PROCLAMATION NO. 164: DECLARING THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER 2011 AS “STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING MONTH”

MALACAÑAN PALACE
MANILA

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES

PROCLAMATION NO. 164

DECLARING THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER 2011 AS “STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING MONTH”

WHEREAS, recent global developments related to natural disasters highlight the importance of promoting public safety through the design and construction of safe and sound engineered structures such as buildings, bridges, towers, and other structures;

WHEREAS, there is a need to increase public awareness about the role and the social and moral responsibilities of Civil Engineers specializing in structural design in relation to promoting public safety;

WHEREAS, the Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines, Inc. (ASEP), an affiliate society of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE), is the country’s only national organization of practitioners of structural engineering;

WHEREAS, ASEP will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary in September 2011;

WHEREAS, for the past 50 years, ASEP has been a partner of the government in its commitment to the protection of life and property by promoting responsible structural engineering through various undertakings, such as effective programs for disaster risk reduction and management and continuing professional development; and

WHEREAS, there is a need to express our appreciation for the work of our structural engineers and to spread awareness of their vital contribution to the country.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BENIGNO S. AQUINO III, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby declare the month of September 2011 as “Structural Engineering Month.”

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 9th day of May, in the year of our Lord, Two Thousand and Eleven.

(Sgd.) BENIGNO S. AQUINO III

By the President:
(Sgd.) PAQUITO N. OCHQA, JR.
Executive Secretary

Source: http://www.gov.ph/2011/05/09/proclamation-no-164/

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How thrust blocks look like

Source: Google

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Water Supply and Various Types of Pipes

Water supply is the process of general requirement for supply of water from public water supply system to individual building and subsequent distribution of water to various parts of the building. The water from public water supply system to individual buildings is supplied through pipes. A large proportion of capital is invested on pipes while designing water supply distribution system. The following factors should be considered in selection of pipes.
• Strength of pipe
• Water carrying capacity
• Life and durability of pipe
• Expenditure on transportation
• Jointing process, maintenance and repairs.

CI Pipes - Strong and heavy.
CI pipes are heavy in weight. Therefore transportation is costlier and they are not suitable for inaccessible places. Due to heavy weight these are generally made in short length. This increases layout and jointing cost. CI vertical casting pipes are not of very good quality and can be replaced by centrifugal casting (spun casting) pipes.
Steel Pipes
These pipes are extensively used for water supply. They are best suitable for long distance pipe lines of high pressure and provide satisfactory performance during service. These pipes have excellent mechanical properties and are ideally suited for welding. The pipes are made in length more than twice the length of CI pipes; which saves in transport, layout of pipe and joining cost. There is minimum damage to the pipes in transportation. The pipes being light in weight are used for large diameter pipe lines.
Cement Pipes
Main advantage of cement pipes in place of metallic pipes is their corrosion resistance. These pipes are bulky, heavy and require careful transportation and handling. The layout process of these pipes is costlier than steel pipes.

Asbestos Cement (AC) Pipes
These pipes are light in weight and easy in transportation and layout. They have smooth internal surface and are not affected by corrosion (rust). The pipes are extensively used for water supply systems. Holes can be drilled in these pipes. These pipes are not costlier.

Un-plasticized PVC (UPVC) Pipes
These pipes are rigid PVC pipes. They are light in weight, tough, resistant to chemical attack and large in length. Due to large in length the cost of handling is much whereas transportation and installation cost is less. Smooth internal surface of pipes provide less friction which results in saving of energy. These pipes are not suitable for the area which is very hot.


Source:http://www.gharexpert.com

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Design of Coastal Revetments, Seawalls, and Bulkheads

Design of Coastal Revetments,
Seawalls, and Bulkheads

Chapter 1

Introduction

1-1. Purpose
This manual provides guidance for the design of coastal
revetments, seawalls, and bulkheads.

1-2. Applicability
This manual applies to HQUSACE elements, major
subordinate commands, districts, laboratories, and field
operating activities having civil works responsibilities.

1-3. References
Required and related publications are listed in Appendix A. Bibliographic items are cited in the text by author
and year of publication, with full references listed in
Appendix A. If any reference item contains information
conflicting with this manual, provisions of this manual
govern.

