Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Mackenzie Building 3432
Telephone: 520-5784
Fax: 520-3951
The Department
Chair of the Department:
J.L. Humar
Departmental Supervisor of Graduate Studies:
D.T. Lau
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering offers programs of
study and research leading to the Master of Engineering and Ph.D. degrees
in Civil Engineering. These degrees are offered through the Ottawa-Carleton
Institute for Civil Engineering which is jointly administered by the Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carleton University, and the
Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Ottawa. For further
information, including admission and program requirements, see page 124
The Department conducts research and has developed graduate programs in
the following areas:
Environmental Engineering
The program in environmental engineering offers opportunities for research
topics in the areas of air pollution, groundwater and soil pollution, water
and wastewater treatment, and solid, hazardous and radioactive waste management.
The program is intended to be complementary to that at the University of
Ottawa, and courses can be selected from either department.
Geotechnical Engineering
The graduate program in geotechnical engineering places an emphasis on
both theoretical and applied problems related to soil and rock mechanics
and foundation engineering. These generally include the study of mechanical
properties of soil and rock materials, stability of natural slopes and
earth embankments, soil-foundation-structure interaction, and problems
in foundation design and geomechanics. Broader programs in geotechnical
engineering may be arranged by making use of courses offered in the Department
of Geography at Carleton University and in the Department of Civil Engineering
at the University of Ottawa.
Graduate research in geotechnical engineering is primarily directed towards
the following areas:
Soil-Foundation Interaction
Elastic and consolidation effects of soil-foundation interaction; soil-frame
interaction; contact stress measurement; performance of rigid and flexible
foundations; buried pipelines.
Earth Retaining Structures
Experimental and analytical studies of anchored and braced excavations,
flexible and rigid retaining walls, soil reinforcement, tunnels and conduits,
field behaviour.
Bearing Capacity and Settlement
Problems related to design of bridge abutments and footings located on
sloped granular fill, experimental and field studies.
In-Situ Testing of Soils
The use of devices such as the pressuremeter, the screw plate test, the
borehole shear device, and borehole dilatometer in the assessment of geotechnical
properties of soils.
Mechanical Behaviour
Development of constitutive relations for soils and rock masses with yield
and creep characteristics; applications to foundation engineering.
Mechanics of Geological Structures
Large strain phenomena; buckling of strata; applications to underground
storage structures; hydraulic fracture of oil-and gas-bearing geological
media.
Performance of Anchors
Theoretical and experimental analysis of deep and shallow anchors in soil,
rock and concrete; group action; creep effects; prestress loss.
Nuclear Waste Disposal
Theoretical modelling of rockmass-buffer-canister interaction during moisture
migration; non-homogeneous swelling of buffer materials; swelling pressures
in buffer systems; coupled heat and moisture flow in materials.
Structural Engineering
The graduate program in structural engineering embodies a broad spectrum
of topics involving material behaviour, structural mechanics and analysis,
and the behaviour and design of buildings, bridges, and other types of
structures, including liquid storage tanks, dams, and buried pipe systems,
etc. These topics are in the following fields: computer applications in
structural analysis; structural dynamics, seismic analysis, earthquake
engineering; finite element analysis; structural systems and design optimization;
behaviour and design of steel, concrete, composite, timber and masonry
structures; integrated treatment of structural, mechanical and electrical
building requirements; construction economics; project planning; and bridge
engineering. Graduate research in structural engineering is primarily directed
towards the following areas:
Computer Applications in Structural Design
Development of knowledge-based systems for the analysis, design, detailing,
fabrication, and erection of buildings and bridges. Includes graphic interfaces,
pre- and post-processing of frame analysis, load determination, and finite
element analysis packages.
Seismic Analysis and Design
Seismic response of set-back and other irregular buildings; computer analyses
of linear and non-linear structural response; design of buildings for seismic
forces; seismic behaviour of liquid storage tanks and dams; fluid structure
interaction problems.
