Effective Communication

In the web article “I-5 and the Physics of Bridge Collapses”, Hartsfield (2013) claimed that the concept behind a functional bridge design is what leads to its failure as well. The article examined the various types of bridges and found that the different types of bridges have weaknesses specific to themselves.  One such example stated by the article is that truss bridges, which use geometric shapes as a basis for its strength and stability. As such, it is claimed by the article that deformations on the shape will cause the bridge to fail.  Suspension bridges fail due to its inability to withstand huge external forces. The article observed that “when an external force causes the bridge to vibrate at its resonant frequency, it causes the vibration to grow stronger and stronger”. Another example of such phenomenon are cantilever bridges. The article alleged that cantilever bridges are designed to be able to withstand the torque that the lever arm takes, yet failu...

In the web article “I-5 and the Physics of Bridge Collapses”, Hartsfield (2013) claims that the concept behind a functional bridge design is what leads to its failure as well. Truss bridges “are composed of steel beams in the shape of triangles”. According to the article, triangles are used for truss bridges as its shape cannot distort without a beam or joint failure. It is observed by Hartsfield that corner and beam failures are the underlying causes for most truss bridges. Suspension bridges are built by hanging huge cables from “tower to tower” with smaller ones hanging straight down and fix on the road deck at the side. However, the failure of suspension bridges is mainly due to its design as well because it is not designed to withstand huge external force. Hartsfield states that “when an external force causes the bridge to vibrate at its resonant frequency, it causes the vibration to grow stronger and stronger.” This means that the design of the suspension bridge is also t...

Dear Professor Blackstone, I am writing this letter to introduce myself, my name is Derrick, I graduated from Nanyang Polytechnic in 2017 with a Diploma in Marketing, which is a course that has totally no connection with Civil Engineering. I manage to learn more about Civil Engineering upon graduation when I went to my uncle's company and to learn a little from the industry expert over there. As someone who likes to build and lead, I realize that being in the construction industry is very satisfying. It is because I can build and lead a team at the same time. As I have to lead a small team before, I know it is very difficult to make sure that everyone is well-coordinated and listens to my opinion if I did not have a strong technical knowledge in the things I do, I always believes that people will not listen to a leader that has no knowledge in what he is doing. Thus, I choose Civil Engineering not only I want to know about all the technical stuff, but I can also use my Marketin...