Institution Of Civil Engineers Research Articles

Improving lives in our global society by being at the forefront of the smart infrastructure revolution

This is the inaugural address of Andrew Wyllie CBE, who became the 154th president of the Institution of Civil Engineers on 6 November 2018.

Built: The hidden stories behind our structures by Roma Agrawal

This book is a maiden voyage by an energetic and inspiring 35-year-old female engineer, originally from Mumbai, India. She is currently an associate director at AECOM and a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers. Roma Agrawal obtained her BA degree in Physics from the University of Oxford in 2004, and her MSc Structural Engineering degree from Imperial College London, in 2005. Her fascinating resume includes the impressive “The Shard” building in London (the tallest building in western Europe). She shares her engineering knowledge and experience as well as some personal stories with her readers in a practical and educational book, written in the first-person.

Evaluating engineering thinking in undergraduate engineering and liberal arts students

ABSTRACTThis study explored if it is possible for liberal arts students to develop engineering professional competencies without detailed engagement with the engineering sciences. Students on a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences programme were compared with their undergraduate peers in Civil Engineering. A new method for evaluating such competencies was developed. Two one-hour individual problem-solving exercises were devised to assess capabilities against 14 criteria, based on the Institution of Civil Engineers’ Competency framework for professional development (2011 The BASc cohort’s scores for each criterion improved notably from the start of term to the end. This cohort rated their capabilities more highly at the end of term and was more satisfied with the answers they gave. Engineering students showed a slight decline in performance against the criteria. Self-evaluation in this group revealed a smaller increase in perceived capability but increased dissatisfaction. Both cohorts felt more anxious about the assignment at the end of the term. PBL environments can improve student competence in attributes associated with professional engineering. The scope of the study is constrained by the small cohort but the findings and evaluation method provide the basis for further development, including detailed statistical evaluation and validation of the evaluation instrument.

ICE review

A review of recent developments at the Institution of Civil Engineers by ICE president Robert Mair. For further information please contact the press office on +44 20 7665 2107, email vienn.mcmasters@ice.org.uk or visit www.ice.org.uk .

Engineers can Improve the Lives of Millions

It's time to use our skills to give everyone in the world access to clean water, power and healthcare, says the president of the Institution of Civil Engineers

ICE review

A review of recent developments at the Institution of Civil Engineers by ICE president Robert Mair. For further information please contact the press office on +44 20 7665 2107, email vienn.mcmasters@ice.org.uk or visit www.ice.org.uk//news-public-affairs .

Transforming Yekaterinburg into a Safe, Resilient-Smart and Sustainable City

The initiative (since 2014) project described in this paper is a product of a joint innovative research and implementation effort of the Civil Engineering and Architecture Institute, Ural Federal University, the Science and Engineering Centre “Reliability and Safety of Large Systems and Machines”, Ural Branch Russian Academy of Sciences (both Yekaterinburg), Start-up OptiCits, Barcelona, Spain and the Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA. The project is based on using the MAICS convergent technology [1] to create a versatile multi-purpose tool for optimizing the science and art of risk based governance of resilience-smart and sustainable city infrastructure and communities operating in usual and extreme conditions. The tool being developed is tailored to the needs of the City of Yekaterinburg–the capital of the Urals Region and allegedly the third most important and vibrant city of Russia. It is also being offered to the Yekaterinburg City Administration as an every-day decision-support work-tool and addendum to the Strategic Program “Yekaterinburg 2030 – a Safe City”[2] during preparation of the city for winning and conducting the World Expo-2025. Authors believe that the findings of this research would also be useful to the Sverdlovsk Oblast cities of every size and type of communities that inhabit them, including, first and foremost, Nizhny Tagil, Kamensk Uralsky, Serov, Pervouralsk, Revda, Verkhnyaya Pyshma, multiple mono-cities et al. The project also incorporates block-chain technology, smart contracts and digital currency as an effective tool for implementing the project.

ICE review

A review of recent developments at the Institution of Civil Engineers by ICE president Robert Mair. For further information please contact the press office on +44 20 7665 2107, email vienn.mcmasters@ice.org.uk or visit www.ice.org.uk//news-public-affairs .

ICE review

A review of recent developments at the Institution of Civil Engineers by ICE president Robert Mair. For further information please contact the press office on +44 20 7665 2107, email vienn.mcmasters@ice.org.uk or visit www.ice.org.uk//news-public-affairs .

Transforming infrastructure, transforming lives – building on 200 years

This is the inaugural address of Lord Robert Mair, who became 153rd president of the Institution of Civil Engineers on 7 November 2017.

