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Civil and Structural Engineering

Featured Entries

Geotechnical engineering

Folds, faults and joints - geological structures

Sedimentary strata may lie horizontal as originally deposited or they may be bent into more or less regular folds, they may be displaced along fractures, or they may be traversed by planes or parting known as joints. Geologic structures influence engineering projects in many ways. Folds and faults obviously have much to do with the selection of dam sites and even such seemingly unimportant matters as the spacing of joints may have vital bearing on uplifting pressure and safety of dams. Gushed an
Environmental engineering

Activated sludge process (ASP) - biological treatment for wastewater

What is activated sludge? It is a FLOC (i.e. body of micro-organisms gathered in a crowd) produced in a raw or settled sewage by the growth of bacteria and other organisms in the presence of dissolved oxygen and accumulated in sufficient concentrations by returning floc previously formed. Activated sludge process Activated Sludge Process is the biological method for treatment of wastewater. It was devised by Arden and Lockett in 1914. In this process a mixture of sewage and activated sludge is a
Structural engineering

Earthquake resistant structures

In countries where earthquakes are of frequent occurrence, important buildings are now designed to withstand all but the most severe shocks. Structures founded on hard rocks are generally less damaged than those on soft grounds and it is found that properly designed steel-framed or ferro-concrete structures possess the highest degree of immunity from damage. Thus, a rigid frame carried on a strong foundation would undergo as a whole the same movement as the ground. In soft ground a concrete raft
Geotechnical engineering

Subsurface investigation - boring and sampling methods

Introduction Accurate and complete subsurface information is necessary for all types of civil engineering projects, for without this information it is not possible to arrive at a rational design for structure and proper construction procedures. Structures have failed because of inadequate or misleading subsurface data, and many so called successful structures could probably have been completed at much less cost because proper consideration have been given to obtaining more complete subsurface in
Steel structures

Advantages and disadvantages of steel construction

Advantages of steel construction 1. Reliability Steel structures are very reliable. The reasons for this reliability include consistency and uniformity in properties, better quality control because of factory manufacture, large elasticity, and ductility. If different specimens of some types of steel are tested in the laboratory for yield stress, ultimate strengths and elongations, the variation is much lesser than other materials like concrete and wood. Further, because of truly homogeneous and
Surveying

Introduction to leveling

Leveling It is the branch of Surveying in which relative elevations of points are determined. There are following Types of Leveling 1. Ordinary leveling It is general purpose Leveling and unless otherwise stated all types of Leveling will come into this category. 2. Reciprocal leveling This is done when a site is unusually long, i.e. crossing the river. Sights are taken from the two banks by placing the staff on the opposite bank almost simultaneously and finding the average of apparent differen
Surveying

Essential parts of a theodolite

1. Tripod It should be of a rigid type capable of fixing the position of the instrument with a small lateral movement on its top when required. 2. Foot screws These are provided for leveling the instruments. 3. Plate level Provided for checking the level of the instrument. 4. Horizontal clamp Provided to clamp the movement in horizontal plane. 5. Vertical clamp For clamping movement in vertical plane. 6. Slow motion screws These screws are used to move Theodolite either vertically or horizontall
Surveying

Computation of corrected bearings and internal angles

Fore bearing It is the bearing of line when the first letter of line say AB is taken as origin. This is to be written as Fore Bearing (F.B). Back bearing It is the bearing of line when second letter of line say AB is taken as origin and this is to be written as Back Bearing (B.B). Theoretical difference between Fore Bearing (F.B) and Back Bearing (B.B) should be 180°. Local attraction If the difference between magnetic Fore Bearing and Back Bearing of a line is not exactly 180°, it may be due to
Surveying

Closed traversing with the help of theodolite including example

Latitude and Departure In order to do start with Theodolite Traversing you should be familiar with the Latitude and Departure which are discussed briefly below, OA is the line with whole circle bearing equal to θ. OC = Latitude = lCosθ OB = Departure = lSinθ By using the above formulae for Latitude and Departure with whole circle bearing, calculator will be giving algebraic sign automatically for Latitude and Departure. For a closed Traverse ∑ of all Latitude is equal to zero and ∑ of Depart
Environmental engineering

General specifications of pipes being used in water distribution system

The following points should be kept in mind while selecting pipe for a certain water supply system, Carrying capacity. Durability. Fire cost. Maintenance cost. Type of water to be conveyed. 1. Cast iron pipes (C.I) Most widely used for the city water supplies. Average life is 100 years. Corrosion my reduce its capacity by 70%. Must be lined with cement or bitumen. C = 130 for new pipe. C = 100 for old pipe (Selected for Design). "C" is the Hazen Williams Coefficient known as HWC. It i
Surveying

