“One has to watch out for engineers – they begin with the sewing machine and end up with the atomic bom b” - Marcel Pagnol
“There can be little dou bt that in many ways the story of bridge building is the story of civilisation. By it we can readily measure an im portant part of a people’s progress.” - Franklin D Roosevelt
“We shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us.” - Winston Churchill
CONTENTS
“Architects and Engineers are a mong the most fortunate of men since they build their own monu ments with pu blic consent, pu blic approval and often pu blic money.” - John Prebble MESSAGES
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EDITORIAL
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WH Y CI V IL ENGINEERING ?
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GONE WITH THE WIND !
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CROSSWORD
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GUES T AR T ICLE 1
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M um b ai M onorail
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DAMS OF INDIA
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C A PI TA L GAT E
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NO T FA R . . .
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SELF HE ALING CONCRE TE
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CROSSWORD
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BOOK RE V IE W
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SOF T WARE RE V IE W
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gUES T AR T ICLE 2
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TA K E A BOW, M AS T ER
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“When engineers and q uantity surveyors discuss aesthetics and architects study what cranes do, we are on the right road.” - Ove Arup Source: Internet
3
azine would be a platform for the students to express their ideas and information
A
regarding civil engineering activities. I implore the students to exploit the opportuni-
that jolt us out of peaceful sleep, and drive us into fear and frenzy. In the midst of
ty and enhance their knowledge to the maximum extent. I wish the magazine every
all this commotion, ambition, fear and competition, most of us still manage to be a
success.
little romantic towards engineering. A ‘Megastructures’ video or an image of Burj Al
Prof.Pradip Sarkar, VP(SAC)
Khalifa is all that is required for such love-struck wannabe engineers to feed their
Although Civil Engineering is one among the major departments of our institute,
passion. Still, haven’t we felt a restless corner of our heart seeking more, dreaming
Student Activity Centre (SAC), NIT Rourkela had no club working in this field till
bigger and yearning something more to buttress the passion rumbling inside us?
last year. I would like to thank CEST club as it has widen the spectrum of SAC by
AASRAY is just an attempt to fill that void within the chamber of dreams.
Prof.N.Roy,HOD(CE) It gives me immense pleasure to learn about the launching of first issue of AASRAY, the magazine of Civil Engineering Students Technical (CEST) Club. I hope the mag-
MESSAGES
started bridging the gap between post graduate students and SAC.
book, a pack or two of one’s favourite snack- this sums up an ideal life for many of us. And there comes the party pooper spoiling our blissful routine-
Engineering! Assignments, grades, placement- there isn’t a paucity of such terms
introducing Civil Engineering Activities. Unlike our other clubs CEST is operated last one year mostly by post graduate students. I am happy to see that this club has
steaming cup of tea, a cosy chair with an armrest, a lively chat over face-
Dreams, unfortunately, lack the ability to do things on their own. We all are
ambitious, desirous and hopeful of making it big in life. But, how often we drag ourselves unwittingly into the cess pool of mediocrity? How often people fail to realise
I appreciate the effort this club has put forth over last one year. However, I also want
their full potential and put it to the fullest use of society? The renowned physicist
the club members to get their shoes dirty on some construction job in the next year.
S.N. Bose, who lent his name to the now sought-after ‘Bosons’, had once questioned
I wish the club and its magazine AASRAY all the very best for the future.
why India remained a third rate performer in industrial production and research de-
Prof. Robin Davis P, Faculty Advisor
spite having a vast, teeming human talent pool. He had put the blame on a culture
One of the famous quote by Napoleon Hill is that “Do small things in a great way”.
of mediocrity prevalent among us, visible all around in our cities, our institutions,
Perhaps, this caption suits well to the Civil Engineering Students Technical Club
and even our movies. We seem to disregard the pursuit of excellence and perfection,
(CEST) of NIT Rourkela, introduced formally on Engineers day of 2012. ‘CEST’ in
settling with something that just keeps us afloat rather than move forward. We seem
my opinion was wonderful to meet the expectations, to provide an opportunity for
to have forsaken the excitement towards things, the penchant to know and grow,
the students to learn and cultivate practical engineering thoughts through various
and the audacity to test new waters that we all possessed once as children. We,
activities such as training by industry and research experts, invited lectures by
being among the most gifted and luckiest in society naturally shoulder the respon-
distinguished speakers, discussions, technical puzzles and competitions related to
sibility to exploit our skills for the benefit of society. Or as Kahlil Gibran said once,
civil engineering that improves the understanding and thinking of the students to become a better engineer with human values. Many times different people find different ways to express themselves conveniently. As part of its activities, CEST presents AASRAY magazine to encourage the students and faculty members to express themselves through writing. I hope that this magazine will be a collection of many interesting small things that the readers enjoy in a great way. I feel extremely happy to involve with this club and thank all great minds that silently contributed to this club. !!!.
EDITORIAL
4
perhaps we should “build a house with affection, as if your beloved were to dwell in that house”.
With AASRAY, we attempt to make a small step towards unshackling those
chains of mediocrity and lack of seriousness. AASRAY hopes to excite, entertain and engage you for a while nibbling around in the garden of Civil Engineering. So roll over the pages and have fun!
5
WHY CIVIL ENGINEERING ? “A good engineer is a person who makes a design that works gineering deals with general mechanics and theory with as few original ideas as possible”- Freeman Dyson. of structures, whereas the art of civil engineering involves the application of these principles to actual construction works and the optimization of both cost and resources. The earliest practice of civil engineering goes back to somewhere between 4000 and 2000 BC in Egypt. John Smeaton, the father of civil engineering was
COVER STORY
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his differentiates him from a good scientist who is a person with original ideas. The stark reality is that the road to becoming an engineer has never been lenient for anyone. The rat-race competition has always been lingering in one’s path, associated with the topsy-turvy situations one has to face in life. Well here we are now, cruising through the entrance exam, landing into the chamber of secrets. But now the million dollar question cropping in mind! Which branch should I take?? The royal mech or the jubilant compute science or civil/electrical?? Let’s give it a thought!! To be honest the branch-phobia has been the part and parcel of engineering students. But money and perquisites are not the only criteria here for the decision but one’s area of interest and engrossment is what matters as well. That is what brings into the limelight of discussion of one of the oldest branch, civil engineering. Civil engineering is the oldest branch after military engineering. It is basically an amalgamation of both science and art, for science consists of a cluster of scientific facts or general principles relating to a specific subject while an art is the practical application of these principles. The science of civil en-
the first renowned civil engineer and pioneer of design for many bridges, canals, harbor and lighthouses of his time. Until modern times there was no clear-cut demarcation between civil engineering and architecture. The crux of civil engineering includes planning, design, construction and maintenance of structures like buildings, roads, bridges, canals, dams, water supply systems and includes many sub-disciplines ranging from structural engineering, coastal engineering, geotechnical engineering to marine engineering, etc. And now the million dollar question! Why should I take civil engineering? What is the scope? Are there enough job opportunities? Well, if you are bequeathed with a desire to go to and through the grass root of the problem, if F=Ma fascinates you, if mega structures leave you in awe or inspire you with reverence or if you love to do a job in a skillful, intuitive or resourceful way then the answer is a big ‘YES’. Civil engineering is a rewarding, hands-on people oriented profession. Civil engineers have a positive impact on the quality of people’s lives. People drive on the highways they design, drink water from the treatment plants they design and live and work on the structures they design.
focus on increasing academic score and performing well at the GATE entrance to cruise through the most coveted institutions, the IIT’s and NIT’s. Various institutions like Osmania University, Hyderabad, AU College of Engineering, Vizag and Anna University, Tamil Nadu offer numerous specializations in civil engineering and can be sought after. Pay for civil engineers tend to be reasonably high, considering these professions are highly trained and very skilled. Jobs in public sectors except PSU’s may not command as much pay at the head start but they can come with alluring benefits and prominent positions in the society, while private contractors can woo civil engineers with attractive benefits and compensation packages. The position can also be very dangerous depending on how much time a civil engineer spends on the field, but it can also be very exciting, especially in regions which are integrating cutting edge technology and design technology into their public works. Bagging a job is like winning the Triwizard cup, with the dragon of impediments always slaying fire in your path. We all are job hungry people with and only one mantra- ace a job, with several intricating thoughts- ‘strict no software, ‘bas ek psu lag jaye’, ‘mujhe to sirf core company chahiye’. Well the road to success is always under construction and civil engineering can be the ‘Road to El-Dorado’ to reach your pot of gold. But although civil engineering is rewarding profession, it is not for everyone. If you love to tinker things and see how they worked, like working outside and with other people, if you are resourceful and technically sound and have a knack for adroitness and propensity, civil engineering is the one to go after. But never mind, after William Blake has rightly said: “Improvement makes straight roads but crooked roads without improvement are the roads of a genius”.