1-4. Background
Structures are often needed along either bluff or beach
shorelines to provide protection from wave action or to
retain in situ soil or fill. Vertical structures are classified
as either seawalls or bulkheads, according to their function, while protective materials laid on slopes are called
revetments.
a. Revetments. Revetments are generally constructed
of durable stone or other materials that will provide sufficient armoring for protected slopes. They consist of an
armor layer, filter layer(s), and toe protection. The armor
layer may be a random mass of stone or concrete rubble
or a well-ordered array of structural elements that interlock to form a geometric pattern. The filter assures drainage and retention of the underlying soil. Toe protection is
needed to provide stability against undermining at the
bottom of the structure.
b. Bulkheads and seawalls. The terms bulkhead
and seawall are often used interchangeably. However, a
bulkhead is primarily intended to retain or prevent sliding
of the land, while protecting the upland area against wave
action is of secondary importance. Seawalls, on the other
hand, are more massive structures whose primary purpose
is interception of waves. Bulkheads may be either cantilevered or anchored (like sheetpiling) or gravity structures (such as rock-filled timber cribs). Their use is
limited to those areas where wave action can be resisted
by such materials. In areas of intense wave action, massive concrete seawalls are generally required. These may
have either vertical, concave, or stepped seaward faces.
c. Disadvantages. Revetments, bulkheads, and
seawalls mainly protect only the upland area behind them.
All share the disadvantage of being potential wave reflectors that can erode a beach fronting the structure. This
problem is most prevalent for vertical structures that are
nearly perfect wave reflectors and is progressively less
prevalent for curved, stepped, and rough inclined structures that absorb or dissipate increasing amounts of wave
energy.

1-5. Discussion
The designer is responsible for developing a suitable solution which is economical and achieves the project’s
purpose (see EM 1110-2-3300). Caution should be exercised, however, when using this manual for anything
beyond preliminary design in which the primary goal is
cost estimating and screening of alternatives. Final design
of large projects usually requires verification by hydraulic
model studies. The construction costs of large projects
offer considerable opportunities for refinements and possible cost savings as a result of model studies. Model
studies should be conducted for all but small projects
where limited budgets control and the consequences of
failure are not serious.


Source: http://140.194.76.129/publications/eng-manuals/em1110-2-1614/basdoc.pdf

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Boardwalk

A boardwalk, in the conventional sense, is a wooden walkway for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles, often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments.

Boardwalks along intertidal zones are known as foreshoreways. A boardwalk along a river is often known as a riverwalk and a boardwalk along an oceanfront is often known as an oceanway. Aside from their obvious pedestrian usage, boardwalks have been used to create commercial districts and enable commerce along waterfronts where conventional streets would have been more expensive because of a beach or other waterfront feature. Although boardwalks can be found around the world, they are especially common along the East Coast of the United States in North America.

Many of the original boardwalks in the United States have developed to be so successful as commercial districts and tourist attractions that the simple wooden pathways have been replaced by esplanades made of concrete, brick or other construction, sometimes with a wooden facade on the surface and sometimes not. Indeed in many parts of the U.S. today the term boardwalk often carries more the connotation of a waterfront, pedestrian, entertainment district than the original meaning of a wooden path. One of the earliest such boardwalks was designed in New Jersey and opened June 26, 1870, in Atlantic City.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boardwalk

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Types of Pier

Piers can be categorized into different groupings according to the principal purpose. However there is considerable overlap between these categories. For example, pleasure piers often also allow for the docking of pleasure steamers and other similar craft, whilst working piers have often been converted to leisure use after being rendered obsolete by advanced developments in cargo-handling technology.

Working piers

Working piers were built for the handling of passengers and cargo onto and off ships or (as at Wigan Pier) canal boats. Working piers themselves fall into two different groups. Longer individual piers are often found at ports with large tidal ranges, with the pier stretching far enough off shore to reach deep water at low tide. Such piers provided an economical alternative to impounded docks where cargo volumes were low, or where specialist bulk cargo was handled, such as at coal piers. The other form of working pier, often called the finger pier, was built at ports with smaller tidal ranges. Here the principal advantage was to give a greater available quay length for ships to berth against compared to a linear littoral quayside, and such piers are usually much shorter. Typically each pier would carry a single transit shed the length of the pier, with ships berthing bow or stern in to the shore. Some major ports consisted of large numbers of such piers lining the foreshore, classic examples being the Hudson River frontage of New York, or the Embarcadero in San Francisco.

