Books: REVIEWS

It is obvious from reading this guide that a significant amount of research, time and effort was invested by the expert panel set up by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) to produce it. Data were collected through one-to-one interviews with industry leaders, questionnaires were sent out to over 40 000 ICE members and special discussion forums were held with professional bodies to bring together the very best examples of good client practice and best practice initiatives in the UK construction industry today.

The guide is a concise and well-laid-out book, looking very much like the ICE's Proceedings journals. It therefore does not present itself as a daunting tome but rather an accessible, ‘thumbable’ reference. Indeed in the introduction, ICE vice president David Hutchison recommends that the guide should be read in its entirety (and this does not take long). Equally, individual chapters can be referred to for specific guidance or as an aide mémoire.

There is a logical flow to the guide that follows the phases of a project, the layout is attractive and the main text is interspersed with quotations from practitioners as ‘words of wisdom’. The early definitions of best practice start with effective, efficient project delivery providing good value for money; better value from construction procurement; obviating risk of projects running late, over budget or failing to deliver intended benefits. It states in chapter 3 that it is ‘good practice to ensure full records are kept of the project construction’, which in the UK is a requirement of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations. Decommissioning is quite rightly included within the project cycle, when such records are especially useful.

The introduction to the guide ends with, ‘This Guide, together with the associated best practice assessment tool, will help clients deliver successful projects. This will in turn raise the profile positively of the whole construction sector and create lasting legacies of which we can be proud’. However, deaths, injuries and damage to the environment are poor legacies and I hope the editors of this excellent guide place more emphasis on health, safety and environment issues in future editions.

Britain's future power supplies are going to have to rely mainly on the use of the three fuels: coal, gas and uranium – and for two of these we need to have the means of storing large quantities of gas. This book consists of papers by 15 authors which together collect the up-to-date technical information and present practice on how gas storage might be achieved in underground rock strata and caverns.

The UK became a net importer of gas in 2004 and in future years the country may need to import up to 90% of demand. New pipelines to Europe and the use of liquefied natural gas shipped in bulk carriers will help to meet demand but, to ensure security of supply, the country will also need substantial storage to meet the seasonal and daily variations in demand and possible disruption in supply

The UK's new coal-fired power stations are likely to be required to collect and bury their carbon dioxide emissions. Although the technology for doing this is yet to be developed on a commercial scale, it is necessary to know where such storage is possible. There is also the possibility that in the future it may be necessary to store hydrogen or compressed air to balance supplies from the various intermittent sources of energy being developed.

In general, pore storage facilities are best suited to long-term seasonal storage of gas and are complemented by storage in caverns that are suitable for short- to medium-term storage. Carbon dioxide may also be stored in salt caverns but this does not represent a particularly sustainable use of this storage resource

This book is a valuable and comprehensive introduction to underground storage and is recommended reading for everyone concerned with our future power supplies.

Although this is an academic book about how philosophy relates to engineering, it concerns a fascinating subject that practising engineers will have had to have grappled with in their daily work, possibly without even realising it. Practical engineers therefore need not be conversant with the formal philosophical concepts – which are generally accepted in the academic world – if they are to read and enjoy the book, which is a collection of essays by well-known philosophers and engineers.

Professional engineers up until recently will have coped with the philosophical aspect of their profession in a largely intuitive way. However, academics have been increasingly aware of the need for a philosophical grounding as part of engineering undergraduate courses.

The impetus for this book came from the Society for Philosophy and Technology, which was founded in 1975 and since then has been organising international conferences between engineers and philosophers. The book is based upon the conference held in 2007 at the University of Delft, which is seen as somewhat of a watershed since a consensus has now been reached between the seemingly disparate disciplines of philosophy and engineering, in that they both have a bearing upon the other.

The book is conversational and is broadly in three sections – philosophy, ethics and reflections. The reader will possibly find no ‘answers’, as one might be expected to in a book purely about engineering, but there is plenty of food for thought. The references are comprehensive and of a high academic standard – it is a book which should appeal to those responsible for leadership.

Despite its title I found this book to be eminently readable, with a combination of salutary tales and meaningful and useful advice as to how to avoid the incidents described.

