Modern civil engineering practice [antikvár]

FOREWORDIn this attempt to review modern civil engineering practice, the publishers have embarked on a very ambitious project, with which I am extremely glad to be associated.During the last few years there has been a complete revolution in civil engineering techniques due to three main causes, namely: the advent of the commercially successful compression ignition engine, resulting from pioneer work of Dr Rudolf Diesel and Herbert Akroyd Stuart; development of hydraulic remote control equipment; and the evolution of oversize pneumatic tyres. These have facilitated the design of special types of earthmoving and excavating machinery. For example, elevating graders with an hourly capacity of 700 cubic yards were used on the construction of the London-Birmingham Motorway, on which some 12,000,000 cubic yards of material were shifted in 19 months, an astonishing feat by any standards.The modern plant depot of a large contractor resembles a mechanical engineering works in the scope of variety of its equipment, ranging from welding equipment to highly efficient machine tools. Everything is available for carrying out complete renewal and overhaul of every item of machinery, so that the utmost value is extracted from it.Increased mechanisation has emphasised the need for safety on construction sites, and the Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors must be congratulated on the energetic measures now being taken to promote safety and to educate workmen, and all concerned, in the vital points of safety. Much valuable new knowledge is being gained from working under compressed air in subaqueous tunnels, and regulations in this important activity are being applied more rigorously than ever before.Any consideration of safety at once leads to a consideration of fire protection, in which the structural designer has a heavy responsibility in providing the most suitable materials of construction. The disastrous fires which can occur and which have recently occurred serve to emphasise the need for further study into this problem. It is extremely disturbing to learn that the annual loss from fire in Great Britain is L26 million.Finally, this book will achieve its purpose if it shows to the world