CVNG 1002 CIVIL ENGINEERING DESIGN 1

L1 INTRODUCTION TO CIVIL ENGINEERING DESIGN

1. Engineering is the application of the laws and principles of nature, as determined by the physical
sciences, in order to improve the quality of life. Civil engineering is that aspect of engineering in
which the focus is to use materials to create a built environment within the natural environment.
Therefore, the central aim of civil engineering is to provide physical infrastructure that protects
civilization from the natural elements, as well as provide spaces for human activity that is habitable
and durable, while doing so in a manner that is harmonious with nature, and enables future
generations to do the same.

2. As civil engineering caters for all the many types of human infrastructural needs, it is a vast field and
involves the processing of different, interrelated types of information. In order to systematically
manage this vast array of information, it is convenient to use a “systems” approach to define, classify,
and describe the various aspects of civil engineering.

3. A system is a collection of interrelated parts and can be broken-down into sub-groups or sub-systems.
Graphical elements are one way that systems can be defined and a common element that is useful
for civil engineering systems is the inverted tree. Each level of the tree from top to down is a
collection of the elements that is contained in each item of the level above. There is no formal way of
defining civil engineering systems in this manner, but we shall use it for our purposes going forward.

4. To illustrate the concept, consider the human body as a system. It is comprised of: the nervous sub-
system; the respiratory sub-system; the digestive sub-system, the skeletal sub-system, the endocrine
sub-system, etc. Consider the first three:
The Human Body

L1 Nervous Sub-system Respiratory Sub-system Digestive Sub-system

L2 Brain Spinal cord Senses Nose Trachea Lungs Mouth Esophagus Stomach Intestines

5. The first level – L1, describes the sub-system. L2 describes the breakdown of each sub-system of L1,
hence the sub-sub-systems, and one may define further levels as desired. Rather than describe the
system using the inverted tree, also called a hierarchy chart, it may be more convenient to describe
the levels of the tree using a decimal point system and indentation. For example, the above tree
becomes:

The Human Body

1.1 Nervous Sub-system
1.1.1 Brain
1.1.2 Spinal cord
1.1.3 Senses
1.2 Respiratory Sub-system
1.2.1 Nose
1.2.2 Trachea
1.2.3 Lungs
1.3 Digestive Sub-system
1.3.1 Mouth
1.3.2 Esophagus
1.3.3 Stomach
1.3.4 Intestines
6. One can describe civil engineering systems using such formats. Therefore, the most common civil
engineering systems are as follows, and also defines the main sub-divisions of civil engineering.

Civil Engineering Systems:-

1.1 Buildings and Building-Type Facilities
1.1.1 Frames
1.1.1.1 Trusses
1.1.1.2 Moment
1.1.1.3 Braced
1.1.2 Walls
1.1.2.1 Partition
1.1.2.2 External
1.1.2.3 Cantilever
1.1.2.4 Perforated
1.1.2.5 Retaining
1.1.3 Floors
1.1.3.1 Concrete
1.1.3.2 Cold-form steel deck
1.1.3.3 Timber
1.1.4 Shells
1.1.4.1 Concrete
1.1.4.2 Steel sheeting
1.1.5 Towers and poles
1.1.5.1 Power transmission
1.1.5.2 Cellular transmission
1.1.5.3 Flag pole
1.2 Materials
1.2.1 Concrete
1.2.2 Masonry
1.2.3 Steel
1.2.4 Timber
1.2.5 Polymers
1.3 Storm Drainage
1.3.1 Open channel (Box)
1.3.1.1 Masonry
1.3.1.2 Concrete
1.3.1.3 Concrete swale
1.3.2 Closed channel
1.3.2.1 Masonry
1.3.2.2 Concrete
1.3.3 Culvert
1.3.4 Retention pond
1.3.4.1 Masonry
1.3.4.2 Concrete
1.3.5 Detention pond
1.3.5.1 Masonry
1.3.5.2 Concrete
1.3.6 Curb-and-slipper
1.3.7 Pipes or conduits
1.3.8 Catch pits
1.3.9 Manholes
1.3.10 Sluices
1.4 Water Supply
1.4.1 Tanks
1.4.1.1 Concrete
1.4.1.2 Steel
1.4.1.3 Polymer
1.4.2 Dams
1.4.3 Reservoirs
1.4.4 Pipes or conduits
1.4.5 Gate valves
1.4.6 Air valves
1.4.7 Pumps
1.5 Wastewater Treatment
1.5.1 Tanks
1.5.1.1 Concrete
1.5.1.2 Steel
1.5.1.3 Polymer
1.5.2 Pipes or conduits
1.5.3 Manholes
1.5.4 Pumps
 1.6 Roads
1.6.1 Bridge
1.6.1.1 Deck
1.6.1.2 Abutments
1.6.2 Culvert
1.6.3 Pavement
1.6.3.1 Flexible (asphalt)
1.6.3.1.1Subgrade
1.6.3.1.2Sub-base
1.6.3.1.3Base
1.6.3.1.4Wearing course
1.6.3.2 Rigid (concrete)
1.6.3.2.1Subgrade
1.6.3.2.2Sub-base
1.6.3.2.3Base
1.6.3.2.4Slab
1.6.4 Curb-and-slipper drains
1.6.5 Sidewalks
1.6.6 Intersections
1.6.7 Catch-pits
1.6.8 Traffic controls
1.6.9 Signs
1.7 Highways
1.7.1 Bridge
1.7.2 Culvert
1.7.3 Pavement
1.7.4 Curb-and-slipper drains
1.7.5 Intersections
1.7.6 Catch-pits
1.7.7 Traffic controls
1.7.8 Signs
1.8 Soils
1.8.1 Engineered soil
1.8.1.1 Densified
1.8.1.2 Replaced
1.8.2 Reinforced earth
1.8.2.1 Geotextile
1.8.2.2 Geogrid
1.8.3 Embankments
1.9 Coastlines
1.9.1 Sea-walls
1.9.2 Wharfs
1.9.3 Jetties
1.9.4 Shore protection (rip-rap; pylons; etc)
1.9.5 Dikes

