Jubail 2 is considered by many to be the world's largest civil engineering project. It consists of an 83 km2 industrial development started in 2005 in the city of Jubail, 490 km northeast of Riyadh. The current population of Jubail is 380,000. The new development, when complete, is likely to double the size of the current city. Jubail was a fishing village until … [Read more...]
How to Plan Project Quality
In the engineering business, project quality is important. I've seen many projects that did everything right, but derailed based on one single issue the project team overlooked. Don't let that happen to you. The Project Management Institute (PMI) identifies project quality planning as the first of three steps to effective project quality management. In this post, I … [Read more...]
How to Implement Document Control
For engineering projects, document control is a big deal. Nobody has time to rework a design or report because a reviewer received the wrong copy, or document versioning wasn't kept up to date. At Roseke Engineering, besides using ProjectEngineer to manage our projects, we have a physical document control system in place. It resides in the project management binder … [Read more...]
How to Implement the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Cycle
The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle, also called the Deming Cycle, is an important project management tool. How can this tool be used in a typical engineering project? Plan This step involves identifying and analyzing the problem. Planning is consistently underrated in most engineering projects. I've been involved with multi-billion dollar oil sands projects as well as … [Read more...]
Project Quality Management
For us engineers, quality is a big deal. Industry standard quality control dictates that most documents and designs require a "second stamp" i.e. a reviewer who takes as much responsibility as the designer. But what does a true project quality management plan look like? In this article, I will talk about project quality from the perspective of the project management … [Read more...]
Volunteer Opportunities for Engineers
Many engineers wish to give back to their profession, and one of the most noble ways is to volunteer your time overseas. I have done this multiple times, and I intend to do it again. Here I will give you some options for how to do it and what it looks like. First, let me list a few organizations: Engineers Without Borders ASCE Disaster Assistance … [Read more...]
How to Calculate the Centroid
The centroid of an area is the geometrical center, i.e. the average of all of the points in an area. It is always the same, regardless of how you turn the shape. It is also the center of gravity of a three dimensional object. Basic Shapes The centroids of common shapes are shown below: Shape Centroid Square/Rectangle Right-Angle … [Read more...]
How to Determine Soil Compressive Strength with a Pocket Penetrometer
A pocket penetrometer is a fantastic little invention which geotechnical engineers and technologists find very handy. It is a small handheld gauge which contains a telescoping rod which can be pushed into the soil. The distance the rod goes into the soil corresponds to a compressive strength on the dial. Measurement of Soil The pocket penetrometer measures the … [Read more...]
The Standard Penetration Test (SPT)
The Standard Penetration Test is an in-situ test that is useful in site exploration and foundation design. It produces an N-value, which represents the number of blows of a standardized sampler driven into the soil a standardized distance. How the Test Works The sampler is 51 mm O.D. (outside diameter) and it is driven into the soil with a 63.5 kg weight having a … [Read more...]
4 Ways to Make Your Projects a Success
According to the Project Management Institute, less than two thirds of projects meet their intended goals. The other one third are projects that end up with a drastically different scope than they began with, sometimes with different deliverables, or even get canceled outright. The project managers of these projects are not doing any favors for their careers. I … [Read more...]