Part II. Housing construction

ENGINEERING

 

Engineering is the professional art of applying science to the optimum conversion of the resources of nature to the uses of humankind. Engineering has been defined by the Engineers Council for Professional Development, in the United States, as the creative application of “scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions; all as respects an intended function, economics of operation and safety to life and property”.

The term engineering is sometimes more loosely defined, especially in Great Britain, as the manufacture or assembly of engines, machine tools, and machine parts.

The word engine derived from the same Latin root, ingenerare, which means “to create”. The early English verb enginemeant “to contrive”. Thus the engines of war were devices such as catapults, floating bridges, and their designer was the “engineer”, or military engineer. The counterpart of the military engineer was the civil engineer, who applied essentially the same knowledge and skills to designing buildings, streets, water supplies, sewage systems, and other projects.

The function of the scientist is to know, while that of the engineer is to do. The scientist adds to the store of systematized knowledge of the physical world; the engineer brings this knowledge to bear on practical problems. Engineering is based principally on physics, chemistry, and mathematics and their extensions into materials science, solid and fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, transfer and rate processes and systems analysis.

Engineers employ two types of natural resources – materials and energy. Materials are useful because of their properties: their strength, ease of fabrication, lightness, or durability; their ability to insulate or conduct; their chemical, electrical, or acoustical properties. Important sources of energy include fossil fuels (coal, petroleum and gas), wind, sunlight, falling water, and nuclear fission. Since most resources are limited, the engineer must concern himself with the continual development of new resources as well as the efficient utilization of existing ones.

ENGINEERING AS A PROFESSION

History of engineering. The first engineer known by name and achievement is Imhotep, builder of the Step Pyramid at Saqqarah, Egypt, probably in about 2550 B.C. Imhotep’s successors — Egyptian, Persian, Greek, and Roman — carried civil engineering to remarkable heights. The Pharos (lighthouse) of Alexandria, Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem, the Colosseum in Rome, the Persian and Roman road systems, the Pont du Gard aqueduct in France, and many other large structures, some of which endure to this day, testify to their skill and imagination.

Civil engineering emerged as a separate discipline in the 18^th century, when the first professional societies and schools of engineering were founded. Civil engineers of the 19^th century built structures of all kinds, designed water-supply and sanitation systems, laid out railroad and highway networks, and planned cities.

Engineering functions. Problem solving is common to all engineering work. The problem may solve quantitative or qualitative factors: it may be physical or economic; it may require abstract mathematics or common sense. Of great importance is the process of creative synthesis or design, putting ideas together to create a new and optimum solution. The major functions of all engineering branches are the following:

Research. Using mathematical and scientific concepts, experimental techniques, and inductive reasoning, the research engineer seeks new principles and processes.

Development. Development engineers apply the results of research to useful purposes. Creative application of new knowledge may result in a working model of a new electrical circuit, a chemical process or an industrial machine.

Design. In designing a structure or a product, the engineer selects methods, specifies materials, and determines shapes to satisfy technical requirements and to meet performance specifications.

Construction. The construction engineer is responsible for preparing the site, determining procedures that will, economically and safely yield the desired quality, directing the placement of materials, and organizing the personnel and equipment.

Production. Plant layout and equipment selection are the responsibility of the production engineer, who chooses processes and tools, integrates the flow of materials and components, and provides for testing and inspection.

Operation. The operating engineer controls machines, plants, and organizations providing power, transportation, and communication; determines procedures; and supervises personnel to obtain reliable and economic operation of complex equipment.

Management and other functions. In some countries and industries, engineers analyze customers’ requirements, recommend units to satisfy needs economically, and resolve related problems.

VOCABULARY NOTES

engineering инженерное искусство

to apply использовать, применять

application использование, применение

science наука

scientific научный

structure здание, сооружение, строение

machine apparatus механизм; станок; машина

machine tools станок

machine parts детали станка, механизма

water supply водоснабжение

sewage system система сточных вод

sewerage канализация

material science материаловедение

solid mechanics механика твердых тел

fluid mechanics гидромеханика

strength of material сопротивление материалов

research engineer инженер-исследователь

development engineer инженер-технолог

construction engineer инженер-строитель

production engineer инженер по организации производства

operating engineer инженер-механик

to equip оборудовать

equipment оборудование

EXERCISES

I. Read and translate the text.

II. Match the words (according to their meaning):

requirement	прогнозировать
resources	человечество
humankind	важность
to create	требование
development	развитие
transportation	ресурсы
to forecast	количественный
to design	создавать
quantitative	качественный
qualitative	перевозка
importance	проектировать

III. Try to give the proper definition of the following:

1) sewage system

2) water supply system

3) civil engineer

4) military engineer

5) designing a structure

IV. Find English sentences in the text with the following words:

1) первые инженеры

2) инженер-исследователь

3) участок для строительства

4) технический персонал (инженер)

V. Answer the questions:

1. Where was the term “engineering” defined?

2. What is the origin of this word?

3. What science is engineering based on?

4. Why are materials and energy the main types of natural resources?

5. Can you name the world-known monuments of civil engineering?

6. What are the main functions of engineering?

VI. Retell the text according to the plan:

1. The definition and the origin of the term “engineering”.

2. History of engineering.

3. Engineering functions.

 

 

TYPES OF ENGINEERING

The primary types of engineering are chemical, civil, electrical, industrial, and mechanical.