7. Each of these civil engineering items is a physical object to be designed and built into the existing
natural environment and this is done via a set of phased operations summarized as: design then
tendering then construction. Therefore, civil engineers are typically employed in one of the following
roles:

a. Structural Engineer: considering the applied stresses and movement of the structural
component, a structural engineer determines their sizes and contents. Since all components of
civil engineering practice are physical objects, structural engineering applies to many of the
components of the civil engineering sub-disciplines.

b. Water Engineer: considering the volumes of rainfall water, and potable water required by a
community, a water engineer determines the required sizes and other properties of drains to
mitigate flooding for the former, and the appropriate treatment processes for converting
naturally-occurring water to potable water, and the sizes of tanks, pipes, etc., required for this
purpose, for the latter.

c. Environmental Engineer: considering the volumes of wastewater and other types of pollutants in
water discharged from a community, an environmental engineer determines the treatment
processes required to remove undesirable chemicals from the water, and the sizes of required
components.

d. Transportation Engineer: considering the present and future flow of traffic and the overall impact
on other transportation systems and the economy, a transportation engineer advises on the sizes
and topology of highways, roads, and associated interchanges.

e. Highway Engineer: considering the volume of traffic, the topography, geology and soils of the
terrain, a highway engineer determines the sizes of roads and their components.
 f. Geotechnical Engineer: considering the actual and required properties of the soils that interact
with the component to be built, a geotechnical engineer advises on the appropriate type of
foundation to use, and determines how to improve the properties of soils if the existing soil is
inadequate in terms of excessive movement of soil interaction with the component.

g. Coastal Engineer: considering the effects of water waves on the interface between water and
land, a coastal engineer determines what is required to ensure that the shoreline is maintained,
and that built facilities adjacent to the water, remain functional in the event of extreme wave
action.

h. Owner’s Project Manager: all the previous civil engineering roles are “design” roles. The Owner’s
project manager, knowing the relevant aspects of civil engineering, ensures that the design and
construction of the project are done in conformance to the appropriate standards and
specifications, and is completed on time and within the budget.

i. Construction Project Manager: this is similar to the Owner’s Project Manager except that the
former is hired by the Owner, whereas the construction project manager is hired by the
contractor who is under a contract with the Owner. The construction project manager directly
controls the project, whereas the Owner’s project manager indirectly manages the contractor by
using the terms of the contract. (It should be mentioned that the design engineers can be hired
by the contractor rather than by the Owner).

j. Construction Engineer: a construction engineer is under the construction manager and directly
implements the technical requirements for actually building the facility.

8. Exercise:
Explore within a 5 km radius of your home, and determine the various civil engineering systems in
use. As a guide use the photos, on MyELearning, of common systems. Take photographs of your
environment to indicate the systems there, and superimpose labels and arrows indicating the
components of the system. Name the location and compile your photos into a photographic report
(i.e. no essay-type sections are required) and upload to MyELearning by next week Thursday.