CIVIL ENGINEERING APPLICATION

Problem:
A Civil Engineer is using a 1.5-meter height theodolite looking at the tip of a pole-type tower from a 6-meter
distance. The angle established from the horizontal line of sight of the theodolite to the tip of the tower is 60.26
degrees. The pole-type tower is a steel pipe with an outer diameter of 100mm and thickness of 5mm. If the unit
weight of tower is 7850 kg/m³,

A. Mathematics
1.) What is the total height of tower?
2.) What is the total weight of tower in kgs?
B. Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics
1.) If rain pours and the rate of flow inside the tower is 0.1 m³/hr, how long will it take to make the tower
full of water in minutes?
2.) What is the pressure (in kPa) at the bottom of the tower after 30 minutes of rain?

Given:
Hth = 1.5m (height of theodolite) Do = 100mm (diameter of pole tower)
X = 6m (distance from theodolite to tower) thk = 5mm (thickness of steel pipe)
Θ = 60.26° (angle from line of sight to tower tip) γst = 7850 kg/m³ (unit weight of steel)

Required:
A. 1. Hst (Total Height of tower)
2. Wst (Total Weight of tower)
B. 1. tT (Total time to fill the tower with water)
2. Pb (Pressure at the bottom of the tower)

Solution: Trigonometric Functions:

A. 1.) Total Height (Hst)

OPPOSITE
TAN Θ = Hst = Hth + Y
ADJACENT

Y
TAN 60.26° = Hst = (1.5m) + (10.5m)
(6 m)

Y= 6 m (TAN 60.26°) Hst = 12.0 meters

Y= 10.50 m

2.) Weight of Steel Tower (Wst)

Wst π Do ²
γst = Vst
Vst = (Ast) x (Hst) Ao =
4

Wst π (0.1 m) ²
7850 kg/mᶟ = Vst = (Ao - Ai) x (Hst) Ao = = 0.00785 m²
0.0179 mᶟ 4

π Di ²
Wst = (7850 kg/mᶟ) x (0.0179 mᶟ) Vst = (0.00149 m²) x (12 m) Ai =
4

π (0.09 m) ²
Wst = 140.515 kg Vst = 0.0179 mᶟ Ai = = 0.00636 m²
4

Wst = 1.378 kN Ast = (0.00785 m² - 0.00636 m²)

Ast = 0.00149 m²
B. 1.) Total Time to Fill the Tower (tT)
Additional Given: Qin = 0.1 mᶟ/hr

V (Volume) Vi
Qin = = Vi = (Ai) x (Hst)
t (time) tT

0.0763 mᶟ
0.1 mᶟ/hr = Vi = (0.00636 m²) x (12 m)
tT

0.0763 mᶟ
tT = Vi = 0.0763 mᶟ
0.1 mᶟ/hr

60 mins
tT = (0.763 hr) x
1 hr

tT = 45.78 min.

2.) Pressure at the bottom of the tower after 30minutes (P b)

V30
Pb = (γw) x (H30) Qin = V30 = (Ai) x (H30)
t30

V30
Pb = (9.81 kN/mᶟ) x (7.86 m) 0.1 mᶟ/hr = 0.05 mᶟ = (0.00636 m²) x (H30)
30 min

1 hr 0.05 mᶟ
Pb = 77.107 kPa V30 = (0.1 mᶟ/hr) x (30 min.) H30 =
60 min. 0.00636 m²

V30 = 0.05 mᶟ H30 = 7.86 m

3.) Total Pressure at the bottom of the tower with oil (Pt)

Pt = (γw) x (Hw) + (γo ) x (Ho)

Pt = (9.81 kN/mᶟ) x (7.86 m) + (9.81 kN/mᶟ) x (0.90) x (12m - 7.86m)

Pt = 77.107 kPa + 36.552 kPa

Pt = 113.659 kPa