CIVL 3137
Civil Engineering Materials
 

WELCOME TO CIVL ENGINEERING MATERIALS!

This course will introduce you to common highway construction materials such as aggregate, asphalt and concrete. We will examine how they are designed and manufactured, how they are used in construction, what properties affect their performance, and how those properties are determined in the field or laboratory.

Why asphalt and concrete? Why not steel or aluminum or plastics? In a course such as this, we could either cover a lot of different materials at a shallow level or concentrate on several materials at a deeper level. Materials such as steel and aluminum are specified by civil engineers based on their performance properties, but concrete and asphalt are designed by civil engineers―their "recipes" are individually tailored to meet specific performance goals for specific projects at the lowest cost using readily available materials. This warrants a deeper dive into those materials.

All course announcements will be posted here, so please check this page frequently.

Thursday, May 7
THIS IS DUE BACK TO ME BY 1:00 PM SHARP

DOWNLOAD FINAL EXAM HERE
This exam is open-book, open-note. You can provide your solutions on the sheets provided or on normal engineering paper. Note that you do not have to start each problem on a new page.

Wednesday, April 22
Here is the Homework 7 Solution. If you have any questions, please e-mail me.

Tuesday, April 7
THIS IS DUE BACK TO ME BY 3:00 PM SHARP

DOWNLOAD EXAM 2 HERE
This exam is open-book, open-note. You can provide your solutions on normal engineering paper. Note that you do not have to start each problem on a new page.

Wednesday, April 1
Here is the Homework 6 Solution. If you have any questions, please e-mail me.

Friday, March 27
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR EXAM 2
It is going to take me longer to grade the homework because I have to download and print out the files you send me, grade them, then scan and send the graded homeworks back to you. I also have to keep working on beefing up the slides and getting them posted to the website. Therefore, I have pushed Exam 2 back to April 7. Please take a look at the new schedule.

Wednesday, March 18
For the rest of the semester, I am going to beef up all of the PowerPoint presentations by adding a lot of "word slides" to provide you with all of the information I would have told you in class were we able to meet in person. I've gone back and updated the ACI Mix Design Method slides that I posted before Spring Break. When you click on the link to download the slides, make sure that the first slide says "Updated Version" or you are still looking at the old version. I've also posted slides for "Mixing, Placing and Curing Concrete." That will cover both of next week's scheduled classes. I've also posted Homework 6, which will be due by e-mail on Tuesday, March 31 at 1:00 pm SHARP. If this works, we will not have to meet online at 1:00 every Tuesday and Thursday to have class. I can just post the PowerPoints and let you go through them on your own timeframe. If this doesn't work, we can use eCourseware to have a virtual class where everyone who wants to logs in at 1:00 and I go through the slides in person. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THE POWERPOINTS ALONE WORK FOR YOU.

Thursday, February 27
Term Paper Topics
Today is the deadline to submit your TERM PAPER topics. Be sure to visit the TOPICS page to be sure your topic hasn't already been selected.

Thursday, February 27
TRBA Scholarships
Every year, the Tennessee Road Builders Association provides scholarships to civil engineering students across Tennessee. They will be here on Wednesday, April 8 to interview applicants. Please sign up for an interview slot on the sheet outside the CIVL office and go to www.trba.org to complete an application. THE APPLICATION DEADLINE IS MARCH 13.

Tuesday, February 4
As I mentioned last week, you will have to write a term paper this semester on sustainability in the asphalt/concrete/construction industry. Please read the introduction on the TERM PAPER web page and look at the paper rules and grading rubric on the PAPER RULES web page. My goal is for every student to choose a different topic. Please e-mail me your topic by 2/27. I will maintain a list of TOPICS already selected. First-come, first-served.

Monday, January 20
When you take the FE Exam, the only reference you will be allowed to use is the NCEES FE Reference Handbook. I want you to be familiar with the sections of that handbook that are related to this course. The two pages relevant to this course can be found here. I'm sure NCEES will expect you to know more material than is covered in just those two pages. I can think of dozens of questions that don't involve formulas or tables an so aren't addressed in the handbook
.