Lent term - 14 lectures - Assessment: 100% coursework
Prerequisites
3D1, 3D2 and 4D16 useful
Aims
The aims of the course are to:
familiarise students with key design and construction aspects of those areas of construction engineering which are commonly encountered in many major civil engineering projects.
Objectives
As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:
understand key issues in front-end planning and construction of major civil engineering infrastructure.
understand the basics of construction site development, earth removing methods and earth excavation techniques.
understand the basics for rock excavation and blasting.
understand the practical considerations for loading and hauling operations including productivity estimation, fleet economics and equipment selection.
understand the design, construction and operational aspects of compacting, finishing and paving operations for road infrastructure.
address stability and deformation problems relating to different types of deep excavation construction (e.g. diaphragm walls, top-down construction, bottom-up construction) in different ground conditions.
understand the principal design and construction problems associated with bored tunnel projects.
estimate ground movements caused by deep excavations and tunnelling and assess their effects on buildings and services.
select appropriate protective and ground improvement measures for different underground construction problems.
understand the principal considerations associated with ground water control during construction.
Content
This module aims to familiarise students with key design and construction aspects of those areas of construction engineering which are commonly encountered in many major civil engineering projects. These are earth moving and soil excavation techniques, rock excavation and blasting, road construction and equipment fleet economics, deep excavation and tunnelling and tunnelling, construction processes and groundwater control. Earthworks for ground and underground construction are becoming increasingly important as massive rail and road projects are needed to cope with growing traffic while underground space is being utilised in urban areas for mass transit systems (metros) and many other areas of infrastructure development. Rock excavation and blasting, as well as paving operations, provide particular challenges in many civil engineering projects. The many constraints and technical challenges associated to the construction of underground infrastructures in the urban environment lead to high costs and long completion times. Masonry buidling are particularly sensitive to subsidence induced by excavation. It is therefore often necessary to adopt complex control systems of the excavation process, in order to achieve the maximum limitation of deformations, to devise intense monitoring schemes, and, where necessary, to implement techniques for the mitigation of the potential damage and the protection of the structures affected by excavation, with a significant increase in the construction costs.This module will introduce students to the latest front-end planning and construction technologies being used in all these areas.
Site development & earthmoving materials
Excavation techniques & earth moving methods
Loading and hauling
Road construction
Fleet economics
Deep excavations and bored tunnels
Tunnel stability and ground movements
Damage to buildings and services caused by deep excavations and tunnels, risk assessments
Protective measures and ground treatment for underground construction
Effects of tunnelling and deep excavations on building performance – case histories
Groundwater control
8L, Prof G. Viggiani; 6L, Dr I. Brilakis
Coursework
(a) Construction earthwork and equipment: estimation of excavation soil volumes from drawings, earthwork production calculation, logistics planning for transporting earth materials and for road construction operations, and equipment economics.
(b) Underground construction (tunnelling), based on a real project: tasks are to establish tunnel stability during construction, assess the risk of damage to a building of considerable historical interest, and design outline protective measures for the building.
Construction earthwork and equipment: estimation of excavation soil volumes from drawings, earthwork production, blast design, logistics planning for transporting soils to/from project sites, paving and economics.
Learning objective:
Understand the basics of construction site development, earth removing methods and earth/rock excavation techniques.
Understand the practical considerations for loading and hauling operations including productivity estimation and equipment selection.
Understand road construction operations and equipment fleet economics.
Individual Report
anonymously marked
[30/60]
Coursework 2: Underground Construction
Underground construction (tunnelling), based on a real tunnelling project: tasks are to establish tunnel stability duting construction, assess the risk of damage to a building of considerable historical interest and design outline protective measures for the building.
Learning objective:
estimate ground movements caused by tunnelling and assess their effects on buildings
define appropriate protective measures
Individual Report
anonymously marked
[30/60]
Booklists
Please refer to the Booklist for Part IIB Courses for references to this module, this can be found on the associated Moodle course.
Develop transferable skills that will be of value in a wide range of situations. These are exemplified by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority Higher Level Key Skills and include problem solving, communication, and working with others, as well as the effective use of general IT facilities and information retrieval skills. They also include planning self-learning and improving performance, as the foundation for lifelong learning/CPD.
IA1
Apply appropriate quantitative science and engineering tools to the analysis of problems.
IA2
Demonstrate creative and innovative ability in the synthesis of solutions and in formulating designs.
KU1
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of essential facts, concepts, theories and principles of their engineering discipline, and its underpinning science and mathematics.
KU2
Have an appreciation of the wider multidisciplinary engineering context and its underlying principles.
E1
Ability to use fundamental knowledge to investigate new and emerging technologies.
P1
A thorough understanding of current practice and its limitations and some appreciation of likely new developments.
P3
Understanding of contexts in which engineering knowledge can be applied (e.g. operations and management, technology, development, etc).
US1
A comprehensive understanding of the scientific principles of own specialisation and related disciplines.
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