The advent of container shipping, with its need for large container handling spaces adjacent to the shipping berths, has made working piers obsolete for the handling of general cargo, although some still survive for the handling of passenger ships or bulk cargos. One example, is in use in Progreso, Yucatán, where a pier extends more than 4 miles into the Gulf of Mexico, making it the longest pier in the world. The Progreso Pier supplies much of the peninsula with transportation for the fishing and cargo industries and serves as a port for large cruise ships in the area. Many other working piers have been demolished, or remain derelict, but some have been recycled as pleasure piers. The best known example of this is Pier 39 in San Francisco.

At Southport and the Tweed River on the Gold Coast in Australia, there are piers that support equipment for a sand bypassing system that maintains the health of sandy beaches and navigation channels.

Pleasure piers were first built in England, during the 19th century. The earliest structures were Ryde Pier, built in 1813/4,Leith Trinity Chain Pier, built in 1821, and Brighton Chain Pier, built in 1823. Only the oldest of these piers still remains. At that time the introduction of the railways for the first time permitted mass tourism to dedicated seaside resorts. However, the large tidal ranges at many such resorts meant that for much of the day, the sea was not visible from dry land. The pleasure pier was the resorts' answer, permitting holiday makers to promenade over and alongside the sea at all times. The longest Pleasure pier in the world is at Southend-on-sea, Essex, and extends 2,158 metres (1.34 mi) into the Thames estuary. The longest pier on the West Coast of the United States is the Oceanside Pier.

Pleasure piers often include other amusements and theatres as part of the attraction. Such a pier may be open air, closed, or partly open, partly closed. Sometimes a pier has two decks.

Early pleasure piers were of wooden construction, with iron structures being introduced with the construction in 1855 of Margate Jetty, inMargate, England. Margate was wrecked in storms in 1978 and was never repaired. The oldest iron pleasure pier pier still remaining is inSouthport, England, and dates from 1860 - however the world's oldest iron pier^[1] dates from 1834 and is in Gravesend, Kent. Gravesham council have recently purchased and refurbished this passenger pier.

Fishing piers

Many piers are built for the purpose of providing land locked anglers access to fishing grounds that are otherwise inaccessible.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pier

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Types of Pier

Piers can be categorized into different groupings according to the principal purpose. However there is considerable overlap between these categories. For example, pleasure piers often also allow for the docking of pleasure steamers and other similar craft, whilst working piers have often been converted to leisure use after being rendered obsolete by advanced developments in cargo-handling technology.

Working piers

Working piers were built for the handling of passengers and cargo onto and off ships or (as at Wigan Pier) canal boats. Working piers themselves fall into two different groups. Longer individual piers are often found at ports with large tidal ranges, with the pier stretching far enough off shore to reach deep water at low tide. Such piers provided an economical alternative to impounded docks where cargo volumes were low, or where specialist bulk cargo was handled, such as at coal piers. The other form of working pier, often called the finger pier, was built at ports with smaller tidal ranges. Here the principal advantage was to give a greater available quay length for ships to berth against compared to a linear littoral quayside, and such piers are usually much shorter. Typically each pier would carry a single transit shed the length of the pier, with ships berthing bow or stern in to the shore. Some major ports consisted of large numbers of such piers lining the foreshore, classic examples being the Hudson River frontage of New York, or the Embarcadero in San Francisco.

The advent of container shipping, with its need for large container handling spaces adjacent to the shipping berths, has made working piers obsolete for the handling of general cargo, although some still survive for the handling of passenger ships or bulk cargos. One example, is in use in Progreso, Yucatán, where a pier extends more than 4 miles into the Gulf of Mexico, making it the longest pier in the world. The Progreso Pier supplies much of the peninsula with transportation for the fishing and cargo industries and serves as a port for large cruise ships in the area. Many other working piers have been demolished, or remain derelict, but some have been recycled as pleasure piers. The best known example of this is Pier 39 in San Francisco.

At Southport and the Tweed River on the Gold Coast in Australia, there are piers that support equipment for a sand bypassing system that maintains the health of sandy beaches and navigation channels.

