Safety vs. Cost

The Problem 

In our daily lives, most of us take the world around us for granted – the world constructed by humans in particular.  We have gotten used to an infrastructure that functions well.  Even though we know that it functions well, many projects created by Civil Engineers specifically go unseen.  For example, we flush the toilet or take a shower at least once a day (I hope), but how many of us actually know what happens when we push the lever?  How many people know the various factors that go into designing a road besides the fact that there are curves, grades, and asphalt on the top?  Without most of the projects built by Civil Engineers, modern society could not function.

My point is, that we as humans have gotten too sucked in to the thought that everything in life should run smoothly.  The question that’s commonly asked is, “Why can’t we just produce the safest roads, bridges, and buildings possible so that no one will ever get hurt?”  Well even if we did, would that ensure the safety of everyone?  Through the remainder of this post, I am going to focus on the topic of safety when related to transportation and hopefully be able to answer this question.

Analyzing the Issue

When a Civil Engineer is designing a road, one of the main thoughts that cross their mind is cost vs. safety.  The top priority ethically in any project completed is the welfare of the public.  Not far behind in the discussion, is the cost of the project.  To look further into this dispute, let’s look at roads for an example.

If a Civil Engineer were to design the safest road ever made, what would be the result (assuming the road would be similar to what they are like in the world today, but just safer)?   The immediate benefit of this choice would be that there is a really safe road to drive on.  The immediate downfall of this choice would be that it probably would cost a whole lot of money, and also most likely would not be able to be repaired easily.

On the flip side of the coin, let’s say that we design the most cost-efficient road possible that still meets the basic requirements for a safe road – as it is needed to even construct the road in the first place.   The immediate benefit would be that it was less expensive to produce, so there would probably be money left to repair the road when needed.  The immediate downfall is that it’s probably not as safe as the really safe road.  So the remaining question is what makes a road safe or unsafe?  

Before answering this question we should keep in mind the process of making a road.   Before the actual construction of a project, an engineer will most likely create a computer simulation of it to make it “safe” according to the computer.  With roads, this involves everything from the alignment of the road, to making sure there’s enough sight distance around or over a curve, and assuring the road drains properly.  The problem is that engineering models will always be subject to uncertainty. There’s no possible way to know what the weather will be like exactly 257 days after the completion of the road.  I mean, the National Weather Service couldn’t be accurate over the course of a day when they told us we were supposed to get a foot of snow last night.  On top of that, we are all humans.  We make mistakes.  No matter how safe of a road you construct in today’s day and age, I don’t think we will ever go without an accident for an entire day, let alone a week or a year.

Conclusion

With all that being said, I think that there needs to be a balance between the cost and safety of a project.  If there’s too much focus on the safety, the road will become too expensive to even build let alone maintain.  If there’s too much effort put into the cost efficiency, the road won’t be very safe to drive on and will probably need to be repaired more frequently.  The bottom line is that we should not be putting all the marbles in one bucket or the other. As I stated previously, without both cost and safety taken into account, the project will remain impractical or dysfunctional. 

Effects of Earthquakes on Civil Engineering

The Problem

 

 As we approach the third month of 2012, we can only wonder what lies ahead for this year.  There have been many predictions for 2012 ranging anywhere from new technology being released to the end of the world. The topic that I would like to focus on is natural disasters – earthquakes in particular.  Some believe that the frequency and magnitude of natural disasters are increasing, whereas others believe they are remaining the same. Nevertheless, no matter what you believe, you cannot deny the fact that natural disasters continue to occur. Therefore, they are an issue that we need to be prepared for in order to know how to handle them appropriately. 

 

I’m sure many of us recall what happened on March 11, 2011 involving the 9.0 magnitude earthquake followed by a 23 foot tsunami that left Japan in ruins.  This tragedy was an example of a natural disaster that no one could do much about.  But there are some natural disasters that are controllable, or maybe even preventable.   Natural disasters occur when extreme magnitude events cause severe damage to society.  Therefore, if we are able to manage the impact of a natural event on society, it may no longer be a natural disaster.