Chemical engineering deals with the design, construction, and operation of plants and machinery for making such products as acids, dyes, drugs, plastics, and synthetic rubber by adapting the chemical reactions discovered by the laboratory chemist to large-scale production. The chemical engineer must be familiar with both chemistry and mechanical engineering.

Civil engineering includes the planning, designing, construction, and maintenance of structures and altering geography to suit human needs. Some of the numerous subdivisions are transportation (e.g., railroad facilities and highways); hydraulics (e.g., river control, irrigation, swamp draining, water supply, and sewage disposal), and structures (e.g., buildings, bridges, and tunnels).

Electrical engineering encompasses all aspects of electricity from power engineering, the development of the devices for the generation and transmission of electrical power, to electronics. Electronics is a branch of electrical engineering that deals with devices that use electricity for control of processes. Subspecialities of electronics include computer engineering, microwave engineering, communications, and digital signal processing. It is the engineering specialty that has grown the most in recent decades.

Industrial engineering, or management engineering, is concerned with efficient production. The industrial engineer designs methods, not machinery. Jobs include plant layout, analysis and planning of workers’ jobs, economical handling of raw materials, their flow through the production process, and the efficient control of the inventory of finished products.

Mechanical engineering is concerned with the design, construction and operation of power plants, engines, and machines. It deals mostly with things that move. One common way of dividing mechanical engineering is into heat utilization and machine design. The generation, distribution, and use of heat is applied in boilers, heat engines, air conditioning, and refrigeration. Machine design is concerned with hardware, including that making use of heat processes. Another way of dividing engineering is by function. Among the top functional divisions are design, operation, management, development, and construction.

VOCABULARY NOTES

to deal with иметь дело (с кем-либо)

machinery машинное оборудование; механизм

acid кислота

dye краска; краситель

to adapt приспосабливать; упрощать

to alter изменять(ся); менять(ся)

device устройство; приспособление

digital цифровой механизм

hardware металлические изделия

 

EX Е RCISES

I. Read the text.

II. Annotate this text in Russian.

CIVIL ENGINEERING

The term civil engineering was first used in the 18^th century to distinguish the newly recognized profession from military engineering. From earliest times, however, engineers have engaged in peaceful activities, and many of the civil engineering works of ancient and medieval times — such as the Roman public baths, roads, bridges, and aqueducts; the Flemish canals; the Dutch sea defenses; the French Gothic cathedrals; and many other monuments — reveal a history of inventive genius and persistent experimentation.

History. The beginnings of civil engineering as a separate discipline may be seen in the foundation in France in 1716 of the Bridge and Highway Corps, out of which in 1747 grew the “National School of Bridges and Highways”. Its teachers wrote books that became standard works on the mechanics of materials, machines, and hydraulics, and leading British engineers learned French to read them. As design and calculation replaced rule of thumb and empirical formulas, and as expert knowledge was codified and formulated, the nonmilitary engineer moved to the front of the stage. Talented, if often self-taught, craftsmen, stonemasons, millwrights, toolmakers, and instrument makers became civil engineers. In Britain, James Brindley began as a millwright and became the foremost canal builder of the century; John Rennie was a millwright’s apprentice who eventually built the New London Bridge; Thomas Telford, a stonemason, became Britain’s leading road builder.

Formal education in engineering science became widely available as other countries followed the lead of France and Germany. In Great Britain the universities, traditionally seats of classical learning, were reluctant to embrace the new disciplines. University College London, founded in 1826, provided a broad range of academic studies and offered a course in mechanical philosophy. King’s College, London, first taught civil engineering in 1838, and in 1840 Queen Victoria founded the first chair of civil engineering and mechanics at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, founded in 1824, offered the first courses in civil engineering in the United States. The number of universities throughout the world with engineering faculties, including civil engineering, increased rapidly in the19th and early 20^th centuries. Civil engineering today is taught in universities on every continent.

Civil engineering functions. The functions of the civil engineer can be divided into three categories: those performed before construction (feasibility studies, site investigations, and design), those performed during construction (dealing with clients, consulting engineers, and contractors), and those performed after construction (maintenance and research).