The book mainly deals with disasters in process plant but the tales told and advice given can be easily interpreted and transferred to other industries.

It is certainly comprehensive, covering both well-known disasters and previously anonymous events that resulted in no loss of life but caused expensive damage and loss of production. This is hindsight, but the author makes best use of it to provide compelling advice. The point that publicising accidents can prevent them happening again is well made.

Everyone has the opportunity to prevent accidents as they are all due to human error. Indeed, the book makes it evident that the word ‘accident’ should be used with care as most incidents described did not occur ‘accidentally’. Note increasing use of the term ‘road traffic incident’ instead of ‘road traffic accident’.

I was astounded at the many examples of human error due to a lack of logic, and the fact that plant is often considered to be benign. However, the many anecdotes presented demonstrate that this need not be the case.

I suggest all engineers read this book no matter what field of engineering they work in as there are lessons within it that are of value to everyone. As the author states in the preface, ‘A high price has been paid for the information in this book: many persons killed and billions of dollars’ worth of equipment destroyed. You get this information for the price of the book. It will be the best bargain you have ever received if you use the information to prevent similar incidents’.

Previous editions of this book have proved invaluable to engineers and others working ing the field of UK flood and coastal risk management.

It details the complex legislative framework and administrative arrangements within the industry and gives guidance to developers and riparian land owners on the rights, respon-sibilities and constraints which land drainage legislation places on them. With so many different bodies involved in flood risk management, and a mixture of permissive powers, statutory duties and the influence of common law, the book helps professionals ‘pick their way through the maze’.

The last (3rd) edition was published in 1996, around the time of the establishment of the Environment Agency from its predecessor bodies. Since that time there have been a number of significant nationwide flood events and more localised extreme events. These have drawn considerable political interest as well as public concern and expectation. Inevitably this has led to changes in the legislative and administrative framework which carry on apace.

In this fast-moving environment there is probably not a ‘right’ time to publish a book such as this and it does pick up a number of important areas that have developed since the previous edition. These include changes to funding arrangements, the impact of Planning policy statement 25: Development and flood risk, and amendments to the environmental obligations.

This is a valuable update on what was already a useful book and is recommended. Do not be surprised, however, if the 5th edition is not too far away.

Full versions of these and other reviews can be read at www.civilengineering-ice.com

The ICE's bookshop in London carries one of the most comprehensive ranges of civil engineering books in the world. New books received in the past three months are as follows.

Architect's legal handbook: the law for architects (9th ed.)

Anthony Speaight and Gregory Stone£39·99

Barry's advanced construction of building (2nd ed.)

Stephen Emmitt and Christopher Gorse£27·99

Barry's introduction to construction of buildings (2nd ed.)

Stephen Emmitt and Christopher Gorse£25·99

Bridge management

Michael Ryall£99·99

CIOB code of practice for project management (4th ed.)

Chartered Institute of Building£49·99

Emergent technologies and design: towards a biological paradigm for architecture

Michael Hensel, Achim Menges and Michael Weinstock£34·99

Fidic contracts: law and practice

Ellis Baker, Ben Mellors, Scott Chalmers and Anthony Lavers£290·00

Fluid mechanics (5th ed.)

John Douglas, Janusz Gasiorek, John Swaffield and Lynne Jack£51·99

Hydraulic modelling – an introduction: principles, methods and applications

Pavel Novak, Vincent Guinot, Alan Jeffrey and Dominic Reeve£34·99

Managing construction projects (2nd rev. ed.)

Graham Winch£39·99

Reinforced concrete design of tall buildings

Bungale Taranath£99·00

Servant of empire

Martin Gibson£20·00

Spon's first stage estimating handbook 3

Bryan Spain£45·00

Technology innovation in underground construction

Gernot Bear (ed.)£89·00

Vitruvius: on architecture

Richard Schofield (trans.)£10·19

The bookshop is in the ICE foyer, I Great George Street, London SWIP 3AA and is open from 9.30 am to 5.00 pm, Monday to Friday. Books can also be ordered by calling +44 20 7665 2019, emailing bookshop@ice.org.uk or by visiting www.ice.org.uk/bookshop.