Environmental Engineering and Civil Engineering in the UK - Case Study Example

Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering Part Transportation Concern Introduction: The problems of traffic congestion has been rapidly increasing over the recent years thus causing matters of serious concerns for the government and the transportation department who is in charge of reducing the impacts of such congestions on the society and environment. This issue has been particularly affecting the society where traffic congestion has become a part of everyday life (Answers to (UK) transport problems: a theory 2004). The present study focuses on the concern of traffic congestion in the UK and discusses its impact on the society and its sustainability, also considering the role of the civil engineers in reducing its impacts. Traffic Congestion in the UK: Concern for Society and Its Sustainability: Traffic congestion can be realized to occur when the traffic management system fails to effectively manage the excess vehicles on a particular road or when the demand is too high to tackle. It is of a major concern to the society since traffic jams lead to lot of time wastage for the travelers and vehicles. The traffic signals involving continuous stop and go processes lead to increased consumption of fuels for the vehicles. If the speeds of the vehicles are slowed down, it also leads to greater emissions of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide gases in the air that are harmful for living beings. Rising levels of noise is another major concern for the society arising from the slow traffic in particular regions. Congested areas also affect the proper maintenance of the roads, lead to greater number of accidents, and also affect the foundations of older buildings in a city or country that cannot tolerate the higher levels of vibration resulting from traffic congestions (Robinson 1984). Besides the society as a whole, there are sustainability impacts of traffic congestions on both the environment and economy of a region that make the topic of study further important. As one of the environmental effects has been mentioned earlier, the accelerations of vehicles being repeating at lower speeds due to uneven drive lead to greater consumption of fuels. This also causes higher emission of pollutants in the air which is extremely harmful for the living environment. As a result of the stress, the poor circulation of air leads to greater concentration of pollutant particles within the vehicle. Congestions lower the speeds of the public transport thus reducing their efficiencies and attractiveness for travelers (Economic and environmental impacts of traffic jams n.d.). Considering the economic impacts, there are both direct and indirect costs in relation to traffic congestion. Losses of time and fuel are the major causes of direct costs associated with congestion. Costs for the social impacts can be considered as additional costs. Cities become uncompetitive as a result of the problems of traffic congestions. With inefficient public transport facilities resulting from congestions, severe economic impacts are felt on the households belonging to low incomes. Indirect costs include the costs of investments along with the losses of jobs leading from traffic congestion problems (Miles and Hall 2003). Role of the Civil Engineers in Reducing Impacts of Traffic Congestion: Civil engineers are in particular associated with the development of roads and traffic safeties, a role in which they are referred to as transportation engineers. Their works are targeted towards reducing the impacts of traffic congestions. Transportation engineers have the responsibilities to fulfill the needs and demands of the transportation systems. It is their role to design the streets, highways, public transport lines, railways, airports and harbors along with planning for the terminals and centers for distribution and depots associated with the transport facilities. Safety of the travelers, the maintenance of the transport systems are all the responsibilities of the transportation engineers who constantly try to develop these features to reduce the traffic jams and their impacts (McDavid and Echaore-McDavid 2009). Transportation engineers are continuously trying to develop strategies to reduce the impacts of congestion on the society, environment and economy of any region. There are three major functions that they perform in this regard. Firstly, they work on increasing the capacity of transportation by adding more highways, transits, and freight rail services. However cost constraints often restrict the expansion of highways in many countries. However this strategy has been found to be particularly essential for those regions that reflect lack of physical capacity. Freeways and additional lanes lead to increasing capacity of the network of roadways. Also, in this regard the works of transportation engineers include development of street connectivity, and grade separations at intersections where most of the congestions take place (Traffic Congestion and Reliability: Trends and Advanced Strategies for Congestion Mitigation 2005). Secondly, the civil engineers focus on making their operations more efficient. Engineers in the recent times are focusing more on utilizing the existing facilities of transportation to make the best use of them, instead of manufacturing more new infrastructure. Control strategies are implemented with use of advanced technologies for real-time control measures of the existing operations. Implementation of reversible commuter lanes, variable median barriers, and limiting turns at primary points of intersections are some of the other measures that have been taken into consideration by the transportation engineers for effectively managing the system (Traffic Congestion and Reliability: Trends and Advanced Strategies for Congestion Mitigation 2005). Engineers also try to encourage travelers to utilize the transport system in their areas in an efficient manner such that the congestions may be avoided. This in other words reflects the management of the demand for travelling on highways. Some of the strategies might include use of fewer vehicles for greater number of passengers that can be achieved through sharing the rides, or allowing high occupancy vehicles on roads. Pricing schemes are also introduced in many countries in the present times. For example congestion pricing involves charging the travelers for use of certain lanes, thus reducing the congestions on all roads at a single point of time (Traffic Congestion and Reliability: Trends and Advanced Strategies for Congestion Mitigation 2005). Part 2: Sustainability in Transportation in UK Methodologies Used in the UK for Sustainability Determination: Considering the commercial properties in the UK, records from England and Wales reflect that there are around 185,000 commercial properties that are at risk of either significant damages or flooding leading to huge costs for the country as a whole. Over the recent years, disaster management studies have included the commercial properties in order to determine their sustainability. Residential properties are more importantly focused along with empirical analysis for the commercial properties. Valuation methods are used for this purpose that includes both traditional and contemporary methods of valuation of these properties (Proverbs et al 2012). The valuation methodologies are in large dependent on the