Books: Reviews

This book is a great introduction for engineers in all sectors at all stages of their career. Sustainable development and the role of engineers and the engineering profession are clearly explained. There are easy-to-view charts, graphs and infographics throughout and the case studies really bring the issues and solutions to life.

The key concepts of sustainability, ways of thinking, the economy and using resources are related to sustainable engineering in all forms of engineering. Tools are provided for sustainability assessment complete with sections on procurement and stakeholder engagement. A framework for policies and instruments is given to allow for sustainable development implementation.

The whole life-cycle assessment process from definition to interpretation of results and costing is described. Life-cycle assessment is applied to various fields including water, energy, waste management, chemical production, the automotive industry, food and agriculture, and communication. Environmental economics are also covered along with details on how the environment can be valued against other market-based factors.

The guidance on a sustainable engineering design process will allow engineers to design for life. Long-term measurement tools on sustainable building and infrastructure ratings are also included. Overall, this book will provide the tools and further reading needed for those who wish to make positive changes in engineering.

In eleven chapters and over 700 pages, this book covers the main elements of soil mechanics, often comprehensively. For example, consolidation, shear strength and shallow foundation settlement get over 90 pages each.

Over 100 example problems are included, several of which are new to this fifth edition, together with 70 additional line drawings, all of which facilitate understanding of a complex subject. Other new content includes recently published correlations of maximum dry density and optimum moisture content of compaction; recent methods for determination of pre-consolidation pressure; a new correlation for recompression index; different approaches to estimating the degree of consolidation; and a discussion on the relevance of laboratory strength tests to field conditions.

The publication is a useful addition to a portfolio of books for academics and practitioners alike.

This new seventh edition covers reinforced concrete design and analysis in accordance with US codes and standards ACI 318, ACI 319, IBC 2018, ASCE 7-16 and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (Aashto) load and resistance factor design (LRFD) bridge design specification.

In addition to introducing the fundamentals of reinforced concrete design, numerous examples are provided throughout the book on analysis and design of each type of structural member.

The book includes specific chapters on the design of stairs, beams curved in plan and prestressed concrete bridges, which all offer excellent design examples for these specialist structural members. There are also chapters on problems with concrete building components, and design and analysis flow charts, which you are unlikely to find in similar textbooks.

If you are new to reinforced concrete design, this book will be of interest to you due to its comprehensive coverage of the subject alongside relevant US codes and standards. For practising civil engineers, this book will help you to understand the latest US codes and standards that cover structural concrete.

This book presents four structural concepts relating to deflections and internal forces in structures. It demonstrates a number of routes and physical measures together with their implementation in existing structures that have effectively and efficiently created desirable distributions of internal forces to resist deflection.

Hand calculation examples, with and without using the implementation measures, are provided to quantify the effectiveness and efficiency of the structural concepts. Practice and theory are also reviewed to understand the behaviour of structures against deflection due to other effects such as material properties, loading, environment and construction details.

By following the author’s guidance, readers may find their own way of understanding the philosophies of ‘structural form determines deflection and internal forces’ and ‘structural form is determined by the flow of internal forces’. The book will be suitable for civil engineering and architecture students and should enhance the holistic comprehension of structural engineers and architects.

The ICE Library maintains one of the most comprehensive collections of civil engineering books in the world, including all titles from ICE Publishing (shown in bold below). New books acquired in the past 3 months include the following (* indicates e-book only).

All books can be borrowed through the library’s online catalogue at t.ice.org.uk/knowledge-and-resources/ice-library or from the ICE Members’ Resource Hub on the second floor of 1 Great George Street, London, SW1P 3AA from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday to Friday (subject to Covid-19 restrictions). ICE Publishing titles can also be purchased from the ICE Members’ Resource Hub or ordered by calling +44 1235 465 577, emailing orders@icepublishing.com or by visiting www.icevirtuallibrary.com/content/books.