COVER STORY
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In earlier times, it was limited to the construction of roads and buildings, but with the advent of time and human civilization, this field has made a significant leap. From skyscrapers to herculean dams, from large tunnels to canals and bridges, scope of civil engineering has magnificently incrassated with time. Amazing opportunities exist in both the public and private sector in all branches of design, construction and maintenance, infrastructure development in both India and abroad. Right now construction industry is booming as there is a growth in infrastructure requirement throughout the country. Scope of civil engineers lies in many developing countries in Middle East, Africa, and Asia where infrastructure development is on a peak and Indian engineers are in great demand. Dubai, Canada and U.K have been dream destinations for civil engineers both in terms of perks and opportunities. The major jobs include senior structural engineer, senior civil engineer, offshore structural engineer, lead construction and commission engineer, rotating equipment engineer, pipeline engineer, power plant project leader, production manager, onshore field engineer and the list goes on. Civil engineers can find suitable jobs opportunities in construction or contracting companies, consultancy companies, valuation sectors like banks and insurance companies, public sector units (PSUs), private sectors, Public Works Departments, municipal corporations, Ministry of Housing, Ministry of Transportation, Electricity and Water Authority Departments, urban development or town planning departments, real estate agencies, National Highway Authorities etc. Unlike the IT sectors, civil engineering is less affected by recession and is regarded in general as an evergreen branch. If one has a knack for entrepreneurship, he/she can start his/her own company. The guy with a future aim for higher studies can
7
Gone with the Wind!
ANECDOTE
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magine yourself walking down on a bridge on a windy day, suddenly the bridge starts trembling and half of the bridge goes straight into water and you are just helpless enough to watch it go down to the abyss. Imagine a bridge that’s just a few months old giving away to a mild airflow. What may be the cause? Bad quality building material, blunder of the project manager (I hope they had one in 1940), terrorist attack or something else. Okay, this Anecdote feature tries its level best to explain the different theories associated with the failure of a bridge, The Tacoma narrows bridge. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge, was a suspension bridge that spanned the Tacoma Narrows strait of Puget Sound between Tacoma and the Kitsap Peninsula having around 5560 feet length, 40 feet width(Means a two lane traffic) and having side girders around 8 feet deep, in USA, Washington D.C. It took a long 20 months to be opened up for public. A lavish amount of $6,400,000 was approximated for the construction of the bridge. Even during the time of construction, the bridge behaved strangely. It showed vertical vibrations which persisted even after the opening of the bridge. It was the time after the deck was built that
it started showing this abnormal vibration. The workers and people of that locality gave it the name “Galloping Gertie”; little did they know that this galloping bridge will gallop all the way to the stream downwards to become an artificial reef. It was just a span of 4 months the bridge could stand before the collapse. At that time it was the third longest suspension bridge over the globe when suspension bridge was a cheaper and better option for a bridge. On an early November morning, the bridge developed motions of a type previously observed, but with larger-than-usual amplitude. The wind velocity was 40 to 45 miles/hour, larger than any previously encountered by the bridge. Traffic was shut down by 9:30 a.m. The inner span of the bridge was vibrating in eight or nine segments with a frequency of 36 vibrations/minute and at an amplitude of about 3 feet. While measurements were under way, at about 10 a.m. the main span abruptly began to vibrate torsionally in two segments with a frequency of 14 vibrations per minute. Later the torsional frequency changed to 12 vibrations per minute. The amplitude of torsional vibration quickly built up to about 35° in each direction from the horizontal. The change to torsional mode appeared to take
back at the toll plaza, I saw the bridge in its final collapse and saw my car plunge into the Narrows”. After various studies of the collapse and after testing it on a lavish 1:50 scale, a new suspension bridge was constructed at the same location .The new bridge is four lanes wide as compared to the old one having two lanes and has open grid sides instead of solid I-beams. Deep stiffening trusses for the deck were also made 33 feet deep which was an
8 feet one on the bridge before. It was opened on October 14, 1950, and has not displayed any of the interesting oscillatory properties of the first bridge. There are many interesting incidents related to the bridge. Barney Elliott, proprietor of The Camera Shop in Tacoma won a prize for the outstanding newsreel film of 1940 for his film which was shot in colour frame by him and his co-workers which covered the construction and the destruction of the bridge. Tacoma Narrows was similar in design to Newyork city’s Bronx-white stone bridge, which had undergone treatments for the cure of its galloping in the summer of 1982. The bridge though had a tragic end, warned and opened the gates for new fields of applications in the field of involvement of aeroelastics and aerodynamics, which comes quite handy in the building and maintenance of long span bridges after the incident. The failure was so devastating that it stays green in the mind of every physicist and even taught at UG level and implemented in projects. The failure of the bridge certainly opened up for a new era into suspension bridges.
ANECDOTE
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place without any intermediate stages and with such extreme violence that the span appeared about to roll completely over. Now let’s jump to the cause of its failure. Many of you guys must have had an idea about this in the famous H. C. Verma book over the resonance topic. Not only H.C.V but also many of the renowned physicists have also termed the collapse of the bridge as a consequence of a phenomenon similar that to the forced resonance of a mechanical oscillator. While some physicists strongly believe that the ultimate failure was due to the aerodynamically induced self excitation or negative damping. In many textbooks, the event is presented as an example of elementary forced resonance with the wind providing an external periodic frequency that matched the bridge’s natural structural frequency, though the actual cause of failure was aerostatic flutter, a term related to the field of aeroelasticity. Some engineers also accuse the designers of not considering the required significance of friction which caused the dramatic failure of individual bridge parts. No human life was lost during that accident, only a dog named Tubby died, its body not to be found. Here are the exact words of the last guy to drive on the bridge, Mr. Leonard Coatsworth, the then editor of the Tacoma News Tribune, “Just as I drove past the towers, the bridge began to sway violently from side to side. Before I realized it, the tilt became so violent that I lost control of the car...I jammed on the brakes and got out, only to be thrown onto my face against the curb...Around me I could hear concrete cracking...The car itself began to slide from side to side of the roadway. On hands and knees most of the time, I crawled 500 yards (460 m) or more to the towers...My breath was coming in gasps; my knees were raw and bleeding, my hands bruised and swollen from gripping the concrete curb...Toward the last, I risked rising to my feet and running a few yards at a time...Safely
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1. The rail tunnel beneath the English Channel of 50.5 kilometre length completed in 1994. 2. The symbolic suspension bridge in San Francisco of 2.7 kilometre length completed in 1937. 3. The 77 kilometre long canal completed in 1914 connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific and having locks for ship transportation which reduces a journey around South America. 4. The 102 storey skyscraper in New York that was completed in 1931 and remain the tallest building for 40 years. 5. The only wonder of the ancient world still in existence. 6. The tower constructed across a period of 344 years which suffers a construction disaster as it
7. The centre of Mughal architecture in India made of white marble from 1632 to 1653. 8. The highest bridge in the world with a height of 343 meter in Millau, France. 9. The tower named after its architect erected in
CIVIL IS FUN
1889 to serve as the entrance arch of World Fair which has become a symbol of the city. 10. The luxury hotel in Dubai in the shape of a sail of a boat. 11. The airport built in an artificial island in Osaka. 12. Canal Completed in 1869 connecting Red sea and Mediterranean sea.
Look at the Page 39 for the answers . . .
