Arba Minch University - Institute of Technology

Faculty of Civil Engineering

Curriculum for Doctor of Philosophy

Degree in Civil Engineering

PhD Curriculum in Civil Engineering with Rules and Regulations

Prepared by
Civil Faculty of Engineering
1. Introduction
1.1 Background

Ethiopia was far behind in developing a uniform education network throughout the country to provide learning

facilities to its young population in their own areas fifteen years before. The decision of the government to

open new universities was therefore time oriented and accordingly, the government opened and developed

full infrastructure of about twenty eight new universities in very short period of about last fifteen years. This

is an extraordinary educational revolution in the history of Ethiopia that at present about thirty-five universities

have been successfully developed and these are dedicated in providing higher education and research facilities

to their students in their own localities. All these universities are being facilitated at par of international

universities.

Arba Minch University is located in Arba Minch town which is located 505 km South West from Addis Ababa,

the capital of Ethiopia. It’s nestled at the foot of Gamo Mountain ranges facing huge Abaya and Chamo Lakes

in idyllic surroundings forms the part of East African Rift Valley.

Arba Minch University was established in 2004 G.C by the Proclamation of Higher Education No 111/2004

as a full-fledged Public University. The university was established initially as Arba Minch Water Technology

Institute (AWTI) in 1986 to address water-related issues. Then, AWTI used to offer short & long-term

trainings, conducting research and rendering consultancy services in water sector. The accountability of the

Arba Minch University was under the Ministry of Education. Arba Minch University was expected to be the

hub of Water technology.

AWTI got functional in September 1986 by enrolling 181 students in two first degree, two advanced diploma

and two diploma programs with a purpose to produce skilled manpower in water sector. And in 1988 and

1989, 1st batches consisting of 45 & 47 students in diploma program and advanced diploma program were

graduated respectively. In administrative structure, until 1993, AWTI was under Water Resource Commission

and thereafter it was transferred to the Ministry of Education.In September 1997, AWTI was restructured as
Arba Minch Technology Institute (AMiT) and three new departments were formed i.e. Civil, Electrical and

Mechanical Engineering. In 2001, Meteorology Department was established to provide diploma and post-

graduate degrees. In 2002, AMiT had launched Post-Graduate programs in Hydraulics & Hydropower and

Irrigation Engineering. Subsequently, Computer Science and Information Technology & Architecture were

added. And to administer PG programs, in 2002 office of School of Graduate Studies came into being;

thereafter, it introduced PG programs like MSc in Electrical Power Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering

and Water Supply and Environmental Engineering later Hydrology, Meteorology, and Water Resources

Engineering were added in2004.

In 2004, AMiT was scaled up to full-fledged university and it was renamed as Arba Minch University and

thereafter, different colleges came into being. College of Business & Economics and College of Social

Sciences & Humanities came into being in 2004. Faculty of Education and Faculty of Applied Sciences which

were established in 2005 got transformed into College of Social Sciences & Humanities; College of

Agricultural Sciences came into being in 2007, while College of Medicine & Health Sciences and College of

Natural & Computational Sciences were established in 2009. Sawla Campus, located at Sawla town in Gofa

Zone was inaugurated on November 5, 2016.

At present, AMU has two institutes i.e. Institute of Water Technology and Institute of Technology; six colleges

are College of Business & Economics, College of Social Sciences & Humanities, College of Natural and

Computational Sciences, College of Agricultural Sciences, College of Medicine & Health Sciences and

College of Continuing & Distance Education; and four schools i.e. School of Law, School of Pedagogical and

Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine and School of Post-Graduate Studies; AMU also has Sports

Academy.

Faculty of Civil Engineering [Previously known as Department of Civil Engineering] has been in existence

since 1997 GC together with the foundation of Engineering Faculty under the then Water Technology Institute.

