Assessment Point 1

ASSESSMENT BRIEF AND MARKING RUBRIC

Module Code and Title: LJMU-7500-UCEPG Advanced Structural Design and Bridge Engineering
Assessment Point: Assessment Point 1
Submission Deadline: Week 4, Sunday 23:59 VLE (UTC) time
Assessment Task: Written Essay
Word Count: 3000 words +/- 10% (excluding references and appendices)
Weighting: 70% of overall module mark

Extenuating Circumstances
Where illness or other verifiable cause prevents timely submission of the summative assessments,
you are required to contact the Unicaf Extenuating Circumstances team in the first instance, via
extenuating.circumstances@unicaf.org, for further information on how to make an appropriate
request for consideration of your circumstances. It is important to note that any request must be
made to the mentioned team in advance of the originally stipulated deadlines, otherwise shall be
considered as late and will not be reviewed further unless valid independent evidence exists to
support that you could not have reasonably gotten in touch any sooner.

Academic misconduct including plagiarism

Ensure that you are familiar with the relevant regulations regarding academic misconduct. By
submitting the assignment, you declare that it is your own work and that the material and sources
of information used, including internet sources, have been fully identified and properly
acknowledged. In addition, you confirm that the presented work has not been submitted for any
other assessment. You also acknowledge that the faculty reserves the right to investigate allegations
of plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct, which, if proven and dependent on the
severity level of the offense, may result in a penalty that could affect your progress.

You can access the LJMU Academic Misconduct Policies by following the corresponding link
provided under the ‘Welcome’ section of the module on the VLE.

By submitting your work, you acknowledge that you have read and agreed with the above
statements.

LJMU-7500-UCEPG Advanced Structural Design and Bridge Engineering 1

General guidance
Your assignment should be word processed (handwritten assignments are not accepted), using
Times New Roman size 12 font, double spaced, with numbered pages and your student number
printed as a footer on every page.

Please note that this assignment is to be supported by academic research, so you should adhere to
the appropriate referencing guidance. Please note that your assignment will be submitted via
Turnitin. This allows us to monitor and deal with plagiarism. The majority of references should
come from primary sources (e.g. journal articles, conference papers, reports, etc.), although you can
also utilise area-specific textbooks. You must ensure that you use the Harvard style of referencing,
as per the guidelines provided by the Liverpool John Moores University.

The word limit stated for this assignment excludes the list of references at the end of the assignment
but includes all text in the main body of the assignment (including direct quotations, in-text
citations, footnotes, tables, diagrams, and graphs). Please be aware that exceeding the word limit
will affect the academic judgment of the piece of work and may result in the award of a lower mark.
Appendices are not considered a supplement and will not be assessed as part of the content of the
assignment. As such, they will not contribute to the grade awarded; however, it may be appropriate
to use an Appendices section for any material which is a useful reference for the reader. Please note
that appendices are not included in the word count. Please indicate the word count length at the end
of your assignment.

Marking and assessment

This assignment will be marked out of 100% and contributes to 70% of the total module mark.
The pass mark is 50%.

Submission deadline
Please note that your work should be uploaded by the stipulated submission deadline - failure to
do this will lead to your assignment being marked as though it was late or missing. Work submitted
after the submission deadline without a granted extension by the Unicaf Extenuating
Circumstances team or a deferral in accordance with the Extenuating Circumstances Policy will
not be accepted and will be recorded as 0%.

LJMU-7500-UCEPG Advanced Structural Design and Bridge Engineering 2

Submitting via Turnitin
Your assignment will be submitted via Turnitin. Please note that you are responsible for ensuring
you understand the process of uploading your assessment on the VLE before the submission
deadline. This includes submitting your work via Turnitin for similarity checks and accepting
the Turnitin terms and conditions.

As a first step, you are advised to upload your work as a draft and check the Turnitin similarity
indication well before the relevant deadline. This way, you can see whether further amendments
are needed to reduce similarity in case this is high. After editing your work, you can proceed with
the final submission by the deadline.

Any submitted work not accompanied by a Turnitin similarity report will not be accepted. Please
contact your tutor if you experience any issues with the use of Turnitin.

LJMU-7500-UCEPG Advanced Structural Design and Bridge Engineering 3

Learning Outcomes of the Assessment
LO1: Critically evaluate the use of common structural materials in large structures.
LO2: Evaluate a range of structural theories and methods of analysis and their relevance to large
structures, according to current codes of practice.
LO3: Perform advanced structural analysis and design of steel, composite, prestressed concrete,
tensile cables, bridge deck structures/elements, and apply knowledge to the design in varying
environments.

