Saturday, April 20, 2013

Innovation is a Key Engineering Drive

By Joan Jaynes


An engineer faces puzzles every day: how to build something, how to make something, how to process something in the most efficient way possible. And beyond the proper application of established building practises as gathered from recent history, there is also the possibility of innovation, of coming up with a new way to "skin the cat" so that work is a bit easier for the construction project, or the structure itself is improved in strength or durability. This process creates advancement for everyone, over time.

The science of materials is an area that is often the focus of improvement in the building sector. Whether it is refashioning current materials such that they have new applications, or the use of entirely new materials, transformation of the status quo is not uncommon. And it is often a simple alteration that produces a noticeable upgrade to some process.

For example, concrete is one of the oldest building materials in use in the modern construction industry. Although it was widely used to build structures for the Roman Empire, the technology was lost for centuries. Although it has a fairly simple recipe - aggregate (sand or stones) for strength, cement as a binding agent, and water as a catalyst - variations in the specific formula are always being tried.

One way to improve upon concrete without evening changing the formula is to precast it - that is, create premade products under controlled conditions in a precasting factory or plant. There, experienced specialists can mass produce building materials that arrive at a work site ready for installation, having been made as perfectly as possible, with no environmental degradations.

Precast concrete leads to savings in terms of both money (because the molds can be reused, and volume savings are possible) and time (because finished products arrive at the site, ready for installation - there is no delay for curing). For example, rather than building a mold for a set of stairs leading into a building, pouring the concrete, waiting for it to cure, and then finishing it, a builder can simply receive the slabs for a set of Precast Steps and install them.

There are so many other areas where the use of precast concrete has proven to be a tremendous boon to the construction business that enumerating them would take a very long time. From something as simple as steps to large, crucial infrastructure projects such as municipal Drainage Solutions, precast concrete has a proven track record of delivering custom-made pieces in ready-to-use condition, in order to drive construction forward.

When an engineer looks at the world, he or she sees both problems and solutions. This can lead to innovations that make things easier for all of us.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment