Category Archives: Technological Advancement

Technological Advancement

Smart City – 10 Components & Challenges of smart cities – Full Guide

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Smart cities are becoming popular in several countries. The working of such cities are appreciable wonderful. They incorporate technology for solving various issues.

Today, we are going to dive deep into smart cities.

What is smart city?

  • In general, a smart city is a city that uses technology to provide services and solve city problems.
  • A smart city does things like improve transportation and accessibility, improve social services, promote sustainability, and give its citizens a voice.
  • While the exact definition varies, the overarching mission of a smart city is to optimize city functions and drive economic growth while improving quality of life for its citizens using smart technology and data analysis.
  • Value is given to the smart city based on what they choose to do with the technology, not just how much technology they may have.

Also read: https://vincivilworld.in/3-d-printing-buildings/

We will see the characteristics of smart city in the next section.

Components of smart city

Intelligent transportation in smart city
Intelligent transportation in smart city

Several major characteristics are used to determine a city’s smartness. These characteristics include:

  • Adequate Water Supply
  • Assured Electricity Supply
  • Sanitation, including Solid Waste Management
  • Efficient Urban Mobility and Public Transport
  • Affordable housing, especially for the poor
  • Robust IT connectivity and digitalization
  • Good governance, especially e-Governance and citizen participation
  • Sustainable environment
  • Safety and security of citizens, particularly women, children and the elderly, and
  • Health and Education

Let’s move on to the section to explain about what makes a city smart.

What makes a city smart?

  • We need a fresh way of thinking about what makes a smart city smart.
  • The essence of a smart city is its ability to adapt to the challenges the environment presents-its capacity to evolve and if necessary to transform itself.
  • That capacity is enhanced or limited by the resources it has at its disposal. But it is the capacity to adapt that marks a city as smart, not a particular category of resources — in particular, technologies — it can deploy to do so.
  • Identifying smart cities with innovative adaption means that smart cities are not creations or manifestations of the technological revolution.

Its time to look at the basic resources of smart cities.

The Basic Resources of Smart Cities

Buildings in a smart city
Buildings in a smart city
  • Smart cities embrace risk and reward innovation and exploration and foster a culture that encourages human ingenuity and imagination.
  • The need to innovate and adapt puts pressure on cities to create and nurture a culture of freedom and creativity.
  • But all the individual wisdom, creative imagination, self-confidence and capacity to take risk won’t do much to meet the challenges we face without mechanisms that channel these capacities into collaborative efforts.
  • The burden is not simply to create the conditions for key human capacities to develop and mature.
  • The burden is to create mechanisms that turn ideas into plans and plans into effective collective actions that produce desirable and sustainable outcomes.

Also read: Applications of GPS

In the next section, I will walk you through the challenges of smart city.

Smart city challenges

Smart city transportation
Smart city transportation
  • Smart city initiatives must include the people they aim to help: residents, business people and visitors.
  • City leaders must not only raise awareness of the benefits of the smart city technologies being implemented but also promote the use of open, democratized data to its citizens.
  • If people know what they are participating in and the benefits it can bring, they are more likely to engage.
  • Fostering collaboration between the public and private sector and city residents is key to creating a smart citizen who will be engaged and empowered to positively contribute to the city and community.
  • Smart city projects should include plans to make the data transparent and available to citizens, often through an open data portal or mobile app.
  • This enables residents to engage with the data and understand what it is used for.
  • Through a smart city app, residents may also be able to complete personal chores, such as viewing their home’s energy consumption, paying bills and finding efficient public transportation.
  • Smart city opponents worry that city managers will not keep data privacy and security top of mind, fearing the exposure of the data that citizens produce on a daily basis to the risk of hacking or misuse.
  • Additionally, the presence of sensors and cameras may be perceived as an invasion of privacy or government surveillance.
  • To address this, smart city data collected should be anonymized and not be personally identifiable information.
  • However, perhaps the biggest challenge smart cities face is the problem of connectivity.
  • The thousands or millions of IoT devices scattered across the city would be defunct without a solid connection and the smart city itself would be dead.
  • Furthermore, public transit, traffic management, public safety, water and waste management, electricity and natural gas supply can be unreliable, especially as a system ages and grows.
  • However, the importance of these operations will only increase as the city expands and the demands on its infrastructure increase.
  • These systems must be constantly maintained and tested to ensure their proper functioning.
  • Smart cities are also challenged by finding ways to attract and keep residents without a cultural fabric.
  • The cultural essence of an area is oftentimes what attracts residents the most; this is something that cannot be programmed or controlled with a sensor.
  • Therefore, smart cities may falter because they cannot provide a sense of authenticity, distinctiveness or place.