Feasibility studies. No major project today is started without an extensive study of the objective and without preliminary studies of possible plans leading to a recommended scheme, perhaps with alternatives. Feasibility studies may cover alternative methods — e.g., bridge versus tunnel, in the case of a water crossing — or, once the method is decided, the choice of route. Both economic and engineering problems must be considered.

Site investigations. A preliminary site investigation is part of the feasibility study, but once a plan has been adopted a more extensive investigation is usually imperative. Money spent in a study of ground and substructure may save large sums later in remedial works or in changes made necessary in constructional methods. Since the load-bearing qualities and stability of the ground are such important factors in any large-scale construction, it is surprising that a serious study of soil mechanics did not develop until the mid-1930s. Today there are specialist societies and journals in many countries, and most universities that have a civil engineering faculty have courses in soil mechanics.

Design. The design of engineering works may require the application of design theory from many fields — e.g., hydraulics, thermodynamics, or nuclear physics. Research in structural analysis and the technology of materials has opened the way for more rational designs, new design concepts, and greater economy of materials. The theory of structures and the study of materials have advanced together as more and more refined stress analysis of structures and systematic testing has been done. Modern designers not only have advanced theories and readily available design data, but structural designs can now be rigorously analyzed by computers.

Construction. The promotion of civil engineering works may be initiated by a private client, but most work is undertaken for large corporations, government authorities, and public board and authorities. Many of these have their own engineering staffs, but for large specialized projects it is usual to employ consulting engineers.

The consulting engineer may be required first to undertake feasibility studies, then to recommend a scheme and quote an approximate cost. The engineer is responsible for the design of the works, supplying specifications, drawings, and legal documents in sufficient detail to seek competitive tender prices. The engineer must compare quotations and recommend acceptance of one of them. Although he is not a part to the contract, the engineer’s duties are defined in it; the staff must supervise the construction and the engineer must certify completion of the work. Almost all civil engineering contracts include some element of construction work. The development of steel and concrete as building materials had the effect of placing design more in the hands of the civil engineer than the architect. The engineer’s analysis of a building problem, based on function and economics, determines the building’s structural design.

Maintenance. The contractor maintains the works to the satisfaction of the consulting engineer. Responsibility for maintenance extends to ancillary and temporary works where these form part of the overall construction. After construction a period of maintenance is undertaken by the contractor, and the payment of the final installment of the contract is held back until released by the consulting engineer. Central and local government engineering and public works departments are concerned primarily with maintenance, for which they employ direct labor.

Research. Research in the civil engineering field is undertaken by government agencies, industrial foundations, the universities, and other institutions. Most countries have government-controlled agencies, such as the United States Bureau of Standards and the National Physical Laboratory of Great Britain, involved in a broad spectrum of research, and establishments in building research, roads and highways, hydraulic research, water pollution, and other areas. Many are government-aided but depend partly on income from research work promoted by industry.

VOCABULARY NOTES

to distinguish различать, распознавать

to engage заниматься чем-либо

medieval средневековый

to reveal открывать, обнаруживать; разоблачать

expert опытный, квалифицированный

persistent стойкий; постоянный

to codify приводить в систему

millwright монтажник; слесарь-монтер

apprentice ученик, подмастерье

available доступный; имеющийся в распоряжении

to be reluctant быть вынужденным

chair кафедра

EXERCISES

I. Read the text “Civil Engineering” and follow the information.

II. Find in the text the English equivalents for:

впервые был использован; вновь признанная профессия; творения древних и средневековых времен; история изобретательных гениев и постоянных экспериментирований; как отдельная дисциплина; ведущие инженеры; опытные знания; ученик монтажника; основанный в 1826 году; первая кафедра по гражданскому строительству.

III. Summarize the information of the text “Civil Engineering”.

IV. Read the text “Civil engineering functions”. Speak on the problems raised in it and make reports.

BUILDING MATERIALS

CEMENT

 

Cement is a binding material used in construction and engineering, often called hydraulic cement, typically made by heating a mixture of limestone and clay until it almost fuses and then grinding it to a fine powder. When mixed with water, the silicates and aluminates in the cement undergo a chemical reaction; the resulting hardened mass is then impervious to water. It may also be mixed with water and aggregates (crushed stone, sand, and gravel) to form concrete.

Cement made by grinding together lime and a volcanic product found at Pozzuoli on the Bay of Naples (hence called pozzuolana) was in ancient Roman construction works, notably the Pantheon. During the middle Ages the secret of cement was lost. In the 18^th century John Smeaton, an English, rediscovered the correct proportions when he made up a batch of cement using clay limestone while rebuilding the Eddystone lighthouse off the coast of Cornwall, England. In the United States, production of cement at first relied on processing cement rock from various deposits, such as those found in Rosendale, N.Y. In 1824, Joseph Aspdin, an English bricklayer, patented a process for making what he called Portland cement, with properties superior to its predecessors; this is the cement used in most modern construction.