CIVIL IS FUN
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11
Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) and its Application in Modern Era
GUEST ARTICLE
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Author: Prof. P. K. Bhuyan (CE)
ransportation functions are an indispensable basis for any county’s development and have the ability to provide benefits to the society. Generally, there is widely accepted link between economic well being and good transportation. Export and import, industry, agriculture, defense, social services (such as health and education), general administration, maintenance of law and order, exploitation of resources, mobility of persons and goods, etc. are some of the many areas of activity that are very closely linked to the availability of adequate transportation infrastructure. Policy makers, transport planners, traffic engineers, and the private sector engaged in developing new transport technologies are constantly looking forward to find solutions to lessen the energy consumption, land usage, congestion, casualties, and money required to build new transportation infrastructure. As a result, developed countries have shifted their priority from infrastructure- and capital-intensive transportation strategies to more balanced and sustainable transportation solutions. This is where the intelligent transportation system (ITS) comes into play. It implicitly holds the promise of sustainability. ITS is an integrated system that implements existing or emerging computer, communication, information, and vehicle-sensing technologies to coordinate transportation systems in a safe and efficient manner, monitor traffic conditions, control traffic flow, and provide information to the motoring public about traffic conditions. ITS includes a wider application of technology to transit systems as well as private cars and highways. Benefits given by ITS
deployment to any transportation system are improved safety, improved traffic efficiency, reduced congestion, improved environmental quality and energy efficiency, and improved economic productivity. India, the second most populous country in the world, and a fast growing economy, is seeing terrible road congestion problems in its cities. Building infrastructure, levying proper taxes to curb private vehicle growth and improving public transport facilities are long-term solutions to this problem. These permanent solution approaches need government intervention. The Government of India has committed Rs.2,34,000 crores in the urban infrastructure sector. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), metro rails and monorails are being built in different cities to encourage the use of public transport. But still there is a steep growth of private vehicles. Some cities like Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad and Delhi-NCR, with their sudden growths in the IT sector, also have a steep growth in population, further increasing transportation needs. Meeting such growth with infrastructure growth is seemingly infeasible, primarily because of space and cost constraints. Intelligent management of traffic flows and making commuters more informed about traffic and road status, can reduce the negative impact of congestion, though cannot solve it altogether. This is the idea behind Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). ITS in India, however, cannot be a mere replication of deployed and tested ITS in the developed countries. The non-lane based disorderly traffic with high heterogeneity of vehicles, need the exist-
Systems. The new embedded system platforms allow for more sophisticated software applications to be implemented, including model-based process control, artificial intelligence, and ubiquitous computing. Perhaps the most important of these for Intelligent Transportation Systems is artificial intelligence. Floating Car Data: Virtually every car contains one or more mobile phones. These mobile phones routinely transmit their location information to the network – even when no voice connection is established. This allows them to be used as anonymous traffic probes. As the car moves, so does the signal of the mobile phone. By measuring and analyzing triangulation network data – in an anonymous format – the data is converted into accurate traffic flow information. With more congestion, there are more cars, more phones, and thus, more probes. In metropolitan areas, the distance between antennas is shorter and, thus, accuracy increases. No infrastructure needs to be built along the road; only the mobile phone network is leveraged. Sensing Technologies: Vehicle-sensing systems include deployment of infrastructure-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure electronic beacons for identification communications and may also employ the benefits of CCTV automatic number plate recognition technology at desired intervals in order to increase sustained monitoring of suspect vehicles operating in critical zones. Inductive Loop Detection: Inductive loops can be placed in a roadbed to detect vehicles as they pass over the loop by measuring the vehicle’s magnetic field. The simplest detectors simply count the number of vehicles during a unit of time (typically 60 seconds in the United States) that pass over the loop, while more sophisticated sensors estimate the speed, length, and weight of
GUEST ARTICLE
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ing techniques to be adapted to the Indian scenario, before they can be used. Thus ITS in the Indian context needs significant R&D efforts. Intelligent Transportation Technologies: Intelligent transportation systems vary in technologies applied, from basic management systems such as car navigation; traffic signal control systems; container management systems; variable message signs; automatic number plate recognition or speed cameras to monitoring applications, such as security CCTV systems; and to more advanced applications that integrate live data and feedback from a number of other sources, such as parking guidance and information systems; weather information; bridge deicing systems; and the like. Additionally, predictive techniques are being developed in order to allow advanced modeling and comparison with historical baseline data. Wireless Communications: Various forms of wireless communications technologies have been proposed for intelligent transportation systems. Short-range communications (less than 500 yards) can be accomplished using IEEE 802.11 protocols, specifically WAVE or the Dedicated Short Range Communications standard being promoted by the Intelligent Transportation Society of America and the United States Department of Transportation. Theoretically, the range of these protocols can be extended using Mobile adhoc networks or Mesh networking. Computational Technologies: Recent advances in vehicle electronics have led to a move toward fewer, more capable computer processors on a vehicle. A typical vehicle in the early 2000s would have between 20 and 100 individual networked microcontroller/Programmable logic controller modules with non-real-time operating systems. The current trend is toward fewer, more costly microprocessor modules with hardware memory management and Real-Time Operating
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GUEST ARTICLE
Functional Areas: Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS) Advanced Traveller Information Systems (ATIS) Advanced Vehicle Control Systems (AVCS) Advanced Fleet Management Systems (AFMS) Advanced Public Transit Systems (APTS)
Advanced Rural Transportation Systems (ARTS) Electronic Toll Collection and Traffic Man -agement (ETTM) Applications of ITS: Automatic Collision Notification. Smart Parking. Intelligent Traffic Light. Incident Detection. Vehicle Tracking. Incident Management. Red Light Violation Detection. Weigh in Motion. Electronic Toll Payment.
Mumbai Monorail
ITS FAST AND FUN . . .
“Bhau, jara bajula sarkun basa, Andherila chalanar ka, Arre deva, punha titkich gardi” f you travel in a train and that too you live in cities like Bombay, Kolkata then without even blinking your eyes you would admit that you have experienced it.
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The human race has reached a new milestone. More people now live in cities rather than in the countryside. By 2050, it is estimated that the population will grow to about 9 billion with 75% being urban dwellers. And undoubtedly it has a huge impact on countries like India, China and can hit us so badly. But here, our discussion is not on the human population growth and its impact on us, rather it’s an innovative and ground breaking project of MMRDA which can easily lessen its trouble. It was an eyelike historical moment for the people of Mumbai when an uncommon but modernistic train ran in Mumbai. A 108-meter test run was successfully conducted on January 26, 2010. The monorail had its first test run on 18 February 2012 from its yard in Wadala to a station at Bhakti Park, a distance of around a kilometre.
The Mumbai Monorail is a monorail system currently under construction for the city of Mumbai, India. The project is being implemented by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), with a consortium of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and a Malaysian infrastructure firm Scomi Engineering. It is the first of its kind in India. Before you break your brain apart in thinking about the monorail, we should take a look on what monorail really is! What is a monorail? A monorail is a rail-based transportation system based on a single rail, which acts as its sole support and its guideway. Colloquially, the term “monorail” is often used erroneously to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. In fact, the term refers to the style of track, not its elevation. So looking at the various advantages of monorail system, the then chief minister of Maharastra Vilasrao Desmukh cleared the notification for construction of the first monorail system in India on August 13, 2008. The plan was to traverse it through Jacob Circle, Wadala, Mahul and Chembur, paving the way for a feeder service to the existing suburban railway network. The two shortlisted consortia to build the line were Bombardier Transportation, Reliance Energy in association with Hitachi Monorail, and Larsen and Toubro with Scomi Rail of Malaysia. On Nov 11, 2008, the winner was announced to be Larsen and Toubro along with Scomi, who received a 2,460 crore contract to build and operate the monorail until 2029. A 108-meter test run was successfully conducted on January 26, 2010. The monorail had its first test
DIGEST
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vehicles and the distance between them. Loops can be placed in a single lane or across multiple lanes, and they work with very slow or stopped vehicles as well as vehicles moving at high-speed. Video vehicle detection: Traffic flow measurement and automatic incident detection using a video camera is another form of vehicle detection. Since video detection systems such as those used in automatic number plate recognition do not involve installing any components directly into the road surface or roadbed, this type of system is known as a “non-intrusive” method of traffic detection. Video from black-and-white or colour cameras is fed into processors that analyze the changing characteristics of the video image as vehicles pass. The cameras are typically mounted on poles or structures above or adjacent to the roadway. Most video detection systems require some initial configuration to “teach” the processor the baseline background image. This usually involves inputting known measurements such as the distance between lane lines or the height of the camera above the roadway. A single video detection processor can detect traffic simultaneously from one to eight cameras, depending on the brand and model. The typical output from a video detection system is lane-by-lane vehicle speeds, counts, and lane occupancy readings. Some systems provide additional outputs including gap, headway, stopped-vehicle detection, and wrong-way vehicle alarms.
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ty to accommodate 600 passengers. Subsequently 2 cars can be added (the designs of the cars are based on higher capacity). Each monorail train will have the capacity to carry a passenger load of 8-10 buses. The 19.54 km Mumbai monorail is expected to carry nearly 3 lakhs commuters who are currently travelling in buses, taxis, auto rickshaws, and private vehicles. Mumbai monorail would reduce 80,000 bus trips, 28000 taxi, and auto trips on a daily basis. Hopefully, 25000 cars are expected to go off the cities’ congested roads. The minimum fare on Line 1 will be 11 and maximum will be 30. Over 22 lakh people living within 2 km radius on either side of the track will be benefited by the Mumbai monorail. And the estimated ridership per day is 1.25 lakh (up to 2016) and 3.00 lakh (up to 2031). The design life of this monorail is 120 years. The cost of setting up the monorail service is roughly 85 crore per km. The complete network of about 135 km is recommended for development from year 2011 to 2031 in phases at the total cost of 20,000 crore. And the overall cost is roughly 20,296 crores of rupees. For the common Mumbaikars, the too much crowded train and suburb is very soon going to be a distant past. In a country where billions die to travel in train, a monorail with so many facilities is really a welcoming step. All in all it can be said that Mumbai monorail will not only reduce the travelling expense but also reduce the intolerable crowded travel! So get your tickets ready, train is arriving shortly!
