Future of civil engineering

FUTURE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
National Convention of Civil Engineers
2nd
September 2017
By
S. K. PATEL
Chief Engineer
Roads & Buildings Department

FUTURE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
General
Innovative Technology & Material
Housing and Infrastructures – Domestic Scenario
Challenges before Civil Engineering fraternity
Concluding remarks

GENERAL
Oldest branch of engineering, next to Military engineering. All
engineering works other than for military purposes were grouped in
to Civil Engineering.
Civil engineering has evolved tremendously in aspects relating to
building, designing and maintaining the world’s built and natural
environments.
Civil engineers are the cornerstone for infrastructure and planning
for public works and projects, and provide the groundwork for other
disciplines of engineering including chemical, mechanical and
electrical etc.

Civil Engineering
Architecture &
Town Planning
Building
Materials
Construction
Technology
Environmental
Engineering
Geotechnical
Engineering
Hydraulics,
Water Resource &
Irrigation Engineering
Remote Sensing & GIS
Structural
Engineering
Surveying
Transportation
Engineering
DISCIPLINES OF CIVIL ENGINERING

Role of Civil engineers in Infrastructural development
 Planning, Designing & Construction of roads, railway, ports,Planning, Designing & Construction of roads, railway, ports,
airports etc.airports etc.
 Planning, Designing & Construction of dams, Canals andPlanning, Designing & Construction of dams, Canals and
proper utilization of water resources.proper utilization of water resources.
 Construction of Housing, commercial and industrial complexesConstruction of Housing, commercial and industrial complexes
 Maintenance of various structures.Maintenance of various structures.
 Rebuilding, Rehabilitation, Retrofitting and Repair.Rebuilding, Rehabilitation, Retrofitting and Repair.

Innovative Technology & Material
 Construction 3D Printing
 Swarm Construction
 Smart Building
 Smart Cities
 Vertical Cities
 Intelligent Transport System
 Smart Concrete
 Self Healing Concrete
 Nanotechnology

Construction 3D Printing refers to various technologies that use 3D
Printing as a core method to fabricate buildings or construction
components. The term was first coined by James B Gardiner in
2011.
There are a variety of 3D printing methods used at construction
scale, these include the following main methods: extrusion
(concrete/cement, wax, foam, polymers), powder bonding (polymer
bond, reactive bond) and additive welding. 3D printing at a
construction scale will have a wide variety of applications within the
private, commercial, industrial and public sectors. Potential
advantages of these technologies include faster construction, lower
labor costs, increased complexity and/or accuracy, greater
integration of function and less waste produced.
A number of different approaches have been demonstrated to date
which include on-site and off-site fabrication of buildings and
construction components, using industrial robots, gantry systems
and tethered autonomous vehicles. Demonstrations of construction
3D printing technologies to date have included fabrication of
housing, construction components (cladding and structural panels
and columns), bridges and civil infrastructure, sculptures etc.

Swarm Construction:
To develop innovative methods in the construction world, Harvard
researchers turned to nature for inspiration, specifically termites. Termites
can build large structures despite having no central supervision. To do this,
termites bring a piece of dirt to the first construction site. If that spot is
taken, they simply move to the next spot.
The TERMES Project uses the same idea of swarm construction, but they
use small robots. These simple, inexpensive drones build structures by
following an initial design and putting a block in the next available space
until the structure is finished. This means that the swarm needs little
intervention from humans after the initial design.
The swarms would be ideal for building structures in dangerous places,
such as those in space or underwater. They could also do menial work that
would be a waste of human time. As they are self-guided, they can build
structures more efficiently and effectively than humans.

Smart Building:
At the most fundamental level, smart buildings deliver useful building
services that make occupants productive (e.g. illumination, thermal
comfort, air quality, physical security, sanitation, and many more) at the
lowest cost and environmental impact over the building lifecycle. Reaching
this vision requires adding intelligence from the beginning of design phase
through to the end of the building's useful life. Smart buildings use
information technology during operation to connect a variety of
subsystems, which typically operate independently, so that these systems
can share information to optimize total building performance. Smart
buildings look beyond the building equipment within their four walls. They
are connected and responsive to the smart power grid, and they interact
with building operators and occupants to empower them with new levels of
visibility and actionable information.

Smart Building:
Enabled by technology, this smart building connects the structure
itself to the functions it exists to fulfill:
Connecting building systems
Connecting people and technology
Connecting to the bottom line
Connecting to the global environment
Connecting to the smart power grid
Connecting to an intelligent future

Smart Building:
Smart buildings go far beyond saving energy and contributing to
sustainability goals. They extend capital equipment life and also
impact the security and safety of all resources – both human and
capital. They enable innovation by creating a platform for accessible
information. They turn buildings into virtual power generators by
allowing operators to shed electric load and sell the “negawatts” into
the market.
They are a key component of a future where information technology
and human ingenuity combine to produce the robust, low-carbon
economy envisioned for the future.

