Civil Engineers Dilemma - Essay Example

?Civil Engineers’ Dilemma Introduction Although constructional activities as a whole stimulate the overall growth of a country, they also create a lot of environmental issues such as carbon emission, air and water pollution, and global warming. The problem is attributed to the carelessness of contractors and industrialists because their less attention to environmental issues while implementing projects intensifies the troubles. Most of the construction companies do not comply with the mandatory norms while proceeding with their venture. In olden days, civil engineers’ aim was to control the effects of natural forces in order to serve the mankind; but these concepts have been severely altered. Today they give much emphasis on infrastructural changes which can reduce the impacts of those unforeseen contingencies. Many of the ultra modern inventions add to the ongoing environmental issues this way or that. This paper will critically analyse the problems associated with developmental activities and possible remedies that civil engineers can adopt in order for meeting those challenges. Challenges for civil engineers The supersonic growth of modern world necessitates various types of productive activities which would ultimately cause environmental issues. It is not possible to stop constructional activities in order to safeguard the environment. Hence, the civil engineers face extreme challenges with regard to developing protective infrastructure models. In contrast, the rampant growth of construction industry weakens the effectiveness of infrastructural developments. The following parts would introduce some of the recent environmental issues and possible solutions to address them. A. Global warming Global warming refers to the phenomenon of increase in the average temperature of earth’s atmosphere, which will result in the increase in volume of water and a consequent rise in the sea-level. The earth absorbs most of the thermal radiations like infrared radiation from the sun and reflects back the remaining part to the atmosphere. These reflected heats are trapped by the greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane and ozone; and this process causes the rise in atmospheric temperature. This green house effect due to the existence of green houses gases is the main cause of global warming. Majority scientists are of the opinion that human activities amplify the emission of greenhouse gases and hence global warming. For instance, when refrigerator functions, it releases a harmful compound called chlorofluorocarbon which causes the depletion of ozone layer and contributes to global warming. Similarly, most of the production and construction processes emit toxic gases that also deepen the problem. Although there are number of green house gases in the atmosphere, among them carbon dioxide, which is mainly produced as a result of increase in fossil fuel burning vehicles plays major role. The warmer air boosts the water evaporation which produces excessive water vapour in the atmosphere and subsequently the same cycle process repeats. The climate change is the most disastrous outcome of global warming and related environmental difficulties including diminution in agricultural yields. It is too practicable to cut the use of refrigerator or vehicles in order to minimise the CO2 emission; the only way is to develop improved technology which would impede the problem in future. The invention of non fossil fuels such as solar energy and nuclear energy may help to answer the issue of global warming because they normally do not cause carbon emission. Civil engineers can do a lot in addressing the impacts of global warming which in turn will minimise the climate changes. As suggested in Minority report on global warming and the role of civil engineering, engineers should try to develop infrastructural frame works with the minimum usage of ‘concrete foundations, kiln-fired brick and concrete walling blocks, steel or concrete frames, ground-bearing floor slabs, glass, aluminium and steel profile sheeting’. Civil engineers must also take initiative to redesign the buildings with large carbon foot prints into negative carbon foot prints (State of the nation). In addition, they have to discourage the use of high carbon emission products since majority of those devices have environment-friendly products. B. Climate changes Climate change refers to the average change in weather of an area over a period of time. As discussed above, green house effect is the major reason for the climate changes. However, a variety of thoughtless human activities also become catalysts in enhancing the issues associated with climate changes. Volcanic emissions, Ocean heat exchange, and surface reflectivity cause the climate changes in addition to the extra terrestrial factors. Environmental issues such as floods, earthquakes, and soil erosion are the byproducts of ongoing climate change issues. 1. Floods Flood can be defined as the overflow of huge amount of water to certain regions, especially to dry land and submerges the areas. Floods may be of two types such as natural floods and catastrophic floods. Although natural elements such as increased rainfall, cyclones or tsunamis may cause the floods, the men’s contribution to this calamity is inevitable. Deforestation is the serious problem which gives rise to floods and it occurs as a result of humans’ increased search for open land for constructional purposes such as roads and airports. As a result of deforestation, the structure of soil is changed and it is easily eroded with rainfall. The eroded soil naturally reaches the bottom of rivers and seas and it raises the water and thereby causes floods; and the poor construction of dams may result in flood as a result of its breakage (What causes floods?). The application of highly improved technologies in the field of civil engineering can prevent catastrophic floods. The civil engineers can also suggest well designed flood water diversion channels, flood storage reservoirs, and levees in order to mitigate the risks associated with floods. 