Design Principles

Blog Design

Instead of talking about the design of a bridge or storm water management plan, this post will focus on the design features of the blog itself. Before starting this blog, I had little to no knowledge of what a blog actually consisted of. Once I learned what a blog actually was, I realized I've been reading blogs my entire life. Blogs essentially provide readers with information on a specific topic or story, but in a serving size that most people will be willing to take the time to read. Many of the design features used in blogging are directed towards making it easy for the reader to find the information they are looking for. 

Perhaps the easiest way to remember a few of the more important features is the acronym CRAP. CRAP stands for contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity. These principles are rarely used alone though. Each aspect of the design usually contributes in some way to the other three features. Once you learn to understand each concept individually, you will be able to recognize how they interact with each other.

Contrast

Contrast can be used in different ways depending on the purpose of the blog. An entertainment blog will most likely use color contrast to draw the readers attention. My blogs are written under a bit more of a professional context, so my main use for contrast has been to make my main points stand out. I used larger font for my headings, so that my information is organized and easy to interpret. I decided to bold important words or phrases in my paragraphs as well. 

Repetition

It's not about repeating the same idea over and over, but about using the same formatting throughout the entire post. Using the same sized font for each heading and keeping each paragraph similarly sized are good example of effective repetition. I used both of these concepts while writing my other posts. It can also be useful if color is being used in your design. It makes it so that your blog appears organized rather than looking like a wordy rainbow.

Alignment

This deals with the location of everything on the page. Most commonly text will be aligned with the left side of the screen, but if you design to align right or center, the entire blog should be the same. When it comes to pictures or diagrams in the articles, I looked at the effect of staggering my images versus having them all run in the same alignment. I felt that aligning the pictures lead to a better flow in the text where as the staggered look forces the reader to weave through the article. 

Proximity

Although it seems like common sense, related topics should be near each other in an article. Images and diagrams should be places near the location that there were mentioned in the text. A good writing tip in general is to use an outline before hand, so any related information ends up in the same area of the article. 

These features are important to acknowledge and understand. Even if you never plan on writing a blog during your lifetime, being able to recognize these features will help with reading and comprehending blogs and other online resources. Before this project, I hardly even knew what a blog was, but by using these simple techniques I was able to write and design multiple posts with relative ease.

Protected Wetlands: An Ethical Argument

The Issue

During the summer of 2013 I was working as a construction inspector for Ackerman-Estvold Engineering in Minot, ND. My main site that summer was on a 3 mile gravel grade raise near Plaza, ND. It is nearly an hour to the closest mid-sized town. One of the many problems that arise from a project on gravel is the dust thrown up by the trucks. The simple solution is to just have a water truck spray the road every so often. The only issue is when the truck needs to be refilled, but in western North Dakota this doesn't seem like a problem at all. The water table is incredibly high, and the sloughs are always full of water. Unfortunately many of these sloughs are being designated at protected wetlands.

The Clean Water Act defines a wetland as, "those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas." This is a bit lengthy, but in short is means any body of water that can support plant life can and will be legally protected. While this sounds nice in theory there are several problems that it causes, especially in western North Dakota.

The Problem of Protection

Because these sloughs were protected, we couldn't drain the water from them. The reason this 3 million dollar grade raise was happening was because the water level had gotten too high. Aside from being the reason for the project, they were also a hindrance to the work itself. Silt curtains had to be run hundreds of feet at a time in an attempt to prevent dirt from getting into the water. The water truck had to drive all the way to Berthold to fill up, which is over an hour and a half round trip. Tons of time and money were spent just to project a few sloughs. 

Outside of civil engineering, agriculture takes a huge hit due to these wetlands being protected. Since they can't be drained, farmers end up losing large amounts of land when either the ditches or a dip in a field fill up with water. Not only can they not plant in the area filled with water, the area around the sloughs are usually too saturated to grow anything. Protecting wetlands such as these results in a waste of resources for the agriculture industry in this region. 

Helping Habitats

The main purpose of the EPA protecting these wetlands is to ensure a safe environment for the flora and fauna that need these environments to survive. This includes not just the fish and the plants in the water, but all of the creatures that use the area for water, food, or shelter. Many migratory birds raise their young and nest on these wetlands. I will admit to seeing several ducks swimming in the sloughs at various times. I even saw a muskrat a couple times. 

Aside from that, protected wetlands help to stabilize the water table during drought periods. This can be a major issue in arid parts of the United States. These areas can also help trap flood waters, which Minot saw a lot of during the 2011 flood. They provide more area for the water to flow down into rather than flowing outwards.

The Actual Results

I agree the protection of wildlife and their environments is important, but are these sloughs really that vital? Since most of them occur on farm land, there are large amounts of pesticides and herbicides that run off into the water. Shouldn't it be illegal to let dangerous chemicals run into protected wetlands? In most cases it is, according to section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Most farming operations are exempt from this ruling though and don't even need to acquire a permit to do so. 

Maintaining ground water supply and keeping a stable water table would be important functions as well, if it wasn't for the fact that the last truly dry year in North Dakota was back in the late 90s. This has led to an unbelievably high water table, which makes any construction work 7ft below street level a sopping mess and makes a lot of farm land unusable. 

Protecting wetlands is an important issue, and there are many reasons they should continue to be protected nationally. The problem needs to be looked at more so on a case by case basis though. Is protecting such a small habitat worth a 3 million dollar grade raise and the lose of thousands of acres of farm land?