Smart Cities:
A smart city is an urban development vision to integrate Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) and Internet of Things (IOT)
technology in a secure fashion to manage a city's assets.
These assets include local departments' information systems,
schools, libraries, transportation systems, hospitals, power plants,
water supply networks, waste management, law enforcement, and
other community services.
A smart city is promoted to use urban informatics and technology to
improve the efficiency of services.
ICT allows city officials to interact directly with the community and
the city infrastructure and to monitor what is happening in the city,
how the city is evolving, and how to enable a better quality of life.
Through the use of sensors integrated with real-time monitoring
systems, data are collected from citizens and devices – then
processed and analyzed. The information and knowledge gathered
are keys to tackling inefficiency.

Smart Cities:
Information and communication technology (ICT) is used to enhance
quality, performance and interactivity of urban services, to reduce
costs and resources consumption and to improve contact between
citizens and government.
Smart city applications are developed to manage urban flows and
allow for real-time responses.
A smart city may therefore be more prepared to respond to
challenges than one with a simple "transactional" relationship with its
citizens. Yet, the term itself remains unclear to its specifics and
therefore, open to many interpretations.

Vertical Cities:
According to projections from the United Nations, there will be
over 9.6 billion people on Earth by 2050. That’s 2.3 billion more
people than we have today. Also, it is estimated that 75 percent of
the world’s population will live in cities, compounding our problems
with the lack of space in our cities.
One way to overcome that problem is to construct vertical cities.
There are already a few proposed vertical cities to be built in the
Sahara, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and China.
These vertical cities would be giant buildings that would provide
residences, workplaces, and shopping.

Innovative Technology & Materia
Intelligent Transport System:
Intelligent Transport System (ITS) is the application of sensing,
analysis, control and communication technologies to ground
transportation in order to improve safety, mobility and efficiency. ITS
includes a wide range of applications that process and share
information to ease congestion, improve traffic management,
minimize environmental impact and increase the benefits of
transportation to commercial uses and the public in general.

Innovative Technology & Materia
Intelligent Transport System:
ITS is having a significant effect on transportation in applications
such as electronic toll collection, ramp meters, traffic light cameras,
traffic-signal coordination, transit signal priority and traveler-
information systems. The adoption of ITS is expected to increase in
applications such as fleet monitoring, tolling management, ticket
management, transportation pricing and traffic monitoring. Key
beneficiaries of ITS safety improvements as well as the availability of
real-time information and analytics are travelers, businesses and
transportation agencies. Data from ITS also has homeland security
applications.

Smart Concrete :
It is a permeable concrete. Most concrete allows some water to soak into
the ground, but only about 300 millimeters of water gets through per hour.
Topmix can allow 36,000 millimeters of water through per hour, which is
about 3,300 liters per minute. When an area starts to flood, there aren’t
enough places for the water to drain. This becomes worse in urban areas
because there is less soil to absorb the water. To reduce flooding this
permeable concrete cab be used.
Instead of using sand like most concrete, permeable concrete makes its
product with pieces of crushed granite that are packed together. Water
drains through these pieces of granite, where it can be absorbed into the
ground, routed to a sewer system, or collected in a water reserve. Besides
reducing the chances of flooding, Topmix keeps the streets drier, which
makes them safer. Also, the water can be routed to a reservoir for reuse in
any number of ways.

Self Healing Concrete :
Self-healing is characterized by regaining performance after a defect
occurs. Damage targeted in bacteria-based self-healing concrete
particularly relates to increased durability and leakage prevention
and extending service life of concrete structures. Jonkers (2007)
introduced a two-component healing agent to be added to the
concrete mixture, consisting of bacteria and a mineral precursor
compound. Upon cracking the system is activated by ingress water.
Bacteria convert the mineral precursor compound into the mineral
calcium carbonate, better known as limestone. Precipitation of the
limestone on the crack surface enables sealing and plugging of the
cracks, making the matrix less accessible to water and other
deleterious materials.