DAMS OF INDIA THE HISTORY OF HUMAN ENDEAVOUR
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run on 18 February 2012 from its yard in Wadala to a station at Bhakti Park, a distance of around a kilometre. Scomi, the Malaysian company that supplied the rakes for the project, was in charge of the trial. The MMRDA will decide whether the Singapore-based SMRT or the Hong Kong-based Mass Transit Rail will be given the task of certifying the monorail system. This is because the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) had said it didn’t have the capacity to certify the monorail, as it was a different system from the railways. The electrical workings of the monorail will be certified by the Electrical Inspector General. The first section of Mumbai monorail project i.e. between Jacob circle and Wadala (10.6 km long), the passenger will be able to cover it in 25 minutes. This route will have 10 stations. Second section of the monorail between Wadala and Chembur will be 8.9 km. The passenger will be able to cover it in 19 minutes. The route will have 7 stations. All together, the distance of 19.54 km from Jacob circle to Chembur will be covered in 44 minutes. For sure it’s going to be a big relief for all those fidgety people of Mumbai who spend their most of time in travelling. It’s time for relaxing, you people! Chill! When the business is being dealt with thousand crores of rupees, it is obvious that the facilities in the system would be better than other rail system. Let’s take a look on some of the first-class facilities that will be provided in the monorail. The monorail will run at a speed of 32 km per hour and will be completely air conditioned. End of sweaty nightmares! Initially, the monorail will be available every 4.5 minutes. The waiting period proposed to subsequently be reduced to 3 minutes later. Capacity per carriage or compartment of the monorail is 150 persons (30% seating and 70% standing with occupancy of 6 persons per square metre). Each monorail with 4 coaches will have a capaci-
KALLANAI: One of the earliest water diversion structures in the world and among the few surviving, Kallanai or the Grand Anicut near Trichy was built by Chola King Karikalan around 1st Century AD across River Cauvery. It was greatly improved by the British who took inspiration from its design and built similar dams across India.
Dholavira: Even Before Kallanai, the Harappan Other Harappan cities and later, Mauryan cities also settlement of Dholavira boasted of a water manage- are said to have elaborate irrigation systems like the ment system with reservoirs, dams and channels. Sudharshana Lake built in the Maurya era and the canals of Harappan city Lothal.
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Hirakud: In early days of Independent India, the need to control floods and augment agricultural output was dearly felt by the administration under Prime Minister Nehru and the first major dam, at Hirakud was opened by Nehru on 13th January 1957. Meanwhile a dam was built across river Krishna in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh, which became the world’s largest stone masonry dam at that time. These dams ushered Green Revolution in India, and more importantly spawned a plethora of multipurpose irrigation and hydro-electric projects.
The Dam making spree continued with the establishement of iconic dams like Koyna Dam, Tungabhadra dam and Krishna Raja Sagar DamKoyna becoming more famous for the earthquake it underwent in 1967.
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Being the Longest earthen dam in the world and a symbol of rise of a new India, it became a sort of cult figure, tempting Nehru years later to praise dams as the ‘Temples of Modern India’
Bhakra: The twin Dams at Bhakra and Nangal were the next big reservoir project undertaken. They too had their share of historical immortality- being the tallest dam in India at that time.
The Legacy of big dams continues- the latest addition being Tehri Dam in Uttarakhand which is the highest dam in India and 8th highest in the world.
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- World’s Furthest Leaning Skyscraper
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reat cities need great buildings. Over time, these iconic buildings become visual statements of the era and the place they represent.
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All through this rosy story, umpteen protests have been made against the ill effects of large dams. Well, as the civil engineer in us takes pride in them, the human in us wonders what is the way out of the side effects of these dams. Technology, one hopes will provide answer one day!
Source: Internet
In June 2010, the Guinness Book of World Records certified Capital Gate as the “World’s furthest leaning man-made tower.” The new record shows that the Capital Gate tower has been built to lean 18 degrees westwards; more than four times that of the Leaning Tower of Suurhusen. You will be amazed to know that there exists such skyscraper in world which can give challenge to Sir Isaac Newton. Jokes apart, Capital Gate is proved to be one of very few towers in world which can stand firm to gravity of the earth. Capital Gate is a skyscraper in Abu Dhabi adjacent to the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) designed with a striking lean. At 160 m and 35 stories, it is one of the few architectural wonders of world which defies the gravity of earth. In the very recent time it was only Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Company, the owner and developer of
Capital Gate who could make it possible. Popularly it is also known as “leaning tower of Abu Dhabi”, it is located at the focal point of capital centre. The architectural expression says that the ground-breaking form of Capital Gate is not only due to its lean, but also due to its funnel shape which attracts a large number of tourists towards it. It widens as it spirals upwards and outwards. This gesture creates the sculptural form which is expressed architecturally in a variety of ways. The facade glazing emphasizes the organic elements with diagonals spiralling up along the structural diagrid. This weaving pattern is further broken down with individual panes of glass in a complex mesh wrapping the entire building. The sheer skin is interrupted only by 2 entrances on the ground floor, the footbridge to the car park, and the terraces at the top of the “splash”. The potentially monumental scale of Capital is tempered by this “splash” sun shading on the south facade. This metal mesh screen at the lower half of the tower adds complexity to the overall form as it highlights the different uses of tower offices in the lower half and the hotel in the upper half. Interestingly the hotel is at the top of the splash on the 18th floor, where visitors discover a panoramic view of Abu Dhabi. The lobby lounge is a double height space cantilevered beyond the lower diagrid, providing a dramatic arrival for the guests. The restaurant located on this floor is also dramatic double space positioned where the tower form leans at the steepest angle. Due to its unique shape, the upper half of the tower widens to create an atrium at the hotel’s guest
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ing, one deeper than the other. So together they create competing forces that keep the building upright. To make it even more solid the core was threaded with thick bundles of steel cables that were pulled tight. The amount of cable was 44 times that used on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The core was pre-cambered which means it was built in the opposite direction to the building; as the structure went up, it was gradually pulled into a vertical position. “It was necessary because of the extreme eccentricity of the forces on the core,” says Archibald. “We think it’s world first.” Capital Gate would have been a challenge by itself, but it also underwent significant changes in design during construction that pushed the team to its limits. A year into construction, which began in September 2007, it was decided to add a swimming pool and restaurant suspended on a platform on the edge of the building facing the exhibition centre. Engineers had to secure it in place, while making sure it was consistent with overall design. World has seen numerous gigantic structures/ skyscrapers but Capital Gate is the first of its kind. This amazing skyscraper being the furthest leaning tower appeals to the world of architecture to innovate new types of buildings and towers. Certainly it testifies the old saying “nothing is impossible”.
NOT FAR . . . I was sitti n g o n th e terra ce, ha nds fo lded. I sa w a pla n e cross over m y h ead. A bi rd fo llo wed by, U p a bove th e sky, u p, u p, very hi g h. I sa w m yself decades ba ck, My mi nd, I loved t o ra ck. I sa w m yself desi g ni n g th e wi n gs of th e bi g bi rd. It was t o u g h, h ell ha rd. Ho w ai r st rea ms meet a t sa me ti me. Like th e verses of a poem, a rh y me. Speeds bei n g differen t, We g et a n u plift. I sa w me f ly. I sa w me f ly hi g h.
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room floors. This space is perhaps the most surprising discovery the visitors find inside the building. The atrium is funnel shaped and appears carved out of the solid form around it, spiralling and leaning along the tower. Sustainable Strategies: Abu Dhabi seems to be the city where every bold project encourages people to live the most sustainable life. ADNEC is committed to being one of the Abu Dhabi’s leaders in sustainable development. The architects and engineers integrated many passive and active sustainable systems into Capital Gate, including metal mesh sun shading, a double skin facade, high performance glazing, reduced amount of materials, vegetated roof on the basement, lowflow water fixtures, district cooling, variable speed air conditioning, heat exchange for ventilation and energy monitoring and controls. The upper half of tower has a double skin facade to reduce the solar heat gain at the hotel levels. This is a modified double facade which recycles interior air from the guest rooms into the facade cavity. Here it creates an insulating buffer between the hot outside air and the cool inside air. The air is reused in the room rather than exhausted and replaced with outside air. Concerns and Worries: “Everything about the tower makes it want to fall over,” says Michael Johnson, who was appointed to oversee the final phase of construction of the building. “But it has been designed to stop”. The major challenges can be easily imagined by the fact that, the building leans westwards at 18 degrees, more than 5 times the angle of the Leaning tower of Pisa. The top 17 floors, out of a total of 35, hang over the edge, putting thousands of tonnes pressure on the core of the building. The piling of a normal tower goes straight down into the earth and holds the building steady. But for the Capital Gate engineers created 2 sections of pil-
I ra n t o th e mi rro r. Was it a d rea m, of s uspense, of h o rro r. I sa w m y fo refa th ers i nstead of me. I sa w wh o m I wa n ted t o be. I ra n t o th e ro of a nd sa w th e bi rd. It was f lyi n g co o l, n ever ti red. I will f ly sea m lessly hi g h a nd u p. Yes, I wo u ld g o, f ly u p a nd u p. I i ma gi n ed A p us a p us Ma y be I co u ld be sea m less. Ea t, f ly, sleep, ma te, d o it a ll i n ai r. Ai r will be me a nd I, ai r. I sa w m yself yea rs fu rth er. I peeped deep, n o, Its n o t fa r, its n o t fa r. P.S: In the poem ‘I’ signifies the whole human generations who ever dreamt of flying. Big bird signifies the first flying thing (airplane would be somewhat wrong) made by the Wright brothers. Apus apus is bird which is famous for it’s seamless movement in air. It eats, sleeps, mates in air. Scientists are looking forward to make an airplane, Capable of seamless movement like the Apus apus.
