Structural Engineering and Role of Project Manager in Civil Engineering

The Basics of Structural Engineering

Structural engineering is the study of how to design structures and non-structural elements that bear a load. Structural engineering seeks to determine the stability and longevity of a load-bearing item, and design building plans accordingly.

Structural engineering study is also the study of physics of nature such as the effects of wind, water and snow on buildings, the effects of gravity and the effects of the weight of the structure itself. 

Structural engineering basics cover how common building materials such as steel, concrete and wood behave under pressure. These known behaviors are used in conjunction with special equations that predict how much weight a structural design can withstand while remaining structurally sound.

Structural engineers also plan for safety in the event of an earthquake, flood or other disruptive force. They design the structure to fail under these circumstances without endangering the occupants within or on the structures if possible.

Structural Engineering Basics: Life Cycle Assessment

Life cycle assessment plays an important role in structural engineering Colorado.  Not only does life cycle assessment allow a builder to select the most environmentally friendly option in building materials, it also allows him to select an appropriate building material to increase the longevity of the structure in the given climate and environment.

Structural engineering basics are a wonder to behold at work. Suspension bridges, skyscrapers, and artistic buildings such as the Louvre in Paris are all terrific examples of the wonder and awe that structural engineers can evoke.

Civil Engineering and Project Management

 Civil engineering is arguably the oldest engineering discipline. It deals with the built environment and can be dated to the first time someone placed a roof over his or her head or laid a tree trunk across a river to make it easier to get across.

The built environment encompasses much of what defines modern civilization. Buildings and bridges are often the first constructions that come to mind, as they are the most conspicuous creations of structural engineering, one of civil engineering's major sub-disciplines. Roads, railroads, subway systems, and airports are designed by transportation engineers, another category of civil engineering.

Project management is the application of processes, methods, skills, knowledge and experience to achieve specific project objectives according to the project acceptance criteria within agreed parameters. Project management has final deliverables that are constrained to a finite timescale and budget. The five phases of project management include conception and initiation, planning, execution, performance/monitoring, and project close.

The civil engineer must have a key role in project management. Projects are becoming increasingly complex, and the project management team is subject to the influence of social and environmental constraints together with concerns for the control of natural resources. These and other factors indicate the pressing importance of proper training and education to develop suitable skills in the potential project manager. Civil engineering is the study that allows both technical and managerial skills to be developed. Thus the civil engineer will be eminently capable of exercising sound project management.