Earthquake as a contemporary issue in structural engineering Name: Instructor Name: Institution: Course: Date: Earthquake as a contemporary issue in structural engineeringIntroduction New technologies, designs, and innovations have led to construction of more magnificent, sophisticated, and mega structures civil structures around the world. However, the major challenge that remains unresolved is the response of the structures to unprecedented natural calamities such as earthquakes, winds, tsunamis, and landslides. Recent experiences and effects of the calamities, especially earthquakes have proven that more precaution must be taken to mitigate, or reduce their effects on civil structures. In trying to address challenges caused by earthquakes on structural buildings, engineers and researchers have developed new innovations and technologies to enhance their safety to earthquakes. Many governments have taking new measures in the structural industry to in ensure new civil construction are safer and can withstand natural calamities. One major focus in the research is the development of structural control and measures to reduce the seismic responses of civil structures.Causes of Earthquake Earthquakes result from compressional or tensional stresses that built up due to the movement of lithospheric plates of the earth's surface. Sudden release of stress or strain along a fracture in the earth's crust, results in motion of the opposing blocks of rock past one another. The vibrations caused by these movements produce energy that is propagated as waves through and around the earth. The seismic waves reach the earth surface impacts on civil structures. In other cases, volcanic eruptions, landslides, rock-falls or explosions can also cause a quake, but of a lesser magnitude. Seismic waves emitted by powerful earthquake can trigger smaller quakes in a distant of hundreds of miles away If the design and strength of the structure cannot contain the amount of energy in wave, they can collapse leading to damage and loss of lives.Magnitude of earthquake The magnitude of earthquakes often determined by taking measurement of the amplitude of the seismic waves received on a seismograph. This is put into calculations to obtain the amount of energy released by the earthquake. For a unit increment in magnitude, there is nearly a thirty-fold increment in the energy associated. The effects of an earthquake on civil structures There are several effects of earthquake, the effects of the earthquake felt more in a broad area surrounding the epicenter of the earthquake. In most cases, the surface of the earth just above the epicenter cracks due the underlying faults. The magnitude of the vibration and subsequent damage on civil structures in a region is partly dependent on ground features. Earthquake vibrations will last longer with greater magnitude in unconsolidated surface, like a poorly compacted fill. Bedrock areas are less affected. Worst damage occu ...

1. Earthquake as a contemporary issue in structural engineering
Name:
Instructor Name:
Institution:
Course:
Date:
Earthquake as a contemporary issue in structural
engineeringIntroduction
New technologies, designs, and innovations have led to
construction of more magnificent, sophisticated, and mega
structures civil structures around the world. However, the
major challenge that remains unresolved is the response of the
structures to unprecedented natural calamities such as
earthquakes, winds, tsunamis, and landslides. Recent
experiences and effects of the calamities, especially earthquakes
have proven that more precaution must be taken to mitigate, or
reduce their effects on civil structures.

2. In trying to address challenges caused by earthquakes on
structural buildings, engineers and researchers have developed
new innovations and technologies to enhance their safety to
earthquakes. Many governments have taking new measures in
the structural industry to in ensure new civil construction are
safer and can withstand natural calamities. One major focus in
the research is the development of structural control and
measures to reduce the seismic responses of civil
structures.Causes of Earthquake
Earthquakes result from compressional or tensional stresses that
built up due to the movement of lithospheric plates of the
earth's surface. Sudden release of stress or strain along a
fracture in the earth's crust, results in motion of the opposing
blocks of rock past one another. The vibrations caused by these
movements produce energy that is propagated as waves through
and around the earth. The seismic waves reach the earth surface
impacts on civil structures.
In other cases, volcanic eruptions, landslides, rock-falls or
explosions can also cause a quake, but of a lesser magnitude.
Seismic waves emitted by powerful earthquake can trigger
smaller quakes in a distant of hundreds of miles away
If the design and strength of the structure cannot contain the
amount of energy in wave, they can collapse leading to damage
and loss of lives.Magnitude of earthquake
The magnitude of earthquakes often determined by taking
measurement of the amplitude of the seismic waves received on
a seismograph. This is put into calculations to obtain the
amount of energy released by the earthquake. For a unit
increment in magnitude, there is nearly a thirty-fold increment
in the energy associated. The effects of an earthquake on civil
structures
There are several effects of earthquake, the effects of the
earthquake felt more in a broad area surrounding the epicenter
of the earthquake. In most cases, the surface of the earth just
above the epicenter cracks due the underlying faults. The
magnitude of the vibration and subsequent damage on civil

