Category: Civil Engineering

Introduction

Today, Hong Kong enjoys reputations being a vibrant cosmopolitan that takes role of a global financial hub. Dated back to the 60’s, Hong Kong was still a fish village with sluggish economy. Then you may question who has contributed to such a great morph. Undoubtedly, the Hong Kong local construction industry has played a significant role in constructing structures and facilities in local community that has continuously supported the long-term development of economy in the past decades. However, this historical industry is facing different challenges regarding the efficiency of construction projects in recent years, which urges the Government to carry out new changes to increase the productivity and sustainability of the Industry. The Development Bureau of HKSAR recently responded by releasing ‘Construction 2.0 – Time to Change’, a report that highlights the 6 core challenges that the Industry is facing and set up 3 pillars, including innovation, professionalism and revitalization, to give the direction of future development in the Industry. There are numerous ways to realize the 3 pillars. In the following, I will explain the meaning of each pillar and give recommendations on ways to realize each pillar by reviewing the Report and knowledge in construction management, and these recommendations will be based on 4 categories, including the current procurement systems, contractual arrangement and tendering approach, organizational setting, construction planning and financial feasibility study.

Discussion

Innovation

Innovation in construction industry refers to the discovery and application of new approaches and tools to carry out the entire construction process, including the planning, design, construction and etc. (The Development Bureau of Hong Kong, 2018). Innovation is an indispensable element in the construction industry as it helps organizations to embraces the changes in the market economy and derives new technologies to boost the productivity and efficiency of construction project works, thus enhances project delivery outcomes. This is beneficial for many stakeholders participating in the construction project, including the industry professionals, business companies and the general public.

For typical contractual systems widely used in current construction projects, the interests always tend to lean towards the client or the contractor. For instance, the contract based on “Bills of Firm Quantities” is incapable for extensive variations in project tasks which is unfavorable for the contractor, and remeasurement contract, such as the contract based on “Bills of Approximate Quantities”, the final cost is unclear until the tendering stage of the project, which is quiet risky for the client. With a view to these problems associated with conflict of interests raised by conventional contractual systems, the Government can widely adopt New Engineering Contact (NEC) for current construction projects. NEC is a series of contracts designated to manage a construction project throughout its entire process and target at preventing costly disputes (ice, 2019). Unlike traditional contract, NEC emphasizes on partnering concept instead of client-contractor relationship, and collaborative working between all project participants to achieve common goals. It also encourages proactive risks identification and collaborative problem solving in an open manner. These differences allow NEC to focus more on project management and making NEC contracts to be more procedural and management intensive (Construction Industry Council of Hong Kong, 2015). Therefore, the productivity and cost-effectiveness of construction projects can be significantly increase.

Apart from the changes in contractual arrangement, new approaches for construction planning can also be used to achieve innovation. First, the Government can establish the Construction Innovation and Technology Application center to introduce cutting-edge construction technologies from leading countries to local construction industry. These advanced technologies can be the Internet of Things (IoT) and robotic applications. IoT refers to the process of installing sensors into machine components for monitoring their operations (For Construction Pros, n.d.). The use of IoT lead to the growth of ‘intelligent machines’ and they greatly increase the efficiency of the construction stage.

In addition to the use of IoT, Building Information Modelling (BIM) can also be used in a greater extend. BIM is a process that start with the creation of an intelligent 3D model for the structure and is adapted for changes inside the model during the entire project lifecycle (AUTODESK, n.d.). With BIM, the designer is able to receive data from the 3D model associated with physical and functional characteristics of the structure and allows the engineers and contractors to collaborates better. Therefore, BIM gives more efficient ways for the design team and the construction team to work more efficiently. BIM can be applied wider in local construction industry by lowering the maximum budget of capital projects that BIM applies on, given that the current maximum budget is mandated as HK 30 million. With wider application of BIM, better decision will be made on designing works and construction works and this can greatly save the costs associated with design and construction errors.

Besides, the Government can also promote off-site construction using Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) and Modular Integrated Construction (MiC). DfMA is a design approach that focuses on the ease of manufacture and efficiency of assembly of construction components (Construction Industry Council of Hong Kong, n.d.), and MiC is an innovative construction method which free-standing integrated molecules are manufactured in a prefabrication factory before transporting to site for installation. DfMA, together with the use of MiC, can significantly reduce the number of on-site project tasks and lower the assembly time and cost by reducing the amount of labors and materials. Most, importantly, this can promote the safety of construction workers as off-site construction replaces some of the on-site construction activities for the activities carried out in a controlled factory environment (ice, 2019).

Professionalization

Professionalization in construction industry refers to the use of professional knowledge to enhance the performance over a wide range of project activities to improve the quality of build assets and to reduce the frequencies and severity of incidents (The Development Bureau of Hong Kong, 2018). It is at upmost importance in the Industry as it not only ensures the proper running of construction projects, but also upholding the image and reputation of the Industry. This helps the Industry to gain support from other stakeholders in the society such as the shareholders and the media and thus making the Industry sustainable. However, relatively high incident rate such as project delay and failure has created a declining image of the industry as being dangerous and opportunistic. Therefore, the Government should carry out some measures to improve professionalism in the Industry.

The delays and incidences of construction works is a result of lack of project management capabilities. With a view to that, the Government can adopt some measures in organizational setting and construction planning to enhance the project management skills of Industry professionals. To commence with, the Government can strengthen the control of cost of capital works by setting up organizations, such as the Project Cost Management Office (PCMO). PCMO helps to devise and promote cost management policies for capital construction projects and it reviews the project requirements and relating policies, as well as scrutinizing the cost estimation from the existing projects to enhance cost management in the Industry (The Development Bureau of Hong Kong, 2018). PCMO offers project management training programs to enhance work departments’ skills and knowledges about cost estimation. In addition, it also helps to improve current project management and cost control measures by making reference to international practices and hire external support services when necessary (The Development Bureau of Hong Kong, 2018). Therefore, the above measures favor the financial feasibility studies on the construction projects and greatly increase the accuracy of the cost estimations. This allows the construction works to be carried out in a more professional way and helps to avoid incidents caused by over-budget.

Apart from the set-up of PCMO, the Government can also establish organizations to nurture elites to become a group of leaders for project management in the Industry. Citing the case in UK as an example, the UK Government has established a Major Projects Leadership Academy (MPLA) to boost the leadership skills of local civil servants and consequently lead to a drastic improvement in the performance of construction projects, including the increased number of projects being completed on time and in budget. The Hong Kong Government can conduct studies and researches on the case of UK’s success and try to develop a similar measure in Hong Kong. By increasing the leadership level in Hong Kong, the collaborations between departments can be enhanced and this allows the project tasks to be carried out more effectively and efficiently. This helps to motivate the whole project team towards optimum performance in project delivery and reduces mistakes, therefore giving the Industry a more professional image to the general public.

Besides, there are also direct ways to increase the efficiency of construction works to promote professionalism. For example, The Hong Kong Institute of Construction (HKIC) can provide more site-based learning courses, diploma and higher-diploma courses such as machine operation courses, water work courses and etc. to enhance the professional skills of the working force. HKIC can also provide more safety trainings to the working forces to raise the safety awareness of workers during on-site construction works. This can be accompanied by some measures aimed at improving site safety, such as conducting some studies on workers behavior to identify the factors leading to accidents, promoting design for safety to incorporate safety measures in the design process of structures to prevent hazards caused materializing (The Development Bureau of Hong Kong, 2018). The second approach to increase the efficiency of construction works is to modify worker’s payment method. The majority of construction projects in Hong Kong nowadays uses conventional contractual arrangement such as the contract based on “Bills of Firm Quantities”. They belong to fixed-fee arrangement and has provided price certainty for workers, so they tend to finish each fee-paying project tasks quickly, which greatly undermines the quality level of the construction works (The Development Bureau of Hong Kong, 2018). A way to discourage this behavior is to alter the payment method to monthly wage basis. This can enhance the quality of the construction works and reduce the occurrence of accidents. Moreover, construction workers should be compensated adequately during their idle period for their heavy workload. This provides a more attractive environment for the working force, thus attracting more talents to the industry and simultaneously avoid the shrink in the size of current working force (The Development Bureau of Hong Kong, 2018). The above all measures help to carrying out construction works in a more efficient and safety way and improve the quality of the project outcomes. This enhances professionalism in the Industry.

