Friday, December 30, 2011

Civil Engineering Career

Civil engineers plan and oversee the construction of roads, buildings, airports, tunnels, dams, bridges, and water supply systems.

As a civil engineering professional, you will be directly responsible for public safety and welfare. Your buildings must perform according to their specifications. Your highways must carry traffic safely. Theses engineers have to think about many factors in the design process, from the construction and cost of the project, to the environmental impact and life expectancy of the project. They also have to calculate potential hazards such as Mother Nature, and how the project will hold up under environmental pressures. Some civil engineers work in administrative positions such as a supervisor of a construction site to city engineer. Others may work in design, construction, research, and education.

As with any career, success begins with a well-rounded education. Preparation for a civil engineering career should start in high school with core courses in English, algebra, geometry, advanced math, physics and a foundation in history and social studies. A bachelor degree is a basic requirement to becoming a civil engineer. More than 35% of civil engineering graduates today go on to earn a master’s degree. Many pursue a master’s degree later while working. Tuition reimbursement for this is common when you are already employed as a civil engineer. Obtaining a master’s degree or Ph. D. can help you to become an expert in your chosen field. As in any profession, civil engineering education is endless. To keep up with the changes, many choose to continue their education with programs made available by universities and by professional societies, such as the American Society of Civil Engineers (http://www.asce.org/asce.cfm OR http://technologyworld.in/is_civil.asp)

Due to broad-spectrum population growth and a greater emphasis on infrastructure security, more civil engineers will be needed to design and construct large buildings and building complexes as well as safe and higher capacity transportation, water supply, and pollution control systems. Their expertise will also be needed to repair or replace existing roads, bridges, and other public structures. Construction and related industries employ civil engineers, so employment opportunities will vary by geographic area. If the construction industry sees economy related decreases, the need for civil engineers can decrease as well. Civil engineers can earn from 2.5 Lakh to 1 Crore per year depending on experience and specialization.

6 Advantages of Online Study Courses

Whether you want to study English, or you want to attend a specific university, there are a huge amount of advantages from studying online. The smartest and the most advanced educational institutions are highly aware of this fact. Study is not something we do when we are young, and forget as we grow older. Studying has become a life-long requirement for just about everyone in every profession. Here is a look at the serious advantages that online education has brought to our societies

1.Reduced Cost:Even if the fees of the courses are the same, there are huge savings for anyone who studies online. The cost of traveling to the place of study, parking a car, and just being somewhere where you cannot earn money can be ridiculously high. We are not even considering the lowered costs for the institution at this point. Those costs are massive

2.No Borders: We all know there are no borders on the internet. This is extremely important when it comes to study. The cost of traveling to another country, getting visas, insurance and all those other costs of becoming an international student are astronomical. Visa limitations can even make it impossible for some people to get the education they deserve. Online education frees everyone from these inequalities

3.Time: Even if you live in the city where you are attending business courses, the time that you spend going to and from those courses can be longer than you actually spend in them. The time savings from online education are tremendous. The time saving alone is enough reason for all educational institutions to implement them.

4.Record Keeping: How many times have you had a conversation with someone and you and the other person thought you said different things. With online communication, we can easily keep a record of our communications. This can be especially useful with students and tutors. A student can have the data to refer back to. Recorded lectures are an excellent example of this. A normal lecture is normally only given once. If you missed something, you completely missed it. If it is a recorded lecture, you can refer to it as many times as you want.

5. More Students: From the perspective of any educational institution, having the systems set up so they can offer their courses online will mean they can have many more students. The resources that go intothe online provision of studies are much less than having physical arrangements. In simple terms, there are only so many people that can fit into a classroom. Online education frees educational institutions from many of these restrictions.

6.Access. Education: should be for everyone. If you live in a regional area, or in a country where education is not available, you are essentially cut of from normal education privileges. Most countries, and particularly, democracies will often tout the importance of education for all. The fact is, online education is the fastest way we can all make this happen.

All credible institutions should have online services available. It makes sense for the students, and it makes very good business sense for themselves

Civil Engineering Jobs in Construction Projects

The construction industry consists of many branches, which distribute together to create construction projects. The job market in the construction industry is developing rapidly making the construction industry one of the hottest careers in job market. Herein after is the list of hot jobs in Civil Engineering Field.

1. Construction Engineers:

This job profile involves a lot of planning, including structural planning and its development, etc. However, due to the safety concerns in the construction industry, the construction engineers usually tend to focus more upon the paper work like viewing and studying the contracts, keeping a check on the available construction materials, etc. The average salary of the construction engineer ranges from $55000 to $60000.

2. Architects:

The architect usually advises the construction contractor by preparing drawings and instructions with respect to the planned structure. The average income of the architect may range anywhere from $70000 to $80000. Architectural firms are always on the lookout for new talent and architects can also progress into high paying fields like real estate, project management, etc.

3. Construction Surveyors:

Civil engineering is incomplete without the aspect of surveying involved. Surveying is nothing but using scientific methods in order to determine the area and the feasibility of the construction project. This simply means that the surveyors form the brain by determining the points, angles and distance of the construction site. The average salary of the surveyor ranges from $60000 to $70000.

4. Health and Safety Manager:

This is one of the most responsible jobs out there in the construction industry. Safety is main concern on construction sites due to the accident-prone nature of the work involved. The construction safety manager is responsible for maintaining and keeping the safety of the workers in mind, especially during the construction work. He has to make sure that he maintains the safety standards according to the rules and the regulations that have been prescribed by the State or the District Safety departments.
Nowadays the demand for houses, office buildings and other structures is increasing creating a huge demand for jobs in the construction industry. There are many other fields that you can consider such as construction accounting, construction estimating, construction management, CAD…

Should You Build Your Own Greenhouse?