Finally, let me show you some examples of smart cities.

Examples of smart cities

While many cities across the world have started implementing smart technologies, a few stand out as the furthest ahead in development. These cities include:

  • Kansas City, Missouri
  • San Diego, California
  • Columbus, Ohio
  • New York City, New York
  • Toronto, Canada
  • Singapore
  • Vienna, Austria
  • Barcelona, Spain
  • Tokyo, Japan
  • Reykjavik, Iceland
  • London, England
  • Melbourne, Australia
  • Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  • Hong Kong, China

So, we took a quick trip through different aspects of a smart city. Let me know in comments if you have any doubts.

Happy learning!

Technological Advancement

Applications of GPS- 9 Applications Full details

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There are various applications of GPS since it is used for navigation and shrivelling, it is required in many domains. We can observe that technological growth is very rapid and the use of GPS is also getting increased.

Some important applications of GPS are explained are given in the first section.

1. Applications of GPS in agriculture 

The combination of GPS and GIS has given rise to the site-specific farming an approach to precision agriculture. GPS based applications in precision farming are used for: 

 It also helps farmers to work in bad weather conditions such as rain dust fog and darkness when visibility is low.

With the help of Precision agriculture, gather the Geographic information regarding the Plant-Animal-Soil requirements beforehand and then applying the relevant treatment in order to increase productivity.

The collaboration of GPS and GIS with better quality of fertilizers and other soli enhancements, weeds, pesticides can help a farmer greatly in protecting the natural resources in a long run.

The location information is collected by GPS receiver for mapping field boundaries, roads, irrigation systems, and problem areas in crops such as weeds and disease.

2. Aviation

GPS application
GPS application

GPS is used in aviation throughout the world in order to increase the safety and efficiency of flights.

Space-based position and navigation enable three-dimensional position determination for all phases of flight from departure, en route, and arrival, to airport surface navigation.

The role of GPS in Aviation is : 

  •  Area Navigation allows aircraft to fly user-preferred routes from waypoint to waypoint where waypoint does not depend upon the ground infrastructure 
  •  New & Efficient Air routes made possible by GPS are continuing to expand 
  •  Improved approaches to airports, which significantly increase operational benefits and safety, are now being implemented even at remote locations 
  • Potential decommissioning and reduction of expensive ground-based navigation facilities, systems, and services 
  • Reduced aircraft delays due to increased capacity made possible through reduced separation minimums and more efficient air traffic management, particularly during inclement weather. 

3. Environments

In order to sustain the earth’s environment with the human’s needs, there is a need for better decision making in association with more updated information.

Such decisions are supposed to be taken by Government & Private Organisations but both of them are facing the biggest challenge of gathering accurate & timely information.

GPS is the tool which helps greatly in this situation.

Some of the benefits which are provided by GPS to environment are :

  •  In order to provide a comprehensive analysis of environmental concerns, GPS data collection system is complimented with GPS packages 
  • GPS/GIS data collection system efficiently recognize Environmental patterns and trends 
  • There is no need for digitizing the fields data transcription, it can be analyzed quickly without this preliminary requirement 
  •  Environmental Disasters such as fires and oil spills can be more accurately tracked. 
  •  Precise positional data from GPS can assist scientists in crustal and seismic monitoring. 
  •  Monitoring and preservation of endangered species can be facilitated through GPS tracking and mapping. 

4. Marine

GPS technology
GPS technology

In the case of Maine’s search and rescue operations, GPS has provided great support.

GPS provides the fastest and most accurate method for mariners to navigate, measure speed, and determine location.