Nanotechnology is an enabling technology that is opening a new world
of materials functionalities, and performances. But it is also opening new
possibilities in construction sustainability. On one hand it could lead to a
better use of natural resources, obtaining a specific characteristic or
property with minor material use. It can also help to solve some problems
related to energy in building (consumption and generation), or water
treatment to mention only a few matters.
Nanotechnology is an enabling technology that allows us to develop
materials with improved or totally new properties

Nanotechnology:
The construction business will inevitably be a beneficiary of this
nanotechnology; in fact it already is in the fields of concrete, steel and
glass. Concrete is stronger, more durable and more easily placed, steel
tougher and glass self-cleaning. Increased strength and durability are also
a part of the drive to reduce the environmental footprint of the built
environment by the efficient use of resources. This is achieved both prior
to the construction process by a reduction in pollution during the
production of materials (e.g. cement) and also in service, through
efficient use of energy due to advancements in insulation.

Housing and Infrastructures – Domestic Scenario
 Housing Demand in India
 Infrastructures in India
 Roads
 Port
 Airport
 Railway
 Power

 Housing Demand in India:
According to ADBI working paper estimate that the total housing
shortage in India is approximately 51 million units and an
additional 113 million houses will be required if semi-permanent
units are also replaced. This would mean that 21% of households
are in urgent need of housing and another 46% are living in
inadequate housing conditions and, thus, 67% of India need decent
housing. Over and above these, the problem of lack of access of
households to basic services (electricity, water, and sanitation)
greatly increases the challenge of providing decent housing. A
total of 53% of households do not have access to drinking water in
their premises.

The increase in housing shortages over time is a consequence of the
continuous dilapidation of housing stocks from previous decades.
27% of the shortages in urban areas are due to the existence of
physically unfit structures (nondurable and obsolete) and that 69%
of the housing shortages in urban areas are attributed to congested
living conditions.

The total demand for urban housing is estimated at 4.2 million units
during the period 2016-2020 across the top eight cities
-Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune,
Kolkata, Delhi NCR. The key driver for this demand will be the
middle income group (MIG), the report adds. After MIG, it will be
LIG that will contribute 1.3 million units in the top eight cities.
India’s population boom resulted in an increase in urbanization rate
from 27.8 percent to 31.2 percent. Looming housing shortage has
been on a rise and has resulted in increase in slums and squatter
settlements.
A huge gap exists between demand and supply, both quantitatively
and qualitatively. Lack of infrastructure and bloated cost of land
were few reasons that halted affordable housing in the country.

National Mission for Urban Housing - “Housing for All by 2022”
aimed for urban areas with following components/options to
States/Union Territories and cities:-
a) Slum rehabilitation of Slum Dwellers with participation of private
developers using land as a resource;
b) Promotion of affordable housing for weaker section through credit
linked subsidy;
c) Affordable housing in partnership with Public & Private sectors and
d) Subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house construction or
enhancement.

 Infrastructures in India:
Infrastructure sector is a key driver for the Indian economy. The sector
is highly responsible for propelling India’s overall development
and enjoys intense focus from Government for initiating policies
that would ensure time-bound creation of world class
infrastructure in the country. Infrastructure sector includes power,
bridges, dams, roads and urban infrastructure development. In
2016, India jumped 19 places in World Bank's Logistics
Performance Index (LPI) 2016, to rank 35th amongst 160
countries.

India's planning commission has projected an investment of US$ 1
trillion for the infrastructure sector during the 12th Five Year Plan,
with 40 per cent of the funds coming from the private sector. It is
one of the major sectors that propel overall development of the
Indian economy. Unlike other developed countries, India’s
geographical position poses some challenges in huge
infrastructural development like building of roads, flyovers,
airports, damns & bridges, etc.

Roads : India has one of the largest road networks in the world,
aggregating to 3.34 million km. The country’s road network
consists of Expressways, National Highways, State Highways,
Major District Roads, Other District Roads and Village Roads.
The road network, comprises 66,590 km of National Highways,
128,000 km of State Highways, 470,000 km of Major District
Roads and about 2.65 million km of other District and Rural
Roads. National Highways comprise only about 2 percent of the
total length of roads and carry about 40 percent of the total traffic
across the length and breadth of the country. Single-laned: 38% ,
2-laned: 50%, 4-laned: only 12%.

Ports : India’s coastline of 7,517 km. is added with 13 major ports and
187 non-major ports. Of the non-major ports, around 60 are
handling traffic. The total traffic carried by both the major and
minor ports is around 570 million tonnes. The 13 major ports
carry about 3/4th of the total traffic. Inadequate berths and
rail/road connectivity.
Airports : 11 international airports 114 domestic airports. 20%annual
growth. Passenger traffic crossed 100 million passengers p.a.
Cargo traffic to grow at over 20% p.a. over the next five years -
Inbound traffic also on rise due to trade and investment.
Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) growing in a big way.
Inadequate runways, aircraft handling capacity, parking space and

Railway : India has one of the largest railway networks in the world
(63,000 route KMs network). Accounts for 30% of total freight
traffic. The high-density network connecting the four
metropolitan cities of Chennai, Delhi. Kolkata and Mumbai,
including its diagonals, popularly called the Golden Quadrilateral
has got saturated at most of the locations. Potential for rolling
stock, locomotives, passenger coaches, track equipment, signaling
equipment Railways. Old technology, Saturated routes, Slow
speeds (freight: 22kmph; passengers: 50kmph).

