Civil Engineering is evolving every day with the changing technology. Civil Engineers are now using innovations such as suspension systems to build bridges and using the GPS to plot new roads. As the technology brings new techniques, the civil engineering field continues to incorporate creative ways. Here, are four new techniques that are likely to change the construction process:
- Self- Healing Concrete
Cracks in the concrete is a common phenomenon. The cracks impair the durability of the concrete as they provide an easy path for the liquid and gas containing harmful substances to enter. To avoid this situation, researchers at the Bath University are working on a self-healing concrete that will contain micro-organisms inside microcapsules. According to the researchers, these micro-organisms will release limestone as water enters these splits to prevent the materials from breakage.
- Warm Bridging
Insulation material has become prominent in the construction industry. For this, Nasa developed material, Aerogel for cryogenic insulation. This material is considered as one of the most effective thermal insulation material. The technology is used to insulate studs, which can reportedly increase the overall wall R-value which is an industry measure of thermal resistance by more than 40 percent.
- Active Footfall
Researchers are now working out ways that can produce energy from footsteps. The technology used is known as Pavegen Floors. These are rubber tiles that have a spring-like action that generates energy when stepped on. This is a brilliant concept to harness the human energy power. The Pavegen tiles can benefit the most when installed in busy city areas to generate energy.
- Photovoltaic Glazing
Building structures that have the Building incorporated photovoltaic (BIPV) coating that is capable of producing their own power. The technology transforms the entire building envelope into a sun-powered board. An organization, known as Polysolar is providing photovoltaic glasses as the building materials. These Photovoltaic Glasses also do not cost much over the customary glass.
Apart from these, other technologies are also set to change the civil engineering practices such as Kinetic Roads, Cloud Collaboration, and Asset Mapping.