ENGINEERING NEWS - The Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka

SRI LANKA
Established 1906
ENGINEERING NEWS
The Newspaper of The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka Vol. 50, No 05, September / October 2014
Registered at the GPO as a Newspaper No. QD/48/News/2014
108th Annual Sessions of
the IESL inaugurated,
Eng. S. B. Wijekoon, The New President
T
he Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL) held the inauguration of its 108th
Annual Sessions at the SBMEC Auditorium BMICH on Friday 10th October, 2014
from 9.00 am onwards. Dr. P.B. Jayasundera, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and Planning was the Chief Guest while Eng. (Prof.) Mohan Munasinghe, Founder
Chairman of Munasinghe Institute of Development (MIND), Colombo was the Guest of
Honour for the event. A large gathering of distinguished invitees, Past Presidents and
members of the IESL attended the event.
Eng. S B Wijekoon the being inducted as the new president for the 2014/2015
session by Eng. Shavindranath Fernando president for 2013/2014 session
The key item of the event was the induction of Eng. S.B.
Wijekoon as the President of the IESL for the 2014 / 2015
Sessions. Addressing the audience he laid out his plans for
the IESL for its 2014 / 2015 Sessions. The full text of the
presidential address follows:
"Ladies and Gentlemen, as you are aware the Institution of
Engineers, Sri Lanka which was established in 1906 is inaugurating its 108th Annual Sessions today. The Institution
which is the apex professional body for engineers in Sri
Lanka has been incorporated by an Act of Parliament. It’s
one of the oldest professional Institutions in South East
Asia and has about 15,000 members on its role at present.
Today I am addressing you all as the President of the
Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka for the sessions 2014 /
2015, the highest position that an engineer can reach in his
professional career. I thank the membership for the trust
and confidence placed on me by electing me to the prestigious position. Reaching this level was never an easy task
and has been for me a long journey in my engineering career.
There are quite a few close associates of me who provided
assistance, guidance and encouragement to me, perhaps
behind the stage, to enable me to reach this position today
and I am happy to mention the names of a few of them.
First and foremost my own family members, my wife
Surekha and two sons Malinda and Maneesha. They are all
here today, they always managed their affairs in their
own,without burdening me, and left me to concentrate on
my official and institution related works. My mother and
late father guided me on the right path and taught me to do
things in a fair and reasonable manner with responsibility,
and my gratitude goes to all of them.
I would like to mention my mathematics teacher, Mr. Asoka
Herath, who is here today, who led me to the correct mathematics track during my secondary education and it was
his strict directions and guidance that laid the foundation
for me to excel in mathematics during my school days.
Contd. on page 11...
PRESIDENT’S CORNER
T
his is my very first message to the
President’s Corner and I will briefly
tell you the plans I had put forward
at the inaugural sessions on 10th October 2014. Basically I am trying to make
3 things, namely, the first one I have
named as Service Excellence of the IESL
Secretariat. The second one is ICT for
Productivity Enhancement of IESL and
the next one is theIESL Outreach Drive.
So for the first, what we are trying to do is to improve the performance of the IESL headquarters because there are various issues and criticisms from the members saying that the headquarter is not resolving issues at the required speed and to the
satisfaction of the members. So therefore I am planning to address that issue during the coming year. The next one is, we
have introduced ICT in 2013 and we accordingly introduced a
Membership Management System and now that it is working
very well, we are trying to introduce more and more ICT to activities of the IESL to improve the performance in line with the
first activity I have mentioned. The third one is, there are a large
number of senior graduate engineers, who have not taken the
membership of the IESL due to various reasons. Now there are
various requests coming from them to get the membership and
we are now trying to study this problem and see whether we
can introduce some mechanism for these graduate engineers
to become Corporate Members of the IESL and that I think will be
an advantage for the IESL because the services of such members
could be important to improve the performance and delivery of
IESL activities in the coming year.
Contd. on page 4...
FEISCA Regional Seminar adds
international flavour to Inauguration
of 108th Annual Sessions of the IESL
T
Members of the Head Table at the FIESCA Seminar
his year’s FIESCA Regional seminar held in Colombo saw
heavy international participation. Held as part of the Inau The Institution of Engineers
Sri Lanka
guration of the 108th Annual Sessions of the IESL on Saturday, 11th October, 2014 at the Mihilaka Medura, BMICH, the 120/15, Wijerama Mawatha
Colombo 7, Sri Lanka
seminar had “Innovative Technologies for Excellence in EngineerTel: 2685490,2698426, 2699210
ing” as its theme.
Fax: 2699202
It was organized by the IESL in association with the Federation E.mail:[email protected]/
of Engineering Institutions of South and Central Asia, FIESCA. [email protected]
President of the IESL Eng. Shavindranath Fernando delivered
the Welcome Address. The Guest Speaker for the event was Dr.