Assessment guidelines

Produce a 3000-word +/- 10% (excluding references and appendices) essay where you:

(1) Compare and critically discuss the similarities or differences of two different types of bridges
of your choice, in terms of their superstructure and substructure characteristics, as well as the
key structural materials used. It is encouraged to support your discussion with examples of real
bridges used around the world that represent each of the two bridge types.
Suggestion: You can use Structurae database as a supportive source to find basic information
about types of bridges around the world, and perform a further research on the selected bridges
to enhance your arguments.
https://structurae.net/en/

(2) Select two real bridges of the same type (corresponding to one of the types selected in (1)
above), and discuss qualitatively and compare their applied dead loads, live loads, and other
environmental loads (such as wind loads, snow, temperatures and earthquakes) and conditions
(such as location, purpose of construction and environmental impact) using (publicly)
available data. A summary of the data collected can be presented in tabular format, as shown
in Table 1, below (the list of properties presented is indicative, and non-exhaustive):

LJMU-7500-UCEPG Advanced Structural Design and Bridge Engineering 4

Table 1: A comparison Bridges A and B in terms of the various properties accounted for in their
structural design.

Property Bridge A Bridge B

Year of Construction … …

Applied Dead Load

Live Load

Wind Load

Temperature

(3) Based on the comparison conducted in (2) above, critically discuss the appropriateness of the
design of the two bridges, considering their location, purpose of construction, materials used,
and other environmental conditions.

LJMU-7500-UCEPG Advanced Structural Design and Bridge Engineering 5

Your assignment should be structured as follows
Section/Aspect Content to cover Marks
available
Provision an essential background to the key
characteristics of the two bridge types selected to be
discussed. Explanation what factors have
Introduction 10
influenced the selection of the two types of bridge
for discussion, to justify their selection. Clear
definition the objectives of the assignment.
(1) Identification of the superstructure and
substructure characteristics, and key structural
materials for each of the two bridge types.
Comparison and critical discussion of the
similarities or differences the two bridge types.
Use of bridge examples that represent the two
bridge types.
Main Body: (2) Identification of two real bridges of the same
Discussion and 70
Critical Analysis type. Collection and presentation available
data corresponding to the loads and other
environmental parameters for the two real
bridges. Comparison of the data.
(3) Critical discussion on the appropriateness of the
design of the two bridges, considering their
location, purpose of construction, materials used,
and other environmental conditions.
Effective summary of the critical points addressed in
Conclusion the assignment, and the most important findings of 10
the discussion.

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 A high-quality presentation that conforms to
Layout and Referencing principles of academic writing and contains
(list of references can minimal errors in sentence construction, grammar,
take as many pages as and punctuation. 10
necessary/not included in The assignment should follow appropriate
the 3000-word count) academic conventions regarding in-text citations
and references using Harvard referencing system.
Total: 3000 words 100

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LJMU Level 7 Grading Criteria

What does my Grade Mean? (Postgraduate Scale)

Please note that the individual passing mark for Liverpool John Moores University
(postgraduate modules) is 50%.

Mark Performanc
rang e Grading criteria
e characterist
ic
● Exemplary attainment of all learning outcomes
90-100 Exception ● Demonstrates an outstanding synthesis of varied theoretical
al Pass positions in the analysis of key issues in the subjectarea
● Wide-ranging emphasis on knowledge and ideas that are at
the forefrontof the discipline
● Offers an exhaustiveexplorationof the literature and evidence-base
● The material covered is accurate and relevant
● The argument is highly sophisticated
● The standard of writing is refined
● No errors in the use of the specified referencing system
● Well-presented and organised in an appropriate academic style.

● Excellentattainment of all learning outcomes, with some, met to an

80-89 Outstandi exemplary standard
● Demonstrates a comprehensive synthesis of varied theoretical positions in
ng Pass
the analysis of key issues in the subject area. Wide-ranging emphasis on
knowledge and ideas that are at the forefront of the discipline
● Extends far beyond expected levels of engagement with the
literature and evidence- base
● The material covered is accurate and relevant
● The argument is generally very astute
● The standard of writing is refined
● No errors in the use of the specified referencing system
● Well-presented and organised in an appropriate academic style.