This enables increased levels of safety and efficiency for mariners worldwide.

Some of the benefits of GPS in Marine are :

  1. Allows access to fast and accurate position, course, and speed information, saving navigators time and fuel through more efficient traffic routing. 

 2. Boaters get precise navigation information- Improves the precision and efficiency of buoy positioning, sweeping, and dredging operations. 

3. For container management in port facilities, enhancement in efficiency and economy is achieved 

4. Increases safety and security for vessels using the AIS 

5. Public Safety & Disaster Relief 

  • GPS serve as a technique in disaster management & rescue operations since, in such real-time situations, time is the critical component.
  • In order to save lives and reduce the loss of property, the med is to know about the relevant information by time, knowing the precise location of landmarks, streets, buildings, emergency service resources, and disaster relief sites reduce the effect.
  • GPS has proven to be of great importance at the time of Tsunami, Katrina and Rita that were havoc in the parts of the world.
  • The rescue team with the collaboration of GPS, GIS and remote sensing gave rise to the rescue operations by correctly locating the site and other relevant information.

6. Applications of GPS in Surveying

GPS is widely used in surveying and by ma keepers. Telephone lines, fire hydrants, server lines and many such can easily be mapped by using GPS. The images of various sites can be tank very easily and fast by using GPS technology

7. Mobile Phones

GPS
GPS
  • GPS proved to a very efficient feature in Smartphones.
  • GPS is not only used for navigation purposes but also for many other applications in the phone which are dependent on GPS.
  • GPS also provides the service providers in improving their efficiency and quality of service as it can give the feedback as to what signal strength is available.

8. Applications of GPS in Robotics

Robotics is spreading its wings of applications to every field. And, now it has reached in civil engineering as well with GPS.

Robotics field has been benefitted greatly by GPS as it helps the robots in navigation and performing various tasks.

9. Military purpose

Initially developed for the help of military, GPS has covered almost all the areas and applications.

Apart from navigation purposes in military, GPS helps in other fields like in tracking the target using Drone technology.

It is also used for the guidance of missiles and projectiles 

Some other benefits of GPS in this domain are :

  •  Provide positional informational to individuals having mobile devices in the case of emergency 
  •  Flood Prediction Capabilities are enhanced along with the monitoring of Seismic precursors 
  •  GPS also helps the meteorologist in storm tracking and flood predictions 
  •  Helps scientists in anticipating earthquakes 
  • To contain and manage forest fires, aircraft combine GPS with infrared scanners to identify fire boundaries and “hot spots.” 

Now, we have reached at the end. Let’s summarize the applications of gps.

Conclusion

GPS is very important tool for navigation and tracking purpose.

Its popularity has increased drastically and covered almost all the domains. The applications of GPS are explained in a detailed manner.

The new updations and advancements are increasing its scope further.

That’s it about applications of GPS. Let me know in comments, if you have any doubts.

Happy learning!

Technological Advancement

Augmented Reality in Construction- Top 7 Applications Full Details

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Augmented reality is a trending technological advancement that has the potential to change the user experience and visual presentations. In this article, we will find out the details of augmented reality in construction sector along with its importance and applications in civil engineering.

Let’s start from the definition of AR.

What is augmented reality?

Augmented reality use of a synthetic environment for the integration of 4D building information models to live picture. It is more feasible and more effective than the traditional methods.

The real and virtual environment are represented as the two poles of the continuum. And, augmented reality is the middle segment of continuum.

Also read: 3 d Printing buildings |Concrete Printing & Contour Crafting Methods Full Guide

In the next section, I will show you why augmented reality is an important technology to be applied in civil engineering.

Why augmented reality is important in civil engineering?

Man leveraging AR for a purpose
Man leveraging AR for a purpose
  • Augmented reality can significantly contribute to the understanding of project documentation in various stages of construction projects.
  • And is thus better integrating the construction phase with earlier stages of development.
  • Augmented reality can facilitate the understanding of project documentation especially in the visualisation of 3D models in the field, but remains technologically constrained.
  • The claim of significance is based on the comparison of well-established conventional presentation techniques with augmented reality, both theoretically as well empirically with the survey among
    potential users.
  • Generally speaking, the function of the prototype visualisation of the
    preliminary design is more useful as the function of construction schedule supervision.
  • The experts from the field of architecture, engineering and construction have assessed that the current functioning of the prototype presented in the paper can be most useful with the process of communication between the experts and investors.
  • It is also possible to conclude that the presented prototype allows us to see and estimate whether the work on-site is conducted in accordance with the expectations defined in the schedule.

