.
Evaluation of the Impacts, Performance, and Costs of Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans as Applied to Highway Construction Activities: Dr. Cleveland supervised three field investigations were conducted along with a laboratory study of erosion to justify the costs involved in installing and maintaining storm water pollution prevention devices in road construction activities. This research included the use of bioassessment techniques to determine
if impact in a stream could even be detected.
Honors and Awards
Service Activities
Recent Publications
- Cleveland, T.G., and A. Fashokun, 2006. “Construction-Associated Solids Loads with a Temporary Sediment Control BMP.” American Society of Civil Engineers, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, Vol. 132, No. 10, pp 1122-1125.
- Tiller, F.M., T.G. Cleveland, and R. Lu, 1999. “Pumping slurries forming highly compactable cakes.” Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research., 38, (3), pp 590-595.
- Lui, H., Cleveland, T.G., and KH Wang, 1999. “Erosion Dependence on Geotechnical Properties of Soil” Journal of American Water Resources Association., 35(1), pp 167- 176.
- Varghese, B.K, and T.G. Cleveland, 1998. “Kenaf as a Deep Bed Filter Medium to Remove Oil from Oil-in-Water Emulsions.” Journal of Separation Science and Technology, 33 (14), pp. 2197-2220.