Пособия / Л.П. Даниленко, Ю.Ю. Сильман TECHNICAL ENGLISH FOR CIVIL ENGINEERS AND STRUCTURAL DESIGNERS

increasingtravel needs on land, air and sea. They design, construct and maintain all types of transportation facilities, including airports, highways, railroads, mass transit systemsand ports.

Civil engineers have one of the world’s most important jobs: they build our quality of life. With creativity and technical skills, civil engineers plan, design, construct and operate the facilities essential to modern life, ranging from bridges and highway systems to water treatment plants and energy-efficient buildings. Civil engineers solve the problems, concerned with pollution, traffic jams, drinking water, energy needs, urban redevelopment and community planning. They may work in research, construction supervision, maintenance or even in

sales or management.

Research is one of the most important aspects of scientific and engineering practice. Many civil engineers, among them the top people in the field, work in designing. As we have seen, civil engineers work on many different kinds of structures, so it is normal practice for an engineer to specialize in just one kind. In designing buildings, engineers often work as consultants of architectural or construction firms.

Becoming a civil engineer is a lot of work but if you like the idea of being a part of a big complex projects to improve people’s lives, it could be just the profession for you.

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Notes:

offshore engineering– сооружения на расстоянии от берега pollutants – загрязнители

EXERCISES

Ex. 1. Read the following international words and give their Russian equivalents.

Engineer, engineering, design, designer, designing, project, architecture, architect, structure, construction, profession, qualification, practice, industry, management, mechanics, technique, specialist, specialize, protection, consultant, material, metal, ceramics, polymer, laboratory, aspect, control, hydraulic, transport, airport, tunnel, canal, sanitation, energy, company, firm.

Ex. 2. Match English and Russian equivalents.

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Ex. 3. Analyze the information from the text and match each type of engineering with its scope.

Ex. 4. Find correct answers for the questions.

1.What is engineering?

2.What areas of activity does civil engineering cover?

3.Whatarethemainsubdivisionsofcivil engineering?

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4.Where can civil engineers work?

5.What’s the most proper place of work for the engineer who is interested in science?

6.Which profession of civil engineering is the most prestigious, demanded and well-paid in modern society in your opinion?

7.What kind of engineeringwould you like to specialize in?

Task. Read and translate the text using the dictionary.

TEXT 2. STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING

Structural engineering covers the conception*, planning, designing, drawings and construction for all types of structures, that support their own weight and the loads they carry, and that resist extreme forces from

wind, earthquakes, temperature and others. Bridges, buildings, and many kinds of projects are included with this speciality. Structural engineers develop appropriate combinations of steel, concrete, timber, plastic and new exotic materials. They

also plan and design, and visit projects sites to make sure work is done properly.

Professional engineers work as a team at any given project under the overall control of an architect for a building structure. Don’t think that structural engineers’ work is mechanical or

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routine in nature; it is useful to consider his/her position in buildingconstruction where the parties involved are:

the client (or owning organization), who has a need for a given building and will finance the project;

the architect, who produces proposals* in the form of building plans and models (or a computer simulation) to meet the client's requirements, who controls the project and who engages consultantstobringtheproposalsinto being.

consultants (structural, mechanical, electrical, heating and ventilating etc.), who carry out the detail design, prepare working drawings and tender documents and supervise construction;

contractors, who carry out fabrication and erection of the structural framework, floors, walls, finishes and

installation of equipment and services.

The structural engineers work as the members of a team, and to operate successfully it is necessary to have knowledge, experience and the ability to do their work with great responsibility. Their role may be summarized as planning, design preparation of drawings and tender documents and

supervision of construction. They make decisions about materials, structural form and design methods to be used. They are responsible for safety and must ensure that the consequences of failure* due to accidental causes are limited.

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Notes:

conception – концепция, понятие proposal – предложение

consequences of failure – последствия разрушения

EXERCISES

Ex. 1. Give the Russian for:

Conception, fabrication, erection, planning, client, walls, computer simulation, heating,ventilating,structural framework, floors.

Ex. 2. Give the English for:

Рабочие чертежи, работа в команде, рутинная работа, ответственная работа, финансировать проект, подрядчик, соответствовать требованиям заказчика, консультант, тендерная документация, отделочные работы, руководить строительством, установка оборудования, отвечать за безопасность, сократить последствия разрушения.

Ex. 3. Match the terms with their definitions.

1. An architect is … a) apersonwhoneedsastructureand who financestheproject

2. An engineer is … b) apersonwhoworks outtheplan for some kind of structuralwork(for example ahouse, abridge,aheating systemetc.)

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Task. Read and translate the text, do the exercises given below.

TEXT 2a. NEED FOR AND USE OF STRUCTURES

Structures are one of mankind’s basic needs next to food and clothing, and they are a feature of civilization. The main purpose of structures is to carry loads and transfer them to the ground. Structures may be classified according to use and need. A general classification is:

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residential – houses, apartments;

commercial – offices, banks, department stores, shopping centres;

educational – schools, universities;

social – exhibition halls, theatres, museums, art galleries, leisure centres, sports stadiums, etc.;

industrial – factories, plants, warehouses*, power stations, aircraft hangars* etc.

Speaking of residential construction we must say that the apartment houses are mostly built to suit urban conditions. Mass housing* provides home for many families and is at once public and private. The techniques of construction or the methods by which structures are formed from particular materials are influenced not only by the availability and character of materials but also the total technological development of a society. Presentdays designs for residential construction include all modern conveniences for a dwelling*; they advocate larger, better built and better equipped flats and houses. There is a marked improvement in the heating and ventilating systems as well as in hot-water supply, kitchen and sanitary fittings*.

Industrial buildings comprise another significant type of construction. Modern industrial buildings have demonstrated the advantages of reinforced concrete arches, metal frames, and glass walls.

Other important engineering structures are:

bridges;

towers–watertowers*,pylons*,lightingtowers*etc.;

special structures – offshore structures, car parks, radio telescopes, mining structures etc.

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Notes:

warehouses – склады

aircraft hangars – ангары для самолетов

mass housing– массовое жилищное строительство или застройка

facilities – оборудование dwelling– жильё, жилище sanitary fittings– сантехника watertowers– водонапорные башни pylons–опоры

lightingtowers–маяки

EXERCISES

Ex. 1. Give the English for:

Характеристика цивилизации, основная потребность человечества, переносить нагрузку, жилые сооружения, образовательные и общественные сооружения, городские условия, коммерческие и промышленные сооружения, атомная станция, склад, мост, башня, парковка, жилище, современные удобства, технология строительства, горячее водоснабжение, отопление и вентиляция, сантехника.

Ex. 2. Match two columns and make up 6 sentences.

Model: An institute is an example of an educational structure.

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Ex. 3. Say ifthe sentences given belowaretrue or false.

1.Constructing buildings is one of the principle features of civilization.

2.People’s main needs are food, clothes and dwelling.

3.Technological progress doesn’t influence the techniques of construction.

4.The systems of heating, ventilating, water supply and sanitary fittings are getting better and better.

5.The example of a social structure is a swimming pool.

6.Stores, offices and banks are the examples of industrial structures.

Task. Look through the text and give a short summary.

TEXT 3. STRUCTURAL DESIGNER’S WORK

The aim of a structural designer is to produce designs and drawings for a safe and economical structure that fulfils its intended purpose. The designing process includes the following steps:

1.Preliminary design* and planning. This involves selecting the most economical structural form and materials to be used.

2.Detailed design* for a given type and arrangement* of a structure, which includes:

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