Brahmanand Mohanty who spoke on “Current Efforts to Achieve
Resource Efficiency through the next Wave of Innovation”.
Website:http://www.iesl..lk
in this issue
B D Rampala Memorial
The Keynote Address on “Innovation in Engineering Education” Lecture.................................2
was delivered by Prof. Robin King.
Editorial..................................4
The Technical Sessions that followed saw country presentations Techno Sri Lanka 2014 being made from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Awards Ceremony
Dazzles..................................6
Lanka.
Sri Lanka Engineering News - September / October 2014
2
IESL NEWS
TENTATIVE
ANNUAL EVENTS
CALENDAR
2014 / 2015
Event
Dates
♦IESL Event Launch
Friday-February 13, 2015
♦National Engineering
March 2015
♦Engineers Night
Saturday-March 14, 2015
♦New Year Family
Saturday-May 09, 2015
♦Engineering Excellence
Friday-August 14, 2015
Conference
Get Together
Awards
♦Induction and Graduation Friday-August 28, 2015
Ceremony
♦Inauguration of the
Friday-October 16, 2015
♦Techno Exhibition
Friday - Sunday, 09, 10,
11 October 2015
Annual Sessions
♦Annual Sessions Seminar Saturday- October 17,
2015
♦Annual Sessions Site Visit Sunday- October 18,
2015
♦Annual General Meeting Saturday- October 24,
2015
♦Techno Awards
Ceremony
Friday- October 30, 2015
NEW ARRIVALS TO THE
LIBRARY
Title
Author
Fire Protection for Commercial
Facilities
Bromann, Marrle
Economics – A Self Teaching
Guide
Slavin, Steve
User & Non-User Benefit
Analysis for Highways
(with CD Rom enclosed)
AASHTO
Mechanistic Empirical Pavement
Design Guide
AASHTO
A Policy ion Geometric Design of
Highways and Streets: 6th Ed.
AASHTO
Power System Engineering
Arora , C.M.
Automatic Control System ( with
MATLAB PROGRAMS)
Saeed, Hasan
NOTICE TO ENGINEERING
FACULTY UNDERGRADUATES
WRITE TO SLEN
Be creative! Bring out the writer in you!
Have an interesting story to tell? An idea to express? A question to ask, or a comment to make?
Start writing now!
THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, SRI LANKA
Registration of Structural Engineers
Directory of Structural Engineers
1. Registration as Structural Engineers
As per the requirements of the Urban Development Authority (UDA) it has become necessary for the Corporate Members in the field of Civil Engineering to register with the Institution
and those members are requested to get their names listed in the Directory of Structural
Engineers that the Institution publishes annually in order to be eligible to carry out structural
designs of buildings with more than 4 floors. Interested members are requested to apply for
registration using the application form No: DES-SE/FO/11 available at the IESL and which
could also be downloaded from the IESL website at www.iesl.lk. The duly filled application
form has to be accompanied by a brief CV of the applicant and an application processing fee
of Rs. 2,000/=. The application would be processed only if the member has settled his/her
subscription fees up to and including the year 2015. The successful applicants will be requested to pay a fee of Rs. 1,500/- to get their names listed in the Directory of Structural
Engineers.
2.
Directory of Structural Engineers
Corporate Members who have registered themselves as Structural Engineers with the Institution can now get their names listed in the Directory of Structural Engineers in order to
become eligible to carry out the structural designs of buildings in their respective categories
for the year 2015 by applying using the application form NO: DES-SE/FO/12 available for
collection from the IESL Secretariat or downloadable from our website at www.iesl.lk. The
duly filled application form has to be accompanied by an application processing fee of Rs.
1,500/=. The application would be processed only if the member has settled his/her subscription fees up to and including the year 2015.
3.
SEAL
It will be mandatory for structural engineers to use the seal issued by the Institution, in their
official correspondence and in the certification of drawings. This seal can be obtained by
using the application form NO: DES-S/FO/10 available for collection from the IESL Secretariat or downloadable from our website at www.iesl.lk. The duly filled application form has to
be accompanied by an application processing fee of Rs. 2,000/=. An application once received would be processed only if the member has settled his/her subscription fees up to
and including the year 2015.
All applications in respect of 1-3 above should reach the Institution on
or before December 31, 2014.