information obtained from the market. The availability and use of these data have their pros and cons. The valuation methods available for commercial properties depend on the facts and decision that valuers present. The data is generally complex in nature to be obtained from any public sphere, thus in many cases affecting the process of valuation. The valuation methods are also used for assessing the vulnerabilities of the properties that are and can be affected by floods, thus including studying of the social and physical factors associated with the properties and their sustainability (Proverbs et al 2012). Assessing sustainability is one of the major tasks for civil engineers while infrastructure projects are concerned. CEEQUAL or Civil Engineering Environmental Quality Assessment and Award Scheme are a methodology of assessment based on audit made suitable for projects not related to building and constructions. This methodology is used in the country to determine how infrastructures may be developed such that the environment can benefit from it. For this purpose, some characteristics that are particularly studied and analyzed include waste minimization, use of recycled collections of materials, safeguard of land, ecosystem and archaeology, noise management and control, and usage of water and energy in an efficient manner (Myers 2013). The most significant challenge for the sustainability of infrastructure programs by civil engineers is with the existing infrastructure including homes and offices. Records reflect that only around 1 percent of the existing infrastructures get renovated or replaced every year which is quite similar to the conditions in other countries. However, the country uses a technology that ensures higher standards than the basic for the buildings and infrastructures that are eventually replaced, and the ones that are built newly. Grant schemes and tax incentives are some of the options that the country follows to encourage owners of the homes and buildings to make use of energy for their buildings more efficiently. The UK government has already focused on a scheme for improving the efficient use of energy of the properties. Green Deal is a financing mechanism that allows the country’s civil engineers to succeed in reducing the emissions of carbon dioxide in the air from infrastructure developments (Myers 2013). Issues and Problems of Quantifying Sustainability: While measures may be considered for quantifying the sustainability of properties and civil engineering schemes in the country using different methodologies, there are certain general issues and problems that may also arise while using these methods. In the present situation, there is a continuous lack of supply for international infrastructure as against the demand that has been rising significantly. With such an imbalance in the supply and demand, the reductions in costs that could be obtained through deregulation might not be able to be held and instead increases in costs might occur (Ellison and Sayce 2006). With the prices of energy rising and increasing emissions of carbon dioxide as a result of properties which the industry as well as the owners of the properties are well aware of, it is likely that the efficiency of operational energy of the properties would be considerably high. The need for upgradation may thus increasing putting significant pressure over the owners. Investments on properties that are less efficient are expected to lower over the next few years thereby deteriorating the condition of the infrastructure engineering in the country. The sustainability of properties is also to a large extent associated with the climatic changes that increase or reduce the need for air conditioning and other cooling or heating equipments that affect the quantification of the sustainability of the properties as well (Ellison and Sayce 2006). Quantification of sustainability considering all the social, environmental and economic impacts of a property, it is extremely difficult to quantify since failure in obtaining information and analysis on any single component of the quantification leads to failure in the complete process. If properties like the second homes are taken into consideration, then they have been found to be highly unsustainable, adding pressure of housing in the country sides, contributing to acquiring lands, and are not useful in meeting any needs of accommodation. The quantification of such second homes in particular is extremely difficult to achieve, where economic benefits are also not obtained from these properties (Gallent, MacEwen and Twedwr-Jones 2005). Another general issue faced the country in relation to their quantification of sustainability of the residential and commercial properties, and civil engineering schemes are the competition. UK has been focused on building up new models and schemes to quantify sustainability to determine the social and economic strengths of the properties in the country; the productivity has increased to a great extent thus leading to higher competitions. Thus effective policies are required in order to make the country’s recovery system sustainable (Iliff 2010). Conclusion: From the above study, it could be obtained that the UK has taken significant concerns into its methodologies for determination of the quantification of sustainability of residential and commercial properties as well as civil engineering schemes such that suitable measures might be considered for the sustainability of the properties over the long term. However, the country also needs to effectively plan and implement strategies such that the issues and difficulties do not affect the sustainability measures of these properties and schemes. References Answers to (UK) transport problems: a theory (2004) Unltdideasbank. [Online]. Available at: http://www.unltdideasbank.org.uk/site/bank/idea.php?ideaId=5233 [Accessed 11 July 2013]. Economic and environmental impacts of traffic jams (n.d.) ETAT. [Online]. Available at: http://etat.environnement.wallonie.be/uploads/tbe/parties/chapitres/fiches/en_P22_Trans_e1.pdf Ellison, L. and S. Sayce (2006) The Sustainable Property Appraisal Project. Eprints. [Online]. Available at: http://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/1435/1/Sustainable_Property_Appraisal_Project.pdf [Accessed 15 July 2013]. Gallent, N., A. MacEwen and M. Twedwr-Jones (2005) Second Homes: European Perspectives And UK Policies. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Iliff, D. (2010) United Kingdom Policies for a Sustainable Recovery. OECD. [Online]. Available at: http://www.oecd.org/unitedkingdom/45642018.pdf [Accessed 15 July 2013]. McDavid, R.A. and S. Echaore-McDavid (2009) Career Opportunities in Engineering. New York City: Infobase Publishing. Miles, M. and T. Hall (2003) Urban Futures: Critical Commentaries on Shaping the City. London: Routledge. Myers, D. (2013) Construction Economics: A New Approach. London: Routledge. Proverbs, D.G. et al (2012) Flood Recovery, Innovation and Response III. Southampton: WIT Press. Robinson, R. (1984) Problems in the urban environment: traffic congestion and its effects. UOW. [Online]. Available at: http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=wollgeo [Accessed 12 July 2013]. Traffic Congestion and Reliability: Trends and Advanced Strategies for Congestion Mitigation (2005) FHWA. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/congestion_report/chapter4.htm [Accessed 13 July 2013]. Read More