This
handbook presents a comprehensive collection of civil engineering
calculation procedures useful to practicing civil engineers, surveyors,
structural designers, drafters, candidates for professional engineering
licenses, and students. Engineers in other disciplines—mechanical,
electrical, chemical, environmental, etc.will also find this handbook
useful for making occasional calculations outside their normal field of
specialty.
Each
calculation procedure presented in this handbook gives numbered steps
for performing the calculation, along with a numerical example
illustrating the important concepts in the procedure. Many procedures
include "Related Calculations" comments which expand the application of
the computation method presented. All calculation procedures in this
handbook use both the USCS (United States Customary System) and the SI
(System International) for numerical units. Hence, the calculation
procedures presented are useful to engineers throughout the world.
Major
calculation procedures presented in this handbook include stress and
strain, flexural analysis, deflection of beams, statically indeterminate
structures, steel beams and columns, riveted and welded connections,
composite members, plate girders, load and resistance factor design
method (LRFD) for structural steel design, plastic design of steel
structures, reinforced and pre-stressed concrete engineering and design,
surveying, route design, highway bridges, timber engineering, soil
mechanics, fluid mechanics, pumps, piping, water supply and water
treatment, wastewater treatment and disposal, hydro power, and
engineering economics.
Each section of this handbook is designed
to furnish comprehensive coverage of the topics in it. Where there are
major subtopics within a section, the section is divided into parts to
permit in-depth coverage of each subtopic.
Civil engineers
design buildings, bridges, highways, airports, water supply, sewage
treatment, and a variety of other key structures and facilities
throughout the world. Because of the importance of such structures and
facilities to the civilized world, civil engineers have long needed a
handbook which would simplify and speed their daily design calculations.
This handbook provides an answer to that need.
While
there are computer programs that help the civil engineer with a variety
of engineering calculations, such programs are highly specialized and
do not have the breadth of coverage this handbook provides. Further,
such computer programs are usually expensive. Because of their high
cost, these computer programs can be justified only when a civil
engineer makes a number of repetitive calculations on almost a daily
basis. In contrast, this handbook can be used in the office, field,
drafting room, or laboratory. It provides industry-wide coverage in a
convenient and affordable package. As such, this hand-book fills a
long-existing need felt by civil engineers worldwide.
In
contrast, civil engineers using civil-engineering computer programs
often find data entry time requirements are excessive for quick
one-off-type calculations. When one-off type calculations are needed,
most civil engineers today turn to their electronic calculator, desktop
or laptop computer and perform the necessary steps to obtain the
solution desired. But where repetitive calculations are required, a
purchased computer program will save time and energy in the usual
medium-size or large civil-engineering design office. Small
civil-engineering offices generally resort to manual calculation for
even repetitive procedures because the investment for one or more major
calculation programs is difficult to
justify in economic terms.
Even
when purchased computer programs are extensively used, careful civil
engineers still insist on manually checking results on a random basis to
be certain the program is accurate. This checking can be speeded by any
of the calculation procedures given in this handbook. Many civil
engineers remark to the author that they feel safer, knowing they have
manually verified the computer results on a spot-check basis. With
liability for civil engineering designs extending beyond the lifetime of
the designer, every civil engineer seeks the "security blanket"
provided by manual verification of the results furnished by a computer
program run on a desktop, laptop, or workstation computer. This handbook
gives the tools needed for manual verification of some 2,000
civil-engineering calculation procedures.
Each section in this
handbook is written by one or more experienced professional engineers
who is a specialist in the field covered. The contributors draw on their
wide experience in their field to give each calculation procedure an
in-depth coverage of its topic. So the person using the procedure gets
step-by-step instructions for making the calculation plus background
information on the subject which is the topic of the procedure.And since
the handbook is designed for worldwide use, both earlier, and more
modern
topics, are covered. For example, the handbook includes
concise coverage of riveted girders, columns, and connections. While
today's civil engineer may say that riveted construction is a method
long past its prime, there are millions of existing structures world
wide that were built using rivets. So when a civil engineer is called on
to expand, rehabilitate, or tear down such a structure, he or she must
be able to analyze the riveted portions of the structure. This handbook
provides that capability in a convenient and concise form.
In
the realm of modern design techniques, the load and resistance factor
method (LRFD) is covered with more than ten calculation procedures
showing its use in various design situations. The LRFD method is
ultimately expected to replace the well-known and widely used allowable
stress design (ASD) method for structural steel building frameworks. In
today's design world many civil engineers are learning the advantages of
the LRFD method and growing to prefer it over the ASD method. Also
included in this handbook is a comprehensive section titled "How to Use
This Handbook." It details the variety of ways a civil engineer can use
this handbook in his or her daily engineering work. Included as part of
this section are steps showing the civil engineer how to construct a
private list of SI conversion factors for the specific work the engineer
specializes in.
The step-by-step practical and applied
calculation procedures in this handbook are arranged so they can be
followed by anyone with an engineering or scientific background. Each
worked-out procedure presents fully explained and illustrated steps for
solving similar problems in civil-engineering design, research, field,
academic, or license-examination situations. For any applied problem,
all the civil engineer need do is place his or her calculation sheets
alongside this handbook and follow the step-by-step procedure line for
line to obtain the desired solution for the actual real-life problem. By
following the calculation procedures in this handbook, the civil
engineer, scientist, or technician will obtain accurate results in
minimum time with least effort. And the approaches and solutions
presented are modern throughout.
The editor hopes this handbook
is helpful to civil engineers worldwide. If the handbook user finds
procedures which belong in the book but have been left out, he urges the
engineer to send the title of the procedure to him, in care of the
publisher. If the procedure is useful, the editor will ask for the
entire text. And if the text is publishable, the editor will include the
calculation procedure in the next edition of the handbook. Full credit
will be given to the person sending the procedure to the editor. And if
users find any errors in the handbook, the editor will be grateful for
having these called to his attention. Such errors will be corrected in
the next printing of the handbook. In closing, the editor hopes that
civil engineers worldwide find this handbook helpful in their daily
work.