Construction Details Step by Step, Very Great Knowledge

Construction

The promotion of civil engineering works may be initiated by a private client, but most work is undertaken for large corporations, government authorities, and public boards and authorities. Many of these have their own engineering staffs, but for large specialized projects it is usual to employ consulting engineers.

The consulting engineer may be required first to undertake feasibility studies, then to recommend a scheme and quote an approximate cost. The engineer is responsible for the design of the works, supplying specifications, drawings, and legal documents in sufficient detail to seek competitive tender prices. The engineer must compare quotations and recommend acceptance of one of them. Although he is not a party to the contract, the engineer’s duties are defined in it; the staff must supervise the construction and the engineer must certify completion of the work. Actions must be consistent with duty to the client; the professional organizations exercise disciplinary control over professional conduct. The consulting engineer’s senior representative on the site is the resident engineer.

Maintenance

 

The contractor maintains the works to the satisfaction of the consulting engineer. Responsibility for maintenance extends to ancillary and temporary works where these form part of the overall construction. After construction a period of maintenance is undertaken by the contractor, and the payment of the final installment of the contract price is held back until released by the consulting engineer. Central and local government engineering and public works departments are concerned primarily with maintenance, for which they employ direct labor.

Branches Of Civil Engineering

A modern description would include the production and distribution of energy, the development of aircraft and airports, the construction of chemical process plants and nuclear power stations, and water desalination. These aspects of civil engineering may be considered under the following headings: construction, transportation, maritime and hydraulic engineering, power, and public health.

Construction

Almost all civil engineering contracts include some element of construction work. The development of steel and concrete as building materials had the effect of placing design more in the hands of the civil engineer than the architect. The engineer’s analysis of a building problem, based on function and economics, determines the building’s structural design.

Transportation

Roman roads and bridges were products of military engineering, but the pavements of McAdam and the bridges of Petitioner were the work of the civil engineer. So were the canals of the 18th century and the railways of the 19th, which, by providing bulk transport with speed and economy, lent a powerful impetus to the Industrial Revolution. The civil engineer today is concerned with an even larger transportation field—e.g., traffic studies, design of systems for road, rail, and air, and construction including pavements, embankments, bridges, and tunnels.

Maritime and hydraulic engineering

Harbor construction and shipbuilding are ancient arts. For many developing countries today the establishment of a large, efficient harbor is an early imperative, to serve as the inlet for industrial plant and needed raw materials and the outlet for finished goods. In developed countries the expansion of world trade, the use of larger ships, and the increase in total tonnage call for more rapid and efficient handling. Deeper berths and alongside-handling equipment (for example, for ore) and navigation improvements are the responsibility of the civil engineer.