Introduction to Course and

Overview

Module 1
 Content
• Understanding the past to look into the future: Pre industrial revolution days,
Agricultural revolution, first and second industrial revolutions, IT revolution;
• Recent major Civil Engineering breakthroughs and innovations;
• Present day world and future projections, Ecosystems in Society and in
Nature; the steady erosion in Sustainability;
• Global warming, its impact and possible causes;
• Evaluating future requirements for various resources;
• GIS and applications for monitoring systems;
• Human Development Index and Ecological Footprint of India Vs other
countries and analysis;
Preindustrial revolution
 Agricultural revolution
• An agricultural revolution is a period of transition from the pre-agricultural period
characterized by a Paleolithic diet, into an agricultural period characterized by a diet
of cultivated foods; or a further transition from a living a more advanced and more
productive form of agriculture, resulting in further social changes.
• FIRST AGRICULTURE REVOLUTION 12,000 years ago, Neolithic era. In China, North
Africa, Southeast Asia & Latin America. Domestication of animals.
• 2ND AGRICULTURE REVOLUTION (1871-1914) Usage of new technology. e.g. Tractor,
Cotton Gin.
• 3RD AGRICULTURE REVOLUTION, Also known as “Green Revolution”, 1960 to present.
Introduction of Pesticides and Fertilizers. Higher yield using genetic engineering.
• THE GREEN REVOLUTION Refers to series of research and development & technology
transfer initiatives Between 1960s till present Norman Borlaug “Father of Green
Revolution” Won Nobel prize in 1970, Saved over a billion people from starvation. The
term “Green Revolution” was first used in 1986 By William Gaud - former United
States Agency for International Development (USAID)
 IT revolution
• Pre-mechanical Age(3000 B.C. – 1450A.D.):
• Petroglyphs-Pictures carved on rocks
• Writing and Alphabets-communication.
• Paper and Pens – Input technologies.
• Books and Libraries:
• Permanent Storage Devices.
• The First Numbering Systems.
• The First Calculators
• Mechanical Age(1450 A.D. – 1840 A.D.):
• The First Information Explosion.
• The first general purpose “computers”
• Technologies like Slide rule was discovered.
• Charles Babbage develops difference engine.
• Electromechanical Age(1840 A.D. -1940 A.D.)
• The Beginnings of Telecommunication.
• Voltaic Battery
• Telegraph was created in early 1800s.
• Morse Code was created by Samuel Morse.
• Telephone was created by Alexander Graham Bell in
1876.
• The first radio was developed by Guglielmo Marconi in
1894.
• First large-scale digital computer in the United State
was the Mark 1
• Electronics Age(1940 A.D.- Present)
• The ENIAC was developed.
• Era of vacuum tube and punch card like ENIAC and
Mark 1.
• Rotating magnetic drums used for internal storage.
• High level programming languages like
FORTRAN,COBOL.
• Personal Computer was developed.
• GUI(Graphical User Interface) was developed.
Recent major Civil Engineering breakthroughs
and innovations
• Self-healing concrete : Cement is one of the most widely used
materials in construction, but also one of the largest , said to be
responsible for around 7 per cent of annual global emissions. Cracking
is a major problem in construction, usually caused by exposure to
water and chemicals. Researchers at Bath University are looking to
develop a self-healing concrete, using a mix containing bacteria within
microcapsules, which will aid building innovation by germinating
when water enters a crack in the concrete to produce limestone,
plugging the crack before water and oxygen has a chance to corrode
the steel reinforcement.
• Thermal bridging
• Efficient insulation material is becoming increasingly important
throughout the construction industry. Heat transmission through
walls tends to be passed directly through the building envelope, be it
masonry, block or stud frame, to the internal fascia such as drywall.
This process is known as “thermal bridging”.
• Photovoltaic glaze
• One of the most exciting new technologies used in civil engineering
is building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) glazing, which can help , by
turning the whole building envelope into a solar panel. Companies
such as Poly solar provide transparent photovoltaic glass as a
structural building material, forming windows, façades and roofs.
Poly solar’s technology is efficient at producing energy even on
north-facing, vertical walls and its high performance at raised
temperatures means it can be double glazed or insulated directly. As
well as saving on energy bills and earning feed-in tariff revenues, its
cost is only marginal over traditional glass, since construction and
framework costs remain, while cladding and shading system costs
are replaced.
Kinetic Footfall
One of the latest civil engineering technologies under development is kinetic energy. Pavegen
provides a technology that enables flooring to harness the energy of footsteps. It can be used
indoors or outdoors in high traffic areas, and using an electromagnetic induction process and
flywheel energy storage. The technology is best suited to transport hubs where a large flow of
people will pass over it. It also currently has a temporary installation outside London’s Canary
Wharf station powering street lights.
