An Engineers Ethics

Environmental Protection for New York

Throughout time, engineers have something they abide by called their Code of Ethics. The American Society of Civil Engineers better known as ASCE updated their version of the code of ethics in October 2009. Civil Engineers, like most engineers, do all of their calculating and observing to ensure their communities safety as well as the future protection for the environment from where they come from or work by. To be constructive in civic affairs and to promote the advancement of safety and health in their location.

As you can about see, engineers care not only about their jobs and moving up in life, but also about what their job does for the American people. We calculate all the math, looking at every little detail, from weather, pressure, stress, tension, compression, load capacity, different material strengths, and many more variables to ensure the safety and well-being of the citizens who will use these structures, in everyday life. With our minds set on the safety of others, we also have to ensure the future protection of the environment; while also following the principle of Sustainable Development. This is the process of applying natural, human, economic resources to enhance the safety, well-being, and quality of life while still maintaining the availability of natural resources.

From the view of safety, if a building or bridge fails, the government or whoever is investigating the incident has to look up the Professional Engineer or P.E. who signed off on the plans for the building of the bridge that certain way. See we do all these calculations with semi's trucks loaded to their maximum capacity, loading the structure with the maximum amount of trucks it can hold. Yes, if there was someone to be injured then the fault would be on the professional engineer who signed off on the plans. There is also not just the professional engineer to blame, because a lot goes into a project then just the P.E. Like in the Minard Hall collapse, the planners were investigating the geo-technical part, or the strength of the soil to uphold the building. If you were to look at the building that spring, you could see the building's structure did not fail, but sunk down into the ground. This could have been from the wrong soil layering used in improving the strength, or from the constant freeze-thaw from the winter saturating the ground making it soft and moist.

Foundation Cracking from Earthquake

On the other point of view for the Professional Engineer, there is only so many calculations you can do to make the building such a great structure. Engineers really can't control everything in the world, so making all the calculations will help, but there are other factors that can cause disaster. Minor earthquakes can cause the foundation to crumble, making a bridge structurally unstable. The rusting of gusset plates and rafters, as well as acid rain in the well-populated cities can really affect the structural aspect of the building.

I feel if the engineers that have put all their hard work into the building of the structure, and doing the calculations then they really can't be to blame. Yes there are events that happen, as well as the wear and tear on the roads or bridges from time. With these events you can't really blame the engineers for everything. They are just trying to make the human life better and easier, getting them to where they need to go faster and safer. The engineers not only concentrate on their work, but also follow their code of ethics they promise to work by when doing these projects.

References
http://www.asce.org/Leadership-and-Management/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/

One World Trade Center

One World Trade Center

Ever since the terrorist attack on U.S. soil, the collapse of the 2 World Trade Center's, proposals have been in the process for a future building. As of April 26, 2006 the footings and foundation of this enormous building have been set and are in place. The construction of the Freedom Tower, renamed as of March 30, 2009 to the, One World Trade Center is set for completion in 2013. This 105 story building will be the tallest building in the United States standing at 1776 ft. representing the year of our American Independence.


To satisfy the regulations of the New York City Police Department, a 187 foot deep concrete base was added to the structure. The design of this base was calculated to resist a truck bomb if there were ever a terrorist attack from the ground. This building will have 2,600,000 square feet of office space, as well as an observation deck, parking, broadcast and antenna facilities. The first 200 feet will be the main lobby and mechanical utility space for the building itself. The next 69 floors are going to be used for tenant offices, totaling the building up to 1,150 feet. The next floors rising up to 1,362 feet, are accumulated by mechanical as well as observation floors for the great scenery of the New York Skyline. A 6 foot glass barrier surrounds the rooftop, extending to the original height of the Twin Towers. A multi-cable supported antenna rises to 1,776 feet symbolizing the United States Declaration of Independence being signed. On the top of this antenna flashed a beacon, that New York is welcoming all new-comers.


The new design starts off from the base and slowly, but surely the one square edge chamfers back creating a triangular top, as seen in the picture above. The building incorporates all the latest and new technology from renewable energy to building safety. The building uses structural redundancy to dense fireproofing and bio-chemicals filters. The stair-wells are now pressurized and extra wide for in-case of an emergency people are able to evacuate faster and more efficiently. The building integrates renewable energy, interior day-lighting, the reuse of rainwater, and also the recycled construction debris from the collapse of the twin towers. There are multiple backups on all emergency lighting and concrete protection for all sprinklers to ensure optimal firefighter access.


As you can see the building of this massive project has all the forms of Civil Engineering, from the Geo-technical ground work with the forms, to the structural concept showing the unique design. This building has Environmental Engineers working with other designers on using renewable energy as well as recycling the used debris, and the sunlight for lights during the daytime. Finally transportation engineers that tie the below grade 55,000 square foot retail space to the underground subway. 