Complex characteristic for forecasting durability of hydraulic concrete

The paper analyzes operating conditions of hydraulic structures, as well as the main types of external influence with temperature and humidity variations. The purpose of the research is to highlight the main parameters which will be able to assess the actual durability of concrete hydraulic structures in the process of their design. The authors use methods developed in Samara Architecture and Civil Engineering Institute to determine concrete physical and mechanical characteristics. Thus, these methods help accurately assess concrete durability, frost resistance and water resistance. These methods are based on theoretical studies of the processes of concrete destruction by means of non-destructive acoustic methods. The the energy conception developed by A.A. Griffits and S.N. Zhurkova's kinetic serve as a scientific basis for the methods. Theoretical research and its analysis of concrete destruction processes from various kinds of external influence was confirmed by results of standard measurements. The research showed that durability of concrete, that is speed of its destruction, depended on two groups of physical and mechanical characteristics. One of the groups evaluates the initial structure of concrete, while the second group characterizes the speed of the material loading . The paper proposes a forecasting method of frost resistance and water-resisting properties of concrete according to its physical-mechanical characteristics. It also introduces an indicator of their assessment which is named the length of the reduced crack. The proposed indicator has a good correlation with frost resistance and water-resisting properties . Besides, the proposed method can be used not only in laboratory conditions, but also in construction production directly on the construction site.

ICE co-funds new guide on detecting hidden defects in bridges

The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) has co-funded an important new industry guide on how to detect and manage hidden defects in bridges. Kieran Tully and Lee Kelly of Ciria introduce C764.

Super structures: an update on high-strength-steel design

Super-strength steels up to 1000 MPa allow engineers to push the boundaries of structural design. Nancy Baddoo and Tak-Ming Chan, editors of new themed issues of the Institution of Civil Engineers’ Structures and Buildings journal, report.

Climate change: the need to adapt sustainably

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions will not halt climate change. Civil engineers need to start sustainable adaptation now, says Geoff Darch, editor of a themed issue of the Institution of Civil Engineers’ Engineering Sustainability journal.

ICE review

A review of recent developments at the Institution of Civil Engineers by ICE president Tim Broyd. For further information please contact the press office on +44 20 7665 2107, email vienn.mcmasters@ice.org.uk or visit www.ice.org.uk//news-public-affairs .

NEC4: ICE’s collaborative procurement suite continues to evolve

The fourth edition of NEC, the Institution of Civil Engineers’ market-leading suite of procurement contracts, was launched in June 2017. Product development manager Elizabeth Brookfield explains how NEC4 has evolved to meet the demands of today’s built-environment sector.

Four decades of research means building with bamboo comes of age

Khosrow Ghavami and José Jaime García, editors of a themed issue of the Institution of Civil Engineers’ Structures and Buildings journal on bamboo, say four decades of research and development mean it can now be safely used instead of steel and concrete in many applications.

ICE review

A review of recent developments at the Institution of Civil Engineers by ICE president Tim Broyd. For further information please contact the press office on +44 20 7665 2107, email vienn.chan@ice.org.uk or visit www.ice.org.uk/news-and-insight .

James Henry Greathead and the London Underground

This article investigates the origins and early history of the device known as the ‘Greathead Shield’, an important innovation in Victorian engineering crucial to constructing the London Underground. The aim is to explore the basis on which, many years later, a South African engineer, James Henry Greathead, was accorded prominent public acknowledgment, in the form of a statue, for ‘inventing’ the Shield. From a cultural studies perspective, how is the meaning of ‘invention’ to be understood, given that several other brilliant engineers were involved? The question is adjudicated using the notion of cultural ‘extelligence’, seen in relation to several contemporary and historical accounts, including Greathead’s own record of his achievements in the proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers and presented in The City and South London Railway (1896), edited by James Forrest. The paper was first delivered at the conference on ‘Novelty and Innovation in the Nineteenth Century’ held at the North-West University in May 2016.

Underpinning systems thinking in railway engineering education

Academics are by far more responsive to social, economic and technological changes and therefore academic identity must be resilient and flexible in order to fully engage with diverse and numerous purposes of academic institutions. Considering the fierce competition in the UK higher education sector, the demand for an academic curriculum to be globally relevant is greater than ever. In this paper, new challenges within the British higher education setting in globally competitive environment are discussed. The railway engineering curriculum within civil engineering programme at the University of Birmingham (accredited by the Institution of Civil Engineers, UK) is critically reviewed and evaluated, aiming at enhancing core technical skills alongside those required for systems thinking solutions. Comparative evaluations considering learning outcomes and industry expectation are carried out. Based on the review and evaluation using both academic and industry insights, some insights and recommendations to improve student experience and to enhance learning environment with the emphasis on employability, systems thinking approach and industry practice are highlighted.