● Excellent attainment of all learning outcomes

70-79 Excelle ● Demonstrates a thorough synthesis of varied theoretical
nt pass positions in the analysis of key issues in the subjectarea
● Strong emphasis on knowledge and ideas that are at the forefront
of the discipline
● Thoroughuse ofthe literatureand evidence-base
● The material covered is accurate and relevant
● Theargumentis persuasiveandthereareveryperceptiveelements
● The standard of writing is refined
● No errors in the use of the specified referencing system
● Well-presented and organised in an appropriate academic style.

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 ● Good attainment of all learning outcomes
60-69 Good Pass ● Demonstrates detailed synthesis of varied theoretical positions
in the analysis of key issues in thesubjectarea
● Good emphasis on knowledge and ideas that are at the forefront
of the discipline
● Good consideration of the literature and evidence-
based that develops from recommended readings
● The material covered is accurate and relevant
● The argument is persuasive
● The standard of writing is refined
● No errors in the use of the specified referencing system
● Well-presented and organised in an appropriate academic style.

● Adequate attainment of all learning outcomes

50-59 Pass ● Demonstrates a limited, but sufficient, synthesis of varied
theoretical positions in the analysis of key issues in the
subject area
● Some emphasis on knowledge and ideas that are at the forefront
of the discipline
● Sufficient consideration of the literature and evidence-based,
but little consideration beyond recommended readings
● The material covered is mostly accurate and relevant
● The argument is straightforward and relatively clear
● The standard of writing is well clear and readable, with some
sophisticated phrasing
● No errors in the use of the specified referencing system
● Well-presented and organised in an appropriate academic style.

● Meetsmost, but not all learning outcomes

40-49 Needs ● Demonstrateslimitedsynthesisofvariedtheoreticalpositionsinthe
some analysisof key issues in the subject area
● Less than expected emphasis on knowledge and ideas that are
improveme at the forefrontof the discipline
nt ● Basic consideration of the literature and evidence-
based, but restricted to recommended readings
● Some inaccuracies or irrelevant materials that suggest
confusion and misunderstanding
● Theargumentis relativelyclear, althoughsomeelementsaredifficult
to understand
● Thestandard of writing is wellclear andreadable, butoverly simplistic
● Minor errors in the use of the specifiedreferencing system, but
meets key principles
● Well-presented and organised in an appropriate academic style.

● Approximately half the learning outcomesare met

30-39 Needs ● Demonstrates very little synthesis of varied theoretical
major positions in the analysis of key issues in thesubjectarea
● Little emphasis on knowledge and ideas that are at the forefront of the
improveme discipline
nt ● Minor consideration of the literatureandevidence-based, with
inadequate use of recommended reading and no exploration
outside that
● Some materials are accurate, but the amount of inaccurate
or irrelevant materials indicates an insufficient
understanding of key concepts
● The argument is poorly defined and defended
● The standard of writing is mostly clear and readable
● Someerrors in the use of the specifiedreferencing system, but
meets key principles
● Generally, well presented and organised, but does not always
conform to conventions of academic presentation.

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 ● Most learning outcomes are not met
20-29 Needs ● Demonstrates no synthesis of varied theoretical positions in
significan the analysis of key issues in the subject area
● Little or no emphasis on knowledge and ideas that are at the forefront
t revision of the discipline
● Superficial consideration of the literature and evidence-base
● There are major inaccuracies or significant amounts of irrelevant material
● The argument is very weak
● The standard of writing is reasonable and there are very
few areas of confusion and/or errors in spelling/grammar
● Attempts to use of the specified referencing system. Meets key
principles, but there are systematic errors
● Good presentation that may include some organisational
errors and/or tendency not to conform to conventions of
academic presentation.

● Does not meet any learning outcomes

0-19 Needs ● Demonstrates misunderstanding of varied theoretical positions
substantia in the analysis of key issues in the subject area
● No emphasis on knowledge and ideas that are at the forefront of
l work the discipline
● No engagement with the literature and evidence-base
● The material covered is inaccurate or irrelevant
● The argument is incoherent
● Standard of writing is acceptable. The structure is reasonable, but
there are some areas of confusion and/or some errors in
spelling/grammar
● Attempts to use the specified referencing system, but there are
significant errors
● Acceptable presentation that may include some organisational errors
and a tendency not to conform to conventions of academic
presentation.

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