Civil engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Civil engineering - Essay Example the railroad is completely flat (en.rian.ru, 2011). It was built to integrate the nation into a modern rail network and is a part of the Alp Transit Railway Project which can afford the citizens the ease to travel in a better and faster manner. The tunnel site was filled with hard rocks posing a significant challenge to the excavation staff and causing immense disturbance in the surrounding area (Leung, Zhou, 2006: 153). It is known to be one of the greatest feats of engineering considering the fact that it was built at 4000 feet above sea level, on an uneven route comprising of steep gradients and sharp curves and exposed to dangerous environment which included snow and avalanches. Furthermore it was built under a mountain range which is nearly 8000 to 11000 feet high (Williams, 1968: 176). It took almost fifteen years to construct this spectacular engineering feat, costing billions of dollars. The construction of this tunnel is not only a significant engineering achievement but is also laudable for its major contribution in easing traffic and connecting various areas by enabling road transport at cheaper and faster rate. However, various problems were encountered during and after the construction of this tunnel, which presents a significant opportunity for study, and the same is discussed in the following sections. Figure 1: St. Gotthard Base Tunnel – Geographic location Source: World Records (2011) Geological setting The St. Gotthard Base Tunnel, as mentioned in the previous section is one of the largest tunnels in the world and is constructed in the Alpine mountain range. The construction of a tunnel of this magnitude and length, entails application of special state of the art techniques and technology. The tunnel was divided into five sections depending upon the geological structure of the site. These five sections include: Erstfeld, Amsteg, Sedrun, Faido, and Bodio which were approximately 7.4 km, 11.4 km, 6.8 km, 14.6 km, and 16.6 km in length, re spectively (as shown in Figure 3 below). Boring machines were used in all the sections other than in the Sedrun section, where the conventional blasting technique was used, since the rock formation in that area was highly unstable and could have posed a significant danger (NA, 2011). Figure 2: Geographical Setting Figure 3: Sedrun Tunnel The method applied for tunneling depends largely on the rock type in the area in which the tunnels are being constructed. Thus, it is of utmost significance for the engineers to devise various alternate strategies for tunneling and align the same with the rock types encountered by them on site. Almost 90 per cent of the rock type in the Gotthard Base Tunnel comprises of rock which is suEhrbarble for mining thus, the boring techniques were used in the areas such as Erstfeld, Amsteg, Faido and Bodio and the traditional mining techniques were used to blast the area in the Sedrun section (NA, 2011). Figure : Geological formations – St. Gotthard B ase Tunnel Temperature in the tunnel: Furthermore, the temperature in tunnels is also drastically different and hence must also be taken into consideration. When rock is exposed in the tunnels during excavation, a significant amount of heat is generated depending upon various factors such as the virgin rock temperature i.e. VRT; the thermal properties, the amount of water contained in the rock, the

Gender and Development in South Asia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Gender and Development in South Asia - Essay Example The result has been that there has developed stiff competition between the established hierarchy that dominates society and NGOs in a bid to make possible the inclusion of women in the process of development so that a truly modern and competitive world can be ushered in Asian countries. The intense competition with the established hierarchy has made it difficult for NGOs to have the impact that they desire in society but as an article that will be analyzed will show, there are some which have gained a measure of success. The gender issue, such as employment discrimination, in Asia, not only involves women, but also members of the LGBT community, who have become victims of long established traditionalist or conservative values in their societies.The White Van Stories is a 2013 documentary made by Indian filmmaker Leena Manimekalai that seeks to show the suffering that families in Sri Lanka are having as a result of women from their families having been kidnapped during the violence th at was the civil war. Manimekalai is a woman who has been a women’s rights activist for many years and she has become famous in India for standing up to the status quo and calling for more participation for women in the society. Through her experience, she managed to ensure that White Van Stories became successful in depicting the significant number of disappearances that took place in Sri Lanka during the war. Not only does it tell of the brutality suffered by women during such incidents, but it also shows the manner through which some of these individuals were kidnapped; never to be seen again by their families.