Monitoring and Evaluation of Structures
Behaviour and performance of bridges, buildings, and other structures;
field and laboratory monitoring techniques; instrumentation; data processing
and interpretation.
Continuum Mechanics
Linear and non-linear problems in elasticity; analysis of contact problems
in elasticity, plasticity, and viscoelasticity; mechanics of composite
materials; fracture processes in geological materials; finite deformations
of rubber-like materials; poro-elasticity and micromechanics.
Numerical Modelling of Buildings and Bridges
Advanced analytical modelling of reinforced and prestressed concrete, steel,
and composite concrete-steel buildings and bridges. Material and geometric
non-linearities, bond-slip, the advent and propagation of cracks, tension-stiffening,
and shear-connectors behaviour are modelled to predict the full response
of structures up to failure.
Behaviour and Design of Steel, Concrete and Composite Structures
Analytical and experimental studies of structural members, substructures,
and connections for buildings, bridges, and offshore structures. Development
of the corresponding limit states design format design rules.
Masonry Behaviour and Design
Study of strength and serviceability issues by means of theoretical approaches,
testing, and field work.
Timber Structures
Analysis, design, and performance evaluation of wood-structured systems
and components; structural reliability.
Transportation Planning and Technology
The graduate program in transportation planning and technology deals with
problems of policy, planning, economics, design, and operations in all
modes of transportation. In the area of transportation planning, the focus
is on the design of transport systems, including terminals, modelling and
simulation, urban and regional studies, traffic engineering, and geometric
design. In the transportation technology area, programs deal with technology
of vehicles and facilities, acoustics and noise, materials and pavement
design. Graduate research in transportation is currently focused on the
following areas:
Transport Policy
Assessment and impact analysis of national, regional, and urban transportation
policies.
Planning and Design Methodology
Development and application of models for optimization of transport supply;
transportation system management.
Travel and Traffic Analysis
Behavioural theories of passenger travel, goods movement; empirical traffic
studies.
Transportation Terminals
Airport planning, air terminal design; bus, rail, subway terminal design,
layout methods, pedestrian traffic.
Transportation Technology Development and Assessment
Modernization of passenger and freight rail services; soil properties;
pavement design, multi-layered systems, low temperature cracking of pavements,
thermo-mechanical modelling of fracture processes in pavements; highway
design, energy.
Departmental Facilities
The structures laboratory facility includes an 11 m
x 27 m strong floor
with a clear height of 11 m; a strong pit, measuring 3 m x 3.7 m x 6.6
m for geotechnical and highway material testing; a 400,000 lb. universal
testing machine with auxiliary equipment for load and displacement control;
numerous hydraulic actuators; test frames; specialized equipment for torsion
and impact studies; and a wide selection of measurement devices (strain
gauges, LVDTs, pressure transducers, load cells, thermocouples) and several
data acquisition systems for testing structural materials and components.
The concrete laboratory has facilities for the casting, curing, and testing
of reinforced concrete members. Laboratory facilities in geotechnical engineering
include both large scale and conventional tri-axial testing, consolidation
testing, pore water pressure measurements, and model studies of contact
stress measurements. The soil dynamics and highway materials laboratories
provide facilities for studies of the physical properties of soil, stabilized
soil, aggregate and bituminous mixtures.
Computer-related equipment with the department comprises an HP9000, several
Apollo and SUN workstations, a network of microcomputers and related peripherals.
The computing centre of the University provides access to a Honeywell Level
66 computer and SUN4 workstation. A library of computer programs in structural,
geotechnical, and transportation engineering provides a significant resource
for advanced study and research.
Graduate Courses
All courses listed are one-term courses and may be offered in either fall
or winter with the exception of projects and theses. Please consult the
current course listing at the beginning of the fall and winter terms.