Now that you know the relevance of augmented reality in civil engineering, let’s dig deeper into the applications of AR in the field.

Applications of augmented reality in construction

Seeing the world through augmented reality technology
Seeing the world through augmented reality technology

The main applications are,

  1. Effective Architectural Drawings Translation
  • It is definitely not an easy job to transform a drawing into a fully-fledged framework. It requires several steps, including the identification of different structural components, followed by a flawless building.
  • As a project is typically envisaged in phases, during construction, mistakes can slowly creep in.
  • However such errors can be easily avoided as AR offers a virtual picture of the building structure.

2. Superior design and development

  • AR may be used to refine designs to allow optimal use of the available space, thereby eliminating any space wastage.
  • AR can be used to create spatial models, which help designers recognise and rectify flaws when designing.
  • In addition, this technology also helps to create new designs, as the civil engineer would be able to better envision the structure and make several beneficial modifications.

Also read: Water to cement ratio – An important strength factor.

3. Reduction of error when constructing

  • The minimization of errors that occur when executing the completed design during construction is one of the most significant advantages provided to civil engineers by this technology.
  • AR provides the entire construction sector with a virtual template, making it easier to manage different processes and thus helping engineers achieve better performance.

4. Better promotion of projects in the building industry

  • A challenge faced by most civil engineers and architects is explaining building projects to individuals without a professional context.
  • Also, excellent architectural drawings, usually on a smaller scale or 2D designs, can not serve the purpose if the target audience does not understand them.
  • However, customers can be provided with a virtual tour using various colours and offering different views of the project by making use of the AR concept.

5. Valuable man hours saving

  • Using AR can decrease the errors that appear to occur when an approved civil engineering plan is performed.
  • Numerous factors, such as misreading sketches, measurement errors, etc., can cause errors.
  • Using AR, which allows continuous monitoring and analysis of construction work to ensure that it fully adheres to the approved plan, such errors can be easily avoided.
  • This removes future mistakes and reduces the time and effort needed to correct those mistakes, thereby saving considerable time and precious man-hours.

6. Quick review of designs for projects

  • Building proposals under consideration can be easily reviewed on a real scale using AR by project managers and other authorities.
  • This allows them to easily recognise minor mistakes or issues that have managed to slip from the eye of the civil engineer and sneak into the construction process.

7. Cost reduction

  • Because rectification of errors avoids future construction errors, the costs associated with the manpower and materials used are also reduced, thus reducing the total cost of a construction project.

Also read: Types of Cracks in Building- 14 Causes& Prevention Full Details

Let’s sum up with the conclusions.

Conclusions

  • Even though augmented reality has a substantial potential it is unlikely that in the nearby future it could replace the conventional presentation techniques
  • The idea of using Augmented reality needs to be developed in parallel with conventional methods
  • Well-formed digital models, such as BIM, are prerequisite for AR 
  • The main barriers were found to be,

(a) GPS positioning in general indoors positioning in particular
(b) visual occlusion
(c) scalability in relation to the size of BIM models and end-users

  • Some of the barriers could be removed by developing side distributed near real-time video and image processing, advanced computer vision algorithms to help with unwanted visual occlusions, etc.
  • The idea of using Augmented reality needs to be developed in parallel with conventional methods, so that when the basic technology for augmented reality matures engineers and architects will be able to take advantage of it.

So, have you found the blog insightful about augmented reality in civil engineering?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Happy learning!

Technological Advancement

Cellular Light Weight Concrete: Manufacturing Process & Properties Full Details

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Cellular Light Weight Concrete (CLC) is a lightweight concrete that is produced by mixing cement and fly ash slurry with pre-formed foam. CLC is also known by the names as foam concrete,  aircrete, foamcrete or reduced density concrete.