In regard to earthquakes specifically, the natural disaster in Japan was a wake-up call to the United States. Approximately 30,000 people died in Japan, many in the days after the tsunami due to the fact that help could not reach those who needed it. This is where Civil Engineering comes in.  Engineers knew before this disaster that the coastal regions of the United States (California, Oregon, and Washington specifically) were at risk of natural disasters, but they didn’t even imagine anything to this scale happening.
  

Steps For Prevention

With our newly attained knowledge, we have now begun to prepare in case it happens in the United States.  One of the main ways that Civil Engineers are changing their work habits is by designing cities – or putting new means of transportation in place in that city – to allow a better flow of traffic in case a disaster does occur.  By doing this, hopefully it will prevent death due to lack of accessibility.   

Additionally, Civil Engineers are focusing more on the type of soil they are building structures on in the coastal regions.  In Japan, most of the actual structures were built well enough to withstand the rising water without collapsing, but the soil they were built on was not.  As a result, some houses tilted down as much as four feet due to a phenomenon called liquefaction (continued shaking that essentially turns solid soil into liquid; shown above).  Oregon State University is working closely with the Oregon Department of Transportation in order to research steps to reduce liquefaction along with other effects of earthquakes.  Also as a part of their cooperative research, they have concluded that 1,100 bridges in Oregon alone are at risk of liquefaction if a natural disaster were to occur.  They are working to reconstruct and/or relocate these bridges in order to make them safe for use of the general public. 

Conclusion

I think that the field of Civil Engineering as a whole is taking very good steps in order to make the coastal regions of the United States a safer environment to live in.  The research of OSU will assist with how to design coastal cities better, along with the arrangement of structures within them. Hopefully, they will also be successful in finding ways to prevent liquefaction from happening in order to limit the damage of a natural disaster.  Thankfully we are learning before the event occurs, so through continued research and action we should be able to save lives by preparing well for the unknown.

Introduction to Civil Engineering

What is Civil Engineering?

Civil Engineering is the field of engineering which deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of various projects including buildings, bridges, tunnels, dams, and other structures. The field also deals with environmental and water concerns, ensuring that the general public can live in a healthy environment. Civil engineering is commonly broken into several sub-disciplines including structural engineering, transportation engineering, geotechnical engineering, environmental engineering, water resources engineering, materials engineering, municipal or urban engineering, surveying, and construction engineering.  North Dakota State University offers five of these sub-disciplines including structural, transportation, geotechnical, environmental, and water resources.

Structural Engineering

Structural engineers are responsible for the design aspect of all structures. Some of the common projects for this sub-discipline include buildings, bridges, towers, and dams, but can also range from the design of an amusement park to a stadium. Structural engineers need to be able to select the correct type of material to use for a specific project to be able to withstand the applied load in the most cost efficient manner.

Transportation Engineering

Transportation engineers are needed when it comes to the planning, designing, construction, operation, and maintenance of the transportation groundwork.  Their projects range from highways to railroads, airports, waterways, bike trails, and sidewalks.  Transportation engineers continue to try to improve the transportation systems that are already in place, along with establishing new modes of transportation to meet the increasing demand.

Geotechnical Engineering

Geotechnical engineers’ main purpose is to work with soil. Nearly every Civil Engineering project is supported by the ground. It is the geotechnical engineer’s job to make sure that the soil at the site is able to support the structure that is being put in place. Additionally, they work with environmental engineers to clean up sites that are contaminated and to analyze the seepage of groundwater.

Environmental Engineering

Environmental engineers are responsible for protecting the health and safety of humans, along with protecting the natural environment from pollution. Their duties include planning, designing, operating, and maintaining systems to purify drinking water, remove pollutants from the air and water, and to safely dispose of solid and hazardous wastes. They may also be involved with enforcing environmental regulations in order to preserve a healthy living environment for society.