Engineering 82.511 (CVG7120)
Introductory Elasticity
Stresses and strains in a continuum; transformations, invariants; equations
of motion; constitutive relations, generalized Hooke’s Law, bounds for
elastic constants: strain energy, superposition, uniqueness; formulation
of plane stress and plane strain problems in rectangular Cartesian and
curvilinear coordinates, Airy-Mitchell stress functions and Fourier solutions,
application of classical solutions to problems of engineering interest.
Engineering 82.512 (CVG7121)
Advanced Elasticity
Continuation of topics introduced in Engineering 82.511. Complex variable
solutions: torsional and thermal stresses; axially symmetric three-dimensional
problems, Love’s strain potential, Boussinesq-Galerkin stress functions;
problems related to infinite and semi-infinite domains. Introduction to
numerical methods of stress analysis, comparison of solutions.
Prerequisite: Engineering 82.511 or permission of the Department.
Engineering 82.513 (CVG7122)
Finite Element Methods in Stress Analysis
Stress-strain and strain-displacement relationships from elasticity. Plane
stress and plane strain finite elements. Lagrange interpolation and Lagrange
based element families. Introduction to the theory
of thin plates; overview at plate bending elements. General formulation
of the finite element method.
Also offered at the undergraduate level, with different requirements, as
Engineering 82.421, for which additional credit is precluded.
Engineering 82.514 (CVG7123)
Earthquake Engineering and Analysis
Advanced topics in earthquake engineering: description of earthquake motions,
seismological background; analysis of earthquake response, response spectrum
approach, multiple input excitation, extended Ritz coordinates, complex
eigen-problem analysis; response analysis via frequency domain; design
considerations and code requirements, earthquake forces in building codes;
dynamic soil-structure interaction, direct method, substructure method,
fundamentals of wave propagation, half-space modelling of soil; dynamic
fluid-structure interaction, incompressible and compressible fluid elements,
substructure method with liquid continuum; special topics of current interests.
Prerequisite: Engineering 82.516 or permission of the Department.
Engineering 82.515 (CVG7124)
Advanced Finite Element Analysis in Structural Mechanics
Fundamentals of calculus of variations; variational and Galerkin formulations:
assumed displacement, assumed stress and hybrid elements; isoparametric
elements and numerical integration; plate bending: convergence, completeness
and conformity, patch test, Kirchhoff and Mindlin plate theories, nonlinear
elasticity and plasticity; cracking and non-linearities in reinforced concrete
structures; incremental and iterative schemes, geometric non-linearity:
small strain-large displacement, large strain-large displacement, Eulerian
and Lagrangian formulations; finite elements in dynamics; finite element
programing.
Prerequisite: Engineering 82.513 or permission of the Department.
Engineering 82.516 (CVG7137)
Dynamics of Structures
Structural dynamics, single and multi-degree-of-freedom systems, formulation
of equations of motion, methods of analytical mechanics, free and forced
vibrations, normal mode analysis, numerical methods for the response analyses
of single and multiple-degree-of-freedom systems.
Engineering 82.520 (CVG7138)
Engineered Masonry Behaviour and Design
Properties of masonry materials and assemblages. Behaviour and design of
walls, columns and lintels. Treatment of specialized design and construction
topics. Design of lowrise and highrise structures. Discussion of masonry
problems. Emphasis throughout the course is placed on a practice-oriented
approach.
Also offered at the undergraduate level, with different requirements, as
Engineering 82.443, for which additional credit is precluded.
Engineering 82.522 (CVG7139)
Behaviour and Design of Steel Structures
Brittle fracture and fatigue; behaviour of plate girders; composite beams,
girders and columns; stub girders; plastic design principles; frame behaviour;
structural stability; bracing of members and frames.
Prerequisite: Engineering 82.524 or permission of the Department.
Engineering 82.523 (CVG7125)
Theory of Structural Stability
Elastic and inelastic behaviour of beam-columns; elastic and inelastic
buckling of frames; application of energy methods to buckling problems;
lateral-torsional buckling of columns and beams; buckling of plates; local
buckling of columns and beams.