We will find out the main principles, constituent materials, manufacturing, properties, advantages and disadvantages of CLC in the blog.

Let’s start from the principles.

Cellular lightweight concrete technology

  • Cellular lightweight concrete is prepared by introducing air bubbles into the concrete using a foaming agent.
  • Amount of air-entrained determines the density of the material.
  • Use of coarse aggregates is eliminated in CLC.

We will see the constituent materials in the next sections.

Constituent materials

Cellular light weight concrete block
Cellular light weight concrete block
  1. Cement

Ordinary Portland Cement is used.

2. Water:

The water used in the manufacture of CLC Blocks is potable water.

3. Fly-Ash :

Class F Fly-ash conforming to IS 3812 (part-1) is used .

4. Sand :

Sand passing through 2.36 mm IS sieve is used.

5. Foaming Agent :

Hydrolyzed protein-based foaming agent or synthetic-based foaming agent is used. Protein-based foaming agents are prepared with raw material in presence of Ca(OH)2 and a small portion of NaHSO3.

Time to look into the classification of cellular light weight concrete.

Classification of cellular light weight concrete

The cellular light-weight concrete blocks confirms to the following grades :

  • Grade-A: These are used as load-bearing units and shall have a block density in the range of   1200 kg/m3 to 1800 kg/m3.
  • Grade-B: These are used as non-load bearing units and shall have a block density in the range of 800 kg/m3 to 1000 kg/m3.
  •  Grade-C: These are used for providing thermal insulation and shall have a block density in the range of 400 kg/m3 to 600 kg/m3.

How about the manufacturing process?

Cellular light weight concrete manufacturing process

CEMENT  (%)FLY ASH (%)SAND (%)
35650
35605
355510
355015
354520
354025
353530
Mix proportion of Cellular light weight concrete
  • Cement, sand and fly ash are dry mixed in proportion
  • The slurry is made by wet mixing with water.
  • Foaming agent about an amount of 1.5% of the total weight of cement, fly ash and sand is taken.
  • The foaming agent is diluted with water in the dilution ratio is 1:35.
  • The above solution is fed into the foam generator.
  • the foam is mixed thoroughly with the cement-based slurry.
  • After mixing is completed check that the wet density of the foamed concrete is close to what is required.
  • The slurry form of foamed cellular concrete is pumped into assembled moulds of blocks of dimensions 600mm x 250mm x 200mm.
  • The blocks are then cured and this curing is done by Water for 2 to 3 weeks.

We will find out the properties of fresh and hard cellular light weight concrete now.

Fresh CLC properties

  • Workability of foamed concrete is very high and have a slump value of 150mm to collapse
  • Reduces tendencies of segregation, bleeding and laitance
  • Reduced alkali-aggregate reaction
  • Freely flowing consistency and self-compacting property

Hardened cellular light weight concrete properties

  • Physical properties of the foam concrete are clearly related to the dry density (400 to 1400kg/m3)
  • Thermal conductivity of foam concrete ranges from 0.1W/m.K to 0.7 W/m.K
  • Better acoustical insulation
  • Good resistance against freezing and thawing
  • Reduced permeability

I will show you the comparison of various technical parameters of cellular light weight concrete in the next section.

Comparison of technical parameters of clc blocks and burnt clay bricks

1Dry Density (Kg/m3)  80090010001100
2Compressive Strength (N/mm2)  2.63.23.85.4
3Drying Shrinkage No Shrinkage    No Shrinkage    No Shrinkage     No Shrinkage  
4Thermal Conductivity (W/m.K)  0.320.340.360.37
5Water Absorption (%)  11.8711.5111.3710.96
Comparison of technical parameters of clc blocks and burnt clay bricks

Now comes the the mandatory section on advantages and disadvantages of cellular light weight concrete.

Advantages of CLC

  • reduces dead load of the building
  • easy to handle and hence reduce the cost of transportation
  • low thermal conductivity and good acoustical insulation
  • good resistance to freezing and thawing action
  • disposal of harmful industrial wastes like fly ash
  • better placeability
  • eco-friendly
  • lower water absorption
  • Fire resistant

Disadvantages of cellular lightweight concrete

  • Difficulty in finishing
  • Time of mixing longer
  • With the decrease in density, the compressive strength and flexural strength also decreases

Let’s wrap up with the conclusion.