Revitalization

Revitalization in construction industry refers to the transformation of public perception of the Industry being a dirty, dangerous and dull industry into one that offers clean, safety and supportive environment for young skilled talents (The Development Bureau of Hong Kong, 2018). It always associates with innovation, that brings new ideas and approaches to revitalize the Industry. Revitalization in the Industry can help to address the problem of labor shortages due to retire of senior workers and attract more young talents in design and construction to enter the Industry and increase the professional level, and thus enhancing project performances in local construction projects. Therefore, it is necessary for the Government to carry out measures to transform the stereotyped industry to one that is vibrant.

One of the keys for revitalization is to change the commercial mindset entrenched in most of the project participants nowadays. For current construction planning and contractual arrangement process, decision makings are relied heavily on the technical issues, rules and regulations. This narrows the sight of the project participants and thus reducing the capacity for creative thinking and changes in construction projects. The use of modern contractual and procurement methods such as NEC (mentioned in a) can tackle this problem. NEC helps to achieve proper risk allocation between the project partners, and this allows its contractual arrangement to focus more on project performance instead of relying heavily on technical and other legal issues. This gives flexibility to construction projects and allow more new ideas to enhance the project outcome. These new ideas trigger the development of more innovative approaches and measures and attract more younger generations to the Industry.

In addition, the Government should also carry out system re-engineering. This helps to remove outdated and overlapping regulations and thus reduce the constraints during decision making in procurement systems and contractual arrangement. This avoids unnecessary amendment on the contract documents and let the project participants to focus more on ways to improve project management and make better decisions to boost the efficiency of project delivery.

Apart from that, strategic procurement can also be carried out. Strategic procurement refers to the use of strategic long-range plans to ensure timely supply of goods and services for firms to meet its core business objectives (Quora, n.d.), which is critical for the success of a project. There are many new emerging contracts forms to choose from, including the NEC and the other forms of cost-based contracts, such as cost reimbursable contracts and target cost contract. Cost reimbursable contracts significantly increases the ease of cost calculation and it provides great flexibility for changes in project’s scope, quantity and program and is capable for frequent changes in project tasks (The Development Bureau of Hong Kong, 2018), while target cost contract encourages the contractor to achieve a better performance in the project to earn more. By selecting a suitable procurement method for a project, optimum performance of the project can be achieved, and this helps to reinvigorate the Industry.

Conclusion

There are many ways to realize the 3 pillars – innovation, professionalism and revitalization through different approaches and measures based on the changes in the current procurement systems, contractual arrangement and tendering approach, organizational setting, construction planning and financial feasibility study.

References

1. New Engineering Contract (NEC). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ice.org.uk/what-is-civil-engineering/what-do-civil-engineers-do/new-engineering-contract.
2. About MiC. (2019, September 16). Retrieved from http://www.cic.hk/eng/main/mic/whatsmic/aboutmic/.
3. Benefits of BIM: Building Information Modeling. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.autodesk.com/solutions/bim/benefits-of-bim.
4. How the Internet of Things is Impacting the Construction Industry. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.forconstructionpros.com/construction-technology/article/12169353/how-the-internet-of-things-is-impacting-the-construction-industry.
5. How the Internet of Things is Impacting the Construction Industry. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.forconstructionpros.com/construction-technology/article/12169353/how-the-internet-of-things-is-impacting-the-construction-industry.
6. New Engineering Contract (NEC). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ice.org.uk/what-is-civil-engineering/what-do-civil-engineers-do/new-engineering-contract.

Introduction

Physics is one of the broadest, most profound and most closely related human sciences to nature. It has went with human considering since antiquated civilizations, where knowledge have attempted to clarify characteristic marvels seen and attempt to know their causes and laws. The definition of material science has shifted from the Greeks to the cutting edge period, but it is by and large related to normal marvels and the levelheaded translation of the physical universe. The subject of material science meddling with nearly all sciences, particularly present day material science, and its strategy has entered clarification in all disciplines, counting respectful designing, which was incredibly impacted within the nineteenth century by the advancement of material science, and right now mechanics are instructed (for inflexible bodies and liquids) and resistance to materials.

Physical culture has moreover spread and impedance within the dialect of instruction and science nowadays until it come to prevalent culture and entered numerous disciplines. As the sciences created, they covered with each other, so it got to be not conceivable to disconnect a teach from one of the disciplines from others. Rather, it is said within the logical convention that the foremost advantageous developments emerged from the compatibility of disciplines among them. The concept of respectful or civilization has expanded because it is more extensive than urban offices, so it is always within the handle of considering natural contamination, seismic action, climate, human exercises and indeed social aspects.

The role of physics in civil engineering

Physics plays a crucial part in Respectful Building. The consider of themes such as Mechanics, Flexibility etc. makes a difference a respectful Build to consider almost a building and it’s development at atomic level conjointly makes a difference in anticipating the quality of a given fabric and structure. Although a few points such as think about of attraction and electric and attractive powers may not be valuable as such but unquestionably other themes are essential for a Gracious Build to ponder about. So, most points of Physics examined at graduation level are exceptionally much Critical for a Respectful Build to perform way better in his work and make solid structures by selecting the Right Fabric. A few of the major sub-disciplines of gracious are Natural, Geotechnical, Auxiliary, Transportation and Water Assets. In the event that your focus range is Natural, you’ll be utilizing fundamental standards of chemistry and math; Geotechnical and Basic for the most part utilize standards of mechanics (material science) and math; Transportation requires math and now and then programming aptitudes; Water Assets may be a blend of math and hydrodynamics (physics). So it depends to some extent on what zone of specialization you select. But I would like to stretch that you simply are continuously applying fundamental math and science abilities to respectful designing, not truly fathoming complicated math or material science issues. You fair have be a great issue solver to be a gracious engineer. Some themes which includes material science in Respectful Building are:

• Solids, Fluids, Plastics & Plasmas
• Two techniques of calculation with fluids
• Four concepts of fluid flow
• Streamlines
• Structural Forces
• Specific gravity

How is physics related to civil engineering?

In any case, the major alter in civil engineering come about from the improvement of physics after the improvement of development laws, control and vitality within the eighteenth century. Civil engineering employments are separated into two capacities: design and analysis. Analysis is to know the strengths controlling the building and the outlined structure and the ease of use of the building materials utilized. As for the plan, it is to put the resistance powers against the powers that are standing for the solidness of the development and to know the building issues.

The antiquated engineer within the world utilized to figure the connected powers and the quality of the building materials as a result of the encounter, and there was no numerical estimation of the capacity of the building materials, nor an exact investigation of how the weight falls when explaining within the plan, and speculating does not have adequate precision since each explore to know least versatility of building materials approaches the chance of building collapse. Hence, we know the significance of analyzing the natural strengths performed by material science, and the advantage of creating particular laws and definitions of mass, quality, weight, thickness, and assurance. It made a difference a parcel in giving a cautious and exact calculation of the adjust of the building and the strength of building materials, guaranteeing security from collapse, precision in plan, and not squandering building materials.

Material science is the mother of all sciences. Mathematics and Chemistry are at last the derivate of Material science. Building is additionally a frame of connected science with Material science as an critical portion. At first, Engineering begun with Mechanical and Civil engineering as the most branches. Both the streams are derivatives of Mechanics which in turn may be a frame of Material science. Subsequently, the two branches don’t have any meaning without Physics. Civil engineering involves a major portion of topography, which is additionally a subordinate of Material science. Civil engineers utilize material science to set up that their bridges, streets, dams and other huge foundation ventures stay physically sound in any case of the stress set on them. Physics takes on a huge roll in a civil engineer’s work. Physics conditions are connected to all points of an engineering issue to is being outlined, material science is utilized to figure out how expansive the supporting wharfs ought to be, as well as how thick the steel columns of bridge got to be, and how numerous of them ought to be introduced. Material science equations typically utilize variable based math, calculus, and trigonometry. Civil Engineers got to know a part of material science, particularly basic engineers. Physics is an necessarily portion of structural engineering, utilizing the concept of minute and constrain adjust, bowing minute and shear stretch is decided for each auxiliary part. Agreeing to esteem of twisting minute and shear push encourage planning of part is done like how much cross segment, steel, clear cover etc. is required. So fundamentally the force/moment adjust is the essential material science that civil engineering apply for deciding the stresses/moment at each member.