Technical terms in leveling and equipment

Leveling equipment a) Level There are different types of Levels as follows, 1. Dumpy level It is the type of Level in which whole body of level is cast in one unit. 2. Tilting level Still being used, Level can be tilted in vertical plane with the help of tilting drum. 3. Automatic level In this type, the line of sight becomes horizontal when the Level is within certain limits. This system provides the works on the principal of gravitation. b) Staff It is the graduated rod of maximum 5m length us
Geotechnical engineering

Introduction to tunneling

A tunnel is an elongated, narrow essentially linear underground opening with a length greatly exceeding its width or height. Most tunnels are nearly or exactly horizontal but for special purposes, tunnels may be driven at angles up to 30 degrees from the earth's surface. The one which is greater than 30 degrees from horizontal are designed as shafts. When rocks in tunnels are highly in-competent, especially when underground water is present, tunneling becomes a very costly and hazardous operatio
Geotechnical engineering

Tunnels - geological exploration and sections

Tunnel sections Tunnels range in dimensions of cross-sections from those of small galleries driven by miners working with hand tools, to tunnels large enough to accommodate railroad trains, double lane of highway traffic, or to transport very large volume of water as in diversion structures in dams. A minimum size of tunnel is 9 ft high and 4 ft wide at the working face. Designed shapes or sizes of tunnels in x-section conform to a planned uses to tunnel and some extent to the nature of the mate
Geotechnical engineering

Methods of rock reinforcement in tunnels

Rock support for tunnels and underground cavern design is a demanding and very complex task. In principle, the problem can be approached from two directions: The first way is to define the relationship between geo-mechanical properties of the rock mass and the support methods used. This is mostly based on the utilization of statistical and empirical data gathered in similar conditions. The second way is to estimate the deformation characteristics of the rock structure, and then the related effec
Surveying

Measurement of horizontal angle with theodolite including example

Angle measurement For angle measurement with theodolite vertical hair is used. Basically, there are two methods horizontal angle measurement, Repetition method (For single angle) Reiteration method (For more than one angle) 1. By Repetition method Let suppose it is desire to measure the angle A from the following figure. We will use repetition method for this purpose. Procedure Setup the theodolite at station A. Bisect the point B with vertical hair of theodolite and move telescope in clockw
Surveying

Introduction to traversing - open and closed traverses

Traversing It is the method of establishing horizontal controls. Traverse Traverse is a series of connected lines forming or not forming a loop. In the first case it is called closed traverse (when the loop is formed) and in the second case it called open traverse (when loop is not formed). Vertical control That is the reference point in vertical plane, it includes series of benchmarks and points of known elevations. Horizontal control It is the series of points in the horizontal plane of known
Surveying

Types of Meridians and Bearings

Meridians Meridian is a reference direction with respect to which the direction of lines is mentioned. There are three types of meridians - True Meridian, Magnetic Meridian & Arbitrary Meridian 1. True Meridian It is the reference direction of north pole of earth from a given station point. It is also called geographic meridian. 2. Magnetic Meridian It is the direction of north pole indicated by magnetic needle. 3. Arbitrary Meridian This is any assume direction to a well-defined object. It
Surveying

Methods of booking and reduction of levels

1. Using rise and fall method In this method booking is done in the following manner, B.S I.S F.S Rise Fall R.L Remarks 2.570 - - - - 100.00 A 3.750 - 1.200 1.370 - 101.37 C.P - - 3.750 - 0.70 100.67 B 5.620 - 4.950 1.370 0.70 - - 1) On any page of book, the first reading is always a B.S and last reading is always a F.S. If you are not getting F.S as last reading on each page, then it means you have done mistake while booking readings. 2) From the B.S next F.S is subtracted. If the answer is pos
Environmental engineering

Types of sewers and sewer systems

Types of sewers 1. Sanitary sewer It carries sanitary sewage i.e. wastewater from municipality including domestic and industrial wastewater. 2. Storm sewer It carries storm sewage including surface runoff and street wash. 3. Combined sewer It carries domestic, industrial and storm sewage. 4. House sewer It is the sewer conveying sewage from plumbing system of a building to common/municipal sewer. 5. Lateral sewer This sewer carries discharge from house sewers. 6. Submain sewer This sewer receive
Surveying

Electronic distance measurement (EDM) - history and modern surveying

History of electronic distance measurement In surveying distance measurements were always a challenge for surveyors specially when long distances were to be measured with high accuracy. In 1950 scientist tried to calculate the distance by using light beam to travel over unknown distance with measured time. Ordinary lights travel at a velocity of 186,000 miles per second, therefore the time taken will be very small to cover a short distance. This idea was soon dropped but the scientists succeeded
Steel structures

Advantages and disadvantages of steel construction

Advantages of steel construction 1. Reliability Steel structures are very reliable. The reasons for this reliability include consistency and uniformity in properties, better quality control because of factory manufacture, large elasticity, and ductility. If different specimens of some types of steel are tested in the laboratory for yield stress, ultimate strengths and elongations, the variation is much lesser than other materials like concrete and wood. Further, because of truly homogeneous and

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