Kinetic Roads
Italian startup Underground Power is exploring the potential of kinetic energy in roadways. It has
developed a technology called Lybra, a tyre-like rubber paving that converts the kinetic energy
produced by moving vehicles into electrical energy. Developed in co-operation with the
Polytechnic University of Milan, Lybra operates on the principle that a braking car dissipates
kinetic energy. The is able to collect and convert this energy into electricity before passing it on
to the electricity grid. In addition to improving road safety, the device upgrades and promotes
sustainability of road traffic.
Predictive Software
The structural integrity of any building is only as good as its individual parts. The way those parts
fit together, along with the choice of materials and its specific site, all contribute to how the
building will perform under normal, or extreme, conditions. Civil engineers need to integrate a
vast number of pieces into building designs, while complying with increasingly demanding safety
and government regulations. Predictive software can help ensure even the most innovative
structures in civil engineering are safe and efficient, by simulating how they will behave. An
example of this was work on the structural integrity of the arch rotation brackets at Wembley
Stadium, undertaken by Bennett Associates, using ANSYS software, which simulated the stresses
on the brackets that hold and move the distinctive arches above the stadium.
3D Modelling
Planning and building innovation has been driven by the growth of smart cities.
CyberCity3D (CC3D) is a geospatial-modelling innovator specialising in the
production of smart 3D building models. It creates smart 3D buildings to help
the architectural, engineering and construction sector visualise and
communicate design and data with CC3D proprietary software. The models
integrate with 3D geographic information system platforms, such as Autodesk
and ESRI, and can stream 3D urban building data to Cesium’s open architecture
virtual 3D globe. It provides data for urban, energy, sustainability and design
planning, and works in conjunction with many smart city SaaS platforms such as
Cityzenith.
Modular Construction
Modular construction is one of the most popular developments in civil
engineering where a building is constructed off-site using the same materials
and designed to the same standards as conventional on-site construction. This
innovative building technique limits environmental disruption, delivering
components as and when needed, and turning construction into a logistics
exercise. It also has strong sustainability benefits, from fewer vehicle
movements to less waste. With up to 70 per cent of a building produced as
components, it allows a move towards “just in time” manufacturing and delivery.
In use in the United States and UK, Chinese developer Broad Sustainable
Building recently completed a 57-storey skyscraper in 19 working days using this
• Cloud Collaboration
Another new technology used in civil engineering is a cloud collaboration tool called
basestone. basestone is a system allowing the remote sharing of data on a
construction site in real time. It is predominantly a review tool for civil engineers and
architects which digitises the drawing review process on construction projects, and
allows for better collaboration. The cloud-based collaboration tool is focused on the
installation of everything from steel beams to light fittings. The system is used to add
“snags”, issues that happen during construction, on to pdfs, then users can mark or
add notes through basestone. Trials have revealed possible cost-savings of around 60
per cent compared with traditional paper-based review methods.
Asset mapping
Not all of the latest civil engineering developments are new construction materials or
flashy technological tools. Asset mapping focuses on operational equipment,
including heating and air conditioning, lighting and security systems. The process
includes collecting data from serial numbers, firmware, engineering notes of when it
was installed and by whom, and combines all the data in one place. This system can
show engineers in real time where the equipment needs to be installed on a map
and, once the assets are connected to the real-time system using the internet of
things, these can be monitored via the web, app, and other remote devices and
systems. It helps customers build databases of asset performance, which can assist in
proactive building maintenance, and also reduce building procurement and insurance
costs.
Ecosystems in Society and in Nature
• An ecosystem is a community of living
organisms in conjunction with the nonliving
components of their environment,
interacting as a system. These biotic and
abiotic components are linked together
through nutrient cycles and energy flows.
Energy enters the system through
photosynthesis and is incorporated into
plant tissue. By feeding on plants and on
one-another, animals play an important role
in the movement of matter and energy
through the system. They also influence the
quantity of plant and microbial biomass
present. By breaking down dead organic
matter, decomposers release carbon back to
the atmosphere and facilitate nutrient
cycling by converting nutrients stored in
dead biomass back to a form that can be
readily used by plants and other microbes.
 Global warming, its impact and possible causes
• The past 50 years, the average
global temperature has
increased at the fastest rate in
recorded history.
• Global warming occurs when
carbon dioxide (CO2) and other
air pollutants and greenhouse
gases collect in the atmosphere
and absorb sunlight and solar
radiation that have bounced off
the earth’s surface. Normally,
this radiation would escape into
space—but these pollutants,
which can last for years to
centuries in the atmosphere,
trap the heat and cause the
planet to get hotter. That's
what's known as the
greenhouse effect.
Evaluating future requirements for various
resources
• Resource is normally used in an economic context and encompasses
many different aspects like human resources, financial resources,
natural resources, and time resources.
• Natural resources are:
• Raw materials such as minerals, biomass, and biological resources
• Environmental media such as air, water, and soil
• Flow resources such as wind, geothermal, tidal, and solar energy
• Space (land area)
• Whether the resources are used to make products or as sinks that
absorb emissions (soil, air, and water), they are crucial to the
functioning of the economy and to maintaining our quality of life.
