THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2015/2016

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Engineering : Civil

Undergraduate Course: Engineering Geology and Surveying 2 (CIVE08022)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Engineering CollegeCollege of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryThis course will provide an introduction to the discipline of engineering geology and to practical engineering surveying techniques. It will allow an understanding of how the fundamental principles of geological sciences influence the design and construction of engineering structures and provide an understanding and practical experience of how engineering surveying techniques are used in civil engineering projects.
Course description The course includes a number of Lectures and Tutorials during the Weeks 1 - 10 on key fundamental concepts of Geology that are important for Civil Engineers. On Week 11 the students are introduced, at a residential Field Trip, to land surveying techniques and methodologies using a combination of Lectures, Seminars and practical surveying tasks.

Geology Lectures:

L1 Rationale: Geology for Civil Engineers. Overview: how the Earth works.

L2-5 The Rock Cycle, geologic time and event sequences. Plates, magmatism and the diversity of igneous rocks. Surface processes. Sedimentary rocks. Minerals. Metamorphism. Rock strength and controls. Cleavage, joints and faults. Types and uses of geological maps and cross-sections.

L6-7 Engineering implications. Problems and solutions: Superficial deposits. Difficult ground. Ground investigation, Geophysical methods. Glacial deposits and arctic terrains. Limestone terrain: landforms. Slope failure and other hazards.

L8 Earthquakes: mechanisms, ground motion and secondary consequences. Hazard and risk. Strategies. Case study: The Bam earthquake of 2003 case study. Investigating the link between geology, earthquake hazard and human settlement.

L9 Global warming: the evidence, and implications of climate change. Sea- level rise and future civil engineering challenges.

L10 Review of the course. Revision and examination strategies.

Surveying Lectures/Seminars:

L1 Introduction: Applications, principles, sequence of planning and executing a survey. Categories: geodetic and plane. Objectives: establishment of relative positions, setting out. Measurements: direct or indirect linear measurement; angular measurement; height difference. Fixing the position of a point: trilateration; offset; traverse; triangulation.

L2 Optical instruments: Basic features of the surveying telescope and theodolites. Angular measurement.

L3 Levelling Applications: Principles and procedures. Basic features of levels and "Two peg" test. Booking: Rise and Fall, Height of Collimation. Accuracy. Precise levelling. Operational errors.

L4 Linear measurement: Electro-magnetic distance measurement & GPS Distance measurement: procedures for taping, booking method; obstacles; plotting conventions. Base line measurement and corrections. Technology, methodology and adjustments for EDM and GPS

L5 & L6 Traverse surveys: Open traverse, closed traverse. Meridian and bearing. Angle observation (included, deflection). Adjustment (Bowditch's method, Theodolite rule, X-Y method). Example using Bowditch.

L7 & L8 Setting Out Procedures: co-ordinate and grid methods. Control of excavations. Curve ranging (circular, transition and vertical): setting out methods (theodolite and tape, two theodolites, linear.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Additional Costs Contribution towards the Surveying field trip to cover accommodation costs.
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 12, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 14, Fieldwork Hours 22, Formative Assessment Hours 1, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 47 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 50 %, Coursework 50 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Written Exam 50%:
Coursework 50%:
Feedback Mid Semester "Start, Stop, Continue"
Written feedback on submitted Coursework
Oral Feedback on undertaking Surveying tasks
End of course "post-mortem" review
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May)1:30
Resit Exam Diet (August)1:30
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. demonstrate a basic knowledge of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks, their formation and occurrence in different tectonic environments;
  2. demonstrate an ability to interpret geological maps and construct elementary geological cross-sections and infer subsurface structure;
  3. recognise and describe common geological formations of relevance to civil engineering and demonstrate a basic knowledge of investigation techniques and mitigation strategies for difficult ground.
  4. undertake topographical surveys using theodolites or total stations and perform levelling and traverse surveys, asses their accuracy and adjust closure errors;
  5. produce a scale plan of an area and apply surveying techniques to set out simple construction elements from given data
Reading List
Geology:
Waltham, A.C. Foundations of Engineering Geology. 3rd Edition, Blackie Academic and Professional, 2009.

Excellent concise text organised in page-wise units on specific topics. Highly recommended. Good value. The 2nd edition is
perfectly adequate as well.

Other useful texts:

Blyth, F.G.H. and de Freitas M.H. A Geology for Engineers 7th Edition. Edward Arnold, 1984.

West, G. The Field Description of Engineering Soils and Rocks. Open University Press, 1991.

For more background on geology:

Marshak, S. Earth: Portrait of a Planet. 3rd Edn. 2008. W.W. Norton. Probably the best of the illustrated mega-textbooks.
Good web-links to GoogleEarth images. Used as a source in the course. Copies to be installed on Student Reserve

Surveying:
Surveying for Engineers 3rd Edition , Uren and Price, Macmillan, 1994 Elementary Surveying 8th Edition, Elfick, Fryer, Brinker and
Wolf , Harper Collins 1994

Suggested:
Engineering Surveying 5th Edition Schofield, Butterworth Heinemann 2001
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
Additional Class Delivery Information 10 Geology Lectures: (Weeks 1 - 10)
8 Geology Tutorial hours (Weeks 2 - 9)
2 Surveying Lectures (Weeks 9 - 10)
6 Surveying Lectures/Seminars (Week 11)
22 Fieldwork Hours (Week 11)
KeywordsEngineering Geology,Surveying,fieldwork
Contacts
Course organiserDr Antonios Giannopoulos
Tel: (0131 6)50 5728
Email: A.Giannopoulos@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Lucy Davie
Tel: (0131 6)51 7073
Email: Lucy.Davie@ed.ac.uk
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