Prerequisite: Engineering 82.525 or equivalent.
Engineering 82.524 (CVG7126)
Behaviour and Design of Structural Steel Members
Limit states design philosophy; material behaviour; tension members; plate
buckling; torsion; lateral torsional buckling; beams, axially loaded columns
and beam-column behaviour; bolted and welded connections; applications
in design.
Engineering 82.525 (CVG7127)
Analysis of Elastic Structures
Application of matrices to structural analysis; force and displacement
method of analysis for framed elastic planar and space structures; symmetric
and anti-symmetric structures.
Engineering 82.526 (CVG7128)
Prestressed Concrete
Prestressed concrete materials; working stress design for flexure; ultimate
strength design for flexure, shear, and torsion; prestress losses; deflection
and camber; slabs; indeterminate beams and frames; introduction to prestressed
bridges and circular tanks.
Engineering 82.527 (CVG7129)
Advanced Structural Design
A number of topics, such as the evolution of a structure, structural form,
aesthetics, progressive collapse, and design in various structural materials,
are treated by members of the Department and outside experts.
Engineering 82.528 (CVG7130)
Advanced Reinforced Concrete
The research background, development, and limitations in current building
code provisions for reinforced concrete; yield line theory of slabs; safety
and limit state design; computer design of concrete structures.
Engineering 82.529 (CVG7100)
Case Studies in Geotechnical Engineering
The critical study of case histories relating to current procedures of
design and construction in geotechnical engineering. The importance of
instrumentation and monitoring field behaviour will be stressed. In-situ
testing.
Engineering 82.530 (CVG7101)
Advanced Soil Mechanics I
Effective stress, pore pressure parameters, saturated and partially saturated
soils; seepage; permeability tensor, solutions of the Laplace equation;
elastic equilibrium; anisotropy, non-homogeneity, consolidation theories;
shear strength of cohesive and cohesionless soils.
Engineering 82.531 (CVG7102)
Advanced Soil Mechanics II
Plasticity in soil mechanics; failure and yield criteria, plastic equilibrium,
upper and lower bound solutions, uniqueness theorems; statically and kinematically
admissible states; stability analysis of cohesive and cohesionless soils.
Engineering 82.533 (CVG7160)
Pavements and Materials
An analysis of the interaction of materials, traffic, and climate in the
planning, design construction, evaluation, maintenance, and rehabilitation
of highway and airport pavements.
Engineering 82.534 (CVG7150)
Intercity Transportation, Planning and Management
Current modal and intermodal issues, including energy. Framework and process
of intercity transport planning and management. Recent trends and system
development. Passenger and freight demand and service characteristics.
Future prospects and possibilities.
Engineering 82.535 (CVG7151)
Traffic Engineering
Introduction to principles of traffic engineering. Basic characteristics
of drivers, vehicles, and traffic. Volume, speed, and delay studies. Traffic
stream characteristics and queuing theory. Capacity analysis of roads and
intersections. Safety.
Engineering 82.536 (CVG7152)
Highway Materials
Materials characterization and strength evaluation of soils, stabilized
soils, aggregates, and asphalt concrete. Effects of low temperatures and
frost on materials behaviour.
Engineering 82.537 (CVG7153)
Urban Transportation, Planning and Management
Urban transportation systems, planning and management. Urban development
models, an introduction. Urban transportation policy.
Engineering 82.538 (CVG7154)
Geometric Design
Basic highway geometric design concepts. Vertical and horizontal alignment.
Cross-sections. Interchange forms and design. Adaptability and spacing
of interchanges. Design of operational flexibility; operational uniformity,
and route continuity on freeways.
Engineering 82.539 (CVG7155)
Transportation Supply
Advanced treatment of transportation planning and management concepts and
techniques: transport supply issues, capacity and costs, evaluation of
system improvements and extensions, transportation and development, policy
impact analysis.
