Home
Guides
Communicating in Civil Engineering
Writing Specifications that Satisfy Codes and Citizens
Guides
Communicating in Civil Engineering
Writing Specifications that Satisfy Codes and Citizens
Writing Specifications that Satisfy Codes and Citizens
Neil Grigg, Civil Engineering Professor
When engineers write Specifications, they must satisfy both Codes and citizens. Consider, for example, that an engineer must design a flood control channel in a stream. The control channel, according to the Code, must be big enough to pass a certain size flood. Since the control channel is visible to citizens, it must also be appealing. So perhaps the engineer will plan a bike path along the stream. The path will have flowers instead of concrete walls. It'll look just like a babbling brook and still have functional control channels.