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Posted by admin on 11/ 11/ 15
The performance of a hydrosystem engineering infrastructure, function of an engineering project, or completion of an operation all involve a number of contributing components, and most of them, if not all, are subject to various types of uncertainty (Fig. 1.1). Detailed elaboration of uncertainties in hydrosystem engineering and their analysis are given in Tung and Yen (2005). Reliability and risk, on the other hand, generally are associated with the system as a whole. Thus methods to account for the component uncertainties and to combine them are required to yield the system reliability. Such methods usually involve the use of a logic tree, which is discussed in Chap. 5. A typical logic tree for culvert design is shown in Fig. 1.2 as an example.
The reliability of an engineering system ... read more
Posted by admin on 11/ 11/ 15
Whether we admit it or not, we all respond emotionally to our surroundings. Buildings create interior environments that can be drab,
 distinctive, inspiring, or discouraging. How a building looks, how it’s laid out, the materials used—all these influence how we feel. I’ve visited huge, expensive homes that were not very inviting. Just because a house is big does not mean that it is warm and attractive.
Even a small, plain house can be made to feel inviting and uplifting, giving us pleasure, raising our spirits, and making us feel safe and secure (see the photo on the facing page). In the years that I’ve been a Habitat volunteer, I’ve had
the opportunity to give a few humble houses a bit more personality and life than they’d otherwise have had... read more
Posted by admin on 11/ 11/ 15
The driving force of this urban development is likely the significant population growth, as seen in a proliferation of villages and small towns in the IVth millennium BC. Subsequently, it may be that as the climate became drier, some of the villages were abandoned causing market towns to grow and evolve into cities. As some branches of the river became dry, it was necessary to dig canals and establish a complex system of water distribution, and also to bring more land under cultivation by draining swampy areas and irrigating dry land. The accompanying need to organize a work force and coordinate the construction gave birth to the Sumerian civilization, the first to have a hierarchical organization.[7] Studies of human settlements in certain regions of lower Mesopotamia, performed by the ... read more
Posted by admin on 11/ 11/ 15
Water and the infrastructure for its conveyance are ever-present needs of civilization, whether for irrigation or flood protection, for water supply or for wastewater drainage from the earliest cities. Added to these needs are those of waterborne commerce, canals, and ports.
This story begins in the East with the great Neolithic revolution, humanity’s fundamental stride into an economic system of production, of agriculture and its accompanying development of the first cities.
From the birth of agriculture to the development of irrigation: the origins of the great Mesopotamian civilizations
In the near-East there is a zone of hills called the “fertile crescent” extending from Syria-Palestine to the foot of Mounts Taurus and Zagros... read more
Posted by admin on 11/ 11/ 15
From the era of the early cultivators to the conquests of Alexander the Great
From the beginning of history up to the conquests of Alexander the Great, continuous and rapid development of civilization occurred in the valleys of the Tigris, the Euphrates, and the Nile Rivers, as well as on the shores of the Aegean Sea. Each of these regions has its own particular historical context, and each would be worthy of its own detailed description. But the regions were also closely linked together and unified by extensive trade and military ventures, and by the transfer of technology that came with them.
The historical period of Part I of this book ends in the era of Alexander the Great, whose conquests marked the end of a civilization in the Orient.
To understand this period, one must keep in mind ... read more
Posted by admin on 11/ 11/ 15
1.1 Reliability Engineering
Occasionally, failures of engineering systems catch public attention and raise concern over the safety and performance of the systems. The cause of the malfunction and failure could be natural phenomena, human error, or deficiency in design and manufacture. Reliability engineering is a field developed in recent decades to deal with such safety and performance issues.
Based on their setup, engineering systems can be classified loosely into two types, namely, manufactured systems and infrastructural systems. Manufactured systems are those equipment and assemblies, such as pumping stations, cars, computers, airplanes, bulldozers, and tractors, that are designed, fabricated, operated, and moved around totally by humans... read more
Posted by admin on 11/ 11/ 15
It was not until after I thought I had already finished designing my little dream home that I became familiar with the term “minimum-size standards.” Up to this point, I had somehow managed to remain blissfully unaware of these codes; but, as the time for construction neared, my denial gave way to a grim reality. My proposed home was about one-third the size required to meet local limits. A drastic change of plans seemed unavoidable, but tripling the scale of a structure that had been designed to meet my specific needs so concisely seemed something like altering a tailored suit to fit like a potato sack.
I resolved to side-step the well-intentioned codes by putting my house on wheels... read more
Posted by admin on 11/ 11/ 15
Through my academic career, I have spent most of research efforts on problems relating to probabilistic hydrosystem engineering. I am truly thankful to my advisor, Larry W. Mays, who first introduced me to this fascinating area when I was a Ph. D. student. Over the years, both Larry and the late Ben C. Yen have been my unflagging supporters and mentors. In the process of putting together the book, the use of materials from some of my former students (Drs. Wade Hathhorn, Yixing Bao, and Bing Zhao) brought many fond memories back about the time we spent together burning midnight oil, cutting fire wood, and fishing... read more
Posted by admin on 11/ 11/ 15
NEPA is the most important federal environmental legislation to be considered in the planning and development of highway projects. NEPA was enacted by Congress in December 1969 and signed into law by President Nixon on January 1, 1970. It was the first comprehensive environmental law in the United States and established the country’s national environmental policies. To implement these policies, NEPA requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of its discretionary actions prior to making decisions on such actions. Actions subject to NEPA include such activities as the financing or approving of projects or programs; the adoption of agency regulations and procedures; the permitting of private and public actions; and a broad range of other actions.
As indicated in Sec... read more
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