Engineering 82.541 (CVG7156)
Transportation Economics and Policy
Transportation, economic analysis framework. Transport industry output.
Carrier operations. Issue of resource utilization, measurement, economics,
supply of infrastructure, pricing; subsidies, externalities. Transport
policy in Canada.
Engineering 82.542 (CVG7159)
Transportation Terminals
Framework for passenger terminal planning and design. Theory: the transfer
function and network modelling; pedestrian flow characteristics; capacity
of corridors, stairs, escalators, and elevators; layout planning. Practical
applications: air, rail, metro, bus, ferry, and multi-modal terminals.
Engineering 82.543 (CVG7158)
Airport Planning
Framework for airport planning and design. Aircraft characteristics; demand
forecasting; airport site selection; noise, airside capacity; geometric
design; the passenger terminal complex; cargo area; general aviation; ground
transportation; land use planning.
Engineering 82.550 (CVG7104)
Earth Retaining Structures
Approaches to the theoretical and semi-empirical analysis of earth retaining
structures. Review of the earth pressure theories. Analysis and design
methods for rigid and flexible retaining walls, braced excavations, and
tunnels. Instrumentation and performance studies.
Engineering 82.551 (CVG7105)
Foundation Engineering
Review of methods of estimating compression and shear strength of soils.
Bearing capacity of shallow and deep foundations. Foundations in slopes.
Pile groups. Use of in-situ testing for design purposes.
Engineering 82.552 (CVG7106)
In-Situ Methods in Geomechanics
Scope of a subsurface exploration program. Techniques of soil and rock
sampling. Geo-physical methods. Mechanical and hydraulic properties of
soil and rock. In-situ determination of strength, deformability and permeability
of soils and rocks. Critical evaluation of vane, pressuremeter, screw plate,
flat dilatometer, borehole shear and plate load tests. Pumping, recharge
and packer tests. Permeability of jointed rocks. Rock testing techniques,
borehole dilatometer, flat jack, cable jacking tests. Properties of rock
joints. In-situ stress measurements.
Engineering 82.553 (CVG7107)
Numerical Methods in Geomechanics
Critical review of advanced theories of soil and rock behaviour. Linear
elasticity, non-homogeneity and anisotropy. Plasticity models. Generalized
Mohr-Coulomb and Rucker-Prager failure criteria. Critical state and cap
models. Dilatancy effects. Associative and non-associative flow rules.
Hardening rules, hypo-elasticity. Soil consolidation, visco-elasticity
and creep behaviour of rock masses. Rock joints. Finite element formulation
of nonlinear problems. Iterative schemes; tangent stiffness, initial stress
and initial strain techniques, mixed methods. Time marching schemes. Solution
of typical boundary value problems in geomechanics with the aid of existing
research class finite element codes.
Prerequisite: Engineering 82.511, 82.513, or permission of the Department.
Engineering 82.554 (CVG7108)
Seepage and Waterflow through Soils
Surface-subsurface water relations. Steady flow. Flownet techniques. Numerical
techniques. Seepage analogy models. Anisotropic and layered soils. Water
retaining structures. Safety against erosion and piping. Filter design.
Steady and non-steady flow towards wells. Multiple well systems. Subsidence
due to ground water pumping.
Engineering 82.560 (CVG7131)
Project Management
Introduction to managing the development, design, and construction of buildings.
Examination of project management for the total development process, including
interrelationships among owners, developers, financing sources, designers,
contractors, and users; role and tasks of the project manager; setting
of project objectives; feasibility analyses; budgets and financing; government
regulations; environmental and social constraints; control of cost, time,
and content quality and process; human factors.
Engineering 82.561 (CVG7140)
Statistics, Probabilities and Decision-Making Applications in Civil Engineering
Review of basic concepts in statistics and the Theory of Probabilities.
