Civil Engineering Photos

Photo Credit: Alex Mead

Above is an example of the harsh conditions civil infrastructure must endure in northern states and places where long winter climates are a fact of life. As you can see the entire outside of this fire hydrant is covered in a layer ice! Ice is incredibly strong at prying apart seems, spreading cracks, and generally reeking havoc on anything man made. Any civil engineering infrastructure that is designed for northern climates must be made to handle forces such as those presented by ice.

Photo Credit: Alex Mead

Featured above is a brick road. Common throughout the world before the large spread use of concrete and asphalt, they can still be seem in many cities, kept as reminders of the past. Requiring large amounts of labor to construct and maintain, brick roads are rarely built today.

Photo Credit: Alex Mead

A perfect example of the crumbling infrastructure we all hear about in the media. The problem with this bridge pier is obvious to any civil engineer, but may be not understood from a simple look. The problem is the fact that the reinforcing steel (rebar) is exposed to the elements and is rusting. The rebar takes all tension loads, prevents shrinkage of the concrete, and provides shear resistance. When the rebar rusts strength is lost and the ability of the bridge pier to perform its job in supporting to above roadway is compromised.

Photo Credit: Alex Mead

The Sixth Street Dam, or more properly the Sixth Street Broad Crested Weir, is located near downtown Grand Rapids, MI on the Grand River. It was constructed originally to power furniture mills but currently has no direct application. Typically, there is a six to eight foot vertical drop from crest to the downstream water surface but in flood conditions this can be reduced to only two or three. The Sixth Steet Dam is also fitted with a fish ladder to allow migratory fish, like salmon and steelhead, to pass and continue up stream.