2. Soil erosion The displacement of soil from one part of the earth to another part due to the flow of water is called soil erosion. Human interventions play a crucial role in soil erosion also. The housing activities and mining make changes in the soil structure which would cause the loss of soil’s natural bond. In addition to this, faulty farming methods and unscientific use of soil for constructional activities also add to soil erosion. The floods and landslide can be controlled to a great extent provided that soil erosion is effectively prevented. Soil erosion would come under control if infrastructural experts frame outstanding plans for facing walls and shielding slope surfaces. They can also recommend systematic planting of trees which would contribute to the desired results. 3. Earthquakes Earthquake is the shaking and vibration of earth’s surface due to the underground movements mainly arising out of volcanic eruptions and leaves horrible impacts across the affected region. The exceeding level of environmental exploitations like water and oil extractions also will cause the occurrence of earthquakes. Other factors include unscientific operations of quarries and over degradation of soil for construction purposes. All these activities adversely affect the geological structure of the nature and thereby lead to destructive earthquakes. Though an instantaneous phenomenon, earthquake is very disastrous in nature as compared to other natural calamities, and may affect large areas according to its intensity. However, civil engineers can do a lot for reducing the destructive potential of earthquakes by initiating the application of modern technologies. In the opinion of Paz, (1994, p. x), ‘enforcement of the knowledge’ regarding various phases of construction of earthquake resistant structures and ‘upgrading existing seismically hazardous structures’, is the best way to reduce the harmful effects of earthquakes. The civil engineers can also design smart buildings which can adjust with the earthquake forces. It is recommended that the use of well developed earthquake alarming systems can minimise the aftereffects to a large extent. Regulations on construction works The governmental authorities have framed many regulations on constructional activities with intent to preserve public interests. The Construction (Design and Management) 2007 Regulations are the amended form of CDM Regulations which promote health, safety, and welfare of the general public. The Environmental Protection Act 1990 is the major governmental initiative taken on environmental protection in UK till date. This Act aims at overall environmental protection and is subdivided into nine parts in order to give specific attention to certain areas. The part A of the act deals with the highly polluting and technically complex processes and it is implemented under the auspices of Integrated Pollution Control (IPC). On the other hand, Part B treats the less polluting industries which only release omissions to air; Local Air Pollution Control (LAPC) is responsible for enforcing this Act. Similarly, as Hughes and Ferrett (2009) state, the system of Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) provides an integrated environmental structure with intent to regulate certain industrial activities such as ‘emissions to air, water, and land, plus a range of other environmental effects’. Statistical data on renewable energy utilisation in UK (Source: Department of Energy and Climate Change) The represented diagram clearly indicates the renewable energy usages in UK for the procurement of various energy consumption purposes such as electricity, heat, and transport. From the graph, it is clear that UK utilises very poor quantity of renewable sources in order to meet their varied energy needs. Though, the major advantage is that the renewable energy utilisation in UK rises each year even if the rise is at small ratio. They generated 4.1% electricity from nonrenewable sources in 2005 and it reached 6.6% in the year 2009. The data reflect only a 2.5% increase within these four years. Although electricity generation from nonrenewable sources accounts for only 6.6% in 2009, it is much better as compared to heat and transport where the statistics illustrates 1.6% and 2.5% respectively. It is noticeable that power generation in the field of transport from nonrenewable sources achieved a lot in-between 2005 and 2009. The nonrenewable energy utilization in the field of transport was only 0.2% in 2005 whereas it accounted 0.9% for heat energy. In contrast, at the end of 2009, the same data reached at 2.5% and 1.6% for Transport and Heat respectively; it is interesting to note that Transport industry overtakes the Heat sector during the interval of four years. Conclusion From the light of the study, it can be concluded that civil engineers’ efficient designs can mitigate the harmful impacts of constructional activities to a great extent. It is necessary to raise other alternatives to current energy sources so as to minimise environment pollutions and other issues. Regardless of all constraints, infrastructural experts are to develop a variety of modern techniques to meet the challenges of environmental issues discussed above. The data from governmental departments show that UK has to initiate further experiments in the field of civil engineering in order to address the multifaceted issues associated with constructional activities. Reference Hughes, P & Ferrett 2009, Introduction to Health and Safety at Work, Edition-4, Butterworth-Heinemann, Burlington. Minority report on global warming and the role of civil engineering, 2007 State of the Nation, viewed 6 Jan 2011, Paz, M (Ed.) 1994, International handbook of earthquake engineering: codes, programs, and examples, Edition-4, Chapman & Hall: New York. Renewable sources data used to indicate progress under the EU renewable directive 2008, Department of Energy and Climate Change, viewed 6 Jan 2011 Read More