Editor Picks

Engineers make assumptions all the time. All these assumptions are backed up by logic and theory, so instead of pursuing exact values, in civil engineering often times we are okay with close enough values, as long as the results are within acceptable limits and we can justify it with relevant proven theory. Doing so, saves a great deal of time and effort, which makes developing theory or designing and solving problems possible in reasonable amount of time and with reasonable effort. Let’s randomly list some examples below. These are structural examples but the same kind of approach applies to any branch in civil engineering and other engineering disciplines as well. […] Read More

Pipes are inseparable components of industrial facilities which produce all the products we use in our daily life. In this article, we talk about one of the relatively less known type of structures, pipe supports, which don’t get the attention they deserve as other structures but by no means less important, as they carry and hold pipes safely in their place. Although at first a pipe support system may look rather straightforward, a lot goes into designing and building them. The loads that must be considered are:• Dead Load – the weights of the piping insulation, any attached components and of course the pipe support structure itself.• Live Load – […] Read More

Drainage is an inseparable, fundamental part of highway design. The main goal of a highway drainage system is to “keep water out of the road itself”. The reasons are obvious, such that the carrying capacity of the road will decrease, and the road will slowly erode, once the water keeps coming into the road cross section. Another important consideration is driving safety. If the water ponds on the road surface, obviously this will lead to unsafe driving conditions. To accomplish these goals, the following aspects need to be considered: Slope of the road surface along the road main axis or transverse axis toward ditches, which is one of the main […] Read More

Civil Engineering is the oldest engineering discipline, which is practically as old as human civilization. Until about may be 100-150 years ago, there was no clear distinction between a civil engineer and an architect, but as the needs developed for designing the function and aesthetics of structures vs. their actual load carrying mechanisms, architecture and civil engineering began to go their separate ways, although they still interact all the time. When we said load carrying mechanism here, naturally most people will think a structure carrying a certain load such as a building or bridge carrying the weight, wind and earthquake loads. But actually, the term “load” can be regarded in […] Read More

To understand what liquefaction is, we must first understand shear stress in soils, which in turn means, the strength of soil… Load carrying capacity of any material arises from its shear strength. Soils, rocks, which carry our structures are no exception to this rule. The greater a foundation material has shear strength, the better it can support our structures with less settlement. Shear strength is a result of how well the particles of a material stick to each other, and, the resistance they provide when they are made to slide over each other. In other words, Shear strength = The resistance provided particles sticking to each other + The resistance […] Read More

For non engineers, structural analysis may seem like an overly complex subject. A person who is not a civil engineer will never be required or even allowed to solve a real structure, but it is still good to give some general idea for learning. This came to my mind when I heard a question once, from a nonengineer, who drew sketch of a really simple structure and asked if we solve this member by member such as column by column, slab by slab and beam by beam. This is of course not correct and civil engineers know that it doesn’t work that way… So for people who are not civil […] Read More

In this post we will discuss one of the most environmentally friendly construction concepts, green roofs. The benefits of green roofs are so many that it is difficult to understand current policies being inadequate to support (or even mandate) this system, including in developed countries – of course there are incentives or certain programs that support this but in our opinion this is inadequate even in developed countries, not to mention the rest of the world. When you read the list below you might also agree. So let’s start listing the benefits. We plan to cover the construction of green roofs in another post. Benefits of Green Roofs: Green roofs […] Read More

Today in our civilization, very unfortunately, the trend of growth of our cities is of sprawling growth type. Allowing our cities to grow just by spreading outwards, is the worst thing we can do to our planet and to ourselves. Sprawling growth not only causes us to build more parking and roads, but also brings the necessity to build the accompanying infrastructure, destroys the natural environment, causes us the reach where we go in more amount of time and loss of productivity, causes noise pollution, and requires us to consume more energy. The examples of negative of effects of sprawling growth is limitless. The most effective solution seems to be […] Read More

The third airport of Istanbul, the largest city of Turkey with a population of 18 million, is set top open soon, on October 29th, 2018. The moving from the current primary Atatürk Airport to the new airport has started this week. The current Atatürk Airport is home to 70 Million Passengers a year, which is still considered one of the largest airports in the world, and it is the first time in history that an airport of this size will move. The new airport is at a distance of 45 km from the current one, still on the European side of Istanbul.The move is such a big one that outside […] Read More

This is the first post of this site so hello to everyone who is involved in construction at least in some way… For now the site starts as an online information and news source in construction and all branches of civil engineering… The aim of this website is not only to provide news and developments but also to give useful and valuable information to readers about the technicalities of construction and engineering and its practical applications. Of course the site will naturally evolve over time, so we will see how it goes. Enjoy ! Note: The information on this site can not be considered as advice or solution to a […] Read More