Designing a safer built environment
Subtitled A complete guide to the management of design risk, this book is written by a past fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers and the Institution of Occupational Safety.
Its aim is to address the lack of practical advice available to designers on critical points in relation to the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations, as evidenced by recent events such as the Grenfell Tower fire.
The book provides a methodology for design risk management, with practical advice on how designers can effectively manage risks to safety and health throughout the life cycle of a project while also raising standards. It concludes with chapters on two of the most important aspects: communication and actions.
Overall, it is a well-thought-out book giving practical advice to built-environment designers in all fields and at all stages of their careers.
City and transportation planning
This well-referenced book opens with the history of city planning and the part played by the development of roads and railways. The author outlines the reasons people travel and explains why future cities are more likely to be based on accessibility rather than mobility.
The interdependencies of land use and transportation are then explored, as neither can be planned in isolation. This is illustrated by an example of city adaptation due to a shrinking population in Japan.
The book then discusses how cities will need to adapt to future mobility modes and adoption of smart information and communication technology. With full connectivity between people and all modes of transport, outcomes for safety, efficiency, utilisation and society as a whole should improve.
The author suggests that increased data will make city planning more dynamic yet challenging in responding to an uncertain future. Ultimately, the book concludes that artificial intelligence is likely to replace human interventions in a cyber twin city model.
Soft clay engineering and ground improvement
This book focuses on the design and implementation of ground improvement techniques applicable to soft clays. Early chapters cover the engineering geology of soft clay (emphasising the importance of the engineering geological model), basic soil mechanics, geotechnical testing and geotechnical parameter derivation for soft clays.
The following chapters cover the most popular ground improvement methods for soft clays, together with the observational approach and geotechnical instrumentation. The final chapter is on geotechnical risk management. The contributing authors include both practitioners and academics from Australia.
The chapters are well structured and incorporate useful case history information or worked examples of design aspects. Understandably, not all the research associated with the wide subject matter is captured. The book would have benefitted from more photographs and the use of colour.
Overall, it provides a useful reference tool for consultants and contractors involved with soft ground engineering and ground improvement in soft clays. It should also appeal to post-graduate students and researchers.
Applied strength of materials (7th ed.)
Like its established predecessor, this new edition provides comprehensive coverage of design, application and problem-solving for material mechanics.
It introduces the basic mechanics of deformation and includes material strength in columns, pressure vessels and connections, offering readers a thorough and understandable approach to mechanics of materials.
A ‘big picture’ overview is included at the beginning of each chapter, and step-by-step problem-solving approaches are used throughout the book. A new chapter 14 is added in the new edition, which introduces thermal effects and elements of more than one material.
This excellent book is suitable for students who are new to the community of engineering technology and materials engineering, being practical and easy to understand.
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 www.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 9.15 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., Monday to Friday (subject to Covid-19 restrictions https://www.ice.org.uk/ice-covid-19-policy).
Recent 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.
