Elements of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics

Student-friendly in approach, this book focuses on introductory coverage of basics of civil engineering and engineering mechanics to provide students with a balanced and cohesive study of these two areas as needed by them in the beginning of their engineering education. It is a basic under-graduate textbook for first-year students of all branches of engineering, though especially designed to conform to the syllabus of Visvesaraya Technological University (VTU). The book imparts basic knowledge in various facets of civil engineering and the related engineering structures and infrastructure such as buildings, roads, highways, dams and bridges, inter alia, emphasizing the role and responsibilities of a civil engineer in modern society. It also briefly explains the broad scope of allied fields of civil engineering such as surveying, transportation, water resources, environmental engineering, geotechnical engineering, foundation engineering, and construction technology. The Engineering Mechanics portion of the book is comprehensively covered in eight chapters—divided into topics on Forces, Centroid, Moment of Inertia and Friction. Each chapter introduces the concepts to the reader gradually and stepwise. Providing a wealth of practice examples, the book emphasizes the importance of building strong analysis skills. Practice problems at the end of each chapter give students opportunities to absorb concepts and hone their problem-solving skills. This book has a companion CD containing software, developed using MS Excel, to work out the problems on Forces, Centroid, Friction and Moment of Inertia. It would help faculty to develop new kind of problems with reliable solutions for use in tests and examinations. The use of this software will enable the students to understand the concepts in a relatively better way. They will also be able to compare answers with those obtained using manual procedures.