Since then, the Faculty has trained thousands of qualified graduates at the first level through regular,summer

and weekend programs. Also the Faculty started MSc in Geotechnical Engineering as a regular course in
September 2009 GC and additional summer course in July 2011GC. With increasing number of qualified

teaching staffs in the Faculty, MSc and ME courses in Construction Technology & Management, Road and

Transport Engineering and Structural Engineering subsequently started in 2014 and 2016 respectively. The

faculty is endeavoring exhaustively for qualitatively and quantitatively improvements in the education for its

students by increasing qualified teaching staff and developing advanced laboratories.

During the last few years, Arba Minch University has opened and expanded various programs in graduate

studies through the School of Graduate Studies in accordance with the national policy. The Faculty of Civil

Engineering, which has long outstanding period and own resources, particularly laboratories having modern

equipment, finds itself to be potentially competent to begin Ph.D. courses in Civil Engineering (Structural

engineering, Geotechnical engineering, Road and Transport engineering and Construction Technology and

Management) to strengthen the education system in Arba Minch University.

The PhD program in Civil Engineering will provide a leadership role in Ethiopia’s technical, economic and

social development by preparing PhD graduates to join a high-quality educated workforce in areas of national

needs for high-level professional engineers, researchers and educators. The offering of the PhD in Civil

Engineering will contribute to meeting the strategic goals of the university by providing affordable, accessible,

and pedagogically-structured science and technology (S&T) education and research programs. The formalized

PhD in Civil Engineering degree program will provide vital transformative Science and Technology

engineering education and world-changing research opportunities for graduate students. Currently, there are

no PhD degree programs in Civil Engineering at AMU-AMIT. The labor market demand for PhD in Civil

Engineering (Structural engineering, Geotechnical engineering, Road and Transport engineering and

Construction Technology and Management) graduates which has a high demand in construction management,

urban planning and management, infrastructure management, water projects, building construction transport

and logistic services, transport facility design, construction, operation, upgrading and maintenance is

trajectorially increasing and strong for the next 50 years and beyond.

Based on some statistical data, the national growth rate of employment in engineering fields is growing at a
faster rate. Strong national and international networks and collaboration to support for the PhD and research

program at the Faculty of Civil Engineering will offer candidates the opportunity to become

national/international specialists and leaders in the field of Civil Engineering.

The name Civil Engineering (CE) highlights an innovative approach to managing complex problems with an

integrated perspective that considers both technical issues and environmental interactions. The PhD in CE

curriculum trains engineers to apply their technical understanding of systems engineering and other academic

courses to develop new and emerging approaches to protect the environment for sustainable development.

This guiding philosophy incorporates unique qualities relative to peer institutions such as a systems

perspective on CE issues. All PhD students will be required to complete a research dissertation. The program

builds upon the strengths of AMU-AMIT Faculty of Civil Engineering by leveraging resources and space

from other Colleges at AMU. These AMU graduate engineering thematic areas have some connections to

Civil Engineering, thus potential synergy and collaborations exist with the CE graduate degree program. At

present, graduate level degrees in Civil Engineering represent a gap within the AMU-AMIT Engineering

curricula.

1.2 Vision of the Faculty

The Faculty of Civil Engineering aspires to be a prominent civil engineering center committed to the

advancement and dissemination of civil engineering knowledge, and to the training of motivated and

responsible civil engineers who will contribute to the scientific and technological development of the country.

1.3 Mission of the Faculty

The Faculty of Civil Engineering strives to prepare students for professional practice oriented research by

providing excellent teaching, research and service to the university and surrounding community leading to the

PhD degree in Civil Engineering.

