Civil Engineering Organizations Research Articles

An Overview of Education in the Area of Civil Engineering in Portugal

The paper presents the structure of Civil Engineering education in Portugal. Description of the organization of the cycles of studies currently existing, comparing them with the pre-Bologna Process organization in Portugal is presented. Quality assurance mechanisms are outlined. Afterwards, a more detailed description of the Civil Engineering organization at University of Aveiro is presented, taking into consideration the different cycles of studies. Research lines developed at the Civil Engineering Department are also briefly described.

The Personality of Civil Engineers

The civil engineering umbrella encompasses many different disciplines--from construction management to water resources management, and everything in between. Consequently, in civil engineering organizations nationwide, often there is conflict and infighting among the various disciplines. Perhaps this could be attributable to differences in the ways these disciplines see their world. This paper uses a modified Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to determine the personality types of construction engineers and design engineers at a State Public Agency. The results indicate that the construction and design engineers share similar predominant personality traits. They are predominantly introverted, preferring to focus their energy on the internal world of ideas and possibilities. They prefer to gather their facts using their senses and are predisposed to facts and figures. When making decisions, they prefer to forego pure logic, relying instead on personal and organizational values. Finally, they show a slight preference for a structured environment. The greatest differences between the construction and design engineers were found in their preferences for decision making. Although both disciplines preferred using their values in decision making rather than pure logic, the designers chose value-oriented responses more frequently than did the construction engineers. Possible reasons for similarities and differences are discussed.

Building Process Models for Design Management

Traditionally, computers have been used as tools to enhance productivity on an individual basis. Integrated process support environments (IPSEs) change this work paradigm. Within an IPSE, the wider business processes of communication, cooperation, collaboration, information exchange, triggering of activities, etc. are enacted within a networked computer environment. Participants become inhabitants in a process that is partly managed by the computer environment. In the new paradigm technology is a driver of change rather than an enabler. Consequently, the introduction of process technologies presents organizations with an opportunity to reengineer the way they work. However, the development of methodologies to support process technologies is still immature and underdeveloped. The findings of a study aimed at developing process understanding for design management within two large civil engineering organizations are reported here. The study used the learning cycles of soft systems methodology (SSM) and grounded theory to guide the process. Embedded into these methodologies were the process-centered approaches of walk-through scripts, role developments, and role activity diagrams (RADs). Examples of how these approaches were developed in practice are shown.

Business Engineer: Role for Consulting Civil Engineer in Year 2000

Consulting civil engineering is becoming a more complex business. To survive in tomorrow's consulting business world, civil engineering organizations must enhance their technical skills with busine...

The principles of AAR preventive measures adopted by the French ministry of equipment

The Central Laboratory for Bridges and Roads of the French Ministry of Equipment published in 1991 the ‘Provisional recommendations for the prevention of damage by the alkali-aggregate reaction’. This document is the production of a technical committee, the members of which belong to representative French civil engineering organizations. The paper presents the context in which these recommendations have been written and details the preventive approach which consists of two stages. At the first stage, it is recommended to fix the level of prevention to be attained among three possible levels, the choice depending on both the category of the structure and its exposure class. At the second stage, the recommendations concern possible solution(s). Thereafter the paper presents the five possible ways offered in the general case. To minimize the risk, it is sufficient for one of the five conditions detailed in the text be verified.

Computer-aided design/drafting management within the united states air force logistics command civil engineering organization

The United States Air Force civil engineering organization is responsible for the design, construction, and maintenance of over $115 billion dollars worth of facilities at bases around the world. Many civil engineering functions and offices have procured or are in the process of procuring computer-aided design and drafting (CADD) technology to assist in accomplishing their assigned tasks. Specific areas where automation is anticipated as being most helpful include maintaining facility information, design and engineering, operations and maintenance, project management, master planning, and space planning and management. The actual achievement of these capabilities is less dependent on hardware or software and relies more on a comprehensive and achievable implementation and system management plan. The Air Force civil engineering implementation and management plan consists of four separate but related sections: the benefits/needs analysis; the application/action plan; the CADD standards manual; and the CADD user's guide.

Situational Constraints Within Air Force Task Environments

Field research investigating the nature and consequences of situational performance constraints has only recently begun to appear in the psychological and management literature. Survey and performance appraisal data were obtained from a sample of 274 military and civilian employees of a United States Air Force civil engineering organization. The typical respondent (88%) in the sample was an enlisted man between 26 and 30 years of age. Pearson correlational analysis yielded a paucity of significant relationships. However, correlation ratios suggested that the relationship between supervisory per- formance ratings and the constraints ratings was curvilinear.

Work Measurement and Productivity in Engineering Design

Analysis of design engineering functions has suggested the practicality of determining the normal degree of their occurrence by means of supervisor samplings of the elements of work being done during representative work periods. Such sampling data can be analyzed to determine 1) the intrinsic time-out or job fatigue trends; 2) elemental work profiles for each representative work category; 3) productivity indices for each organization or any appropriate section thereof. The sampling data may also be correlated with time charges to projects and subdivisions thereof to determine time standards. Thus analysis of the sampling data and correlative statistics may provide bases for improved control of project costs, personnel characteristics, and productivity. Data derived from an experimental application of these concepts to a sizable civil engineering organization are presented.

Training geologists for service in the civil engineering organization

The subject of training geologists for the field of civil engineering is one of great interest to me, because my entire professional efforts for the past 16 years have been given to providing geologic information for the use of engineers. This field of applied geology is coming to the foreground not so much because of the activities and publicity it has received from the geological profession, but because of the large and growing demand by the engineering profession for a better understanding of the geologic factors involved in heavy construction engineering. During the past 15 years, the demand for professional geologic services has grown from an occasional call for advice from the consultant to the full‐time utilization of large geologic groups composed of personnel trained and equipped for service in the civil engineering organization. The outstanding demand has come from the agencies of the Federal Government entrusted with the control and development of the Nation's rivers. The current and projected plans of these agencies for flood control, navigation, irrigation, and hydroelectric power developments are widespread in scope, extending into every major river basin of the country. The geologist is to play an important part in the development and consummation of these plans. Therefore, it is a responsibility of our institutions of learning to provide the requisite background of atmosphere and training for the students of geology who are to enter this important field.