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Unit of study_

CIVL1810: Engineering Construction and Surveying

Construction: Fundamental understanding of construction materials and techniques underpins Civil design and complements a rigorous analysis covered in other units such as Structural Mechanics and Soil Mechanics. In this unit students will be introduced to the realities of on-site civil construction. For many students this comes as a completely foreign experience and the methods they need to use to succeed in this unit rely on the student building his or her own awareness of the construction world and how it operates. This will be guided by the lectures and on-line material, but will not be spoon-fed to the students. This unit presents concepts introducing students to engineering construction including: - design, control, management, measurement and construction methods for excavation, embankments and other earthworks, hauling and associated operations; - conceptual and formative exposure to building construction methods and materials, including reinforced concrete, masonry, steel and timber; - drilling and blasting. Surveying: The unit also introduces Engineering Survey topics, where the aims are: - give an overall view of the functions of surveying and it's service role in Civil construction; - become acquainted with selected specific surveying techniques, such as: (a) to provide basic analogue methods of distance, angle and height measurement and, (b) to provide an understanding of three dimensional mapping using basic total station electronic field equipment with associated data capture ability, and; - to give an insight into future trends in the use of GPS and GIS systems. Students should develop basic competency in earthwork engineering and awareness of costing issues in formulating building proposals (through simplified examples). Economic optimisation is investigated, and how this impinges on decisions of construction, including proposing and analysing systems and methods, estimation of probable output, unit cost and productivity evaluation. Students should have a basic knowledge of vertical construction in reinforced concrete, masonry, steel and timber. Students should also develop proficiency in the design and implementation of mapping systems in Civil Engineering, using analogue and electronic field equipment and associated software packages. The tutorial exercises give practise for students to implement what they have learned from lectures and their own research about the framework under which construction projects are formulated and analysed; construction engineering fundamentals; construction systems related to excavation, hauling and embankment construction, including selection and evaluation of plant and methods as well as the expected output and cost; introduction to construction operations management, introduction to engineering surveying, distance measurement, angle measurement, levelling, traversing, topographic surveys, electronic surveying equipment, future surveying technologies. While prior exposure to an actual construction site would be beneficial, in any case the key for success in this unit is for the student to develop a hungry curiosity for the world of construction and the professionals and personalities which form the intricate patchwork of talent which sees complex projects through to successful completion.

Code CIVL1810
Academic unit Civil Engineering
Credit points 6
Prerequisites:
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None
Corequisites:
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None
Prohibitions:
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CIVL2810
Assumed knowledge:
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CIVL1900. Some statistical awareness is an advantage and co-enrolment in MATH1005 Statistics is advised. HSC Mathematics Extension 1 or completion of (MATH1001 or MATH1021) and MATH1002 are sufficient for non-statistical maths preparation

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. demonstrate competence in technical writing
  • LO2. understand the impact of construction projects and aspects to be considered in selection of methods and materials
  • LO3. understand design, control, management, measurement, and construction methods for excavation, embankments, and other earthworks, hauling, and associated operations
  • LO4. understand building construction fundamentals, including reinforced concrete, masonry, steel, and timber
  • LO5. demonstrate practical competence in methods of distance, angle, and height measurement
  • LO6. demonstrate practical competence and conceptual awareness of three dimensional mapping, using basic total station electronic field equipment
  • LO7. demonstrate knowledge in application of GPS and GIS systems.