Power: Since independence, generating capacity has increased from
1362 to over 100,000 MW. However there are widespread
shortages of power in almost all parts of the country. Inadequate
inter-regional transmission links. Inadequate and ageing sub-
transmission & distribution network leading to power cuts and
local failures/faults. Large scale theft and skewed tariff structure.
Slow pace of rural electrification. Inefficient use of electricity by
the end consumer.

India has an extensive network of inland waterways in the form of
rivers, canals, backwaters and creeks. The total navigable length is
14,500 km, out of which about 5,200 km of the river and
4,000 km of canals can be used by mechanized crafts. Freight
transportation by waterways is highly under-utilized in India
compared to other large countries and geographic areas like the
United States, China and the European Union. The total cargo
moved (in tonne kilometers) by the inland waterway was just 0.1%
of the total inland traffic in India, compared to the 21% figure for
United States. Cargo transportation in an organized manner is
confined to a few waterways in Goa, West Bengal, Assam and

Infrastructure Projects – Domestic Scenario
 Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project (DMIC)
 River linking project
Sagarmala Project
Bharatmala Project
Setu Bharatam project
Rashtriya Rajmarg Zila Sanjoyokta Pariyojna

Infrastructures Projects
The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project is a planned industrial
development project between India's capital, Delhi and its financial
hub, Mumbai. It is one of the world's largest infrastructure projects
with an estimated investment of US$90 billion and is planned as a
high-tech industrial zone spread across six states, Delhi being a Union
Territory, across the 1,500 km long Western Dedicated Freight
Corridor which serves as its backbone.
It includes 24 industrial regions, eight smart cities, two airports, five
power projects, two mass rapid transit systems, and two logistical
hubs.

River linking project : The Indian Rivers Inter-link is a proposed
large-scale civil engineering project that aims to link Indian
rivers by a network of reservoirs and canals and so reduce
persistent floods in some parts and water shortages in other parts of
India.
The Inter-link project has been split into three parts: a northern
Himalayan rivers inter-link component, a southern Peninsular
component, an intrastate rivers linking component. The project is
being managed by India's National Water Development Agency
(NWDA), under its Ministry of Water Resources. NWDA has
studied and prepared reports on 14 inter-link projects for
Himalayan component, 16 inter-link projects for Peninsular
component and 37 intrastate river linking projects.

Sagarmala Project: It aims to promote port- led direct and indirect
development and provide infrastructure to transport goods to and
from ports quickly, efficiently and cost- effectively. The project is
estimated to cost around Rs 12,00,000 crore. The government
wants to implement the projects worth Rs 5,00,000 crore under the
ambitious programme by May 2019.
Bharatmala Project: This is Rs 14,000 crore project linking India’s
vast west-to-east land border from Gujarat to Mizoram. It will also
link to a road network in coastal states from Maharashtra to West
Bengal. In a way, this road network will garland the entire country.
Modi government is planning to finish the 5000-km road project in 5
years.

Setu Bharatam project: The Rs 50,800-crore Setu Bharatam
project aims to ensure highways without railway crossings by 2019
and overhaul of 1,500 British-era bridges. Under the project, 208
railway crossings will be replaced by rail over bridges (ROBs) by
2019 at an estimated cost of Rs 20,800 crore. Also, 1,500 bridges of
the British era across the country will be overhauled for around Rs
30,000 crore.
Rashtriya Rajmarg Zila Sanjoyokta Pariyojna: This project aims
to connect 100 of the 676 district headquarters in the country with
world-class highways. The project entails development of 6,600 km
of highways at an estimated cost of about Rs 60,000 crore.

Challenges before Civil Engineering Fraternity
Population Growth
Urbanization
Energy use and Global warming
Water Scarcity
Waste Management

 Population Growth :
According to UN, the world population in 2050 will be 9.6 billion.
Currently, 80 million people are being added every year in less
developed countries, compared with about 1.6 million in more
developed countries.
 Urbanization :
The world’s urban population is expected to increase by 2.1 billion
by 2030. Currently, about half the world’s people are
living in urban areas. By 2030, urban dwellers will make
up roughly 60 percent of the world’s population. It is projected
that Asia and Africa will have more urban dwellers than any
other continents of the world, and Asia will contain 54
percent of the world’s urban population by 2030.