Water Resource Engineering

Water resource engineers are responsible for everything to do with water. Their job is to determine how much water is needed where, and to figure out a way to transport the water there that is needed. They work with structural engineers to design ways to control the flow of water through projects like canals, dams, levees, and ditches. Water resource engineers also work on projects involved with flood control, hydroelectric power, and protecting beaches from erosion.

What is the Purpose of Civil Engineering?

If you were to erase the world as you know it and imagine a world with no skyscrapers, houses, roads, bridges, dams, or railroads, there wouldn’t be much man-made creation left. It’s hard to picture since we would be left with virtually no infrastructure. Has there ever even been a day in your life when you haven’t stepped foot in a building or on a road? I didn’t think so. Even though most of these projects aren’t completed by Civil Engineers alone, this branch of engineering plays a large role in the everyday life of the majority of society today. Like most other types of engineering, Civil Engineering is designed to improve the lives of people. 

Civil Engineering looks to improve life by constantly trying to find a more efficient way to go about a task. Whether the job is trying to clear up traffic congestion, provide clean drinking water, or simply designing a building, we are looking to complete the task in the most time and cost efficient way possible with the safety of the public taking a priority.

AutoCAD Civil 3D Review

What is AutoCAD Civil 3D?

AutoCAD Civil 3D software is a Building Information Modeling (BIM) solution for civil engineering design and documentation. Civil 3D was designed to be used by civil engineers, drafters, designers, and technicians who are working on transportation design, land development, and water projects.

First of all, we should cover the credibility that I have to actually speak on this topic.  I have used Civil 3D now for almost a year, primarily for the projects in my Transportation Engineering class. I have used normal AutoCAD, which I will be talking about shortly, for a little over three years. In the past, I have taken two

separate classes specifically tailored to teach you how to use the program – one in high school, and one here at NDSU.  Therefore, I would consider myself pretty well experienced with the functions of the AutoCAD program.  As far as Civil 3D goes, I am not nearly as experienced as with AutoCAD, but I do have decent knowledge about the basic functions and capabilities of the program.

What are the Strengths and Flaws of the Program?

Some of the recent improvements to the 2012 version of Civil 3D include an improved alignment layout, along with tools that enable easier sharing of drafting and design standards from one company or organization to another. Autodesk has also made corridor enhancements streamline corridor editing, and data import improvements help to simplify the creation of intelligent objects. On top of the new improvements, the program already had pretty amazing capabilities. Without getting too technical, I’ll just say that the program can essentially design an entire city on one document.  The design isn’t solely limited to the roads either, but you can also plan drainage corridors, balance the earthwork that is required for a project, simulate driving down the actual road you created, and much more.

Overall, the 2012 Civil 3D version is a very impressive program that has truly remarkable capabilities, for example designing an entire city while you’re sitting in front of your computer.  Like I said previously though, I haven’t used the program for too long yet so take my word for what it’s worth.  As far as the flaws of the program go, I really just haven’t had enough time to play around with the program. The only major one that I can think of is the difficulty of learning the program to begin with. For my first project in Transportation Engineering, I put in eight hours entirely devoted to learning how to use the most basic functions of the Civil 3D program.  With that being said, it’s understandable for a program to be difficult to learn when it has that many capabilities.   

How Does Civil 3D Compare to AutoCAD?

AutoCAD is a software program that was created for computer-aided design (CAD) and drafting in 2D and 3D.  The main difference between this program and Civil 3D is that it’s simply not as powerful of a program. What I mean by this is that Civil 3D can do all the same functions of AutoCAD plus more. It’s basically just the program that’s a step up on both the price and the capability chart. The only thing that I like about the AutoCAD program more than Civil 3D is that it is far more user friendly. Though this is probably due to the fact that one program has far more capabilities than the other.

Keeping this fact in mind, my advice to any AutoCAD user is to use the program that only has the functions you need for the project you’re working on – that is, unless you’ve taken an instructive course on how to use Civil 3D. If you do that, you should face far less complications with the program you’re using and will probably finish it a lot faster. On top of that, you will be much happier when you finish too.