Bayes’ Theorem. Probability distributions. Moments. Parameter Estimation.
Goodness-of-fit. Regression and correlation. OC curves. Monte Carlo simulation.
Probability-based design criteria. Systems reliability. Limit States Design.
Selected applications in transportation, geomechanics, and structures.
Emphasis will be given to problem solving. Use of existing computer software.
Engineering 82.562 (CVG7141)
Advanced Methods in Computer-Aided Design
Representation and processing of design constraints (such as building codes
and other design rules); decision tables; constraint satisfaction. Automatic
integrity and consistency maintenance of design databases; integrated CAD
systems. Introduction to geometric modelling. Introduction to artificial
intelligence.
Engineering 82.563 (CVG7132)
Computer-Aided Design of Building Structures
Relevant aspects of computer systems, information handling, auxiliary storage;
design methods, computerized design systems, computer graphics; application
of structural theory; examination of a selected series of structural engineering
programs and programming systems.
Engineering 82.564 (CVG7142)
Engineering Management
Engineering management principles, including program and project organization,
personnel management, major management systems, project management, legal
aspects of management, communication problems, politics and management,
management of the engineering competition, and union-management problems.
Engineering 82.565 (CVG7143)
Design of Steel Bridges
Basic features of steel bridges, design of slab-on-girder, box girder and
truss bridges. Composite and non-composite design. Introduction to long
span suspension and cable-stayed bridges. Discussion of relevant codes
and specifications.
Engineering 82.566 (CVG7144)
Design of Concrete Bridges
Concrete and reinforcing steel properties, basic features of concrete bridges,
design of superstructure in reinforced concrete slab, slab-on-girder and
box girder bridges, an introduction to prestressed concrete bridges, design
of bridge piers and abutments. In all cases the relevant provisions of
Canadian bridge codes are discussed.
Engineering 82.575 — 82.579 (CVG7300-7304)
Special Topics in Structural Engineering
Courses in special topics related to building design and construction,
not covered by other graduate courses; details will be available some months
prior to registration.
Engineering 82.580 — 82.584 (CVG7305-7309)
Special Topics in Geotechnical Engineering
Courses in special topics in geotechnical engineering, not covered by other
graduate courses; details will be available some months prior to registration.
Engineering 82.580 (CVG7305)
Analysis of Embankments and Slopes
Stability of embankments of soft clays; stress-strain analysis; anisotropy;
strain rate effect; short and long-term settlement; methods of slope stability
analysis; progressive failure; use of stability charts; slope analysis
for residual and unsaturated soils.
Engineering 82.585— 82.589 (CVG7310 — 7314)
Special Topics in Transportation Planning and Technology
Courses in special topics in transportation engineering, not covered by
other graduate courses; details will be available some months prior to
registration.
Engineering 82.590
Civil Engineering Project
Students enrolled in the M.Eng. program by course work will conduct an
engineering study, analysis, or design project under the general supervision
of a member of the Department.
Engineering 82.596 and 82.597
Directed Studies
Engineering 82.599
M.Eng. Thesis
Engineering 82.699
Ph.D. Thesis
Other Courses of Particular Interest
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
88.514
Ground Transportation Systems and Vehicles
88.517
Experimental Stress Analysis
88.521
Methods of Energy Conversion
88.550
Advanced Vibration Analysis
88.561
Creative Problem Solving and Design
88.562
Failure Prevention (Fracture Mechanics and Fatigue)
88.568
Advanced Engineering Materials
Systems and Computer Engineering
94.501
Simulation and Modelling
Geography
45.415
Slope Development: Forms, Processes and Stability
45.417
Glacial Geomorphology
45.532
Soil Thermal and Hydrologic Properties
45.533
Periglacial Geomorphology
45.534
Aspects of Clay Mineralogy and Soil Chemistry
Public Administration
50.510
Management Accounting
50.511
Financial Management