The applications of physics in civil engineering

There are various applications of material science to designing and other specialized areas: to title but a couple, of civil engineering includes planning and building bridges, dams, sky-scrapers, streets, and railroads, utilizing our material science information of forces, fluid pressure, and gravity. create beyond any doubt the structure being made is reaching to work the way it must.

Specific gravity in civil engineering

Particular gravity is greatly valuable within the field of Civil Engineering. How? All the buildings, streets, rails or any other foundations are construct on the soil. Now, Particular gravity of the soil makes a difference you to discover out the thickness, porosity, void proportion, degree of immersion. All these variables offer assistance in deciding the quality of soil, whether it is sweet to be utilized for development purposes or not. So, fundamentally Particular gravity plays a key part within the field of Civil Engineering. The particular gravity of a given fabric is characterized as the proportion of the weight of a given volume of the fabric to the weight of an break even with volume of refined water. In soil mechanics, the particular gravity of soil solids (which is frequently alluded to as the particular gravity of soil) is an imperative parameter for calculation of the weight-volume relationship. Hence particular gravity, Gs, is characterized as:

Gs = unit weight (or density) of soil solids only / unit weight (or density) or water or where Ws = mass of soil solids (g); Vs = volume of soil solids (cm3); and pw = density of water (g/cm3).

Fluid in civil engineering

A substance exists in three essential stages: strong, fluid, and gas. A substance in liquid or gas stage is alluded to as a fluid. Distinction between a strong and a liquid is made on the premise of the substance’s capacity to stand up to a connected shear (or extraneous) stretch that patterns to alter its shape. A strong can stand up to an connected shear stretch by distorting, though a liquid misshapes ceaselessly beneath the impact of shear stretch, no matter how small. In strong push is relative to strain, but in liquids push is corresponding to strain rate. (AkoDaraei, 2019)When a consistent shear drive is connected, a strong inevitably stops distorting, at a few settled strain point, while a liquid never halt distorting and approaches a certain rate of strain. Application ranges of fluid mechanics in Civil Engineering is:

• Transport of river Sediments.
• Pollution of air and water.
• Design of piping systems.
• Flood control systems.

Structural Forces

A structural system is acted upon by powers. Under the impact of these powers, the complete structure is expected to be in a state of inactive balance and, as a result, each component of the structure moreover is in a state of inactive balance. The powers that act on a structure incorporate the connected loads and the coming about response forces. The connected loads are the known loads that act on a structure. They can be the result of the structure’s possess weight, inhabitance loads, natural loads, and so on. The responses are the powers that the bolsters apply on a structure. They are considered to be portion of the outside strengths connected and are in balance with the other outside loads on the structure to present loads and responses, three simple structures are appeared within the taking.

The pillar appeared is supporting a consistently disseminated gravity stack and is itself bolstered by upward responses at its closes. Figure 2 appears a building outline subjected to a sidelong wind stack. This stack tends to upset the structure, hence requiring an upward response at the right-hand back and a descending one at the cleared out hand bolster. These powers make a handful that offsets the impact of the wind force. (J.L.Meriam, L.G.Kraige, & J.N.Bolton, 1966)

Conclusion

In conclusion we know engineering bargains with all applications of physics. Everything that we utilize in our way of life is specifically or in a roundabout way affected by material science and its application. Beginning from the daily paper on our tea table in morning time, our phone, car, computer, light, fan, air-condition, to indeed our house all are the application of material science. So ready to say apparently, that physics is principal of all designing. And we know Civil engineering likely wouldn’t exist without material science, at slightest present day civil engineering.

Overview

Hundred years before, the world was looking for the development of mankind through various sections. As a result of that the field of engineering is started through the skills of the past people. They started to explore the solutions for their every simple to solve in a technical way. Because of that the technology of engineering started to rise up in various fields. The influence of that, now the modern world that defines “Engineering makes designs that works with original ideas “(Freeman Dyson,1981). There are several types of engineering fields that has been developed under the advance of the world. New inventions and logics were become the heart of engineering. With the development of the technology engineering fields are getting advanced now the time. Among those engineering fields the Civil engineering field is the main filed of developing the world with the modern technology. As a result of that most complicated works and designs has become easy and possible. As an example, now, the time most of the works has been done by the computer-based things. For that most of the civil engineering software’s has been published for various purposes. GIS application is one of the most using software for civil engineering purposes.

(GIS) Geographic Information System

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is defined as a system of computer hardware, or software, and it is basically designed to support the combine, analyse, storing and display of spatially referenced data for deal with various problems. “The spatial language is an intellectual filter through which only the necessary information passes” (Witthuhn, 1974). Such as managing design purposes. In addition to these technical gears, a complete GIS must also include a focus on people, officialdoms, and standards. Not only that but also the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a gathering of computer hardware and software for capturing, analysing, managing and displaying all forms of geographically referenced data. General purpose of GIS is extracting information’s from the raw geographical-data.”GIS improves the large datasets to manageable display information in a map/graphical form”(Caitlin,D.1999). These data are collected from sensors, satellites or any other ways and stored in databases and file systems.

The data goes through the clarifying and rendering services and, presented to the users in human detectible formats such as charts, images, graphs etc. A common example of GIS is viewing maps which process layers of geospatial data to create map images. GIS are used in a wide variety of tasks such as urban planning, resource supervision, alternative response planning in case of disasters, disaster management and quick response etc.

GIS workflow

An engineering information system based on creativity GIS technology streamlines activities from many fields of data gathering to project management. With this single in-teractive database, we are connected to all our consumers; construction sites; and rec-ords, system, and conservation data. A server-based data management environment studies GIS aptitude promotes effective and important workflows in data and project management. It allows us to modernise our work processes in data detention, editing, analysis, picturing, and design. With an ability to interconnect changes to an entire team quickly, GIS gives our entire team access to the most recent information’s supporting bet-ter conclusion making. GIS increases workflows in

• Managing projects
• Analysis and design
• Logistics

GIS provides

• Accuracy of data
• Sharing the data
• Analysis aptitude
• Resampling

GIS Application and Civil Engineering

Civil engineering is mainly lies on developing and sustaining substructure facilities. The career covers many areas of interest and a wide range of proficiency. As a result, civil engineers work with a large amount of data from a variety of sources. Geographic information system (GIS) technology provides the gears for creating, managing, analysing, and resampling the data linked with developing and supervision infrastructure. GIS allows civil engineers to manage and share data and turn it into simply understood reports and conceptions that can be analysed and interconnected to others. This data can be related to both a development and its broader geographic framework. It also helps establishments and governments work together to advance policies for sustainable development. Thus, GIS is playing a progressively important role in civil engineering field, supporting all stages of the infrastructure life sequence.

In civil engineering field GIS is used in most of the times for various aspects in map analysis of transportation engineering. Also, in most intelligent transportation systems, smart(sustainable)development concepts are enabled by the GIS application. One of the largest technology for the transportation agencies is GIS-Transportation. GIS provides the significant modernization of the ability to manage data spatially using layers then analyse the overlays to perform spatial analysis. Therefore, a layer of roads can be unified with a layer of land use enabling a buffer analysis within a given distance of the land for the roads. The specific tools were added in GIS for linear data management of transportation data, all these data are very effective among transportation organizations. These data are more important for georeferenced the routes and time points.

Why we use GIS?

GIS software is supporting the several data formats used in civil engineering field .They allow engineers to provide analysed data formats to maintain core.GIS technology gives a main location to maintain the spatial analysis and manageable sources in individual project files to provide accurate points of required places and roads.

The advantages of GIS in data citations and processing include.

• The maps can be produced from deferent virtualization.
• Computerised cartography
• We can analyse the data Spatially.
• The information can be combined by relating spatial and attribute data

GIS helps for,

• Gives the ability maintain and analyse the data information that are not possible manually.
• Attributes can be linked within the context of one system.
• Allow the information’s to display exciting ways.
• Combine geographic information to display within a single consistent system.
• Computerized map production and maintenance.
• Provides the data that can easy to access by more than one person.