Have you at any time dreamed about building a greenhouse? There are a variety of reasons why you might like to establish a greenhouse for yourself. The primary reason is usually to grow plants to use during the cold months.The top motive is to be able to have live plants over the cold part of the year. To begin with, it is much easier to cultivate small vegetables as opposed to larger ones. A green house is an excellent way to start tender plant seedlings, because you will have better success by protecting them inside a warm spot. One positive function of a greenhouse is the experimentation you can do. It may be a pleasurable hobby handling different plants, and developing new varieties.
As soon as you decide you would like to to have a greenhouse, you have to take a look at how to select the best location. It must be put into an area that obtains significant sunlight. The entire day sunlight would be best, but for plants, ideally they need early morning sun. There are actually two reasons why you should face the long side of your green house to the south.|The more lengthy side of your greenhouse will need to face the south for two reasons.|There are two reasons why you must construct your greenhouse with the longer side facing to the south.For starters, it is important to let the roof to obtain the maximum amount of available sunlight. Another factor to consider is you will undoubtedly need to shade one side, instead of both, when using shade cloth. You need to use maple trees, as well as oak for keeping the mid-day sun away from your greenhouse. It is important to take into account, however, that these trees must not shade the greenhouse in the morning as the plants require morning sunlight.
An additional necessity for your greenhouse is a reliable source of water. You'll be able to accomplish this with a hose that elongates the full length of the greenhouse or you can install a completely separate water system. You will also need some procedure for drainage to use together with the water source. One simple way to accomplish this is to construct the greenhouse on a higher elevation so that all water and liquid precipitation will immediately drain away.
You've got several alternatives when it comes to selecting the appearance and structure of your greenhouse. A very simple type is the lean-to greenhouse, which is affixed to the side wall of your house or garage. This can be cost-effective, for the reason that one wall is already built, but that wall needs to be facing in the right direction for the proper sunlight. Constructing a Quonset hut might be one more less costly method. With their dome design, they are often heated without difficulty. A third choice is the Gothic Arch greenhouse which is strongly related to the Quonset style with just a few modifications in shape and form.
Moving on, you have the Classic A-Frame with its high slanted sides that make it hard to warm up. A Modified A-Frame may be exactly what you need if you want the Classic A-Frame without the steep roof. Barn-Style greenhouses have straight walls, making good use of the area, and they resemble a barn. With an even-span greenhouse, you can affix a complete framework to one end of an existing building

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Construction Cost Estimation Software

Numerous computer aided cost estimation software systems are now available. These range in sophistication from simple spreadsheet calculation software to integrated systems involving design and price negotiation over the Internet. While this software involves costs for purchase, maintenance, training and computer hardware, some significant efficiencies often result. In particular, cost estimates may be prepared more rapidly and with less effort.

Some of the common features of computer aided cost estimation software include:

  • Databases for unit cost items such as worker wage rates, equipment rental or material prices. These databases can be used for any cost estimate required. If these rates change, cost estimates can be rapidly re-computed after the databases are updated.
  • Databases of expected productivity for different components types, equiptment and construction processes.
  • Import utilities from computer aided design software for automatic quantity-take-off of components. Alternatively, special user interfaces may exist to enter geometric descriptions of components to allow automatic quantity-take-off.
  • Export utilities to send estimates to cost control and scheduling software. This is very helpful to begin the management of costs during construction.
  • Version control to allow simulation of different construction processes or design changes for the purpose of tracking changes in expected costs.
  • Provisions for manual review, over-ride and editing of any cost element resulting from the cost estimation system
  • Flexible reporting formats, including provisions for electronic reporting rather than simply printing cost estimates on paper.
  • Archives of past projects to allow rapid cost-estimate updating or modification for similar designs.

A typical process for developing a cost estimate using one of these systems would include:

  1. If a similar design has already been estimated or exists in the company archive, the old project information is retreived.
  2. A cost engineer modifies, add or deletes components in the project information set. If a similar project exists, many of the components may have few or no updates, thereby saving time.
  3. A cost estimate is calculated using the unit cost method of estimation. Productivities and unit prices are retrieved from the system databases. Thus, the latest price information is used for the cost estimate.
  4. The cost estimation is summarized and reviewed for any errors

Monday, December 12, 2011

Type of Construction


Construction is an industry method that consists of assembling or building infrastructure. It has many types such as heavy or civil construction, building construction and industrial construction. Construction works are managed by a project managers and supervised by a construction engineers, construction managers, project architects or design engineers.
What is heavy Construction
Heavy or civil construction is a procedure of adding infrastructure to the environment of a building. The builders are usually government agencies both at the local or national level. These also have legal and financial considerations. This project primarily serves the public interest. They are undertaken and supervised by some large private corporations such as power companies, golf courses and whoever oversees the construction of access dams, roads and railroads.
What is Industrial Construction
Industrial construction requires highly specialized skill in construction, planning and design. Holders of this project are normally industrial, for profit or large corporations. This corporation can be found in industries such as chemical, medicine, power generation and petroleum manufacturing.
What is building Construction
Building construction is a process of adding small or big structures to land or real property. Most of the building construction jobs are small reconstructions like adding bathroom or reconstruction of a room. Often times, the titleholder of the property acts as a designer, paymaster and laborer for the entire job. However, all the building construction jobs include several elements in legal consideration, financial and usual design.
Building constructions are procured publicly or privately using different delivery methodologies such as management contracting, hard bid, construction management at risk, design & build bridging, and negotiated price.
Residential construction technologies, resources and practices should conform to the codes of practice and local building authority regulations. The materials used are widely accessible in the market. The common materials used are timber, stone and brick. The cost of construction is on a “per square foot” basis. This is since homes can vary significantly on local site considerations, conditions, and economies of scale