Ethical Dilemma

As in all engineering fields, Civil Engineering has many ethical dilemmas. One ethical dilemma appears with almost every project that a Civil Engineer will be involved with. Many times, as projects progress, situations arise that lead to unforeseen costs and time. In order to proceed the engineer needs to decide the best plan of action.

In these cases, many times the engineers client (ie. municipality, state), pressures the engineer to solve the problem in a way that is the least expensive and involves the least amount of time. The problem, most often, is not one that could have been planned for in advance and therefore would not have been included in the bid price or time scheduling. With increased time to fix problems also comes the problem of increased expenses, in the form of contractor expenses, such as labor and machine hours.

The client will also want a finished product that is the best possible product for the money and time that they have committed. They do not want the engineer to fix a problem temporarily. For an example, consider that a city is building a new development on the outskirts of there existing town. The excavating contractor comes across some soil, that is subpar for building streets on. This puts the engineer in a position to make a decision on the best course of action. With some investigation and experience from other projects, the engineer should recognize that the problem needs to be corrected by removing the subgrade and replacing it with a sand or class 5 material. This is not the only option however. The engineer can decide to do nothing and build the street on the existing subpar soil, they could also decide to minimize cost and only remove some of the soil and replace. Both of these options present a smaller cost in material as well as contractor costs and time.

The dilemma is, should the engineer try to cut corners to save costs and increase the speed of the project, or should the engineer spend the extra money to remove the unwanted soil. The answer seems obvious when looking at the problem from the outside, but when placed in this position engineers do not always make the right decisions. Remember, the engineer is under pressure from the client to complete the project on budget and as quickly as possible. Not meeting the clients expectations can lead to the client choosing a different engineer next time a project needs to be done.

As Civil Engineers, we need to remember that every project we are involved in can come around to hurt you later on. As in the example, if the engineer decides to do nothing, the client will be satisfied with the final costs and timely manner in which the project was completed. Then a few years or less the road will start to break up and become undesirable. One large problem with an issue like this is that the general public is immediately aware of the new problem. They are also smart enough to realize that a road that is only a couple of years old should not be breaking up.

In these types of situations, it is best to do the thing that is the best solution regardless of costs. Through good communication and explanations, the client will see the problem, and will be able to understand the implications of trying to cut costs. In the long run the client will be more satisfied with the project and will likely use your engineering firm in the future for other projects. Remember, the most expensive option is not always the best option, it depends on the situation.

News Article: "Wobbly no more"

Summary

In a recent news article found in this link, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150331121620.htm, researchers studied children from six to eight years old. The reason for the study was to figure out ways that children learn. The research was completed in Chicago Children's Museum.

In the museum there is an area where the kids can try to build towers. The researchers had observed that most children did not know how to build towers that were stable. Most of the towers that they built just fell down. The article states that the children seemed to be just as happy building the towers as knocking them down. They decided to find out if the children could be taught something to help them build more stable towers, which would lead the children to be more fascinated with trying to build towers that are more stable.

They introduced some of  the children to the idea of an angular support brace. These children then could build more stable towers after just being shown this concept. The researchers did not explain to the children what the brace did. They simply showed the children two towers, one with support braces and one without, and let the children investigate the two for themselves.



Chicago Children's Museum
"Skyline"
http://www.chicagochildrensmuseum.org/index.php/experience/skyline



Response

I think that it is easy to see from this article that children can learn physical concepts pretty easily by being shown these physical concepts. If you were to sit these same children down in a classroom and try to teach them about angular braces through a text book, I do not think that it would be as successful. We can learn from this article by taking the findings from six to eight year olds and applying it to college students and graduates. Many times the concepts in our text books seem confusing until we are able to physically see the concepts. Through drawings, examples, and going out into the field, it is much easier to visualize concepts and understand how they work.

There are usually a few large conventions held around the U.S. every year for engineers. Some of them are more specifically for certain types of engineers. The reason for these conventions is to show new ideas to others so that they can understand how new products or ideas work and possibly even be able to add things to these ideas. These conventions are great places for engineers to learn new things and to come up with better ways to accomplish tasks. These types of conventions are essentially the same type of learning experiences that the 6 to 8 year olds experienced at the Chicago Children's Museum. This article helps to point out that we can learn from children as much as they can learn from us.

PVC Pipe - A Reveiw

Overview

PVC pipe is a fairly recent technical advancement that is critical to Civil Engineering. Although there are more recent technological breakthroughs in the Civil Engineering field, PVC is one that has had a very large impact.

