Ireland's civil engineering heritage
This textbook-sized glossy is actually two books in one: an historical review of the various infrastructure sectors – roads, canals, railways, water and drainage and maritime – followed by a geographical gazetteer of surviving works, from the grandiose Foyle Bridge to the blunt University College Dublin water tower.
The historical review is the highlight, with a span of over a millennium and a cast of many unexpected and lesser-known ‘engineers’, from seventh century Nendrum monks and their tide-mill to the energetic and splendidly named Binden Blood Stone. There are cameo appearances by some engineering great and good – such as Robert Stevenson, both John Rennies and Brunel – although celebrities did not always get it right in designing for Irish ground conditions.
There is a hint of folklore in some of the accounts and the reader is left wanting to know more. Why, for example, were the final locks on the Ulster canal built too narrow for the barges to pass through, and why was the Ballinamore and Ballyconnell Navigation only used by eight vessels in 9 years?
There are also some eighteenth century aphorisms relevant to justifying modern infrastructure, such as, ‘have something to carry before you seek the means of carriage’ and the conclusion that much Irish infrastructure could be justified only as a means of employment generation.
Modern politicians contemplating public works programmes in these straitened economic times should take note. Highly recommended.
Bridge design and evaluation – LRFD and LRFR
If Aashto is your main reference code for beam-and-slab bridge design then this book will be very useful, as it covers both the load and resistance factor design (LRFD) and the load and resistance factor rating (LRFR) methods.
Almost half of the 420 pages are devoted to the design of bridge decks, with well-explained, fully worked examples for medium-span decks. The calculations and diagrams are clear, enabling good comparisons between use of rolled steel beams, plate girders and prestressed concrete beams to support the top slab.
The reader is then taken through the parallel process of evaluating bridge components to illustrate the code differences between design and evaluation. Shear connection and fatigue analysis are covered but bracing and diaphragm components are not, other than by reference to their roles.
The book also covers bearings and non-piled substructures. The comprehensive illustrations and photographs give good insight into bridge components, and flow charts aid understanding of each analysis process. There is a short section to illustrate long-span forms of bridges – cable stayed, suspension, truss and arch – to give the reader an insight on more complex structures.
Overall, therefore, if you work with the Aashto codes (and are used to US imperial units) this will be a very useful textbook.
Reliability of structures (2nd edition)
This second edition of Novak and Collins' book comprises ten chapters covering a variety of technical content, such as the basics of probability, simulation techniques, modelling structural loads, safety analysis and some design issues.
The widely used Monte Carlo simulation is elaborated in chapter 4. The examples of how to generate statistical data for normal and lognormal random numbers are likely to be helpful for practising engineers and students interested in statistical modelling.
The background of limit-state design is provided in chapter 5 in conjunction with detailed explanations on reliability index. The first-order second-moment reliability method is covered with a typical structural problem, and a step-by-step procedure is summarised to implement the Hasofer–Lind reliability index, supported by several examples.
Chapter 6 reveals various load models for structural design. Bias factors and coefficient of variation are specified for dead and live loads. The live load models used in the Aashto specifications are illustrated with some parametric study results. Other types of loads such as wind, snow, ice and earthquake are concisely discussed.
The last chapter of the book is about uncertainties in the building process. Of interest are human error, uncertainty categories and failure rates. Overall, this book is informative and practical and I recommend it as a reference for practising engineers, engineering students and research professionals.