GIS is mostly used in transportation engineering field. In urban countries the number of vehicles is growing. Because of that people face man problems such as traffic jam, choking and also accidents. But as the solution the world is using the GIS application and it cares about all these limitations people faces in their day to day life. Transportation management is a phenomenon that GIS can be used as a tool which is effective for planning and management of transportation. Many organizations are focused on how GIS can be used in advanced way for shuttling easier urban transportation. There are lots of applications of GIS. Those can be clarified as,

• Chief and Site plans in Transportation,
• That can be planed as multimodal (e.g., travel demand forecasting)
• Management of safety including accident planning.
• Flight path defence/right of way.
• Construction management and Risky cargo or overweight vehicles certification directing.
• The impacts of environment.

A board rang of transportation planning and tasks in effective cost manner can be done by the GIS application. It also uses to build information systems in transportation such as distribution of goods, analysing accidents, sign records and operation planning. GIS supports wide range of analysis of network types for the urban and regional transportation such as streets, bus, rail, subway, high way and multimodal networks. For an example, the demanding of the predictable models is unable to justify accurately for local streets. This absence is overcome by the use of GIS.

It is also used urban transportation planning. The other application of GIS to developing countries is planning of urban transportation in a GIS environment. The significant abilities and critical procedures of GIS described earlier can be used for operative transportation system analysis; including demonstrating. GIS enhances the transportation planning by improving the development with the application of travel request models, providing tools to study supply or demand of the interface, and simplifying system estimation.

With the development of land use Geo-codes have been made based on traffic analysis zones, districts. Those information’s handling within GIS. Other than present land use data future predictions can be included in the data base. It can also include the present proposed transport system as data base context.

Generally, trip generation models are also estimated to apply at any spatial scale, even at the state of the plot of land information can also be gathered to the precinct level. Geo-coded data supports various ways to modelling process travel survey data and predicted source destination trip tables supports for Geo-coded data. Likewise, the technics of modelling improvements can be customised with the GIS transportation environment. But in the planning process we omit some processes since the methods are abstractly same as management of infrastructure. Transportation based applications can also be improved. As examples vehicle routing, collection of garbage, distribution logistics and pare-transiting services can be considered. Throughout the analysis of GIS, distance is minimized by the shortest paths and that can manage time or cost. In the case of risky goods arrangements routs can begin with minimize the population revelation to spills.

Site analysis

GIS quickly incorporates and analyses many types of information and images for site analysis. Highly accurate results displayed geographically provide insight into connec-tions and relationships, and customers relate easily to a recognizable map. The base map can include section maps, zoning and city designations, environmental protection areas, aerial photos, and topographic and soil maps. Overlays of applicable data on population increment, commercial activity, and traffic flow syndicate to rapidly paint a meaningful picture of a site’s chances and limitations. Civil engineers use GIS as regional indicator, forecast fail-ure, comity needs, and plan to keep track of multiple urban plans according to guarantee quality of the life in functional societies for everyone . Central, provincial, state, and local planning agencies have realized the influence of Geographic information system to rec-ognize problems, respond to them capably, and share the results with each other. A GIS result provides tools to help engineers to reach their analysing task works while doing more and spending less.

Application of Geographic information system over civil engineering is endless in civil. These are most common applications,

• Structural engineering- For maintain the scheduling work flow and modelling, de-signing of building. GIS geo database is vastly useful for save time in this type of works.
• Environmental engineering- The one field which is deeply dependent on

Geographic Information system. All difficult calculations are simplified using GIS.

Flood modelling, routes for flood canals, assessment of pollution of various sites all these things can be done using GIS. Construction management- In Infrastructure management, GIS can be labouring to calculate the costs, do site appropriateness analysis which saves lot of time. Soil and foundation- Helps in creating soil maps and geology maps of the area that needs to be explored. This Helps greatly in completing the category and depth of foundation, load bearing capacity of the soils etc. But taking a complete decision is not possible without in-situ lab tests of the soil, GIS is absolutely having a support in this respect.

Landslides analysis

Accident Analysis and hot spot analysis: GIS can be used as a tool to minimize accident hazards on roads, the prevailing road network has to be improved and also the road safety actions have to be enhanced. This can be achieved by proper traffic management. By recognizing the accident locations, counteractive measures can be planned by the districted administrations to minimize the accidents in deferent parts of the area. Redirecting design is also very suitable using GIS.

Conclusion

Although there are wide-ranging applications of Geographic Information System in Civil Engineering, there is a lot of value to GIS that is not yet being fully discovered in engineering analysis and planning. There are some recommendations for the upgrading of the Geographic Information System applications:

• GIS is becoming larger based in geographical information systems that include the application of the international locating system and the combination of remote sensing technology.
• GIS can be used in historical data analysis, such as predispositions in computer-ised passenger counts, and graphical analysis of shipment passengers.

Using the geo sensing technology GIS has become a large technological feature in civil engineering field for various analysing and managing aspects.

Civil Engineering is the plan and development of open works, for example, dams, spans and other enormous foundation ventures. It is perhaps the most established part of designing, going back to when individuals first began living in quite a while and started forming their surroundings to suit their needs.

When engineering began, Engineers constructed dividers, streets, extensions, dams and levees; they burrowed wells, water system discard and channels. As bigger gatherings of individuals started living respectively in towns and urban communities, these populaces required solid wellsprings of clean water, the way to discard squander, a system of avenues and roadways for business and exchange, and an approach to guard themselves against threatening neighbors. Antiquated civil engineering ventures incorporate the streets of the Roman Empire, the Great Wall of China, the bluff homes at Mesa Verde and Mayan ruins at Copan, Palenque and Tikal. Numerous early civilizations manufactured landmarks to their rulers or divine beings. These may have been straightforward hills or genuinely striking accomplishments, for example, the Pyramids of Giza and Stonehenge, whose development by pre-modern social orders stays puzzling. The names of the specialists who planned these marvels are lost to artifact.

Today, people in general is bound to recollect the names of extraordinary civil engineering ventures than the names of the specialists who structured and assembled them. These incorporate the Brooklyn Bridge (planned by John August Roebling and child Washington Roebling), the Hoover Dam (John L. Savage), the Panama Canal (John Frank Stevens) and the Golden Gate Bridge (Joseph Strauss and Charles Ellis). One eminent special case is the Eiffel Tower, named after Gustave Eiffel, the French civil architect whose organization constructed it. civil engineers need top to bottom comprehension of material science, arithmetic, topography and hydrology. They should likewise know the properties of a wide scope of development materials, for example, concrete and basic steel, and the sorts and capacities of development apparatus. With this information, engineers can configuration structures that meet prerequisites for cost, wellbeing, unwavering quality, sturdiness and vitality effectiveness.

Civil engineers additionally need a working information on basic and mechanical engineering. These engineers can be engaged with about each phase of a significant development venture. That can incorporate site determination, composing particulars for procedures and materials, auditing offers from subcontractors, guaranteeing consistence with construction regulations, and managing all periods of development from evaluating and earth moving to painting and wrapping up. To an ever-increasing extent, civil engineers depend on PC supported structure (CAD) frameworks; along these lines, capability with PCs is basic. Notwithstanding accelerating the drafting procedure for civil building ventures, CAD frameworks make it simple to change plans and create working outlines for development groups.

Entering senior high school is a new milestone for students with new sets of of challenges and responsibilities. One of these challenges is choosing what course one should pursue in college. There are a multitude of careers or courses to choose from ranging from the sciences to the humanities and other fields. If your mind is not made up yet then how about opening up to the field of Civil Engineering. And if your interest involves construction works, infrastructures, transportation, and other public works then Civil Engineering is the course for you. Most of senior high students may have lots of questions regarding civil engineering such as what it is, what it encompasses, the skills needed, its difficulty, its benefits, its future and other questions. Then let us answer your questions and dive to the field of Civil Engineering, its benefits and possibilities and everything you need to know.