3. structures in a region is partly dependent on ground features.
Earthquake vibrations will last longer with greater magnitude in
unconsolidated surface, like a poorly compacted fill. Bedrock
areas are less affected. Worst damage occurs in densely
populated urban areas where structures are not built to
withstand intense shaking.
Falling structures and flying glasses cause even more damage.
Flexible structures standing on bedrock generally are less
susceptible to earthquake damage compared to structures built
on loose soil. A submarine earthquake causes a tsunami, that
damage coastal cities. Reducing effects of earthquakes on civil
structures
Newer techniques, technologies and measures have been
developed to curb severe effects of earthquake on the surface of
the earth. Reforms have been enforced in the construction
industry in most counties, especially in countries lying on
earthquake prone zones, to implement measures that reduce the
impact caused by earthquakes on the environment.
Major precaution measures are:
· Introduction of certification programs to improve
competitiveness of constructors
· Embracing new innovations and designs in civic structures
that are more adaptive to seismic wave effects
· Developing dander map zones to establish areas with high
earthquake risks.
· Employing construction techniques that are seismic resistant.
· Determining sites that are safe for construction through
analysis of soil geological structure.
· Making incentives to get rid of unsafe buildings and those in
unsafe.
· Training more professionals to curb deficiency of qualified
construction professionals, especially in developing counties.
· Establishing and enforcing proper codes and standards for
construction of earthquake resistant structures
· Land use controls through zoning.

4. · Favorable taxation, loans, and subsidies that qualify buildings,
methods and sites.The future of civil structures and earthquakes
Conclusively, despite all the mitigations, earthquakes will
continue to occur, and unless more sturdy earthquake-resistant
structures are constructed, or improvements on the currently
standing structures are made, their effects will continue to cause
severe damages. Many reforms in the construction industry
currently deployed by government promise better levels of
preparedness to earthquake disasters. Several mitigations are
put in place to counter attack the problem. This calls for, better
engineering practices, new technologies, more professional in
the construction industry will lead to better and safer civil
structures.
References
(2012). A Study on Causesuakes. Retrieved from:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/kids/eqscience.php.
Attila O, E. T. (2011). Collapsing Strucures: A study of civil
structure practices in Developing Countries.

5. ME 4496A
Ethics Issue
18 September 2015
Wayne Davidson is a software engineer in the aerospace
division of Occidental Engineering, a
large engineering firm. For the past two years he has been
working as a test engineer for
Operation Safe Skies, a project to build a prototype of the next
generation air traffic control
system. This project, which is funded by a contract from the
Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), is
a very important one for Occidental. With all the cutbacks in
defense spending, the aerospace
division has been losing business. The Safe Skies project has
provided much needed business,
and could lead to a much larger contract if successful. Mindful
of its strategic importance, the
company had bid very aggressively for the original contract. In
fact they had "low-balled" it,
bidding less than it would take to do the work properly. They
felt that was the only way they

6. could beat out their competitors, who were just as hungry for
the work. Because of their
somewhat shaky financial position, the company was not willing
to take a loss on the project, so
the project has been underfunded and understaffed. Nevertheless
those working on the project
have made a heroic effort, working eighteen hour days seven
days a week to meet the deadline,
because they know how much it means to the company, not to
mention their own jobs. They are
now very close to success.
A version of the prototype has been completed and turned over
to Wayne for testing. He has run
extensive simulations on it and found that it works as it should
except for one little problem.
When there are too many aircraft in the system, it will
sometimes lose track of one or more of
them. The "forgotten" aircraft will simply disappear from the
screen, there will be no trace of it
anywhere, and it will be ignored by all of the collision
avoidance and other safety tests. Wayne
has been working with the software designers to identify the
cause of the problem, and they have

7. traced it to a subtle error in memory allocation and reuse. They
are confident that they can fix it,
but it will take a month or more to do the redesign, coding and
testing.
Wayne meets with his boss, Deborah Shepherd, the project
manager, to discuss the implications.
She tells him that what he is asking for is impossible. The
contract requires that the company
deliver a fully certified, working version of the software in
three days for system integration and
test. The government has developed a new, get-tough policy on
missed deadlines and cost
overruns, and Occidental is afraid that if they miss this
deadline, the government will make an
example of them. They would be subject to fines and the loss of
the remainder of the prototype
contract; and they might not be allowed to bid on the contract
for the full system. This would
have a devastating effect on the aerospace division, resulting in
thousands of lost jobs.
They consider whether they can do a quick patch to the software
before turning it over, but
Wayne adamantly refuses to release any code that has not been

8. tested thoroughly. There is
always a chance that the patch would interact with some other
part of the program to create a
new bug.
"Then we'll have to deliver the software as is," Deborah says. "I
can't jeopardize this project or
the jobs of my people by missing that deadline."
"We can't do that!" exclaims Wayne. "That's like delivering a
car with defective brakes."
"Don't worry," Deborah reassures him. "We have contacts in the
FAA, so we know their testing
plans. They will do a lot of simulations to make sure the
software works with the hardware and
has all the functionality in the specs. Then they will do live
tests, but only at a small airport, with
a backup system active at all times. There is no way they will
overload the system in any of this.
After that they will have some change requests. Even if they
don't, we can give them an updated

