Design of Civil Engineering Construction - Annotated Bibliography Example

Design of Civil Engineering Construction Purdue Landolfo, Raffaele, Cascini Lucrezia, and Portioli Francesco. “Sustainability of steel structures: towards an integrated approach to life-time engineering design.” Frontiers of Architecture and Civil Engineering in China 5.3 (2011): 304-314. Print. This article examines the concept of sustainability in the context of civil engineering. The main argument presented here is that it is time that engineering goes beyond mere construction of admirable structures to designing and constructing structures that are sustainable. Sustainability in this context includes ensuring that engineering takes a keen interest in matters to do with the environment preservation and being cost effective. The article champions the principles of Life-time engineering whereby engineering will directly enhance the value of structures and at the same time ensuring that the environment is well protected and that the structures are durable, that is, they give value for costs involved. The article examines a whole range of current state of the art methodologies used in the engineering section to ensure that sustainability is upheld. The authors offer a proposal on how life-time engineering can further be sustained and enhanced to enhance their value by comprehensively profiting the society. The concept that this article is dedicated to is definitely a wonderful one. Reconciling engineering and sustainability is definitely a positive move for engineers. It is a comprehensive way of ensuring that engineering continuously remains relevant to solving the problems that affect the society and not the cause of the same. It is worth noting that the construction industry makes a huge contribution towards reshaping the environment and therefore the concepts being suggested in the article will add a lot of utility to this sector as it will be ensured that engineering goes a step further to creating sustainable structures. Generally, the content of this article are sound and advocate for embracing of useful principles which will ensure that engineering increasingly remains relevant and continues to profit the society in diverse ways. All engineers especially in the construction sector should indeed embrace all the concepts advocated for in this paper. This article is highly scholarly. It covers the topic of sustainable development in construction engineering in a very systematic manner. The language used is not very complicated making it possible for average engineering students to grasp the arguments forwarded as well as scholars in this field thus making its audience to be limited to engineers. The article makes optimum use of figures, tables, charts, graphs and other illustrator diagrams to bring the concepts home. Some of these diagrams make it very easier to follow the arguments made in the article. The coverage is also quite comprehensive and moves from sustainable in general sense to a very specific method which can be used to enhance sustainability in the construction industry. A passive voice is generally used throughout the article and the whole text is written to Standard English with no identifiable grammar mistakes. Generally, the presentation of the article is carried out in a manner that is worthwhile. Tavares, Valadares. “A review of major paradigms and models for the design of civil engineering systems.” European Journal of Operational Research 119.1, (1999): 1-13. Print. This article makes a general review of the major paradigms and models applied in civil engineering as far as designing is in question. These paradigmatic models are “the empirical model, the static descriptive deterministic model, the static stochastic descriptive model, the dynamic stochastic descriptive model, and the single criterion optimization” (Tavares 2). In coverage of these paradigms, the article brings to the fore important players in designing in civil engineering. It is clear that cooperation among all these players is crucial for the success of any project being undertaken. The players include designers, promoters, project managers, and pressure groups among others. The article then makes an elaborate suggestion on how the design process can be greatly improved in three aspects: the process, the system, and the context. The combination of these three aspects brings about the concept of total quality in design engineering. The article largely discusses how this proposal can be implemented. The article presents concepts which are core to the profession of civil engineering. Ensuring that designing integrity is upheld is of significance if civil engineers are to continue rolling out fascinating projects as they have done in the past. This article shows the role of creativity in civil engineering and ensuring that quality is never compromised. By examining the models in use, the article presents an intelligent elaborate model that will propel engineering practice to a practice of total quality. This is very significant because it will ensure that civil engineering remains as relevant as ever in the society specifically because of producing high quality projects which will be based on the model that the article suggests. By juxtaposing the five models and the new proposed model, the article shows the improvements gaps which are available to engineers and therefore points to engineers the way forward for the 21st civil engineering projects. This article is relevant with academic discourse conventions. The article has followed the standard procedure for writing a scholarly article. The article is well referenced with a list of the references at the end. The article also makes a good use of charts to explain concept in a clearer way. The tree diagram on page 6 best illustrates how diagrams are important. The article talks about advanced models making the article not appropriate for the general audience but for civil engineers and senior civil engineering students. Despite this fact, the article is well presented in a manner that makes it easy to follow even by students who have basic knowledge in civil engineering. The language used in the article is passive and this makes the article retain its scholarly appeal. The article has a very basic structure which starts with a rather untypical abstract of two sentences after which it plunges into the main body without an introduction. Narayanan, RS and Beeby Andrew. Introduction to Design for Civil Engineers. