Civil January 7

engineering
practice
portfolio
2013
Part A

A1 Broaden and deepen your engineering knowledge

Identify limits of own personal knowledge and skills. Acquisition of engineering knowledge in chosen
field of operations. Knowledge of engineering principles. Codes, standards and specifications.
Technological developments in the construction industry.

This development objective was chosen because it is important to have a good understand of civil
engineering so that when you are in a working environment you have an idea of what has to be done
in each situation. Having a broad knowledge of engineering is key in becoming a civil engineer as
you would be up to date with the particular practices that were used within that company and
around the world. This knowledge could help save a company time and money as a better solution
could be undertaken for a particular problem.

This objective will be achieved by getting as much practice at tasks while on placement by helping
out wherever possible to increase my knowledge of engineering. I will identify my weaknesses in
engineering and try to get as much practice at these so that I can become competent in these areas
as this will make me a better engineer. The more questions that I ask throughout my placement the
more experience I will gain which will help with particular activities that I might have to undertake at
any point.

At the end of my placement I hope to achieve a level ‘B’ in this objective which could realistically be
achieved by the experience that will be gained from the placement.

B3 Implement solutions to problems and evaluate their

effectiveness

Health, Safety and Welfare, quality, cost, time, buildability, risk assessment. Link to codes, standards,
specifications and contract conditions. Monitoring outputs and results.

I choose this development objective because I believe that contributing to problems and providing
an adequate solution are important when working for a company because it gives you experience so
that if that problem was to arise again it could easily be solved without too much hassle. This would
save the company time and money as they would not need a lot of people focusing on one problem
and they could be used to complete tasks. The quality of these solutions would also be improved
because you would have more knowledge on how to handle the problems and the best way to solve
them.

This objective will be achieved by focusing on the problems which I think are my weakest and getting
as much practice as I can on how to deal with these problems. British standards and eurocodes
could be used to find solutions for the problems and it is important to be competent in these as they
are used in all construction work. It will also be achieved by attempting as many problems that I can
throughout my placement because the more knowledge and experience I gain, the easier the
problems will be to solve in the future.

At the end of my placement I hope to achieve a level ‘E’ in this objective which I believe to be a
realistic aim as the more problems I encounter and solve in my placement the better I will become at
them and this will help me focus on other objectives.

D1 Communicate with others at all levels

Reports. Letters. Drawings. Presentations. Exchange of information. Advice to technical and non-
technical colleagues. Contribute to meetings. Consider the views of others. Consultation. Knowledge
and use of IT. Present your case and defend it.

The third chosen development objective was to communicate with others at all levels and this is very
important for a workplace as it helps build relationships with other colleagues so that each other
opinions can be voiced on a matter within the company. It also helps you consider the views of
others so that if you are struggling with a particular problem then talking to someone that knows
how to solve the problem is key and makes sure you are not wasting your time on a particular
matter that could easily be solved with someone’s help.

This objective will be achieved simply by talking to people, not always orally, maybe by way of
technology such as e-mail, telephones etc. Also the more presentations that I carry out throughout
my placement will increase my communication skills with the other colleagues in the company.
By the end of my placement I aim to have achieved a level ‘E’ in this objective. This is realistic as the
more communication there is between me and my colleagues the easier it make completing tasks
because instead of struggling on tasks I could ask a colleague for help.

D2 Work effectively with others

Develop good working relationships with colleagues, clients, suppliers and the public to achieve
collective goals. Equal opportunities and diversity. Set an example for others to follow.

This development objective was chosen because it is important to be able to work with other people
within the company so that tasks can be completed in groups which saves the company time and
money. Working relationships also have to be developed between clients and suppliers so that
collective goals can be achieved. Working with others can also increase your knowledge of a certain
problem so that if that problem was to arise again it could be solved easily.

This objective will be completed by working in groups wherever possible and trying to build good
working relationships between colleagues by completing tasks to save time and money.

By the end of my placement I hope to achieve a level ‘E’ in this objective which I believe to be
realistic as it could be achieved by working in groups at every opportunity to help complete tasks
quicker.
2.

The achievement of development objectives is important in developing knowledge for civil engineers
because it ensures they are always learning new things and improving their expertise with a
particular subject. The higher level that is achieved for each development objective the more
developed you are within that objective with a level ‘B’ being classed as the highest level recognised.
This is achieved when a particular development objective has been completed several times to a
high standard in different situations and when you have the competence to assist others in
completing this development objective while working without any supervision.

Development objective B3 is important in developing knowledge for civil engineers because it

improves your experience of certain problems and the best way to solve these problems so that if
they were to be encountered again they could be easily solved saving time and money. It is
important for civil engineers to be able to tackle certain problems that will be encountered regularly
and the more these problems are solved, the higher level that will be achieved in the development
objective. A level ‘B’ will be achieved in this development objective when you are able to find
solutions for problems without the help of others and when you are capable of assisting others in
finding solutions.

Development objective D1 and D2 are vital to improving your knowledge of civil engineering
because working with other colleagues is important to develop good working relationships. It also
saves time and money by working in groups and when taken other people’s opinions into accountant
a better alternative could be reached on how to solve a particular task that was encountered. The
quality of the task could be improved by working in groups because someone could think of an idea
that maybe you would not have and also improving your engineering knowledge at the same time.
A level ‘B’ will be achieved in these development objectives interacting in many different forms of
communications such as letters, reports, presentations etc. Also the more contribution that you give
at meetings and discussions will increase your knowledge of these development objectives, helping
you achieve a level ‘B’.
Part B

The critical path in a project is the path where there is no float, which means all the activities that
are within the critical path cannot be done a day late or this would delay the project causing more
time and money. “Critical path is the sequence of activities which add up to the longest overall
duration. It is the shortest time possible to complete the project. Any delay of an activity on the
critical path directly impacts the planned project completion date (there is no float on the critical
path)” (Santiago, J and Magallon, D. 2009).

There are a few advantages in using a critical path analysis such as

 Maximise efficiency in the use of time

 Improve efficiency and generate cost saving in the use of resources
 Beneficial to monitoring cash flow

The activities that are not involved in the critical path have a float of a certain number of days which
means that they don’t have to be started right after the previous activity just as long as they are
completed in time for the next activity to start without causing a delay. Critical path analysis shows
exactly what tasks are the priorities so that the project does not go over time and budget.

The benefit of performing a project using Microsoft project is that once it has been completed, it
makes it easier to follow the steps of the project because it could be seen what activities are in order
and which ones can be carried at the same time i.e. installing windows and installing doors can be
carried out at the same time which saves time. It also gives an accurate representation of how long
the project should take if the critical path is followed without any of them being delayed. Microsoft
project is also flexible so that if a certain activity had to take longer or start at a different date this
could easily be changed and then.

In conclusion it is important to be competent in using Microsoft project and Gantt charts because
these are used regularly by companies and are a great way of following a project from start to finish
to see what activities have to be completed and in what order. It also shows what activities can be
completed parallel to other activities so that the project can be completed quicker. Clients can also
follow the project and raise any issues that they have because of how easy the Gantt charts are to
follow.
References

Gail Thornley (1968). Critical Path Analysis in Practice. London: Tavistock. p3-p16.

santiago, J & Magallon, D. (2009). Critical path method . Available:

http://www.stanford.edu/class/cee320/CEE320B/CPM.pdf Last accessed 3th jan 2013.