Conclusions

  • 68% of our country’s electricity demand is fulfilled by coal-based thermal power plants and so the harmful fly ash produced can be used in CLC.
  • CLC blocks are environment friendly and thus we can reduce environmental pollution and global warming.
  • Technical properties of CLC are far more superior than conventional burnt clay bricks and so the use of burnt clay bricks can be replaced with CLC.

That’s it about cellular light weight concrete. Do you have any doubts? Did I miss out anything? Please help yourself to the comment box.

Happy learning!

Technological Advancement

Remote Sensing- 4 Amazing Applications in civil engineering

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Remote Sensing has been leveraged for various applications in various fields. We will see the definition, components & applications in civil engineering in this blog.

First let’s find out the definition of remote sensing.

What is remote sensing?

Remote sensing (RS) is the technology of acquiring information about the Earth’s surface without actually being in contact with it.

This is done by sensing and recording reflected or emitted energy and processing, analyzing, and applying that information.

I showed you the remote sensing definition.

We will find out the different components of RS now.

Remote sensing components

Components of remote sensing
Components of RS

7 components involved in RS are,

  • Energy Source or illumination
  •  Radiation and the atmosphere
  •  Interaction with the target
  •  Recording of energy by the sensor
  •  Transmission, reception and processing
  •  Interpretation and analysis
  •  Applications
  1. Energy Source or Illumination (A)– The first requirement for remote sensing is to have an energy source which illuminates or provides electromagnetic energy to the target of interest.

2. Radiation and the Atmosphere (B)– As the energy travels from its source to the target, it will come in contact with and interact with the atmosphere it passes through. This interaction may take place a second time as the energy travels from the target to the sensor.

4. Recording of Energy by the Sensor (C) – After the energy has been scattered by, or emitted from the target, we require a sensor (remote – not in contact with the target) to collect and record the electromagnetic radiation.

5. Transmission, Reception, and Processing (D)- The energy recorded by the sensor has to be transmitted, often in electronic form, to a receiving and processing station where the data are processed into an image (hardcopy and/or digital).

6. Interpretation and Analysis (E)- The processed image is interpreted, visually and/or digitally or electronically, to extract information about the target which was illuminated.

7. Application (F)- The final element of the remote sensing process is achieved when we apply the information we have been able to extract from the imagery about the target in order to better understand it, reveal some new information, or assist in solving a particular problem

We will move to the principles of remote sensing next.

Remote sensing principles

Symbolizing remote sensing working
Symbolizing RS working

Here we go with the principles.

  • Electromagnetic energy reaching the earth’s surface from the Sun is reflected, transmitted or absorbed.
  • Specific targets have an individual and characteristic manner of interacting with incident radiation that is described by the spectral response of that target.
  • Electromagnetic_radiation (EMR) like radio waves, infrared (heat) waves make characteristic patterns as they travel through space
  •  Soils of differed types water with varying degrees of impurities, or vegetation of various species

The next section deals with the different types of remote sensors.

RS sensors types

There are mainly 2 types of sensors used in RS.

  1. Passive sensors- Passive system record energy reflected or emitted by a target illuminated by the sun. e.g. normal photography, most optical satellite sensors

2. Active sensors- Active system illuminates the target with energy and measure reflection. e.g. Radar sensors, Laser altimeters RADAR(Radio Detection and Ranging), LIDAR(Light Detection and Ranging)

I will walk you through the platforms for remote sensing next.

Remote sensing platforms

Platforms of remote sensing
Platforms of remote sensing

Platforms are used to house the sensors which obtain data for remote sensing purposes. 

The distance between the target being imaged and the platform plays a large role in determining the detail of information obtained and the total area imaged by the sensor.

Platforms are-

  • Ground-based
  • Airborne eg. Aircraft, Drone
  • Spaceborne eg. Satellite

Time to get into the last, but the most important section.