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SELF HEALING CONCRETE
- A CLOSER LOOK
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magine our work to be self-corrected before someone pokes our nose. The someone most probably being our professor or boss. Imagine how beautiful it is even when MS-word corrects most of our mistakes and even Google suggests for our mistakes.
How cool this world would be if a structure, building, bridge heals the cracks for itself without the supervision of a single person. How good it will be for our concrete to be a self-healing one healing its defects on its own. Okay, the day is not far, here is your cup of tea about self-healing concrete. Concrete is still one of the main materials used in construction industry, from the foundation of a building to the structure of a bridge, an underground tunnel. Though very strong in compression, concrete gives away to tension and tends to crack. This is a major cause of failure in many structures. Tiny cracks on the surface of the concrete make the whole structure vulnerable because water seeps in to degrade concrete and corrode the steel reinforcement. Structures built in high water environment, such as
underground basements and marine structures, are particularly vulnerable to the corrosion of steel reinforcements. The salt which is used to de-ice the road in motor bridges in cold countries also penetrates to corrode the reinforcement used in the road leading to weakening of the bridge. Repair of a conventional structure usually involves applying a concrete mortar which is bonded to the damaged surface. Sometimes, the mortar needs to be keyed into the existing structure with metal pins to ensure that it does not fall away. Repairs can be particularly time consuming and expensive as it is very difficult to gain access to the points affected. This is the case when the structure is at a great height or is an underground one. Self-healing concrete is a product that will biologically produce limestone to heal cracks that appear on the surface of concrete structures. Specially selected types of the bacteria genus bacillus, along with a calcium-based nutrient known as calcium lactate, and nitrogen and phosphorus, are added to the ingredients of the concrete when it is being mixed. These self-healing agents can lie dormant within the concrete for up to 200 years. However, when a concrete structure is damaged and water starts to seep through the cracks that appear in the concrete, the spores of the bacteria germinate on contact with the water and nutrients. Having been activated, the bacteria start to feed on the calcium lactate. As the bacteria feeds oxygen is consumed and the soluble calcium lactate is converted into insoluble limestone. The limestone solidifies on the cracked surface, thereby sealing it up. The above process is a mimic of the process by
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which bone fractures in the human body are naturally healed up by osteoblast cells that mineralize to re-form the bone. The consumption of oxygen during the bacterial conversion also minimizes the quantity of oxygen for the corrosion process. The two self-healing agent parts are introduced to the concrete within separate expanded clay pellets 2-4 mm wide, which ensure that the agents will not be activated during the cement mixing process. Testing has shown that when water seeps into the concrete, the bacteria germinate and multiply quickly. It takes several weeks outside though it takes almost a week in the laboratory. The main importance is given on the fact that if the bacteria is capable of surviving in extreme alkaline environment. The researchers concentrate on the bacteria found in alkaline lakes in Russia, carbonate rich soils in desert areas of Spain and soda lakes in Egypt. A group of bacteria form spores comparable to plant seeds. The spores have extremely thick cell walls that enable them to remain intact for 200 years in search of an environment apt for germination. A few disadvantages that come in the way of self-healing concrete are discussed. The clay pellets holding the self-healing agents comprise 20% of the volume of the concrete in place of harder aggregates like gravels. This weakens the concrete almost by 25% and also reduces its compressive strength significantly. The cost of self-healing concrete is also about the double of the conventional concrete. Researches going over this topic from 1990s assure about a fact that the self-correction factor we want in the structures is just a leap away.
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Crossword
CIVIL IS FUN
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ACROSS 3. _______ is the graphical representation of runoff and time (In Reference to WRE). 7. _______ fund is the fund for rebuilding a structure when its economic life is over. 9. ______ surface will give highest coefficient of traction while using crawler track tractors. 10. _____ angle is the angle formed by the longitudinal axis of the aircraft and the direction of movement of the nose gear. 11. The carryover factor in a prismatic member whose far end is fixed is _____. 14. Load factor is always greater than factor of ______. 15. The transition curve used in the horizontal alignment of highways as per IRC recommendations is _______. 17. The means of access for inspection and cleaning of sewer line is known as __________. 19. The horse power transmitted through a pipe is maximum when the inverse ratio of loss of head due to friction and total head supplied is _______. 20. Standard BOD is measured at _______degree Celsius, 5 days. 22. Penetration test on bitumen is used for determining its ________. 23. ______ spikes are used for fixing rail to the wooden sleepers. 24. The inverse of slenderness ratio of a column supported throughout its length by a masonry wall is _______. DOWN 1. The ratio of volume of voids to the total volume of soil mass is called _______. 2. The sum of normal stresses is _________. 4. The water stored in the reservoir below the minimum pool level is called ______ storage. 5. ________ clips cannot be used with CST-9 sleepers. 6. _______’s method of stability analysis assumes the slip surface as an arc of a circle (In reference to Soil Mechanics & Foundation Engg.). 8. According to _____’s theory, the exit gradient in the absence of a downstream cutoff is infinity. 12. A good building stone should not absorb water more than ______%. 13. For a Well Conditioned Triangle, no angle should be less than ________(in degrees). 15. The mode of failure of a very short masonry member having h/t ratio of less than 4 is by _____. 16. The gas from sludge digestion tank is mainly composed of __________. 17. 60 R rails are mostly used in _______ Gauge. 18. The type of valve, which is provided on the suction pipe in a tube-well, is ______ valve. 21. At the instantaneous centre, the velocity of the moving lamina at any instant is _______. 23. When a ship floats at its designed water line, the vertical distance from water line to the bottom of the ship is known as _____.
Look at the Page 40 for the answers . . .
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HOW TO STUDY
AUTOCAD 2013 REVIEW
A BRIEF REVIEW Author of the book: George Fillimore Swain
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s the name suggests this book is about a well-focussed doctrine which can envelope the recipe to become a good reader and present henceforth. Tell me to write a one liner about the book and I will write “Study what you love”. The book starts with its moral that reads Education is an opportunity, nothing more. Don’t expect anything, go on studying. Another line says, “What students get out of education depends upon what he puts into.” The author focuses on the order of learning. He tells us to be more precise rather ending up being a workaholic. Three things- Self-confidence, Consciousness, Firm determination will take you to the top. The writer wants the reader to differentiate between reading and understanding. He urges one to stick to the real purpose of the reading, not mere facts and etc. Get into the fact; train yourself to be inquisitive enough. Proper attitude is also a prime factor. Reading is not about mere contradiction, spelling mistakes and all. As Socrates has aptly told that knowledge of our ignorance is the first step towards knowledge. The author sticks to definiteness. Be definite, form a clear picture, do away with ambiguity. Realise the limit of your knowledge and be endeavouring enough to widen your horizon. The writer wants us to know
about our initial knowledge about the concerned topic classify and arrange your initial perception and proceed henceforth modifying and adding. Important is to cultivate interest in the topic you want to gain knowledge about. Defining teachers, the author refers them as persons who merely keep a record of the marks of the students and teach them the way to study. According to Swain, self-gained knowledge is the real knowledge. Depend on textbooks but not fully on them, draw your own conclusion. A good textbook, as defined by the author should not make things too clear for a student, as it may confine his imagination. Select the best book. Best’s definition may be different for different situations. Search for excellence in every topic. Better know a few subjects thoroughly than being a jack of all trades, here topics. Author urges oneself to be confident and hopeful. As he says, “Every subject has its difficulties and you must not be discouraged by them”. Concluding the book he advises the students to concentrate on their flaws and find a method for the above. Consult teachers, friends, think deeply but never lose hope. The book, a 65 page of shear entertainment has its silent humour ingredient too. Once you started reading you will stop on the sixty fifth page. The book reflects the deep experience of the writer and sometimes we also can correlate certain real life situations to the ones narrated. After all, this book is more than enough to pamper your literary senses and also will compel you to rack your brain cells.