9. version of the program. We can slip the bug fix in there. They
will never see the problem. Even
if they do, we can claim it was a random occurrence that would
not necessarily show up in our
tests. The important thing is no one is in any danger."
"Maybe they won't find the bug, but I know it's there. I would
be lying if I said the system passed
all the necessary tests. I can't do that. Anyway, it would be
illegal and unprofessional."
"You can certify that it is safe, because it is, the way they are
going to use it."
And so he does. In the end Wayne signs off on the software. It
is delivered to the FAA and
makes it through all the preliminary tests, including live tests at
a small airport in the Midwest.
As a result of these tests, the FAA requests some changes in the
user interface, and when
Occidental delivers the new software it includes a robust
solution to the problem of the
disappearing aircraft. No one outside of Deborah's group ever
learns of the problem. In fact
Occidental's success with the prototype leads to major contracts

10. for air traffic control software,
giving much-needed business to the aerospace division. This
saves hundreds of jobs, and allows
the company to add hundreds more.
Wayne Davidson, however, takes early retirement once the
prototype project is finished, in order
to write a book on software testing. He feels that the book
should have a chapter on ethics, but he
can never bring himself to write it.
Please follow the guidelines posted on Moodle for the Ethics
and CI papers.
http://www.onlineethics.org/ accessed 18 September 2015
http://www.onlineethics.org/
1
CE/ME 4496A Contemporary and Ethical Issues
Fall Semester 2015

11. The general requirements for each paper are as follows:
New Roman 12 point
font.
dard memo template posted on Moodle.
technical reference.
Wikipedia may not be referenced. Complete citations must be
used following the
IEEE style manual posted on Moodle.
due by 5:00 p.m. October 16th, posted on Moodle.
Discipline (CE or
ME)_4496A_Ethics_FirstName_LastName.pdf
Discipline (CE or ME)_4496A_CI_FirstName_LastName.pdf
Please follow the directions above. Failure to do so will result
in no credit being given
for the paper.

12. Guidelines: A contemporary issue is an issue that affects us
today. An ethical issue is
one in which the engineer must decide what is the right thing to
do. Each discipline has
pertinent issues that could impact the lives of engineers as well
as the lives of the general
population. Please discuss the issues including the impacts on
society and the economy.
2
Discuss the following for the contemporary issue:
- How did it come about/background info
- What is the current status
- Who is driving the issue and possibly who is opposed to it

13. Discuss the following for the ethical issue:
- Background – what was the situation
- What happened
- Who is blaming who (who is getting sued or has legal/criminal
ac-
tion pending)
- What ethics were violated
- What is the outcome of the problem (resolution)
- How could the problem have been remediated prior to the
event
- Would you resolve it differently given the info you have (or
how
would you resolve it if it hasn’t been)
rt it
Please follow the directions above. Failure to do so will result
in no credit being given
for the paper.
Resources for Contemporary Issues:
xample, ASCE Journals are
at:

14. http://ascelibrary.org/. The ISU Library has access to some of
these journals. You
may also find other article by searching the Google Scholar
(http://scholar.google.com/) or the ASCE Library Search
(http://ascelibrary.org/).
If the ISU Library does not have the publications that you need,
you should
consider requesting them through the ISU Interlibrary Loan
(http://www.isu.edu/library/). You will receive the electronic
(pdf) copies of the
articles within one or two weeks. To be on the safe side,
request the Interlibrary
Loan articles as soon as possible.
Resources for Ethical Issue:
-of-
ethics/
http://www.asce.org/Ethics/A-
Question-of-Ethics/
- Ethical issues listed by canon
- Ethical issues listed by ASCE News year of publication from
2005 to 2010.

15. http://ascelibrary.org/
http://www.asce.org/ethics/code-of-ethics/
http://www.asce.org/Ethics/A-Question-of-Ethics/
http://www.asce.org/Ethics/A-Question-of-Ethics/
3
– Posted on Moodle
Fundamental Canons:
https://www.asme.org/about-asme/get-involved/advocacy-
government-
relations/ethics-in-engineering
Assignment in Contemporary Issues in Civil Engineering:
advanced materials in civil
engineering, challenges in water resources, seismic design of
structures, and ac-
celerated bridge construction.
Assignment in Contemporary Issues in Mechanical Engineering:
carbon sequestration,
clean water for developing countries, and the role of mechanical

16. engineering.
Assignment for Ethical Issues in Civil Engineering:
site given above.
The corresponding article in the ASCE News may be used as
one of your refer-
ences, but you need to find additional references in that area.
Assignment for Ethical Issues in Mechanical Engineering:
engineering firm.
Description and guidelines posted to Moodle.
https://www.asme.org/about-asme/get-involved/advocacy-
government-relations/ethics-in-engineering
https://www.asme.org/about-asme/get-involved/advocacy-
government-relations/ethics-in-engineering