You might be wondering what Civil Engineering is, generally speaking this field involves the design, construction and maintenance of public works and infrastructures(Lucas, 2014). If one desires to contribute to society and the world then this field is perfect for you. Civil Engineers are one of the pillars of community development, they use their technical skills and knowledge in building infrastructures that would serve as important utilities for the community such as roads and buildings, and they also develop water and sanitation systems which improve residents’ health and comfort(Kokemuller, n.d.). Without the works and efforts of Civil Engineers the world wouldn’t progress as much as it has now. Another important benefit of studying Civil Engineering is that the field is broad and diverse with many specializations such as Geotechnical, Structural, Transporation, and Construction Engineering.(Dodge, n.d.). This means that depending on your interest you can choose from whatever specialization you want and pursue it. When it comes to financial benefits Civil Engineering is a great job. Graduates with an engineering degree typically earn 20 percent more than the average graduate salary(Renishaw Plc, n.d.). And in the Philippines, a Civil Engineer typically earns around ₱40,700 per month with salaries ranging from ₱18,700 to ₱64,700 and with increased years of experience comes higher wages(‘Civil Engineer Average Salary’, 2020). A lot of factors may be involved in determing wage such as workplace, experience, education, and others. Regardless of these factors it is worth nothing that ‘Civil Engineer(s) in Philippines are likely to observe a salary increase of approximately 11% every 18 months'(‘Civil Engineer Average Salary’, 2020). This means that as you continue to work in your chosen civil engineering specialization, then expect a constant source of salary. Civil engineers can also experience travel benefits. Engineering industries are global spanning Asia, the Americas and Europe which means engineering projects can be all over the world and it is important for engineers to meet clients and do investigative fieldworks(Renishaw Plc, n.d.). Though it depends on your employment and specialization but the prospect still exist for you to grab. When it comes to employability Civil Engineers will have no problems. Civil Engineers are employed by private and public sectors, they can also start their own firm or teach at colleges and universities which means you can work anywhere as long as you qualify. As the world continues to move forward with the need to deal with various problems concerning the world, Civil Engineers will become more essential to society. Engineers today are tasked with solving the problems around us and matters of global prominence such as global warming, power sources, pollution, and sustainable energy are some of the few things they can tackle(Mapua University, 2016).

Civil engineering as a course has its own ups and downs but as students constant practice and effort can mean the difference between success and failure. Civil engineers are creative and outside the box thinking individuals who look for solutions to problems around us. Aspiring to be one will take considerable amount of work and effort but along with work and effort comes passion and drive to succeed. Good pay, good benefits, employability, a diverse field, and importance to society, Civil Engineering can provide you all this.

Reference List

1. Civil Engineers Average Salary in Philippines 2020. (2020). Salary Explorer. Retrieved from http://www.salaryexplorer.com/salary-survey.php?loc=171&loctype=1&job=256&jobtype=3#disabled
2. Dodge, Krystle. (n.d.). What are the benefits of pursing a field in Civil Engineering? [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.degreequery.com/what-are-the-benefits-of-pursuing-a-degree-in-civil-engineering/
3. Kokemuller, Neil. (n.d.). Advantages of Civil Engineering. [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://work.chron.com/advantages-civil-engineers-6874.html
4. Lucas, Jim. (2014, August 29). What Is Civil Engineering? Live Science. Retrieved from https://www.livescience.com/47612-civil-engineering.html
5. Mapua University. (2016, October 7). The Benefits of becoming an Engineer. [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.mapua.edu.ph/blog/2016/09/20/civil-engineering-university-manila/
6. Renishaw Plc. (n.d.). Why Engineering is a great career. Retrieved from https://www.renishaw.com/en/why-engineering-is-a-great-career–40455

When I get older, I want to be a civil engineer. civil engineers design build and maintain infrastructure projects and systems such as roads, buildings, airports, tunnels, dams, bridges, and water systems. But why do I want to be an engineer, you may ask? I think very analytically, which will help me in realizing what will and won’t work for projects. I am also pretty good at math, which is a big part of the job, because I must calculate the best angles, weight, size and many other things in order to keep a bridge or dam from falling. Another reason I want this job, there is a major feeling of accomplishment with completing a project. This is because civil engineers help people, even if it isn’t quite as directly as a paramedic, or a police officer, but they still help people none the less.

As a civil engineer, I would make $55,000-$60,000 a year right when I graduate. If I continue to work as an engineer, the top percentile makes about $142,560 a year. The average salary however is about $86,640 a year and about $41.65 per hour. The hours vary depending on the project, but on average, civil engineers work about 2000 hours a year. But you could find yourself working day and night to reach a deadline, or just a couple of hours a day, it all depends on who you are working for.

Due to the increase in population and environmental problems, the demand for civil engineers is projected to keep on increasing. For example, this occupation is supposed to grow by 11% by 2026, that is 32,000 jobs that need to be filled. So, there is no chance of this job becoming obsolete or useless.

In order be in the best place for this kind of job, I think it would be a good idea for me to live in a population center, because there are more job opportunities. This is because the more people are there, the more demand for new roads, water systems, bridges, and buildings. Also, over time, most infrastructure projects will be worn and must be re-vamped in order to be as efficient as possible.

Another thing that I need to think about is who I want to work for, whether it be a city, the state, the military, or even a private contractor. Working for a city will have you working on roads, bridges, tunnels and water systems. Being employed by a state includes designing state roads, dams, and many other state-controlled infrastructure projects. Working for the military will have me designing and repairing military installations, roads and oversee the operation of heavy equipment. Finally, I could work for a private contractor, this will dish you out to whatever job your contractor wants you to, you could be building houses, bridges, roads, or whatever the contractor sees fit.

The education that I need to become a civil engineer is a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering. When I get my degree, it must be in a certain specialty within civil engineering, like transportation, water resources, structural, urban, environmental or construction. The civil engineering course work includes math, statistics, engineering mechanics and systems, and fluid dynamics. The classes you have depend on what you are going to specialize in.

In my assessments I got a lot of food services jobs at the top of my lists, which is weird because it doesn’t interest me at all. But my next choice was and architect which is on the right track, but still not exactly what I want to do. So, my tests didn’t help me all that much, but I know what I want to do already so it wasn’t a problem.

The origin of the civil engineering occupation is hard to pinpoint because it could have started thousands of years ago, for just knocking a log over a river to cross it is a form of civil engineering. There is plenty of examples of great engineering through time though. For example, the Egyptian pyramids are still standing today and are one of our greatest architectural achievements ever, and they were made thousands of years ago. Another example could be the Roman’s arch, which revolutionized engineering because it allowed us to construct larger buildings, they did this by supporting the taller structures. It is amazing what ancient engineers were capable of doing with simple math and materials, they could make a structure last for thousands of years. A couple examples of ancient engineers were Archimedes, Sostratus, Imhotep, and Hemiunu. These geniuses paved the way for modern day engineers, so they were very influential in our planet’s history

There are many traits that are helpful when doing this occupation. For example, decision making is essential if you want to become an engineer, this is because they often must balance many aspects of a project, like a deadline, finance, and quality. This forces them to make good decisions that complete all aspects, which is easier said than done. Another quality is leadership skills. Leadership skills will come in handy when you are directing the people who must get the job done. One of the most helpful skills for being a civil engineer is organization. This will help you in being as efficient as possible with the resources at your disposal. Bad organization can be detrimental to a project, just one mis-labeled measurement can mean the difference between thousands of dollars. Problem solving skills will mean volumes in this job, because you never know what could go wrong with a project, from a piece of equipment breaking, to accidentally using warped wood and a bridge falling. It is of utmost importance that a you have speaking and writing skills since civil engineers give many verbal and written reports, along with talking to large groups of people.

My plan to become a civil engineer includes, taking as many math classes as possible in high school, and take a bunch of engineering classes. I want to go to UW for college and if possible, I want to play football in college. I do intend on getting scholarships for college to at least partially pay for my education. I also intend on working and using my saving for college. I’m sure my parents will be willing to chip in as well, but I don’t want to make them pay if I don’t have to.

Overall, I am excited about what the future has for me and I am very interested in civil engineering. From the joy of finishing a project to the interesting history of my work, civil engineering is the perfect job for me.