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s we all know the Autodesk, Inc. releases a new version of its CAD every around the end of March. March 27, 2012 also marks the release of a new version, AutoCAD 2013, the 27th major release of the world’s most popular CAD program. And as expected, based on Autodesk’s three-year development cycle, the new version brings with it a new DWG file format -- plus a host of new and enhanced features and functions. Upon launching AutoCAD 2013, users are greeted by a new Welcome Screen that includes tools for creating new drawings, as well as opening existing drawings and sample files. There’s also a list of recently accessed drawings, and links to videos explaining many of the new features. A panel containing tools for accessing a redesigned Autodesk Exchange app store, a new cloud service called Autodesk 360 where you can store and share data, and links to social media sites including Facebook and Twitter are also included. With all of its online links, the Welcome Screen can take a while to load, but you can easily disable the automatic display and access it only when needed. In a move to reduce clutter, AutoCAD’s command
line has been dramatically modernized. By default, it now appears as a single-line panel at the bottom of the screen, rather than as a four-line docked palette. But because users still need to be able to see multiple lines of prompts, as you work, the previous three lines scroll up into a semi-transparent history area. When you end a command, these slowly fade away, and instead of just a blank space after the command cursor, the command line says “Type a command.” When a command is active, an icon helps identify the command and indicates that the program is awaiting input. You can also click on this icon to quickly view and launch recently used commands. And when a command offers several options, in addition to typing, right-clicking or using dynamic input, you can now click on the desired option right in the command line. Pressing the F2 key or clicking a special flyout expands the command line to display additional lines of command history. The command line can be floated, docked to the top or bottom of the AutoCAD window, or snapped to the left or right edge. And like most other tools in AutoCAD, the new command line is completely customizable. While the changes to the command line are obvious, a new feature called in-canvas property preview is much more subtle. In the past, when you made changes to the properties of objects -- changing their color or linetype, for example -- you didn’t actually see the results until you committed to the change. Now, if you select objects and then use the Property palette to change the color, the selected objects dynamically change color as you move the
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base view from a model in model space or from a model created in Autodesk Inventor. If you choose Inventor, AutoCAD prompts you to select the Inventor file you want to import. If you choose a model space model, the program asks whether you want to use the entire model or individual model space objects. In AutoCAD 2013, if you’re currently working in model space, the program prompts you to specify the name of layout in which you want to place the base view, and it can even create a new paper space layout on the fly. You can even go back and select additional 3D objects to add to the base view. Once you’ve placed a base drawing view and created projected views, you can use a new Viewsection tool to create full, half, offset or aligned section views from any existing drawing view. A section identifier is automatically applied and incremented as you create subsequent section views. You can even control whether individual model components are included in the section view, and specify whether it should include the full depth or just a slice. After a section view has been created, you can use the new section view style settings to control the appearance of section identifiers, the cutting plane, the view label, and the hatch pattern applied to the cross-section. You can also create detail views from existing drawing views, and control their appearance using the new detail view style controls. Like other styles in AutoCAD, you can create and save as many different section styles and detail styles as you need. AutoCAD’s parametric controls have been extended to drawing views, so you can constrain section lines and detail boundaries to key points in the drawing views, ensuring accuracy even as the model or layout changes. And now, when you add annotations to detail views, those annotations are associated to the drawing view based on the vertices selected or inferred by the selected edge. As a result, if
you update the drawing view, the annotations adjust What more, wait for the next version releasing in appropriately. the last week of March. Good luck ! While it’s still possible for changes to the underlying 3D model to cause annotations to become disasso- Source: Internet ciated, AutoCAD 2013 includes a new Annotation Monitor button on the status bar. Whereas last year, almost any change caused annotations to become disassociated, this time around, AutoCAD handles most changes without causing annotations to lose associativity. In addition to the big changes, AutoCAD 2013 includes several smaller, welcome changes and additions. For example, the Help system has been restructured to provide faster search results. And the Quick View Drawing thumbnails now display a bold border to emphasize the current active view. AutoCAD 2013 lets you select multiple hatch objects and modify them all at once using the Hatch Editor ribbon, and when working with external references, you can now edit the Saved Path directly in the External References palette. Point cloud functionality has also been enhanced. You can attach and manage point clouds similar to working with images and external references (XREFs) files. When working in 3D, the PressPull tool has been enhanced to include a multiple option -- and is no longer limited to clicking inside a bounded area. You can now select 2D and 3D curves as well. In addition to extruding faces straight out, you can offset a planar face as it extrudes to follow the taper angles of adjacent sides. Plus, a new Extract Isolines tool enables you to extract isoline curves from an existing surface or face of a solid. For myself I am telling, if you are using AutoCAD 2012 and you are not that much into designing, you better not upgrade. The only difference between the 2012 and the current version is the online features, Autodesk360, and Facebook/Twitter integration. But if you are into 3D modeling, for the documentation purpose, this is definitely your tool.
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cursor over each colour in the list. It’s amazing how helpful this small change can be. By far, the biggest improvement in AutoCAD 2012 was the introduction of associative arrays, which introduced three new commands for creating rectangular arrays, polar arrays or evenly distributing objects along a path. Once positioned, you could select an object in the array and make adjustments, such as changing the spacing, the number of objects or even the objects themselves. But creating a rectangular or polar array in AutoCAD 2012 could be a bit confusing. The array functionality in AutoCAD 2013 has been enhanced, making it faster and easier to create objects in a pattern. For example, after selecting objects for a rectangular array, they are immediately displayed in a three-row-by-four-column grid. When creating a polar array, the selected objects are displayed in a full circular pattern of six copies as soon as you specify a center point. And when creating a path array, the objects you select are immediately displayed evenly along the entire path, as soon as you select the path. Multi-function grips display for all three types of arrays, so you can dynamically modify relevant properties. In addition, new tools in the ribbon make it much easier to control the creating and editing of associative arrays. The other big change in the last release was the introduction of a completely new set of tools for documenting 3D models. Here again, Autodesk has learned a lot from that initial set of tools. As a result, the Model Documentation functionality has been greatly enhanced in AutoCAD 2013. The model documentation tools are now located in a new Layout tab alongside common tools for creating and managing drawing layouts and views. The process of creating model views still begins by placing a base view into a layout, but now, when you start the process, you can choose to generate the
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NEED VERSUS CHALLENGES OF WATER RESOURCE PROJECTS AND THE ANALYSIS OF TRENDS OF RAINFALL IN INDIA
GUEST ARTICLE
Author: Prof. K C Patra (CE) Abstract: Due to large temporal variation of distribution of water resources in India, the supply of fresh water of the country is under tremendous stress. The rapid growth of population, urbanization, increase in the per capita consumption, industrial growth and a host of other demands have added to the requirement of water at almost all the points of river course. The monsoonic climate of India is highly erratic both in space and time. Therefore, serious attention should be given to utilize the resource optimally such that it sustains the economic prosperity while taking care of the environmental and other related problems. Water resources projects also moderate the recurring phenomenon of flood and drought. This article focuses the issues relating to the need based growth of water resources projects, its challenges and environmental impacts. The trend of rainfall in India of the last century is compared with the trend of Orissa rainfall. The influence of forest on the annual rainfall is also discussed in the paper. Introduction ndia has to support 16 percent of world’s population on 2 percent of its land resource with a meager 4 percent of the world’s water resources. Due to the severe constraints of the availability versus the demands of water and land resources, it is found that more than 80 percent of all the diseases and more than 33 percents of all deaths in India is due to water borne diseases. Due to the large temporal variation of the distribution of water resources in India, the supply of fresh water in the country is under tremendous stress. The growing demand
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of water from various sectors like Industry, agriculture, municipality, power generation and others has resulted in the over exploitation of the resources. Supply of safe water to our growing population, while taking care of the environmental impacts has become essential for improving the health and alleviating poverty of a developing country like India. By the year 2025, our population is expected to be at least 1300 million and that by the year 2050 it may be touching 1640 million. The country may require about 330 million tonnes of food grain by the year 2025 AD and 450 million tones by the year 2050 AD. The gross cropped area of India is 189 million hectares out of which a feasible 139 million hectares of potential is expected to be created by the year 2010 AD. By considering a maximum productivity of our irrigated land to be about 2.5 t/ha and that for un-irrigated (rain fed) land to be 0.50 t/ha, we may be producing about 372 million tonnes of food grain from the 189 million hectares of cropped land. Efforts will, therefore, have to be made to plan something more for the future rather than simply targeting to exploit the ultimate irrigation potential of 139 million hectares. Due to the large temporal variation of river flows in India, storage dams offer the only viable alternative to meet the sustainable development of the country. The available water resource then can be optimally utilized for the needs of the mankind. During the last two decades or so a smear campaign has been launched by some NGO’s and other groups against the development of water resources projects in the name of environment, rehabilitation
To meet the huge water demands from the municipality, industry, livestock and other recreational uses at the concentrated urban centers, drawl of water from large water storage reservoirs is a must. Such projects will not only meet the large daily variation of water between the peak and recession hours but will assure a sustained supply to its needy people. Food Security Despite the stupendous growth of industry in India, nearly 70 percent of our population is till dependent on agriculture. The National Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development Plan, 1999 has estimated that assured irrigation has alone contributed to nearly 52 percent increase of food grain production. The other factors such as good agriculture practices and high yield crops besides good management practices have added up to the rest 48 percent. With the present growth rate, the country is going to face a huge deficit of almost 78 million tones of food grain by 2050 AD. Therefore to meet the huge deficit of food between the supply and the demand of our population that is expected to come, India should build sufficient storage reservoirs for irrigation purposes. Developed countries like USA, France, UK, Italy etc have build large and high dams for storage despite the fact that these countries are blessed with round the year rainfall. Their population growth is also nearly stable. Electric Power Due the obvious advantages of being environmental friendly, longer project life, cheapest unit cost of generation and zero burning of fossil fuel, generation of hydropower is considered as the best alternative source of power generation in the world. Leaving aside the capacities of small micro hydropower plants, it is estimated that India has a potential of nearly 140 GW of hydropower generation. At 60% load factor, it can generate nearly 84 GW (440 billion units or KWH) of power. The present hydropower generation in India is 13 GW at 60%
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and other hazards by merely exaggerating some facts. They forget the contribution of tremendous benefits of the water resources projects to the society. People have to be made integral part of the water resources development and management. It is absolutely necessary to bring awareness in the minds of the public that the development of irrigation projects is a must to feed the population and at the same time generation of hydroelectric power is not only cheap and environmental friendly but at the same time do not consume costly fuels like coal or petroleum. Besides meeting the food and energy requirement, these projects also ensure the drinking water needs, flood mitigation recreational and a host of other needs. Need For Water Resources Development in India The myth is, India has to support 16% of the world’s population with the 4% of world’s water resources. As on today, nearly 80% of India’s surface water resource goes waste to the sea. To feed its people and to meet the minimum requirement of water for various sectors, the development of water resource projects for India is a must. The following sections discuss the call for the urgent development of water resource project in India. Urbanization Between 1947 and 2000 the population of India has gone up by two and half times. During the same period the concentration of urban population of India has increased from 14 percent in 1951 to 33 percent in 2001. This indicates that the urban population of India has grown by 5 times during the last half century. It is expected that the urban population may be reaching to 50 percent of the total population of India by 2050 AD. The withdrawal of fresh water to meet the requirement of urban population may reach to an all time high of 60 BCM. Water conservation measures such as watershed management, rainwater harvesting etc may fail to supply fresh water to our urban population.