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2001. Print. The first chapter of this book makes a brief introduction to design; it is titled ‘What is design?’. The authors make a very simple but yet basic definition of design in the context civil engineering. They bring out the three aspects that design ought to address: aesthetic appeal, functional efficiency and value for money. The authors go ahead to give two examples of challenges facing a community and show how design in engineering comes in handy. Through these examples, the authors show what really entails designing in engineering. They indicate that many skills are required in order to develop designs which have aesthetic value, function efficiently and are cost effective. The authors further argue that design is embedded in the simple requirements or needs which need to be addressed in the society. They indicate that having a proper understanding of these needs is good for effective designing of appealing projects. The chapter is covered in a manner that makes it easy to read and understand. Though the chapter is directed to junior engineering students, the manner of presentation makes it possible for general audience. The chapter is very simple but yet very fundamental. It gives the best definition to design in the context of civil engineering. The three aspects - aesthetic value, functional efficiency and cost effectiveness – are really the core of what design in civil engineering is. This chapter in just three pages gives the best mental picture to what design in civil engineering ought to accomplish. To reinforce this picture, the authors give tips on how to become a good designer. They also outline the steps to complete a project through designing. This chapter summarizes what good designing is and is a great resource for students who are new to design in civil engineering. It can equally be used by other stakeholders in the civil engineering. The authors tackle this chapter in a very brilliant manner such that understanding it becomes quite easy. They start by explaining the definition of the word ‘design’ from different perspectives and use those perspectives to explain in great details what actually design is. The authors use examples to bring to light how design perspectives fit into formation of solutions that affect the society. In a very simple way therefore, the authors introduce the term ‘design’ in a manner that can be understood by any person. The authors have directed this chapter to students in engineering and therefore they give various tips on how to excel in the area of designing as far as civil engineering is concerned. What comes out clearly is that a designer requires the assistance of other specialists in order to come up with a design that addresses the three aspects of designing that the authors discuss. John .W. AutoCAD (Version AutoCAD 2013 19.0). AutoCAD, 1982. Retrieved from http://usa. Autodesk.com/Autocad/ AutoCAD is software used in designing with the help of a computer. Its first release was in 1982. It is very useful software and gives the user an incredible view of whatever project he or she is working on. The software is the principal product of Autodesk. Its utilizing functions make it possible to carry out design work to very precise levels; this is necessitated by functions such as polylines and curve fitting functions. The software has wide application in many industries. AutoCAD has a comprehensive range of modeling and 3D tools. It is very popular software among civil engineers. The software makes it possible to navigate easily through 3D diagrams enhancing design in a great way. New enhancements have also been made to the software to allow a detailed and comprehensive drawing of 3D objects. In general, AutoCAD is a great and very useful tool in civil engineering designing projects. This software is a very useful tool for engineering designers. It maximizes productivity especially when creativity is in question. It is the best tool so far available in 2D and 3D designs. It uses a combination of numerous internal tools to design aggregation and documentation which enhances creativity. Using this tool enables a view to have a full view and impact of project – it gives the complete project a virtual life making it possible for the designer to have a very clear image of the end product. This product makes design work easier and enjoyable to undertake – this is due to the flexibility that the tool gives to the users. The software is programmed with intuitive design tools which makes designing in 3D a lot exciting. In general, this software is a great companion of a civil engineer, very essential in project planning, and one which designers cannot really do without. The software is designed in a very interactive manner. There is a lot one can learn by just checking it out. If one has basic computer skills, it will not take a lot of effort to know one or two things about using the software. However, for one to properly utilize its function, time and effort have to be dedicated to learn how to use it. Most of the functions on this software are geared towards creation of 3D visual images. The functions are many and general they require an experienced user to optimally use the software. Apart from just creating the 3D images, the software is also programmed to add auxiliary notes and annotations to make the designing user friendly for other parties to a project. This software as already noted from above is a must for a designer. It looks great and makes the job of designing admirable. Read More