Works Cited

1. “Civil Engineer Ranks Among Best Jobs of 2019.” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/civil-engineer.
2. “Civil Engineering Degree.” Career Options for Civil Engineers ‘ Civil Engineering Degree, www.civilengineeringdegree.org/career-options-for-civil-engineers/.
3. “Civil Engineers – Today’s Military.” – Today’s Military, www.todaysmilitary.com/careers-benefits/careers/civil-engineers.
4. “Civil Engineers : Occupational Outlook Handbook.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4 Sept. 2019, www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/civil-engineers.htm#tab-4.
5. History of Civil Engineering, www.thecivilengg.com/History.php.
6. Mathews, Rose. “What Are the Duties of a City Engineer?” Chron.com, 9 Nov. 2016, work.chron.com/duties-city-engineer-14184.html.
7. McFadden, Christopher. “13 Engineers From Antiquity And Their Marvels.” Interesting Engineering, Interesting Engineering, 8 Aug. 2019, interestingengineering.com/13-engineers-from-antiquity-and-their-marvels.
8. McFadden, Christopher. “13 Engineers From Antiquity And Their Marvels.” Interesting Engineering, Interesting Engineering, 8 Aug. 2019, interestingengineering.com/13-engineers-from-antiquity-and-their-marvels.
9. Thompson, Jayne. “How Much Does a Civil Engineer Make per Hour?” Sapling.com, Sapling, 1 June 2019, www.sapling.com/7750974/much-engineer-make-per-hour.

As we can see, the spectrum of working field is very wide, from analyzing the soil to analyzing the air quality. There are various fields within this engineering branch which you can pursue to have a Civil Engineering career. Also, we can separate Coastal Engineering, Tunnel Engineering, and Earthquake Engineering as sub-disciplines for water resources, transportation, and geotechnical engineering, respectively.

It is inevitable that all Civil Engineers interact with other branches of science or engineering; nobody does only math or just deals with structures. A Civil Engineer should understand clearly how physics works, how chemistry works and should know that how our earth lives and dies, including geographical knowledge. However, for an individual engineer in the field, he or she cannot know everything well at the same time. Thus, we might need some help about our field or an idea which can help us throughout the construction or renovation. Civil Engineers generally work in a variety of work groups and environments. It is common for them to split the workload between working in the office with colleagues and working outdoors at construction sites with an architect or another helpful professional who would help at the site.

Communication is one of the key roles that a Civil Engineer would like to have; working with a team of other engineers or professions requires at least a moderate level of social contact. You can be very good at calculating stuff and doing math or physics. However, if you cannot properly deliver the information you have by words to the client then what you did might be useless. This includes the tools which we would like to use in the site area. If we want to use an “excavator” and if we need the client’s approval for that we need to communicate well and tell the cost and what it does. Additionally, the work performance depends on communication in many cases. Without knowing even one of the definitions would likely cost you a lot. As we are getting closer to graduating from MSU, we have to take a two semester course of called “Capstone: Civil Engineering Design I/II”, and in that course we learn how to write long reports with good formal writing and we learn how to work with a team of five or even six of civil engineers with a time constraint.

Every profession in the world has its own language and own communication. It does not matter whether it is engineering, fishing, or skiing. They must have their own language in order to connect with one another. It can sometimes be confusing among the people who are not proficient for that specific major or work area. I would say from experience that mathematics is the general language of engineering, whether you are looking at a most fundamental level of information, or a complicated and expert level of data analysis. Especially, working as engineering consultants rather than academically, the first thing they need to overcome the language barrier between customers which is delivering the basis of projects to them. For instance, “In other words, the hydrostatic pressure at any point in the water is equal to the product of the specific weight of water and the vertical distance between the point and the water surface” (Akan, Osman, Open Channel Hydraulics, 6), which we can see that among the client nobody can translate that sentence to true meaning if you did not take engineering courses. As like other professions, Civil Engineering has its own language and own dictionary which you can refer to. There is an actual dictionary called, “Dictionary of Construction, Surveying & Civil Engineering” by Oxford press itself (see below figure – 1.4).

This language is not necessarily limited to use communication like speaking but also computer software, tools, and many other things that civil engineers use on a daily basis between each other. Such as, ArcGIS, AutoCAD, StormCAD, HEC-RAS, and EPANET are a few examples of that which we as a community would use and benefit a lot in the case of an ongoing project. For an example, for modelling and analysis for drainage systems, stormwater and sanitary sewer designs we would use StormCAD, for a mapping platform that Civil Engineers can use to create exhibits and geographic information we would use ArcGIS which is a free tool released by Environmental Systems Research Institute. As to tools, scientific calculators allow us to calculate complex mathematical equations and graphs at the same time, instantaneously. From experience, I got my own TI-84 (see below figure-1.5) when I was a junior at MSU and I still can remember how I was amazed from it. It can literally create a graph in seconds and solve from it which was tough to learn at the beginning, but the circumstances helped me to get over it, fast. Being one of the six main sub-disciplines of Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering plays huge role inside the Civil Engineering community and it is too broad to be written in one sentence. The United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics defines it as, “Environmental engineering is the branch of engineering that is concerned with protecting people from the effects of adverse environmental effects, such as a pollution, as well as improving environmental quality. Environmental engineers work to improve recycling, waste disposal, public health, and water and air pollution control”. Since I was a teenager, I always wanted to do something good for the environment and where we live, this world. Thus, now I can be helpful and do something with all the knowledge I gathered from MSU during this 4-year journey.

Every four years, the ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) publishes an infrastructure report card specific to that year, this time they published in the year 2017, and GPA was D+ (A+ is the best and F is failing). To give you more in-depth information, the sub-sections are, energy, hazardous waste, inland waterways, levees, aviation, schools, transit, wastewater, solid waste, rail, roads, ports, public parks, dams, bridges, and drinking water. Unfortunately, hazardous waste had D+, drinking water, D, and wastewater also had a D+ which brought my attention to focus even more about Environmental Engineering and have an interview one of our instructors, Dr. Adrienne Phillips who has worked in the field many years and came to MSU in 2014 for her PhD and has been teaching since. She teaches three courses at MSU which are, Hazardous Waste Management, Hazardous Waste Treatment, and Air Pollution Control. I was in Hazardous Waste Management in Spring-2019. When I asked her if teaching is now a lifestyle or a job in her perspective, she stated that, “Consulting was little more of like a job. I had cleared the plate. I really liked consulting too. It was fun. Every day was different I was not working on a same project forever. I did work air group, ground group too so I got to do sampling in the field and designing in addition to permitting, letters, reports” (A. Phillips, personal communication, September 9, 2019). She made me think that outside of the college where private industries have an influence, nothing anything there is a money issue, and everything is the money whether it is saving the environment or just do a project.

I always wanted to pursue my master’s degree on one of the sub-disciplines of Civil Engineering. However, I knew that if I ever stayed in college right after graduation, it would not be as beneficial as Dr. Phillips did years ago that she worked in a consulting firm and then came back for pursuing her PhD in MSU. Regardless which she stated, “I’d say consulting is going to pay better than academic position but of course it depends location and the firm” (A. Phillips, personal communication, September 9, 2019). She came back and researched, read a lot of articles, wrote a lot of articles. “It’s not easy. Anyone tells you to you should do PhD you need to think really hard about it because you want to make sure that you are devoted and dedicated about it because it takes a lot” (A. Phillips, personal communication, September 9, 2019). She stated and I thought she was right about it; it is not easy. I think working for a consulting or any firm as an engineer first would be highly beneficial because, you could observe the practical solutions in the field comparing to directly going to grad school after graduation without any practical experience.

Civil Engineering is an extremely big field. It is integrated with a number of different professional branches. The field itself serves as the basis of early lives, the advancement of cities even countries, and protecting people from adverse environmental pollutions. With Civil Engineer’s knowledge and experience, if successful, the world could be more livable, environmentally friendly, and more sophisticated.