References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_World_Trade_Center
http://www.wtc.com/about/freedom-tower

Theodolite Surveying Total Station

Over time, the Civil Engineering field has come a long way for mapping out different plots of land across the world. In the midst of the early 16th century Edmund Gunter invented a type of mapping system for Civil Engineers alike to use. He invented a chain that is 100 links long, measuring a total of 66.00 ft. and each link measuring 7.92 inches.

Gunters Chain

At the start of the early 1800's the National Geodetic Survey was the backbone of the surveying field, for its Theodolite Total Station Surveying instrument. The total station is a lot more improved from the 1600s Gunter's chain. The total station is able to take vertical as well as horizontal measurements, with the help of a "rod man" holding a pole with a prism on the top end, so the operator has something to shoot at. The telescope or "transit scope" was able to flip upside down, so the operator was able to shoot their back-sight distance and double angles improving on error.

With the increase cost of this precise instrument come's a lot better readings, readings you were not able to receive with the Gunter's chain. The price of this instrument is anywhere from $5,000-$10,000 depending on the model and what other accessories you want for your instrument.

Theodolite Surveying Total Station 

When starting out with the Total Station, you take your sea level height and add it to your starting point which is also known as BM. You then turn your instrument counter-clockwise, so you are able to record the turning angle to calculate your azimuth. Then you shoot your next point and subtract it from your new elevation height, after that you move your instrument to the point you just shot and shoot back to the 1st point you shot. Keep these methods going until you finish back where you started, the resulting math should be right back to sea level or close to it. This is the checking method I was talking about earlier. With this station you are also able to turn the angles that are useful in the surveying world. Mostly for the computer aided design (CAD) operators who take the information you just shot and put those numbers into a map layout form. The precise angles, lengths, as well as heights any construction company needs to start the building process on a project.

The Gunter's chain process was a lot longer process because it was not done electronically, but by trigonometry using the law of cosines, law of sines, or inverse functions in order to find the different angles calculated off the horizontal. As you can see from the information above the Theodolite Total Surveying Station is what has been in use for around 120 years. As technology has increased, the world has started using global positioning systems for surveying. The Theodolite Surveying Total Station is the same device we used in my Civil Engineering course at NDSU.

As you can see I would recommend the Theodolite Total Surveying Station if you are a new Civil Engineer out there in your own company. You can also buy the GPS Surveying unit, but the prices of those vary from $5,000-$25,000. As a starting off C.E. the Total Station is for you.

References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_station

Civil Engineering

Burj Al Arab in Dubai

Civil Engineering is all around us from the roads we drive on, to the structures that are built across the world. As you can see my major is Civil Engineering. Civil Engineering is a broad field, with many different subfields, for people of many interests. Some of these subfields include: Water Resources, Environmental, Transportation, Geotechnical, and Structural. I myself am going to try and specialize in Structural Engineering, so I get the building aspect and see what it takes for a building to develop. Civil Engineers do many things when it comes to the building world. They make sure the soil is strong enough to support massive loads, or drive piers into the ground to make the soil even stronger for the building. They survey the land making sure the ground is level and accurate for the construction of the bridges, roads, buildings, or dams. When you think of building there is more than likely a Civil Engineer present at the site.

Most of the Civil Engineers I know are interested in their job, because it takes them to different places around the world. I know people who have worked on multi-million dollar projects both in the United States and over-seas. Some of the North Dakota Engineers are here to survey the land making sure to plot out the land, so contractors can come in and start their projects. We shoot different elevations, points to where a road corner may be, calculate the arcs for an interstate road, so it is not too sharp for cars. We (Civil Engineers) like the concept of seeing something start as nothing or bare ground develop into something spectacular.

Overall engineers like the mathematical concepts of engineering, but have different likes and dislikes. Some people like the structural aspect whereas others like the geotechnical and nano-science concepts. As a certified Civil Engineer and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) my peers and I belong to certain ethical standards to help the world as a whole. We are here to make sure the structures that we create are sturdy to meet the requirements set aside by other government workers. There will always be a need for engineers in the long run. The world needs buildings, roads, bridges, dams, irrigation, and any other structures you can think of. We value our job, that we are making a difference in the world making it a better and safer place with our newer knowledge. Making our environment a better place, with our Environmental Engineers; developing newer materials that are smaller yet multiple times stronger than steel, and designing new method to strengthen the ground to support monumental structural designs.

Over-all the world will need engineers, from soil work, to the evaluation of cross-contamination of pollutants in the water. Water these days is a very important resources, having Environmental Engineers around they are able to find different ways to use recycled materials, come up with different ideas for cleaning up hazardous waste water into clean drinking water, and reducing the volumes of waste material to make the world a cleaner place.

Water Treatment Plant

Engineers … are not superhuman. They make mistakes in their assumptions, in their calculations, in their conclusions. That they make mistakes is forgivable; that they catch them is imperative. Thus it is the essence of modern engineering not only to be able to check one’s own work but also to have one’s work checked and to be able to check the work of others.

- Henry Petroski