Pleasure piers were first built in England, during the 19th century. The earliest structures were Ryde Pier, built in 1813/4,Leith Trinity Chain Pier, built in 1821, and Brighton Chain Pier, built in 1823. Only the oldest of these piers still remains. At that time the introduction of the railways for the first time permitted mass tourism to dedicated seaside resorts. However, the large tidal ranges at many such resorts meant that for much of the day, the sea was not visible from dry land. The pleasure pier was the resorts' answer, permitting holiday makers to promenade over and alongside the sea at all times. The longest Pleasure pier in the world is at Southend-on-sea, Essex, and extends 2,158 metres (1.34 mi) into the Thames estuary. The longest pier on the West Coast of the United States is the Oceanside Pier.

Pleasure piers often include other amusements and theatres as part of the attraction. Such a pier may be open air, closed, or partly open, partly closed. Sometimes a pier has two decks.

Early pleasure piers were of wooden construction, with iron structures being introduced with the construction in 1855 of Margate Jetty, inMargate, England. Margate was wrecked in storms in 1978 and was never repaired. The oldest iron pleasure pier pier still remaining is inSouthport, England, and dates from 1860 - however the world's oldest iron pier^[1] dates from 1834 and is in Gravesend, Kent. Gravesham council have recently purchased and refurbished this passenger pier.

Fishing piers

Many piers are built for the purpose of providing land locked anglers access to fishing grounds that are otherwise inaccessible.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pier

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Prestressed Concrete Pile

Prestressed concrete piles have commonly closed-ended tubular sections of 400 mm to 600 mm diameter with maximum allowable axial loads up to about 2 700 kN. Normal pile elements can be up to about 20 m long and are usually welded together using steel end plates. Prestressing concrete piles has several benefits. Tensile stresses, which can be set up in a pile during driving, can be better resisted, and the pile is less likely to be damaged during handling. Bending stresses, which can occur during driving, are also less likely to produce cracking. However, the ultimate strength in axial compression is decreased as the level of prestressing is increased. Therefore, prestressed piles are more vulnerable to damage from striking obstructions during driving. They are also difficult to cut after installation, and special techniques have to be employed. As a result they are most suitable for applications where the pile length is predictable and constant. Prestressed concrete piles require high-strength concrete and careful control during manufacture. Casting is usually carried out in a factory, where the curing conditions can be strictly regulated. Special manufacturing processes such as compaction by spinning or autoclave curing can be adopted to produce high strength concrete. This type of pile is generally less permeable than reinforced concrete piles and may be expected to exhibit superior performance in a marine environment. Hard steel points (fixed or attachable driving shoes) can be used at the toe of jointed piles for protection when penetrating soils containing boulders, or in weak rock.

Source: http://www.geoforum.com/info/pileinfo/view.asp?ID=37

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Construction Projects

Lucena Fishport Complex The project included the construction of a new RORO-ramp, driving of new piles and the re-construction of the deck for the Multi - purpose commercial port. Source: http://www.dmwai.com/projects.html

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Types of Port

Port types

The terms "port" and "seaport" are used for different types of port facilities that handle ocean-going vessels, and river port is used for river traffic, such as barges and other shallow-draft vessels. Some ports on a lake, river, or canal have access to a sea or ocean, and are sometimes called "inland ports".

A fishing port is a port or harbour facility for landing and distributing fish. It may be a recreational facility, but it is usually commercial. A fishing port is the only port that depends on an ocean product, and depletion of fish may cause a fishing port to be uneconomical. In recent decades, regulations to save fishing stock may limit the use of a fishing port, perhaps effectively closing it.

A "dry port" is a term sometimes used to describe a yard used to place containers or conventional bulk cargo, usually connected to a seaport by rail or road.

A warm water port is one where the water does not freeze in winter time. Because they are available year-round, warm water ports can be of great geopolitical or economic interest.

A seaport is further categorized as a "cruise port" or a "cargo port". Additionally, "cruise ports" are also known as a "home port" or a "port of call". The "cargo port" is also further categorized into a "bulk" or "break bulk port" or as a "container port".

A cruise home port is the port where cruise-ship passengers board (or embark) to start their cruise and also debark (or disembark) the cruise ship at the end of their cruise. It is also where the cruise ship's supplies are loaded for the cruise, which includes everything from fresh water and fuel to fruits, vegetable, champagne, and any other supplies needed for the cruise. "Cruise home ports" are a very busy place during the day the cruise ship is in port, because off-going passengers debark their baggage and on-coming passengers board the ship in addition to all the supplies being loaded. Currently, the Cruise Capital of the World is the Port of Miami, Florida, closely followed behind by Port Everglades, Florida and the Port of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

A port of call is an intermediate stop for a ship on its sailing itinerary, which may include up to half a dozen ports. At these ports, a cargo ship may take on supplies or fuel, as well as unloading and loading cargo. But for a cruise ship, it is their premier stop where the cruise lines take on passengers to enjoy their vacation.