The field of civil engineering should be taken more seriously, considering the role that it plays in society. Unethical standards, such as requiring people to pay to practice the profession, have the potential of affecting the quality of work output. Such situations occur because people who tend to pay lack the necessary qualification required to be admitted to pursue the profession or practice it. The fact that they do not possess these needed qualifications is an indication that their quality of work output will be substandard. Since the majority of people in society depend on civil engineering works such as roads and buildings, poor work output places their lives in danger. Therefore, it is essential to adhere to ethics in this profession because they are in place to give necessary guidance.

Ethics plays a significant role in engineering. Ethics encompasses the moral behavior that guides our actions. In this case, it is evident that the issue of ethics should be a motivating factor to an individual’s behavior as well as in the business setting to achieve the organization’s objective. Due to the importance of ethics in the society, as well as in business organizations and institutions establish a ‘code of ethics’ that guide their employees, members and other stakeholders on their interactions. Hence, the American Society of Civil Engineers which is the premier American institutions responsible for developing and implementing policy frameworks for civil engineers, has established and developed its own code that require students and its member, engineers to adhere to the set code in their activities. As a future civil engineer the organization and the code of ethics established by this engineering body is the focus of my ethics project Hence, I will focus on the code of ethics as identified by the American Society of Civil Engineers and its implication on its members while paying particular attention to Canon 5. Though the capitalistic concept of pay-to-play is itself old, the phrase pay-to-play emerged in the 1920s, with one early use referring to a pay-to-play card game for a Catholic association. A prominent use of pay-to-play occurred in the music industry in the 1980s, when some venue owners in Los Angeles began charging new and fledgling artists a pay-to-play fee if the artists wished to use their facilities. This model has received much criticism, and been referred to as a “scene killer.” In 1992, the idea of a “pay-to-play plan” for schools was first discussed as a way to address diminishing revenue. It consisted of forcing students to purchase “activity tickets,” that is, pay a fee, if they wanted to participate in sports or other extracurricular activities. This approach had reportedly led to a decrease in student participation, but due to continuing funding concerns, there has been some speculation that it could become a fixture of school sports in the future. By the late 1980s and 1990s, the phrase pay-to-play became increasingly identified with US politics, specifically referring to the practice of companies or industries giving contributions and gifts to candidates in exchange for political favors, influence on policy, tax breaks, and so on.

Assurance is a virtue that has allowed the civil engineering industry to grow and become widely accepted by people in society. Once an engineer completes a particular project, people freely utilize it without fear since they are assured that the construction and the people concerned abided by the expected standards. This is in line with the principle of making sure that all engineering projects uphold the public safety and health (ASCE, 2008). Assurance has supported the industry to grow over the years. The rules and regulations in place guide engineers on how to acquire education and skills to practice the profession accurately. Nonconformity to these regulations is what amounts to unethical practice and has the potential of affecting the growth of the civil engineering industry. Once constructions are not up to the expected standards, people will lose confidence, thus leading to low demand.

One of the cannons that might be violated as a result of pay to play in the civil engineering profession is one that requires engineers to practice only in the areas of their competence (Atola, 2015). The fact that individuals pay to acquire certain tenders is an indication that they do not possess all the required qualifications needed for the job. This cannon is made to ensure that construction projects meet all the required standards. Not only does it guarantee the safety of the people who use these facilities, but it also ensures that only professionals with the right skills and experience are selected for the task.

The second cannon that pay to play disregards is one that requires engineers to act professionally with honesty and avoid any conflict of interest (Atola, 2015). The fact that people pay to acquire admission into colleges without having the needed qualification is a sign of dishonesty. This particular act further indicates that those admitted in this manner have the potential of not thoroughly acquiring all the skills required to enable them to discharge their duties in the right way. Due to this, they further pay to acquires tenders, thus leading to more dishonesty with clients and ultimately resulting in poor quality output. As highlighted by the Illinois Institute of Technology (n.d), such acts go against the principle of honoring and dignifying the profession.

The third cannon compromised by the act of pay to play is one that requires engineers to build their careers on merit from the quality of services they give and not based on unfair competition (Atola, 2015). Riley and Lambrinidou (2015) further argue that the primary goal of engineers is to address social problems and challenge social injustice. Therefore, when people pay to acquire admission into colleges and to get tenders, it means that they have violated this cannon since the two are not based on merit but rather unfair practices. It also compromises the quality of work conducted by such engineers. The last cannon (and one that is directly against the pay to practice act) is one that asks engineers to honor and have the dignity of the profession by not engaging in bribery (Atola, 2015). Therefore, when engineers pay to acquire tenders, they violate this principle. As noted by ASME (2019), engineers should not engage in practices that make them compete unfairly against one another.

In conclusion, the civil engineering industry should be taken more seriously based on the role it plays in the economy. Violation of ethical standards in the profession will lead to detrimental consequences, which will ultimately not only affect the economy but also the industry. Although the American Society of Civil Engineers has rules and regulations that are supposed to direct engineers to honor and respect the profession, they should find effective criteria to ensure that engineers strictly follow them in the future.

References

1. ASCE. (2008). The seven fundamental canons of ASCE’s code of ethics. Retrieved 15 October 2019, from https://www.asce.org/question-of-ethics-articles/apr-2008/
2. ASME. (2019). The ASME criteria for interpretation of the canons [Ebook]. Retrieved from https://www.asme.org/wwwasmeorg/media/resourcefiles/aboutasme/advocacy/criteria-for-interpretation-of-the-canonsjune2012.pdf
3. Atola. (2015). American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) – Code of ethics. – Adrian and the future professorship. Retrieved 9 October 2019, from https://blogs.lt.vt.edu/myeducation/2015/11/28/american-society-of-civil-engineers-asce-code-of-ethics/
4. Illinois Institute of Technology. (n.d). Canons of ethics for engineers (1947) | Ethics Codes Collection. Retrieved 15 October 2019, from https://ethics.iit.edu/ecodes/node/3257
5. Riley, D., & Lambrinidou, Y. (2015). Canons against cannons? Social justice and the engineering ethics imaginary. Seattle, WA: American Society for Engineering Education.

Charles Lapworth quoted: “All that comes above the surface lies within the province of geography; all that comes below that surface lies inside the realm of geology”.

Geology is the study of the Earth, its components, the composition of those materials, and the influence of natural forces on those materials. A basic understanding of geology is so necessary that it is required in civil engineering programs at the university level. One of the most important subjects for civil engineers to study is geology.

What does geology have to do with civil engineers? It’s crucial to civil engineering because much of the work they do includes the Earth and its characteristics. The majority of civil engineering projects include filling the Earth by constructing structures on top of it.

From the standpoint of base stability and building material availability, site selection is critical. Site surveying is one of the most critical tasks a civil engineer must complete. Civil engineers use surveying to assess the relative locations of points on, above, and below the Earth’s surface. Civil engineers, for example, must use both direct and indirect methods to calculate distance, elevation, and orientation to decide how to blueprint points translate to the real world. The geological conditions under which a project will be built may have a significant impact on its viability, planning, and design, construction and costing, as well as safety. Construction and hazard analysis both need a comprehensive and reliable geology information inventory.

The geology of the area in question is needed for the construction of large civil engineering projects. When planning a major construction project, it’s necessary to consider the local geology of the region. As a result, the engineer must have a sufficient understanding of geology to know how and when to assess their reliability, as well as an understanding of how the mentioned conditions can affect the project. Geology is the scientific study of the structure and properties of building materials, as well as their incidence. Civil engineers must have a thorough understanding of rock properties to consider various rocks for various purposes, such as base rock, road metal, concrete aggregate, building stones, and roofing material for decorative purposes. A civil engineer might consider a site identified in a geological report as being underlain by clastic sedimentary rocks to be entirely made up of sandstones.

Engineering geology aids in the design of stable and cost-effective building projects. Before starting a project, conduct a detailed geological survey of the area. This will lower the project’s overall cost. The geology of the region where dams, bridges, and other structures are built is usually directly related to fundamental problems. Because of geology expertise, the construction of dams, tunnels, reservoirs, and other civil engineering projects is more robust, reliable, and cost-effective when safety precautions are taken and materials are used.