PVC stands for Polyvinyl Chloride. PVC pipe is a type of plastic pipe used mainly for water and sanitary sewer systems, although it has been used in some areas for storm sewer systems as well. PVC is light-weight, inexpensive, wear resistant, and good under pressures.

Applications

PVC is used in almost all new water and sanitary sewer systems because of its great traits. Contractors like to use it because it can be made into sticks that are twenty feet long, versus the old iron and clay tile pipes which were four or five feet long. It also is easier for the contractors to handle because of its light-weight.

PVC pipe can be manufactured much cheaper than other forms of pipe allowing in a reduced cost. The traits spoken about in the previous paragraph also add to the reduced cost. The contractors ability to lay one stick of pipe that is twenty feet long versus four sticks of pipe to achieve the same twenty feet, allows the contractors to work more efficiently which also adds to the reduced cost.

PVC can also with stand higher internal pressures. These increased pressures allow for more functionality and a reduction in the amount of apparatuses needed for pressure reducing. It also allows the pipe to carry water to higher pressure applications reducing the need for additional pumps.

It is also resistant to most chemicals. This allows engineers to use it in sanitary sewer systems that are constantly under attack from household chemicals. These chemicals alone are not so bad but it is the mixing of these chemicals along with everything else that can be found in a sewer system that increases the chemicals potency. PVC is resistant to most of these chemicals which make it a great product to use in areas where this is a concern.

Along with chemical resistance, PVC is also resistant to most acids. This also adds to its usability in sewer and water systems.

PVC's ability to resist chemical and acidic wear allows for an increased life span in the PVC pipe installed. PVC is usually expected to last up to two times as long as the old iron and clay tile pipes used previously.

Conclusion

PVC is a great advancement in the field of Civil Engineering. Because of its low cost and long life span it can be used in many applications. PVC is by far the most installed pipe in underground utility construction, and is being used in homes for sewer plumbing as well. The only real drawback of using PVC is that UV rays can damage the plastic pipe after some time. With the necessary precautions in place, this is rarely a problem. PVC used in the field of civil engineering is usually buried but there are UV protectors than can be used if necessary.

WHAT IS CIVIL ENGINEERING?

Basics

 Many people think of Civil Engineers as the people who design roads and bridges, but in reality, it is much more than that. Civil Engineering is a very broad field that involves quiet a few sub-fields. Some of these sub fields include, Structural Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Municipal Engineering, and Transportation Engineering, to name a few.

Structural Engineering mostly deals with structures and there abilities to resist loads. Bridges, tunnels, dams, and canals would be some of the more common structures that a Structural Engineer would be involved with. A Structural Engineer would aid in the design and construction along with assessing the structure throughout its life to insure safety and function ability.

Environmental Engineers evaluate the environmental impacts of proposed projects, and help with treating the air, ground and water around us. They design systems to deal with contaminants in our environment and ways to avoid future contamination from occurring.

Municipal Engineers design and maintain cities. They are involved with the design of the cities streets, pedestrian paths, building planning, and utilities. This field of Civil Engineering is what I am most interested in because it allows the engineer to be involved in a few different civil disciplines instead of specializing in just one.

Transportation Engineers design and maintain all of our modes of transport, although most Transportation Engineers usually specialize in one mode of transportation. Different modes of transportation would include passenger vehicles, trains, airplanes and boats.

Interests

Civil Engineers are usually people who are interested in the outdoors. Most of the sub-fields of Civil Engineering, require you to do things outdoors on occasion, so a liking of the outdoors is good. One of the interests for me personally is being around construction. I worked general construction jobs for three years, before starting college. I  liked construction and wanted to stay involved in it in some way. Another interest that Civil Engineers have is being apart of building things that the general public uses every day. This means that the things Civil Engineers build must be extremely safe and reliable, both for people and the environment.

Values

Civil Engineers value the people around them. Most of what Civil Engineers do, are things that most people take for granted. When is the last time you drove to work, or turned your faucet on? You probably never even thought about all of the work that goes into ensuring that you had a safe drive to work because the roads you used were engineered sufficiently, or that you can drink water from your faucet without worrying about getting sick because there are Civil Engineers somewhere who are ensuring that your water is safe.

Civil Engineers also value building things in an innovative and economic fashion. They are coming up with ways and materials to build things that are cheaper, safer and will last longer than the more conventional methods that have been used before.

General Purpose

From everything so far, we can conclude that the general purpose of a Civil Engineer, is to build a safe and reliable future. All of the things that Civil Engineers are involved with affect the general population in some way. Whether its a structural engineer, who designs the roof over our heads, or the environmental engineer who ensures that we are not contaminating our air and water. Civil Engineers look to build a safe, reliable and sustainable future for us all.