CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT

Civil engineering relies on survey equipment, earth moving equipment, heavy machinery, and other tools to make their jobs more comfortable and efficient. Without the heavy equipment they use, the structures they build and design wouldn’t be safe.  Civil engineers also use geographic information systems and various drafting tools to map out and plot specific locations. Civil construction also uses software to help them design the structures that need to be built at that location. This is in addition to the different types of survey equipment civil engineers use to measure land and water areas, which may include a sophisticated GPS system designed for these types of applications.

Principles of Management

 

Top 16 Principles of Management Prepared by Dr. Balamurugan R

 

This article throws light upon the top sixteen principles of management of an enterprise. Some of the principles are: 1. Division of Work 2. Authority and Responsibility 3. Discipline 4. Unity of Command 5. Unity of Direction 6. Subordination of individual Interest to General Interest 7. Remuneration of Personnel and Others.
 

 
 
Management Principle # 1. Division of Work:
This is nothing but the principles of specialisation needed for proper and efficient work performance in all spheres of activity, both technical and managerial.
The overall work of an enterprise are divided into several divisions. The work of each division is entrusted to a particular worker or a group of workers to perform. This improves efficiency.
 
Management Principle # 2. Authority and Responsibility:
“Authority is the right to give orders and the power to exact obedience.” Whenever a manager is allocated tasks, he should be given requisite authority so that the particular manager can exercise his own skill and initiative for performing the entrusted tasks. Delegation of authority to managers necessarily signifies that they have responsibility for the delegated tasks.
“Responsibility is the corollary of authority, it is its natural consequences and essential counterpart.” In order to discharge responsibility properly, authority must be commensurate with responsibility. If there is no parity between the two, there will be either wastage or misuse of authority.
Management Principle # 3. Discipline:
Discipline is absolutely essential for smooth running of business. Discipline must be maintained in all its levels for successful management. Fayol points out that for the maintenance of discipline, efficient and good managers are needed at the top level and there should be clear agreement between the employer and the employees. Discipline is of paramount importance for the smooth running of production.
 
Management Principle # 4. Unity of Command:
This principle makes it clear that an employee should receive orders from one superior only. One person will command one worker or each group of workers. If several commands come from different masters to the workers, the latter may be bewildered as to what is to be done or whose order should be followed.
 
Management Principle # 5. Unity of Direction:
According to this principle, direction to work must come to the workers of each department or section from one authority. In other words; each group of activity with the same objective must have one head and one plan.
Unity of direction is different from unity of command in the sense that the former is concerned with functioning of the organisation in respect of its grouping of activities or planning, while the latter is concerned with functioning of the personnel at all levels in the organisation.
 
Management Principle # 6. Subordination of individual Interest to General Interest:
This principle demands that in management the common interest is considered to be over and above the individual interest. When there is any conflict between the two, the manager should reconcile them.
 
Management Principle # 7. Remuneration of Personnel:
Remuneration of personnel is the price of services rendered by them. This principle requires that the remuneration payable to the staff must be fair and reasonable and it should bring maximum possible satisfaction for both the employees and the employers. The remuneration factor must not cause any grievance for either party.
 
Management Principle # 8. Centralisation:
In management, ‘centralisation’ means the centralised authority or leadership of an organisation and ‘decentralisation’ signifies the dispersal of such authority or leadership to different levels of an organisation. The principle of centralisation calls for that a balanced system of centralisation must be introduced to produce the best results taking into consideration the individual circumstances.
The objective to pursue is the optimum utilisation of all faculties of the personnel. So the question of centralisation and decentralisation is a matter of proportion. In small firms, there is absolute centralisation, but in large concerns, there are a series of intermediaries between the top and bottom level and, as such, decentralisation of authority is essential.
So the principle to be followed in this respect is to maintain a proper balance between the two.
 
Management Principle # 9. Scalar Chain:
It is the chain of superiors running from the highest authority to the lowest level for the purpose of communication. The highest level of the organization must be linked with its different levels by a line of direct authority. It implies that each communication going up or coming down must flow through each position in the line of authority.
 
Management Principle # 10. Order:
This principle refers to the arrangement of persons and things required in any organisation. Order is divided into material order and social order. In material order, there should be a “place for everything and everything in its place”, so that wastage of materials can be avoided.
Similarly, in social order, there should be a “place for everyone and everyone in his place” that is the placement of “right man in right job.” This kind of order demands precise knowledge of the human requirements and resources of the organisation and a constant balance between these requirements and resources.
 
Management Principle # 11. Equity:
This principle calls for the maintenance of an attitude of justice and generosity towards the working personnel and treating them equally and sympathetically. This is necessary to secure devotion and loyalty of the subordinates for good performance.
 
Management Principle # 12. Stability of Tenure of Personnel:
Stability of tenure of service is essential to get an employee accustomed to new work and succeeding in doing it perfectly and well. For this purpose, as far as possible, frequent and unnecessary labour turnover should be avoided’ because instability is both the cause and effect of bad management.
 