Groundwater expertise is needed for a variety of purposes, including excavation, water supply, irrigation, and many others. Hydrological maps show the distribution of surface water channels, as well as the depth of groundwater. Civil engineering programs benefit from geological maps. It gives details on the structural deposition of different rock types in the proposed field. Geology aids in the identification of earthquake-prone areas. If any geological features such as faults or folds are discovered, they must be handled appropriately to improve the structure’s stability. Geology aids in the identification of areas prone to collapse due to geological hazards such as earthquakes, landslides, and weathering impacts, among other things. Engineering geology is the application of geology to engineering studies to ensure that geological factors affecting the site, design, development, service, and maintenance of engineering works are recognized and taken into consideration.

A thorough understanding of geology improves a civil engineering project’s strength, stability, and long-term viability. Civil engineers depend on geology for everything from civil engineering consultancy to the design of a massive public structure. Engineers must consider the land on which a civil engineering project is built for it to be successful. There are reasons why geology is included in the civil engineering curriculum. It exemplifies how important geology is in civil engineering.

“I believe in constant improvement, driven by evidence and feedback”.

My perspective on teaching has strongly been influenced by my experiences as a project manager of a major construction engineering company. In this position, I was a decision-maker and a consumer of the products supplied by the system that prepares graduate engineers for the profession. I experienced how well products performed and their intended functions. The significance of an education and the problems currently facing engineering education became evident to me each time I was involved in hiring a fresh graduate. I would place great emphasis on selecting the best candidates from the best universities, yet none of these civil engineers were able to generate even the most rudimentary design concept in response to design requirements. When a concept had been developed for them, they could generally do a reasonable job of calculating its response to loads. The blank piece of paper which is the starting point for all civil designs, seemed to pose an insurmountable conceptual barrier. Could it be that these graduates entered practice, not knowing how to design civil structures or processes?

Conversations with my peers in the construction industry revealed that my observations are indicative of a widespread situation. As attested by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), sixty-two percent of employers in Canada say that recent engineering graduates do not have the skills they need. New graduates of civil engineers are expected to be responsible for designing and overseeing the design and construction of all types of residential and commercial buildings. The inability of recent civil engineering graduates to put new ideas on paper is undoubtedly troubling. If we want civil engineers to be good designers, universities and colleges must take engineering designing courses seriously. Examples of civil design courses such as culvert design, computer-aided design (CAD), drafting, drainage plans and reports, earthwork quantities, and erosion control plans must be delivered in teaching methods that will enhance curiosity and creative thinking. Engineering practice, on the other hand, is largely practical, and great reliance is placed on established procedures, specified guidelines, and that indefinable element called engineering judgment. Much importance is attached to the ability to make qualitative judgments, a skill that engineering students are said to lack.

I am pursuing teaching in higher education because I want to help renew the practice of curious and creative teaching methods in civil design courses. A significant component of this initiative is to transform the way we educate civil engineering students to become innovative designers. With all the success in creating new knowledge through research, very few benefits will arise from this knowledge if we do not have engineers who can use their knowledge to create innovative new works of engineering.

When doing experiments in the kitchen to perfect a recipe, or in the laboratory for research, there is always one or more outcomes that we may want to improve. In the area of engineering statistics, we give that outcome a symbol called the ‘Y’ variable. My biggest challenge as an educator in engineering is figuring out what the ‘Y’ variables are. What are the measures of effective teaching in civil engineering? Often our self-assessment of a class is a single imperfect metric even when considering that students need time and experience for concepts to take root. Assessing this accurately, even quantifying it is nebulous, and can be an ongoing challenge. Somehow we have to measure and evaluate it, or how else do we know we did our jobs as teachers? Recently, I have come to realize there is another ‘Y’ variable and I call it the ‘why’ variable. Why should students come to my class? When I prepare my classes, this will be one of the main questions in my mind. The other two are, how can I keep students engaged in my classroom and why should students care about the material I teach?

I want my students to understand the applicability of what I am teaching to help them to be more engaged and to explain where the material is used in the future. I am fortunate to have eight years of working experience and consulting in a variety of construction industries. I will bring in colleagues I have worked with as guest lecturers, to help demonstrate the relevance and applicability of the study material. When students connect the class material with the professional paths that the guest speakers have taken, and the relevancy of the material is applied, then the mental journey to get there will be more focused and exciting. This is a crucial point that I have learned from one of my teachers at the Ryerson Masters in Building Science program. All these strategies will help to answer the philosophical question of why.

Align the Course with Student Attributes

An emerging emphasis in engineering accreditation in Canada is on outcome-based education. I doubt if this is only a temporary phase from the accreditation agencies. Whether it is or not is principally immaterial. We have to design engineering courses in line with a 40 to 50 years career path. This requires developing communication skills, group work skills, time management expertise and problem-solving skills. Running a classroom where students communicate their answers, work in small active-learning teams, and solve problems meaningfully is part of achieving this goal.

Teaching Engineering Mathematics

The way engineering math is taught is not entirely correct. Mathematics is a way of thinking, not a number-crunching tool. But what is the right way to teach mathematics in core engineering courses? The right way is to make students understand what the numerical problem in engineering is, to help them ask what does it mean and what is its use? What is the pattern here? Not only should students see the reasoning in engineering mathematical questions and solutions, but they should also see a step before and a step after, and possibly a step into the future for the same equation. This is the ‘why’ part? This is how to think about an engineering math pattern by asking the question ‘what is going on’? Although simple, this is a powerful way of thinking in any mathematical engineering scenario because mathematics in engineering should be a tool for increasing one’s thinking power. It also enhances innovation. By studying patterns in math, humans become aware of patterns in our world. Observing patterns allows individuals to develop their ability to predict the future behavior of natural organisms and phenomena. It is my sincere and strong belief to help my students enjoy the learning process. I will promote active, cooperative and creative learning. I respect my students’ cultural and religious values. Therefore, I will place great prominence in acknowledging different styles of learning that exist among students who come from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Measuring Success in My Class

Success has different definitions for different people. In my view, if I have achieved my objectives and fulfilled the mission and vision specified in my philosophy of teaching, I have achieved success. Success also means the achievement of a desirable outcome. When I assess my students’ performance, I will use the techniques described below and I will also observe samples of their behavior, performance, skills, and knowledge.

One Minute Paper and the Half-Sheet Response

A very effective method that I will use in my class to measure success is the One Minute Paper and the Half-Sheet Response adapted from Thomas A. Angelo and K. Patricia Cross (1993). I will stop my class five minutes early and ask some quick questions about my lesson such as, “Who can tell me the most crucial thing you learned today in my class?”. By doing this, I can collect quick responses from my students either verbally or written on a piece of paper.

Classroom Opinion Poll

When I assess my students, I take the opportunity to assess my own performance as well. I will ask my students to give me feedback in writing anonymously about my lecture content and how it is presented so that I can evaluate myself on an ongoing basis.

Conclusion

To conclude my teaching philosophy, I would like to highlight three areas that I am particularly passionate about. First is offering students flexibility in how they learn. Second is aligning the course with student attributes and the third is teaching engineering mathematics correctly. To begin with, I will make all my class resources freely available on the course websites. Full electronic notes, audio and video recordings of the class, copies of slides and worked solutions to preceding homework, group assignments and midterms. This gives students from different backgrounds and abilities, the resources to still participate, and this helps students who might have to be away from class for a job interview, or other personal or medical reasons. I call this the ‘take-out’ vs. ‘eat-in decision’. A university or college environment is a perfect place for either figuring out time management or failing at it. The consequences here are fairly minor if a student misjudges the need to attend a class.

References

1. Felder, R., Brent, R., and Stice, J., ‘National Effective Teaching Institute: Workshop Materials’. 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 2002.
2. Springer, L., M. Stanne, and S. Donovan, ‘Effects of Small-Group Learning on Undergraduates in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology: A Meta-Analysis’. Review of Educational Research, Vol. 69, No. 1, 1999, pp. 21-52.
3. Wiggins, G., and J. McTighe, ‘Understanding by Design’. Merrill Education/ASCD College Textbook Series, ASCD, Alexandria, Virginia, 1998.
4. Qais, F. (2011). How to Teach Effectively: A Practical Guide. Al-Mehrab e-publisher, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
5. Teaching Philosophy Statements – SlideShare. https://www.slideshare.net/iosrjce/teaching-philosophy-statements