Cargo ports, on the other hand, are quite different from cruise ports, because each handles very different cargo, which has to be loaded and unloaded by very different mechanical means. The port may handle one particular type of cargo or it may handle numerous cargoes, such as grains, liquid fuels, liquid chemicals, wood, automobiles, etc. Such ports are known as the "bulk" or "break bulk ports". Those ports that handle containerized cargo are known as container ports. Most cargo ports handle all sorts of cargo, but some ports are very specific as to what cargo they handle. Additionally, the individual cargo ports are divided into different operating terminals which handle the different cargoes, and are operated by different companies, also known as terminal operators or stevedores.

[edit]

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port

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Differentiate a Dock, a Port, a Quay, a harbor, a jetty, and a Wharf

A dock is dug out and usually has gates so that the water level is kept up even though the tide has gone out. Access may only be at certain times of the tide. A dock is for mooring ships for cargo or passenger exchange, or sometimes repair. A dry dock can have the water evacuated so the ship rests on the bottom for easy access to the hull. A harbour may be natural or partly dug out, or even made with floating materials. It doesn't have gates, but may have a narrow entrance. Provides safe anchoring or mooring for ships. A quay is the built up bank of a harbour or dock where ships can moor. A jetty is a sort of pier sticking out either to provide shelter for shipping, or short term mooring in deep water for ships that cannot approach the shore - such as liners and oil tankers. Can also be smaller and for ferry connections, etc. A wharf is less substantial than a quay, and may be on the bank of a river. Wharf also applies to certain sandy banks such as Mad WHarf and Mockbeggar wharf which most certainly are not suitable for shipping.

Dock (maritime), an area of water for building or repairing or loading and unloading ships or ferries

A port is a facility for receiving ships and transferring cargo.

A quay, pronounced 'kay', 'key' or 'kway', is a wharf or bank where ships and other vessels are loaded.

A harbor or harbour or haven, is a place where ships may shelter from the weather or are stored.

A jetty is a structure, such as a pier, that projects into a body of water to influence the current or tide or to protect a harbor or shoreline from storms or erosion.

A wharf is a fixed platform, commonly on pilings, where ships are loaded and unloaded.

Source: http://www.funtrivia.com/askft/Question84893.html

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Wharf

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Metung-Wharf-Pano%2C-Vic.jpg

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Modular floating dock

Source: http://www.nauticexpo.com/prod/arnaving-mobi-deck/modular-floating-docks-27503-185538.html

• 

• video
• zoom

The usage of mobile floating anchorages for the

purpose of creating one entrance to several

rows of docks moorings allowing an increase

of space from 30 - 40% in the same docking area.

Boats until 20 to 25 feet.

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Researchers were already seeing signs for a huge quake to hit Japan a year back

I found this video on Youtube uploaded on Apr 26, 2010. They have already predicted a huge earthquake basing on the seismic activities around Tokyo. Just before a year the video upload, the big earthquake truly occurred.

It will greatly affect the economy of Japan and some parts of the world. The researchers are right. A big quake could devastate the city greatly.

In that video, the assumption was an earthquake with at least a magnitude of 7.0.

These are the projected effects:

Casualties: 11,000 will die

Evacuees: 7 million

Damage: 800 billion Euros

Good thing Japan is highly advanced when it comes to technology. However, the forces of nature are beyond man's control. We can try to minimize the risk but surely we are unable to stop it from happening.

If you try to imagine the earthquake that occurred last 1923 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 200,000 people died. It only had 7.9 magnitude compared to what happened on March 11, 2011 mid afternoon.

Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki are found in the southern part of Japan. The country expects to have a major quake once in 5 years. There were 19 earthquakes in the last 100 years.

In 1995, a quake hit Kobe. 20 seconds devastated Kobe and over 6,000 people died.

People should safeguard their own destiny according to the researchers.

Design of buildings

Definitely, buildings in Japan are designed with amazing flexibility to sway during earthquakes. However, for what has happened recently, the country was not prepared for the tsunamis that devastated many lives.

Concrete slabs are mounted on pillars with hydraulic shock absorbers. This makes the building withstand a huge earthquake.

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