RS applications in civil engineering

  1. Site investigation
  • Site investigations in general require topographic and geologic considerations.
  • Remote sensing data permits such an assessment. In the case of dam site investigation, information on topography is essential.
  • Geological consideration involves the different soil and rock types and physical properties.
  • In selecting river-crossing sites for bridges and pipelines, an important consideration is the stability of slopes leading down to and up from the water crossing.
  • Such slopes include riverbanks, terrace faces and valley wall.
  • High spatial resolution satellite data can facilitate depth perception in the above-said investigations

2. Planning and design of highways

  • Highways are part of the infrastructure that makes up the spinal cord of modern society.
  • RS & GIS provides a valuable tool in the process of planning and design of highways.
  • To obtain an optimum highway route alignment which is economical, suitable and compatible with the environment, various types of data have to consider simultaneously.

3. Groundwater location

  • Knowledge of groundwater location is important for both water supply and pollution control analysis.
  • Remote sensing plays a vital role in delineating potential areas of groundwater occurrence for detailed exploration.
  • Thus, it reduces the cost and time involved in groundwater exploration. Potential groundwater areas cannot be seen as on satellite images directly

4. Landslide assessment

  • Landslide is the result of a wide variety of processes which include geological, geomorphological and meteorological factors.
  • The important terrain factors are lithology, structure, drainage, slope, land use, geomorphology and road network.
  • A complete landslide hazard assessment requires an analysis of all these factors leading to instability in the region.
  • The feature extraction of some of these factors can be done from the interpretation of RS using satellite images

That’s it about remote sensing. Let me your doubts in comments.

Happy learning!

Technological Advancement

Floating House- 2 Types of Floating Houses & Amazing Examples

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Floating house is always an attraction to those who care for the aesthetics and beauty of their residence. More than anything, they have the advantage to sustain the flood. Floating houses are the ones that are built with a load that is equal to or less than the uplift force of the water that aids in floating the house on the water. Traditional houses, such as houses on boats, have mobility, whereas floating houses are those houses used as living spaces on water that are minimally mobile other than moving vertically with the tide. A float house, unlike a houseboat, is not self-propelled, though some smaller float houses can be propelled by attaching an outboard motor to them.

Today, we are going to find out all the interesting aspects of this civil engineering wonder.

What are floating houses?

“Floating”  term in the foundation  engineering is used when the soil beneath the footing does not experience any extra load , as the load of the structure is equal  or less than the soil displaced.

Floating houses are similar in concept and normally defined those houses which are constructed on water in a way that the load of the structure is equal or less than the uplift force of the water which helps in floating the house on water.

Now, let me show you the different types of floating houses.

Types of floating houses

There are two types.

  1. House which permanently float
  2. House that floats during flood

We will learn each of them in depth next.

1. House that permanently float

These type of floating houses are constructed by the mechanism that allows it to float permanently.

Green roofed Schwimm Haus Boat by German architects.
Green roofed Schwimm Haus Boat by German architects.

2. House that floats during flood

These are houses that float only during flood water, else get placed on the ground ,particularly during dry season if there is no water.

The figure below shows floating houses during flood. They are an easiest homemade solution with foam blocks under your home. The 4 guide posts keep the house in place as it rises, just like a floating docks

Houses that float during flood
Houses that float during flood

There is a home in Kerala which was widely appreciated for the innovation.

The whole building is made of steel (GI pipe). The walls are made of multi wood sheet on both sides.

The home is built by P Gopalakrishnan Achari from Ernakulam district in Kerala. To avoid the floating house from being swept away by the floodwaters, he placed four steel pistons at 25 feet into the earth in four corners through the walls.

The house is supported on the inner rods of these pistons.

During floods, the house will move up along with the air tank with the piston.

When the water recedes, it will automatically come back to the normal level. The house will not move an inch on to the sides.

Also read: Self healing concrete|Bacterial concrete-Preparations& Advantages

Now, let’s look into some exciting examples of floating houses.

Examples of a floating house

  1. The figure below depicts a house that was built on a steel platform structure with steel pontoons.
House built on steel platform
House built on steel platform
Photo by Florian Holzherr

2. The house shown below is designed by Morphosis Architects and students from UCL. They collect its own water, generates its own electricity, and is capable of floating as high as 12 feet on rising flood waters.