1.4 List of the Specializations in PhD Program in Civil Engineering

The PhD Program in Civil Engineering is designed to undertake in four Specializations as mentioned
 Approval to start PhD Program in Civil Engineering

1.5 Approval from Senate, Arba Minch University

Senate, Arba Minch University has given GO AHEAD APPROVAL to start PhD Program in Civil

Engineering with Specializations in Structural Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Construction

Technology and Management and Road and Transport Engineering, dated 6th April 2023

1.6 Bench Mark Guidance to start the PhD Program in Civil Engineering

Faculty of Civil Engineering, Arba Minch University has studied PhD Curriculum of Civil Engineering,

from various Universities in Ethiopia such as Addis Ababa Science and Technology University, Hawasa

University, Jimma University, Adama University and also various Indian Institute of Technology

Universities and National Institute of Technology Universities from India. The present Curriculum for PhD

Program in Civil Engineering is prepared by considering the PhD Curriculum of Addis Ababa Science and

Technology University as the bench mark.

Table 18 Course description – Reinforced Concrete Structures

Arba Minch University - Institute of Technology - Faculty of Civil Engineering
Course Title Advanced Reinforced Total Details of Credit Hours
Concrete Design Credit
Course Code CEng 8121 Hours Lecture Tutorial Lab/Field
Class year / Year I Semester I 3 2 3 3
Semester
Pre-requisite course(s) Design of Reinforced Concrete Structures
Degree Program Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (Structural Engineering)
Course rationale, To impart knowledge on the behavior and design on various
objectives and reinforced concrete structural elements
competences
Course Content/ Limit Analysis of R.C.Structures: Rotation of a plastic hinge,
description Redistribution of moments, moment rotation characteristics of RC
member, Code provisions, loading pattern, Bending Moment Envelop,
Application for Fixed Beams and Continuous Beams. Inelastic Analysis of
Slabs, Moment Redistribution in Columns, Limit Analysis with Torsional
Hinges.

Yield line analysis for slabs: Yield line criterion – Virtual work and
equilibrium methods of analysis – For square circular, Rectangular,
Triangular and Hexagonal with simple and continuous end conditions-
Reinforcement details.

Ribbed slabs : Analysis of the Slabs for Moment and Shears, Ultimate
Moment of Resistance, Design for shear, Deflection, Arrangement of
Reinforcements.

Flat slabs: Direct design method – Distribution of moments in column

strips and middle stripmoment and shear transfer from slabs to columns –
Shear in Flat slabs-Check for one way and two way shears-Introduction to
Equivalent frame method. Limitations of Direct design method,
Distribution of moments in column strips and middle strip sketch showing
reinforcement details.

Design of Reinforced Concrete Deep Beams & Corbels: Steps of

Designing Deep Beams, Design by IS 456. Checking for Local Failures,
Detailing of Deep Beams, Analysis of Forces in a Corbels, Design of
Procedure of Corbels, Design of Nibs.

Design of Slender Columns – Slenderness limits, Methods of Design of

Slender Columns, Additional Moment Method, Procedure for Design of
Slender Columns.

Design of Foundations – Types of combined footings; Design of combined

beam and slab footing for two columns, Raft Foundations: Flat Slab Rafts
for Framed Buildings for Design of the Beam and Slab Raft under uniform
Pressure.

Teaching method Lecture and Contact Advise

Assessment / Assignment, Project, Presentation (50%) and Final Examination (50%)
Evaluation modalities
Attendance Minimum of 85% during lectures & tutorials and 100% during
requirements laboratory sessions and field studies

Text Books and REFERENCE:

References 1. “Reinforced Concrete Design” S. Unnikrishna Pillai & Devdas
Menon; Tata Mc. Graw-Hill Publishing Company Ltd. New
Delhi 2010.
2. “Advanced Reinforced Concrete” P.C. Varghese Prentice Hall
of INDIA Private Ltd. 2008.
3. “Design of Reinforced Concrete Structures” by
N.Subramanian, Oxford University Press.
4. Reinforced Concrete design by Kennath Leet, Tata Mc. Graw-
Hill International, editions, 2nd edition, 1991.
5. “Design Reinforced Concrete Foundations” P.C. Varghese
Prentice Hall of INDIA Private Ltd.
6. SP 34 - Hand Book as Concrete Reinforcement and retaining