Modern Portland cement is made by mixing substances containing lime, silica, alumina, and iron oxide and then heating the mixture until it almost fuses. During the heating process dicalcium and tricalcium silicate, tricalcium aluminum, and a solid solution containing iron are formed. Gypsum is later added to these products during a grinding process. Natural cement, although slower-setting and weaker than Portland cement, is still employed to some extent and is occasionally blended with Portland cement. Cement with high aluminum content is used for fireproofing, because it is quick-setting and resistant to high temperatures; cement with high sulfate content is used in complex castings, because it expands upon hardening, filling small spaces.

Of the various Portland cements, the following varieties are now generally available:

a) Ordinary Portland cement, the cheapest,

b) Rapid-hardening cement, which is slightly more expensive because it is ground rather finer and is thus more chemically active,

c) Sulfate-resisting cement which has a special chemical composition to resist sulfates, and can be used in ground which contains them,

d) Air-entraining cement for building roads which may suffer from frost damage,

e) Low-heat cement for massive construction such as dams where the speed at which the heat is given off must be reduced, and slow development of strength does not matter.

These are the main Portland cements. Different cement, which should be mentioned, is high-aluminum cement. High-aluminum cement is usually black, unlike Portland which is grey, but reaches “Portland 28-day” strength in twenty-four hours with correspondingly high heating and it must therefore not be cast in masses which are thicker than 60cm. This common high-alumina cement costs roughly three times as much as Portland. White Portland cement is also obtainable and more expensive than ordinary. It is used for making white concrete or for painting or plastering concrete.

VOCABULARY NOTES

cement цемент

aluminum cement глинозёмистый цемент

quick-setting cement быстросхватывающийся цемент

to bind связывать

to fuse плавить; расплавлять

grinding измельчение; размалывание

to undergo испытывать, подвергаться (чему-либо)

impervious непроницаемый

crushed stone дроблёный камень; щебень

batch дозировка; порция; замес бетона

predecessor предшественник

oxide окись

to blend смесь

casting отливка; литьё

EXERCISES

I. Read the text and note the main facts.

II. Put 5 or 6 key questions to the contents of the text.

III. Annotate the text in Russian.

MORTAR

Mortar is a mixture of lime or cement with sand and water, used as a bedding and adhesive between adjacent pieces of stone, brick, or other material in masonry construction. Lime mortar, a common variety, consists usually of one volume of well-slaked lime to three or four volumes of sand, thoroughly mixed with sufficient water to make a uniform paste easily handled on a trowel. Lime mortar hardens by absorption of carbon dioxide from the air. Once universally used, lime mortar is now less important because it does not have the property of setting underwater and because of its comparatively low strength. It has largely been supplanted by cement mortar, commonly made of one volume of Portland cement to two or three volumes of sand, usually with a quantity of lime paste added to give a more workable mix.

Cement mortar, besides having a high strength, generally equal to that of brick itself, has the very great advantage of setting or hardening underwater. Other varieties include gauge mortar, for rapid setting, composed of plaster of Paris used either pure or combined with lime or with lime and sand, and grout, a thin liquid mixture of lime or cement, poured into masonry to fill up small interstices. Primitive mortars took various forms: in early Egypt, Nile mud was used as an adhesive; the Mesopotamians used bitumen (the slime mentioned in Genesis) or sometimes a mixture of clay, water, and chopped straw, to cement together their unbaked bricks; Greeks of the Mycenaean era probably employed soft bituminous clay. The advanced Greek buildings are notable for their construction without mortar, the huge blocks of stone being consummately fitted with dry beds. The Romans likewise used little mortar in cut stonework or vaulting but in later periods bedded the rough stone of their mass masonry in strong cement mortar. In medieval times and in all periods since, mortar of some sort has been almost universally used in masonry construction.

VOCABULARY NOTES

mortar строительный раствор

mixture смесь, смешивание

bedding основа, основание

adhesive клейкий, связующий

adjacent смежный, примыкающий

to handle управлять; оперировать

trowel мастерок

dioxide двуокись

setting застывание; схватывание (цемента, бетона)

to supplant выжить, вытеснить; занять место

plaster штукатурка

chopped straw соломенная сечка

vault свод; выемка

EXERCISES

I. Read the text and point the most interesting facts.

II. Make the summary of the text.

BRICKS

The many different names given to bricks are rather confusing. Some refer to the districts where the bricks are made, some to color, some to method of manufacture, and others to intended use.

Bricks are always made with their length slightly more than twice their width, so that they can be laid to “bond”. They may vary in thickness, although at present the British Standard (B. S. 657) defines two thicknesses only.

There are three main stages, regardless of which method of manufacture is used: winning the clay and preparing it, shaping it, and last and most important, the drying and firing process.