Experts in Civil Engineering

VIP

It is a difficult task to attempt to narrow down the leaders in an industry such as civil engineering. The majority of projects are worked on in teams of highly skilled designers, otherwise the work and calculations that go into them could take multiple years to complete. I have picked out a few different engineers that went above and beyond the expectations in their fields to cover in this post. Finally I'll take a look not at the pinnacle of civil engineering, but at the beginning of a career.

William F. Baker

The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE

Born in the rural town of Fulton, Missouri, the tallest buildings surrounding Baker were usually churches. This could make it a surprise that he is the structural engineer credited with designing three of the ten tallest buildings in the world. Alongside the international architect Adrian Smith, Baker designed the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, Zifeng Tower in Nanjing, China, and the tallest man made structure in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Creating the tallest building in the world is no simple feat though. He developed what is known as a buttressed core and used a Y-shape structure to make the base of the Burj Khalifa. This design will lead to a new era of enormous sky scrapers. The Kingdom Tower, already under construction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, will become the new tallest man made structure and the first to top one kilometer if completed.

Elattuvalapil Sreedharan

A map of the Konkan Railway

Known as the "Metro Man," Sreedharan has become a national celebrity due to his work on the metros and railways throughout all of India. After being recognized by the Indian government for his brilliant work on repairing the Pamban Bridge in Tamil Nadu, he was given the responsibility of designing the Kolkata metro, the first one in India. After working in the private sector in infrastructure engineering for many years, he retired in June 1990.

The government had other plans though. After telling him that he was too important in the infrastructure of India, he was named the chairman and managing director of the Konkan Railway. Under his leadership the project was completed in seven years. Following this success he was named the managing director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. After completing this entire project in time and within budget, he retired in December 2011. The Indian government of course still calls on him for words of wisdom though.

Anne Setian Kiremidjian

PSHA map of California

Although it may not be the first thing that comes to mind when talking about civil, Kiremidjian has been a leader in the evolution of earthquake engineering. She is most known for her work with probability seismic hazard assessment (PSHA). She holds four U.S. patents related to wireless sensor development and damage detection algorithms. She has designed PSHA maps for California, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatamala. 

Aside from success in the private sector, a majority of her time is spent teaching undergraduate and graduate students at Stanford University, which is viewed as one of the world's most prestigious institutions in earthquake engineering. She also believes in promoting female engineers and the idea of international collaboration of research and ideas. 

A New Engineer

Now that I've introduced three people who are already prominent in civil engineering, I would like to talk about an almost brand new engineer. His name is Nathan Amick, and he is a water resources engineer at Ackerman-Estvold Engineering in Minot, ND. He worked at Ackerman as a seasonal intern from 2009 until he graduated from North Dakota State University in the spring of 2014.

When I asked him about what types of things he does as an entry level engineer, he told me he mostly only works on storm water drainage rather than designing whole projects. Although he only works on a small part of a design, he is in contact with nearly everyone involved. Emails are the primary form of communication between his colleagues, his superiors, the client, and the contractor. They are fast, formal, and brief because the delivery of the information is the main purpose for the message. "The only long writing I do involves project reports," he explained to me. These reports are usually 12-13 pages long and are submitted to the city for approval. 

Each one of the three engineers previously listed all started where Nathan is now. Without these entry level designers that can focus on smaller parts of the project and do more area specific calculations, structures such as the Burj Khalifa wouldn't exist. No engineer can do a large project by themselves, which is why its important to remember that civil engineering is the combined effort of a team. With a strong leader such as Baker, Sreedharan, or Kiremidjian, the abilities of these teams can truly shine. 

Introduction to Civil Engineering

What is it?

Civil engineering is one of the broadest engineering fields. It has countless sub-fields, but all of them deal with same concept of moving people and goods in efficient and safe means. This can apply to moving bricks across town or oil across the country. Civil engineers help move people between work and home, whether the distance is 5 or 5000 miles. It can be as simple as digging a well to gain access to ground water, or as complex as designing a city's waste water system. Among the many sub-fields there are three prominent types. 

• A structural engineer usually works with buildings and bridges, emphasizing the calculations of the equilibrium forces so these structures don't move more than they are meant to.

• Transportation engineers deal with planes, trains, and automobiles (and sometimes boats). Their work ranges from designing the vehicles themselves to the routes that they will have to use.

• The final category is a bit more broad. It is commonly referred to as water resources/ environmental engineering. This field looks at utilizing fresh water in running water systems, transporting and treating waste water, and protecting resources and the environment.

Why does it matter?

Have you used a toilet today? Or did you drive to work or school this morning? Civil engineering can be called one of the original forms of engineering because of the basic needs behind it. Humans and resources need to be able to get from place to place safely and efficiently. It has been an essential job since the first time humans wanted to cross rivers without swimming or roll their carts on flat ground. Beginning with simply designing cobblestone roads, civil engineering has evolved into designing not just the layout of cities, but the connections between and throughout entire nations.

In modern times civil engineers focus on the design of a project more than the actual building of it. Computer programs such as CivilPro 3D and Auto CAD make it easy to model these potentially massive projects. There are extensive books listing the specifications that these designs need to meet to ensure its structural integrity and overall safety. The field as a whole has come a long way since sticking a log across a river and calling it a bridge.

Why do we do it?

Civil engineering is commonly thought of as one of the more boring forms of engineering. There are many tedious calculations and regulations. A single project can take several years to complete, or may never be finished at all. I can't speak for every civil engineer out there, but I believe that on some level we all think this way. At the end of the day, year, or project, we get to see the final product of all of our work. I could someday go out and see the vast river that my bridge spans, or swim in the lake that my dam formed. It is one of the few professions that has the opportunity to visibly shape the physical world.