Undergraduate Course: Structural Engineering Design Project 5 (CIVE11038)
Course Outline
| School | School of Engineering |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Year 5 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Structural Engineering Design Project 5 draws together the many analysis, design, planning and evaluation tools that have been learnt during a civil or structural engineering degree programme. It involves a substantial design project that mimics the real-world feasibility design of a bridge in a civil engineering design consultancy. The project is run with the help of experienced senior bridge engineers, helping to ensure that graduating students have skills needed to work as engineers in their practices, appropriate for a student graduating with an MEng degree. |
| Course description |
Structural Engineering Design Project 5 mimics the real-world design of a bridge in a civil engineering consultancy. Students work within design teams to carry out a feasibility study for a new bridge, involving all aspects of the design process from the initial concept through to detailed design. One of the principle aims of the project is to draw together subjects learnt during the degree programme. These span structural engineering, computer analysis, CAD, construction methods and embodied carbon assessment, acting as a capstone project that helps ensure students can start work in a real design office.
As in any real design situation, it will also be necessary to learn new skills to tackle the project, and this project involves guided self-led study of bridge engineering (such as bridge costing, construction, maintenance and design methodology). The project has been developed over many years with the help of experienced senior bridge engineers, based on the skills that are needed by graduate engineers in their practices and upon the type of problem that an engineer needs to be able to tackle to become chartered. The range and depth of tasks that students tackle will be appropriate to a MEng degree.
The course runs full-time in-person for three weeks, following the Spring teaching vacation in Semester 2.
To help lead students through the task, a series of structured briefing, review and handover sessions are organised. The timetable for these sessions is adjusted depending upon the availability of the industry experts who assist with the project and will be confirmed at the start of the course. The teaching team will be available for surgery sessions to rapidly discuss and provide feedback during the project.
The coursework has three stages, which follow on from each other. There are four submissions.
- Week 1: Familiarisation a Case Study, leading to an individual submission. Each student critically examines the design of a different bridge, including aspects such as the design constraints, construction method, load paths and structural details.
- Week 2: Outline Design, leading to a group submission. During the outline design stage, design teams work on a specific design brief. Two different concepts are developed, including initial structural sizing, construction method, costing, and embodied carbon comparison. The outline design is discussed with the project client at a handover meeting at the end of the week, providing feedback ready for week 3.
- Week 3: Detailed Design, leading to a group submission. One of the solutions is developed through the detailed design stage, with opportunities for members of the design team to focus on different aspects of the detailed design (such as detailed modelling of a specific aspect of the bridge or examining its dynamic performance, depending on the bridge form). The detailed design is discussed in a handover meeting at the end of the week.
- The final submission is of the design teams¿ conduct of the formal meetings, involving submission of their meeting notes.
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2025/26, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
|
Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Formative Assessment Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
155 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework (100%)
There are four staged submissions during the project:
A Case study (individual submission) - 10%
B Outline design (group submission) - 40%
C Detailed design (group submission) - 45%
D Meeting conduct (group submission) - 5%
Group marks may be adjusted according to an individual's contribution to the group, using peer assessment and observations made by teaching staff. |
| Feedback |
The review meetings and handover sessions provide detailed verbal feedback upon students' work from expert bridge designers. Students are expected to note their verbal feedback.
Written proforma feedback will be provided on the submissions. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Create feasible and efficient solutions to a realistic civil engineering design problem by selecting theory, techniques and knowledge learnt through the degree programme, and then interpreting and applying these methods to suit the specific design challenge.
- Research, learn, and then apply new and unfamiliar engineering tools and knowledge to a design problem.
- Tackle both the conceptual design and detailed design stages of a project, choosing appropriate analytical tools for these different stages of the project.
- Develop and evaluate design solutions that are not only feasible, but that also address other drivers, such as safety through design, construction, operation and maintenance, aesthetic, economic considerations.
- Communicate clearly and accurately (by verbal, drawn and written means) to both share ideas and designs, and to receive instructions and feedback that are incorporated into the design process.
|
Reading List
| A range of bridge design related resources will be available via the course Learn site. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Bridge Design |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Timothy Stratford
Tel: (0131 6)50 5722
Email: tim.stratford@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Tom Lawford-Groves
Tel: (0131 6)50 5687
Email: t.lawford-groves@ed.ac.uk |
|
|
University Homepage