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decline in the incidence of diseases have been reported mainly due to assured supply of fresh water from the reservoirs, better communication and other facilities, more roads to the villages due to the construction of canal banks, and improvement of the economic conditions of the people living near the project areas. Water borne diseases like Hepatitis, Cholera, Typhoid, Polio, Diarrhea, Amoebas etc. and water associated diseases like malaria, filaris, dengue, polio myelis, heiminthic etc are in decline in command areas of almost all water resource projects. Tourism and Recreational Facilities Facilities like boating, rowing and other water sports can be developed at the project sites. Excellent gardens like the Brindavan garden, Ukai Garden, Ramaganga garden, Pinjore garden, Bhakra garden, Nagarjunasagar garden, Matalila garden Jaukawadi garden and Djyaneswar garden are the great tourist attraction gardens developed in India at the water resource project sites. Multiple Socio-Economic Benefits Development of a water resource project also necessitates the development of large infrastructural facilities like the road network, telecommunication, postal service, and employment opportunities. Measures like assured power supply, soil conservation, afforestation, assured water supply, industrial growth etc also helps in the tremendous direct and indirect socio-economic benefits to the people. There cannot be an example, where the economic condition of the people of project area has not gone up after the construction of a water resource project. Some Environmental Impacts and Their Mitigation The ministry of Environment and Forest in 1978 has prepared guidelines for EIA of the river valley projects. Rigorous assessment of EIA is a must so that measures to mitigate the impacts can be immediately taken up right at the initial stage of a project.
The important effects that needs to be studied are (a) rehabilitation and resettlement of the displaced persons, (b) deforestation, (c) sedimentation, (d) flora and fauna, (e) mineral deposits and heritage, (f) water-logging and salinity, (g) seismic impacts, (h) migration of aquatic life, and (i) water quality. A number of acts like (i) Environment (Protection) act, 1986; (ii) Water pollution (Prevention and control) act, 1974 and amended in 1988; (iii) Water (Prevention and control) pollution (Cess) act, 1977 and amended in 1991; (iv) Forest conservation act, 1980; (v) Environment Impact Assessment Notification of 1994; and (vi) Ministry of Environment and Forest Notification of January, 1997 help to take care of the adverse impact of environment on water resources projects. Trends in the Pattern of Rainfall in India There is a feeling amongst the Indians that the quantum of rainfall is decreasing gradually over the years. To answer the problem, an analysis is made1 based on the rainfall data collected from 306 well-distributed stations covering 29 meteorological sub-divisions in India. From the annual rainfall data of 1871-1990 (120 years) the decade wise position of mean annual rainfall of the Indian sub continent is obtained and is given in Table. No.1. A quick look at the above table reveals that there is no trend whatsoever in the rainfall in India and the rainfall intensities in the entire period are almost similar. The mean annual rainfall is 1090 mm. The lowest annual rainfall recorded is 811 mm in 1899 and the highest is 1349 mm in 1917. A comparative statement of the above rainfall analysis is given below. Decade wise analysis of the rainfall data of Table – 1 does not show a specific pattern in the trend of rainfall in India. From the decadal average expressed as percentage departures from the mean (1871 – 1990) for the twelve decades show the decadal departures are above and below the long
- term averages alternately for three consecutive decades having systematic turning points around the years 1900, 1930 and 1960. The analysis also gives information about 22 drought and 19 flood years in the series and these years also randomly distributed. There are dry years during the periods 1899 to 1920 and 1965 to 1987. Trend Analysis of the Mean Rainfall Data Analysis of trend of data is carried out by (i) Turning Point Test and also by (ii) Kendal’s Rank Correlation Test. In turning point test, 6 turning points P are located in the decadal rainfall series. The standard normal of P represented by the variate Z of the trend at 5% level of significance is calculated as – 0.496, which is within the range of Z = +1.96 at the significance level. Therefore the hypothesis that there is no trend in the rainfall data is accepted for the series. Why Large Storage Dams India has nearly 1870 cubic km surface water potential of which nearly 690 cubic km can be stored in various river valley projects. India is the largest builder of dams but the total storage capacity so far build can store only 175 cubic km, which is less than the capacity of Kariba dam of Zambia (capacity of 180.6 cu. km) and nearly equal to Aswan Dam of Egypt (capacity 163 cu. Km). Since India has 99 drought prone districts of which 75 districts has higher water resource potential than their requirement, it is essential that India should go far massive build up of storage dams to provide a answer to its drought and flood problems. In water shortage basins like Cauvery, Pennar, Sabarmati, Krishna etc. the medium and small dams as well as water harvesting projects cannot substitute to large storage schemes and these small projects dry out when there is a real need of supply of surface water due to long dry spells even during monsoon months. The small projects at best can complement to large projects.
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load factor (1997), that is, 15.5 % of its capacity is exploited so far. The world figure stands at 4200 GW of hydropower generation. However, the present share of hydropower in the power generation of the country is 25.5 percent, despite having the economic superiority of hydropower. The country still imports and burns fossil fuel at higher cost than developing the hydropower plants. The fossil fuel adversely affects the environment. Floods and Droughts Available statistics show that nearly periodic floods affect 12 percent of the geographical area of the country. On an average 8 million hectare of land is annually affected by flood, of which half of the area is always under standing crops. Floods claim nearly 1530 human lives and one lakh of cattle perish every year. Floods bring a sense of insecurity amongst the people living in the floodplains of various river basins. Floodplains are densely populated due to obvious reasons of availability of fresh water, fertile soil, and the benefit of being on flat terrain. The after effects of flood arising out of the damages from road communication, public health, drinking water, non-availability of food staff and other facilities makes it the most feared natural disaster. Similarly nearly 110 million hectares of India is drought prone affecting nearly 275 million people living in the area. Thus, more than 25 percent of our people and nearly 33 percent of our land is affected by drought every year. Droughts bring in the migration of poor people from the villages to the urban areas and thus mushrooming of slums in the towns/cities. The flora and fauna is adversely affected and so is the ground water table. Development of large numbers of water resource projects is the only answer to tackle the problem of flood and drought. Health Aspects In the command areas of irrigation projects, marked
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Forest and its Influence on Rainfall The following discussion based on the conclusions / quotations taken from various studies help to understand the influence of forest on the patterns of rainfall in India. 1.The National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee has brought out a study report entitled “Hydrological Responses of Land Use” on the basis of results of various studies made in India as well as other countries. The paper concludes that ‘Forests do not have any effect on the rainfall’. 2.The IMD scientists under the guidance of Dr. Vasant Gowarikar have developed a model to give advance quantitative forecast of rainfall. The model uses 16 global parameters including EL-NINO effect that governs / influences the Indian rainfall. The model has forecast successfully the quantum of the rainfall in India during the last 10 years. Afforestation / deforestation in India is not one of the parameters in the model. This is a conclusive evidence of the parameters influencing the Indian rainfall. 3.The effect of forest on the control of floods is also minimal. Major floods are invariably associated with long periods of intense rainfall during which the soil becomes nearly saturated. Under these conditions, the possibility of altering the infiltration rate or the retention of water in the soil by the forest cover is negligible. 4.Anil Agrawal the reputed environmental crusader in citizen’s report No.3 by the centre for Science and Environment on State of India’s environment 1991 entitled ‘Floods Floodplains and Environmental Myths’ in Chapter 7 concludes that “Environmentalists should not enter into a game of one-upmanship with Water Engineers. There is no evidence to believe that ecological solutions like afforestation will control floods anymore than engineering solutions like dams and embankments have been able to”.