Flotation is made possibly by a single unit of expanded polystyrene foam coated in glass fiber reinforced concrete.

Floating house in which floating by expanded polystyrene foam coated in glass FRC
Floating house in which floating by expanded polystyrene foam coated in glass FRC

3. The building in the figure below is amphibious home that rests on land but are built to rise when waters rise. When the river swells the house will float as much as 18 feet. It floats back down as the water subsides.

It is designed by Factor Architecten.

Amphibious home

Also read: Infrared Thermography in Civil Engineering: Applications & Pros and Cons Simplified

In the next section, let’s discuss some technical jargon. After all, the beauty emerged from it, right?

Principle of a floating house

  • Floating house do not require foundation and are based on the  principle  of buoyancy. Thus known as  buoyant   homes.
  • Base of the structure  should be such that it help in floating as well as able to take dead load, live load and other load to encountered by the  house.
  • The houses may be constructed on boat, hollow pipe, light weight pads and similar materials which help in floating as well  as take up load.

That was the principle behind it. Next, let us particularly look into the technology behind vertically moving floating houses.

Principle of a vertically moving floating house

  • A steel frame that hold the floatation blocks is attached to the underside of the house.
  • There are four ‘vertical guidance’ poles not far from the corners of the house.
  • The tops of poles attached  to steel frame.
  •  The poles  telescopes out of the ground, allowing the house to move up and down.

What about the services that would be available in a floating houses?

Services available with a floating house

  • All the ducts and wires for water, gas, electricity and sewage disposal in such amphibious homes are flexible , designed to remain functional even when the house rises several metres from its usual  position
  • Solar panels are provided for energy requirements
  • In-cino-let toilets which burn waste are provided
  • Drinking water is collected from rainstorms and filtered into glass partition wall  inside
  • The  inner  temperature  is regulated in case of geothermal pond loop

Here comes, the most interesting aspect. How about the life in the miracle?

Life in floating houses

  • Relaxing
  • Romantic
  • Comfortable
  • Low storage space
  • Less accommodation
  • Cost
  • Heating/cooling
  • Maintenance
  • Safe during flood

Okay. So, now it feels so good. In an environmental friendly approach, is it relevant?

Need for floating houses

  • The sea level  is said to have risen by 20cm in last centuary.
  • It is expected to rise  by three amount in the 21st centuary.
  • So floating house will not be a fashionable style but necessary.
  • Safe  in  flood prone  areas  during floods.

Finally, let’s give quick trip through the moving houses which is a cousin of floating houses.

Moving houses

  • Envelope of houses can be fabricated , shown to customer and towed to the site.
  • The whole structure will require to be anchored to the  foundation.
  • If house owner wants to shift, it can be dismantled and reinstalled at other place.
  • Interiors  can  be placed as per the requirements  through  modular  parts  like  kitchen ,bath  etc.

Time to wrap up.

What good would it do to hire an outside firm to do the cutting of our lumber?

The building industry is very competitive and requires pinpoint accuracy when it comes to building floating houses. Preparing a timber layout and constructing estimates before being hired requires a significant lot of knowledge and time. Your time is money, and it might be used to increase profits and extend your floating houses business’s reach.

Contact Nedes estimating first if you need a precise wood quote for an upcoming floating house or company plan. For many of the world’s greatest and smallest construction projects, we laid the first wooden beams. Our team of professional estimators has decades of experience in the construction sector and floating houses are no different. In addition, we are aware that a thorough wood plan is required when producing estimates for construction projects. To ensure an error-free design and correct sizing of all components, we use state-of-the-art estimating technology. Our Lumber Takeoff Services are what you need, so contact us now.

Conclusion

  • India has islands, coastal areas and areas highly prone to  flood.
  • So there need to construct  floating house and have expertise  in this type of construction.
  • There is need to develop  technology for  moving  houses which can be  transported and constructed  early  particularly  during  disaster or when required to be shifted  due to other consideration.

So, how was the journey through floating houses? I found it really awesome. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Photo credits: (https://insteading.com/)