General drivers of demand in India
• Structural changes in a society also lead to transformations in
consumption patterns and lifestyles, which then impact resource
consumption patterns. India is witnessing dynamic transformations
due to its rapid economic growth, which is characterized by five main
interlinked factors. These factors act as drivers of demand and have a
strong impact on resource consumption. These drivers of demand
are:
• Growing population
• Expanding industrial and service-related production
• Rising (average) income
• Growing middle class and/or expanding cohort of middle class
• Increasing urbanization
 Geographic Information System (GIS)
• A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a system designed to
capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present spatial or
geographic data. GIS sometimes refers to geographic information
science the science underlying geographic concepts, applications, and
systems. Since the mid-1980s, geographic information systems have
become valuable tool used to support a variety of city and regional
planning functions.
 GIS applications for monitoring systems
• Slope and aspect: Slope can be defined as the steepness or gradient of a unit of terrain, usually
measured as an angle in degrees or as a percentage. Aspect can be defined as the direction in
which a unit of terrain faces. Aspect is usually expressed in degrees from north.
• Data analysis: GIS can quickly generate a map known as a rainfall contour map that indicate
differing amounts of rainfall that indicate differing amounts of rainfall
• Topological modeling: A GIS can recognize and analyze the spatial relationships that exist within
digitally stored spatial data.
• Geometric networks: Geometric networks are linear networks of objects that can be used to
represent interconnected features, and to perform special spatial analysis on them.
• Hydrological modeling: GIS hydrological models can provide a spatial element that other
hydrological models lack, with the analysis of variables such as slope, aspect and watershed or
catchment area
• Map overlay: The combination of several spatial datasets (points, lines, or polygons) creates a
new output vector dataset, visually similar to stacking several maps of the same region.
• Address geocoding: Geocoding is interpolating spatial locations (X,Y coordinates) from street
addresses or any other spatially referenced data such as ZIP Codes, parcel lots and address
locations.
• Reverse geocoding :Reverse geocoding is the process of returning an estimated street address
number as it relates to a given coordinate.
 Implications of GIS in society
• GIS in education
GIS seem to provide many advantages in teaching geography because they allow for analyses based on real
geographic data and also help raise many research questions from teachers and students in classrooms.
• GIS in local government
• Economic Development departments use interactive GIS mapping tools, aggregated with other data
(demographics, labor force, business, industry, talent) along with a database of available commercial sites and
buildings in order to attract investment and support existing business.
• Public Safety[operations such as Emergency Operations Centers, Fire Prevention, Police and mobile technology
and dispatch, and mapping weather risks.
• Parks and Recreation departments and their functions in asset inventory, land conservation, land management.
• Public Works and Utilities, tracking water and storm water drainage, electrical assets, engineering projects, and
public transportation assets and trends.
• Fiber Network Management for interdepartmental network assets
• School analytical and demographic data, asset management, and improvement/expansion planning
• Public Administration for election data, property records, and zoning/management.
Human Development Index
• he Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistical tool used to
measure a country's overall achievement in its social and economic
dimensions. The social and economic dimensions of a country are
based on the health of people, their level of education attainment
and their standard of living.
 Ecological Footprint of India Vs other countries and
analysis
• In 1996 the concept of ecological footprint was created. It became a valuable index for measuring the
pressure of the human beings on the biosphere. It helps to understand the amount of resources we
use and the emissions we produce to support our lifestyle. The comparison between the rates
obtained for each country can distinguish those who have a lighter ecological footprint, which
contribute little to threaten the environmental destruction, and those who have a heavier footprint,
with a strong negative impact on the sustainability of our civilization. The ecological footprint
measures the pressure on natural resources due to population consumption and life style. It estimates
the biologically productive area required to provide the natural resources we use in our daily life: the
resources used in the house we live in, the furniture and objects, clothes, transportation that we use,
what we eat, what we do at leisure and to absorb carbon dioxide emissions.
• It is measured in global hectares (gha), and global hectares per capita (gha/pc). A global hectare
quantifies the bio capacity and measures the average productivity of all biologically productive areas in
a given year. A global hectare per capita refers to the amount of biologically productive land and water
consumed per person. The United Arab Emirates (10.7 gha/pc), Qatar (10.5) and the United States
(8.0) are those with heavier ecological footprint per capita, i.e., they threaten the global sustainability.
An average German uses 5.1 hectares, a Brazilian, 2.9; a Chinese, 2.2. In Japan 4,7. Russia, 4.4,
Portugal, 4.5, Argentina, 2.6. The average Indian has an ecological footprint of 0.9 gha/pc. The global
footprint is 2.7 global hectares per capita. If the entire population of the planet adopted a lifestyle
similar to the U.S., we would need four planets Earth because the biocapacity of a single planet is
insufficient to sustain the demands of the population.