5.The environmentalists, sociologists and some public argue that the destruction of forests drastically reduce the incidence of rainfall and increase the floods and devastation, ultimately leading to the destruction. The scientific fact is that forests have hardly any influence on monsoon rainfall or the devastating floods in India. 6.Another misconception is that forests contribute to a larger ground water recharge. The fact is that with its larger root zone, the infiltrating water is sucked back even at depths of 8 to 10 m, drastically reducing the quantum that goes down to the
ground water. 7.It is recognized fact that during the last 50 years we have lost about 50 million hectares of forest cover, and that the loss is continuing at the rate of 1 to 1.5 M. ha per year. Forestland so far utilised by all the irrigation multipurpose reservoir projects is less than 2 M. ha. It is therefore irrational to obstruct the water resources projects in the name of forest conservation rather than tackling the immense loss of 1 – 1.5 M. ha due to other reasons.
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The economic growth of India is closely associated with the building up of hundreds of large projects like Hirakud, Bhakra, Ramgnga and others. Due to the building of these projects, the country, which was importing food grain to feed its people in the fifties and sixties is now having abundant buffer stock to feed its people for the next 2-3 years even if there is erratic monsoon rainfall leading to crop failure. Besides, the country exports food to many foreign countries. The large water resource projects were built in India nearly 30-40 years back. Despite the enormous benefits these large projects give to the nation, the present day pseudo-environmentalist could not have allowed to build these projects today. Some novelists based on unfounded data takes the movement against the water resource projects to the streets and spread fantasies. At the same time we should remember that nearly 80 percent of our water goes to the sea untapped while we suffer from recurring flood and droughts due to the absence of large projects. In contrast, all most all the developed countries, be it USA or UK have built large number of high dams despite having blessed with round the year rain and thin density of population in comparison to India. We have to act very fast and tackle the fast emerging crises of water shortage from drinking, food production, power generation and other requirements before the pseudo-environmental novelists takes over, else India has to suffer. An analysis of the rainfall in India covering the period of the last century is presented here to show that there is no change in the annual rainfall in India. Therefore we have to act fast to take care of the growing demand of supply of fresh water to the needy people. Since the demand is increasing day by day and at the same time the resource is almost fixed, we should go far a massive storage of reservoirs so that the present wastage of nearly 80% of the resource that goes to the sea is tapped for the better use of the mankind.
Table No. 1: Analysis of Decade Wise Annual Rainfall in India (from 1871 to 1990) Sl.No.
Decade
(1) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Total Mean
(2) 1871 – 1880 1881 – 1890 1891 – 1900 1901 – 1910 1911 – 1920 1921 – 1930 1931 – 1940 1941 – 1950 1951 – 1960 1961 – 1970 1971 – 1980 1981 – 1990
A v e r a g e Depar tur e Percentage R a i n f a l l R a i n f a l l R a i n f a l l from Mean Departure M a x i m u m M i n i m u m (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) 1059 –31 –2.8 1230 914 1120 +30 +2.8 1158 1060 1094 +4 +0.4 1336 811 1040 –50 –4.6 1156 920 1077 –13 –1.2 1349 858 1074 –16 –1.5 1125 1032 1123 +33 +3.0 1280 998 1140 +50 +4.6 1216 957 1123 +33 +3.0 1334 972 1069 –21 –1.9 1314 872 1091 –0 –0.0 1199 848 1070 –20 –1.8 1244 965 13080 14941 11207 1090 1245 934
Source: Theoretical and Applied climatology. 1994 Decade data (1) Average Maximum Minimum
Highest (mm) (2) 1140 (1941 – 1959) 1349 (1911 – 1920) 1060 (1881 – 1890)
Lowest (mm) (3) 1040 (1900 – 1910) 1125 (1921 – 1930) 811 (1891 – 1900)
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Take a bow, Master
Crossword answers Page 10 - 11 Answers
“Remember, your work may be only to sweep a railway crossing, but it is your duty to keep it so clean that no other crossing in the world is as clean as yours.” n the 15th of September 1861, more than a century ago a boy was born in Muddenahalli in the Chikkaballapur Taluk of Kolar District of Mysore State. His father Srinivasa Sastry and his mother Venkachamma named him Visvesvaraya. Little did they know that the day the baby was born would be celebrated as the “Engineer’s Day” in the whole nation. He was a genius from his school days and maintained this attitude over his whole life. He was the embodiment of discipline, punctuality & hard work. “Everyman should understand his responsibility & do his best”- was the essence of his life. Upon graduating as an engineer, Visvesvaraya took a job with the Public Works Department (PWD) of Mumbai. Dams built by him in Mumbai are functional even till today. After showing the passion and commitment in his work, he was invited to join the Indian Irrigation Commission. Visvesvaraya was the maker of Modern Mysore. The Jayachamaraja Polytechnic Institute of Bangalore was started on the recommendation of Sir Visvesvaraya. He wanted education to spread up the whole nation and expected people to give up blind beliefs and use science and technology up to the fullest”. Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology (MVIT), a technical institute of repute in the state of Karnataka, established in the year 1986, is named after him. He was the chief engineer during the construction of Krishna Sagar Dam on the Cauvery River. He was also the chief designer of the flood protection system designed and built for the city of Hyderabad. The block system which he invented, the automatic doors which he devised to stop wasteful overflow of water for the city of Aden is a brilliant proof of his ingenious mind and intelligence. Visvesvaraya provided thousands of families with the basic amenities of life, and bestowed the bliss of education upon thousands of students and was a true hero to lead the country on the path of progress. Owing to his contribution he was honored with the highest state award of India, “The Bharata Ratna”, in the year 1955. He was knighted as a commander of the British Indian Empire by King George V before independence. When he finally turned 100, people all over India showered the grand old man with their heartfelt affection and respect and The Government of India also brought out a stamp to honor the king of Indian civil engineering. He stays green in the heart of every person who has the slightest love of the topic called civil engineering even after he passed away, the date being April14,1962. In our institute a hall of residence is honored with his name and its boarders are proud of the fact. Everything of his creations was mighty & magnificent, but he was far more magnificent and is revered in millions of hearts. He has set new standards of efficiency and is a shining example of possession of the most sought and priceless stuff for the current generation, honesty. Master, take a bow.
TRIBUTE
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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
The rail tunnel beneath the English Channel of 50.5km length completed in 1994 Channel Tunnel The symbolic suspension bridge in San Francisco of 2.7 kilometre length completed in 1937 Golden Gate Bridge The 77 kilometre long canal completed in 1914 connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific and having locks for ship transportation which reduces a journey around South America. Panama Canal The 102 storey skyscraper in New York that was completed in 1931 and remain the tallest build ing for 40 years. Empire State The only wonder of the ancient world still in existence. Pyramids of Giza The tower constructed across a period of 344 years which suffers a construction disaster as it tilts but become a wonder of the civil engineering projects of its era. Leaning Tower of Pisa The centre of Mughal architecture in India made of white marble from 1632 to 1653. Taj Mahal The highest bridge in the world with a height of 343 meter in Millau, France. Millau Viaduct The tower named after its architect erected in 1889 to serve as the entrance arch of World Fair which has become a symbol of the city. Eiffel Tower The luxury hotel in Dubai in the shape of a sail of a boat. Burj Al Arab The airport built in an artificial island in Osaka Kansai international Airport Canal completed in 1869 connecting Red sea and Mediterranean sea. Suez Canal
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Crossword answers Page 26 - 27 Answers
CIVIL IS FUN
ACROSS 3. Hydrograph 7. Sinking 9. Earth 10. Castor 11. Half 14. Safety 15. Spiral 17. Manhole 19. Three 20. Twenty 22. Grade 23. Dog 24. Infinity DOWN 1. Porosity 2. Constant 4. Dead 5. Pandrol 6. Bishop 8. Khosla 12. Five 13. Thirty 15. Shear 16. Methane 17. Metre 18. Reflux 21. Zero 23. Draft
THE MAGAZI NE TE A M Hrushikesh Raymohapatra John Diptikanta Behera Kr i sh n a Ku m ar S Ku ppu ma ni ka nda n A Monalisha Chhotaray Pra sang Singh Parihar Rajanikanta Behera Shiba Shankar Satapathy Sthita prag yan Na yak Ta n z i m H u s s a i n
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