 Urbanization :
Population growth coupled with urbanization results in significant
impacts on the environment and other problems, which include:
(1) increased ambient temperature, (2) decreased air quality, (3)
increased water run-off, (4) decreased quality of runoff water, (5)
altered weather patterns, (6) loss of natural beauty, (7) reduction in
farmlands and subsequent food shortage, and (8) Deforestation.
Also, urbanization results in the migration of rural population to towns
thus causing an increase in the development of slums, increased
pollution and waste, compulsion to develop infrastructure for
housing the masses, educational facilities, roads and highways,
healthcare, civil supplies, Congestion of living space, traffic, etc.

 Urbanization :
In addition, population growth and urbanization pose significant
challenges for water resources management throughout the world.
Urban populations consume much more food, energy and durable
goods than rural populations. The urbanization of the world’s
populations will increase aggregate energy use. Not only do urban
areas generate more rain, but also reduce the infiltration of water
and lower the water tables. This means that runoff occurs more
quickly with greater peak flows. Thus, flood volumes increase, as
do floods and water pollution downstream.

 Energy use and Global Warming :
The energy consumption in India rose threefold, putting India next
only to the US, Germany, Japan and China in total energy
consumption. According to the international energy outlook
projections for 2030 of the US department of energy, China and
India account for nearly one-half of the total increase in residential
energy use in non-OECD countries.

 Energy use and Global Warming :
Based on a range of scenarios, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) of the United Nations predicts that, by the end of
the 21st century climate change will result in the following:
A probable temperature rise between 1.8°C and 4°C and a possible
temperature rise between 1.1°C and 6.4°C. A sea level rise most
likely to be in the range of 28 - 43 cm. Disappearance of summer
sea ice in the second half of this century. A likely increase in heat
waves. A likely increase in tropical storm intensity.

 Water Scarcity:
According to a United Nations report, one person in six is without safe
drinking water and double that number, about 2.4 billion lack
adequate sanitation. It is because, of all the Earth’s water, only
about 2.5 percent is fresh water, three quarters of that is locked up
in glaciers and permanent snow cover. Only 0.3 percent of water
is surface water found in rivers and lakes, and thus readily
accessible. Throughout the world both the ground and surface
water is being used at a faster rate than it is being replenished. A
country is considered water-scarce when its annual supply of
renewable freshwater is less than 1,000 m3 per capita.
Though fresh water can be extracted from sea water, it is very
expensive. Around 1,500 desalination plants exist in the world and
the two leading methods are reverse osmosis (47.2% of installed
capacity worldwide) and multi-stage flash (36.5%) Saudi Arabia’s
desalination plants account for about 24% of total world capacity.

 Waste Management :
Waste management is the collection, transport, processing, recycling or
disposal of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials
produced by human activity and is generally undertaken to reduce
their effect on health, aesthetics or as an amenity. Waste
management is also carried out to reduce the effect of the
material(s) on the environment and to recover resources from
them. Waste management can involve solid, liquid or gaseous
substances, with different methods and processes for each of them.
Various methods are used for waste management which include
disposal (landfill and incineration), recycling (physical and
biological processing), energy recovery.

 Waste Management :
The current quantum of municipal solid waste generation in India to be
around 48 million tonnes per annum, out of which the waste from
construction industry accounts for about 12 to 14.7 million tonnes.
In addition, the hazardous waste generation is around 4.4 million
tonnes. In the future, every country would have to give importance
to energy and waste management in order to have sustainability.

 Concluding Remarks
 The civil engineers in present and future period are expected to
create a sustainable, environment-friendly and superior quality
of life.
 They are expected to serve proficiently with positive teamwork,
competence, collaboration, and with great conscientiousness as
master visionaries, planners, designers, constructors, and
drivers of society’s infrastructure, economic and social engine.
 They should be emissary and steward of the balance in
ecosystem, natural environment and its resources.

 Concluding Remarks
 Civil Engineers should be great innovators, assimilators of
creative ideas and cutting-edge technologies in all arenas –
public, private and academic.
 They should be able to generate techno-commercial optimal
solutions with minimal risk and uncertainty caused by natural
hazards and potential threats.
 They should play a prominent role in shaping the infrastructure
and environmental policy ensuring maximum benefit to society
in terms of cost, accessibility and minimal risk.
 Over time, the civil engineer has enjoyed a consistent demand
for services, and it is expected that demand to continue.

Future of civil engineering

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