Management Principle # 13. Initiative:
Initiative is the power of thinking out and execution of a plan. It is one of the powerful stimulants of human endeavour. So to create zeal and energy, the managers should permit the employees to exercise as much initiative as possible.
Management Principle # 14. Team Spirit:
It means the unity of spirit or, in other words, team-spirit. This unity of spirit is the moving force which ensures maximum of co-ordinated efficiency in any undertaking. Collective effort is essential for the success of any enterprise.
So the managers should create a mentality of co-operation and team spirit among all the working personnel of the enterprise, so that they work as a team for its success. Besides these principles as enunciated by Henry Fayol, in modern management science a few more principles have been introduced.
 
Management Principle # 15. Flexibility:
Management should be flexible in nature. Its activities should be so planned, organised, directed and controlled that it can adjust with the changed time and circumstances. Market conditions are subject to constant changes. Price of commodities, tastes and fashions, demand for the products are also changing. New machinery and equipment are being found out newer varieties of products are now manufactured.
All these changes and technological advancements require supporting changes in the technique of production and business policies. Therefore, it becomes imperative that the management technique should be as flexible as possible to adjust with these changing conditions.
Management Principle # 16. Sound Organisation:
Organisation is the framework of management. For effective management of the different affairs of the business, a sound organisation is to be built up. The type of organisation depends on the nature of business, the nature of product and the technique of production.
In the cases of diversification of products and the production of standardised products in different places administrative authority is to be decentralised to a great extent. In the case of others, particularly production of a single item, centralised leadership is preferred.

 

 Prestressed concrete girders

Prestressed concrete girders are the leading choice for bridge construction across the country, and it's easy to understand why. Compared to other materials and bridge superstructures, studies show prestressed I-beam girders have the longest service life and require less maintenance.

 

The Earth's Structure

​​The earth is made up of three different layers: the crust, the mantle and the core. 

The crust

This is the outside layer of the earth and is made of solid rock, mostly basalt and granite. There are two types of crust; oceanic and continental. Oceanic crust is denser and thinner and mainly com​posed of basalt.  Continental crust is less dense, thicker, and mainly composed of granite.

The mantle

The mantle lies below the crust and is up to 2900 km thick.  It consists of hot, dense, iron and magnesium-rich solid rock. The crust and the upper part of the mantle make up the lithosphere, which is broken into plates, both large and small. To learn more about these plates see the Plate Tectonics page​. 

The core

The core is the centre of the earth and is made up of two parts: the liquid outer core and solid inner core. The outer core is made of nickel, iron and molten rock. Temperatures here can reach up to 50,000 C.

SOME FORMS OF CRUST

FOLD: 

Permanent wavelike deformation in layered rock or sediment. 

FAULT: 

A fracture in bedrock along which rocks on one side have moved relative to the other side. 

JOINT: 

A fracture on a rock without noticeable movement.

 

MODERN BUILDING MATERIALS

 

Modern building materials such as translucent wood, self-healing concrete, light-emitting concrete and air-purifying bricks can reduce material usage, decrease energy consumption of the built environment and/or improve the indoor climate in buildings.

New types of building materials are emerging. Some new materials are more sustainable than the existing alternatives, others are stronger than the alternative, or offer entirely new functionality from a well-known material. Here a few examples are presented.

 

Translucent wood

Researchers from KTH Royal Institute of Technology have succeeded in removing the brown-coloured lignin from a wood veneer hereby making wood translucent. Subsequently, they add a polymer to make the porous wood durable. Currently, non-sustainable epoxy is used as polymer, but researchers hope to substitute this with recyclable plastic in the future. Translucent wood is stronger than traditional wood, and could be used e.g. in windows, building façades, or solar cell surfaces   \

 

Hydroceramics

Researchers from Advanced Architecture of Catalonia have created a structural material that is able to cool the interior of a building on hot days. A water-absorbing material called hydrogel is integrated into ceramic façade elements. The absorbed water is automatically released from the ceramics on a hot day, hereby creating a cooling effect

 

Air-purifying bricks

A professor from California Polytechnic State University has developed the Breathe Bricks, which filter out pollutants from the air. The bricks filter and transmit the outdoor air through the walls, hereby improving indoor air quality in a passive way.

 

Light-emitting concrete

A concrete material that is charged by means of natural or artificial light, and emits light in the dark. The material is produced at room temperature, which makes it more sustainable than traditional concrete.

 

Self-healing concrete

Cement is one of the most widely used construction materials. Researchers from Delft University have found that adding bacteria to the concrete can make it self-healing. The bacteria produce limestone when exposed to water and air (i.e. when there is a crack in the concrete). The limestone seals the cracks, hereby prolonging the lifetime of the concrete structure.

 

Kinetic paving

A company called Pavegen produces tiles that generate electric power as people walk on them. The tiles moves only 5 mm when people step on them, but this is enough for the tiles to absorb the energy.

 

Self-assembling components

Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed components that self-assemble into a pre-defined structure. A self-assembling component is 3D printed to consist of a combination of expanding material and rigid material. As the structure is exposed to water, light or heat, the expanding material deforms causing the component to change into a pre-defined structure. Currently, the self-assembling structures are rather small. Researchers imagine that the technology could be used to create water pipes that are able to change size according to the water pressure or valves that opens or closes according to the temperature of the water.

 

Dumpy Level

 How to use dumpy level Prepared by Mr. Babin T. Praise  

A dumpy level, also known as an automatic level or builder’s level is a tool designed to find the height of landmasses. Though these devices may look intimidating or confusing, dumpy levels are fairly easy to use once you know how to set them up and what kinds of measurements they provide.

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