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, SRI LANKA
Registration of Arbitrators and
Adjudicators
Directory of Arbitrators and Adjudicators
1.Registration as Arbitrators and / or Adjudicators
Corporate Members of the Institution with more than 10 years of experience after becoming
Corporate Members and who wish to register as Arbitrators and/or Adjudicators are requested
to apply for registration using the application form No: DES-AD/FO/1 in respect of Adjudicators and application form No: DES-AB/FO/2 in respect of Arbitrators. These forms are available for collection at the IESL and that could also be downloaded from the IESL website at
www.iesl.lk. The duly filled application form has to be accompanied by a brief CV of the
applicant and an application processing fee of Rs. 2,000/= for registration as an Adjudicator or
as an Arbitrator or as both. The application would be processed only if the member has
settled his/her subscription fees up to and including the year 2015. The successful applicants will be requested to pay a fee of Rs. 1,500/- to get their names listed in the Directory of
Arbitrators/Adjudicators.
The Editor of the Sri Lanka Engineering News (SLEN) newsletter of the IESL invites articles of technical, managerial,
2.Directory of Arbitrators and Adjudicators
artistic or any other nature, even campus humour from you,
our engineers-to-be.
Corporate Members who have registered themselves as Arbitrators and/or Adjudicators with
the Institution can now get their names listed as Arbitrators or as Adjudicators or as both as
the case may be, in the 2015 Directory of Arbitrators and Adjudicators by applying for same
using the application form NO: DES-AB/FO/3 available for collection from the IESL Secretariat or downloadable from our website at www.iesl.lk. The duly filled application form has to
be accompanied by an application processing fee of Rs. 1,500/=. The application would be
processed only if the member has settled his/her subscription fees up to and including the
year 2015.
The editorial staff of the IESL is ready to support your initiative
and give it the best chance of success to be published
in the SLEN.
Write a true story of a project, a book review, a policy paper, a
poem, or whatever you think will interest your clan.
Send your draft materials (around 1500 words) to; The Editor,
Sri Lanka Engineering News, E-mail: [email protected]
You can also post your draft article in the YOU ARE THE AUTHOR -WRITE TO SLEN blog in the institutions
website www.iesl.lk. For clarifications call Publicity Officer –
IESL, Tel: 2698426 Ext 232.
Editor – ‘Sri Lanka Engineering News’
All applications in respect of 1-2 above should reach the Institution on or before
December 31, 2014.
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
Sri Lanka Engineering News - September / October 2014
IESL NEWS
LATE ENG. B. D.
RAMPALA
MEMORIAL
LECTURE
Presentation of Technical Papers
at IESL Annual Sessions 2014
A forum that shared knowledge and experience
T
T
he B.D Rampala Memorial Lecture marking the 104th
birth anniversary of Bamunusinghearachchige Don
Rampala popularly called B.D. Rampala was held on
Friday, 21st November, 2014 at the Wimalasurendra Auditorium of the IESL. Eng. P.P. Wijesekera, former General Manager Sri Lanka Railways delivered the lecture on the theme ‘
How to change Sri Lanka Railways to a profit making entity’.
The IESL piously commemorates the birth anniversaries of
engineering greats the country has produced whose names
are etched in its rich engineering history. One such individual
is B. D. Rampala who became the first native chief mechanical engineer in 1949, of the then Ceylon Government Railways and went on to become the General Manager during
the period 1955 - 1970, in what is now Sri Lanka Railways.
The improvements he brought about to the country’s railway
3
Eng. (Prof.) Thilakasiri Session Chairman receiving a
token of appreciation from Eng. (Prof.) K P P Pathirana,
Editor- Transactions
are enjoyed by the people to this day.
he Presentation of
Technical Papers for
the 108th Annual
Sessions of the IESL conducted on Tuesday, 14th
and Wednesday, 15th October 2014 at the
Wimalasurendra Auditorium of the institution , as
part of the inauguration of
its new sessions, was a
hive of activity this year with
a lot of authors and lay engineers mingling among
the audience. As with the
previous years, the Call for
Papers attracted large
number of papers, under
the various disciplines.
However, marked improvements were observed in the
number of authors and attendees from the industry
at the presentations, possibly due to the wider and
more focused publicity
given to the industry.
Section of the audience
Eng. S B Wijekoon, President of IESL garlanding the
portrait of Late Eng. B D Rampala
Eng. P P Wijesekera, Resource Person, lighting the
traditional oil lamp
Eng. P P Wijesekera delivering the lecture
ARE YOU READY? 2014
T
he Career Guidance Unit of the University of Moratuwa in collaboration with Rotaract
Club of Univeristy of Moratuwa organizes the official careers fair of the university, ‘Are
You Ready?’, with the prime objective of bridging the gap between the soon-to-be
graduates and the corporate sector. While improving the professionalism of the
undergraduates and preparing them for recruitment in the industry, it also gives an opportunity
for the corporate sector to avail themselves of the talent that University of Moratuwa has to
offer.
The first ever ‘Are You Ready?’ was held in 1998. It is worth mentioning that the superiority
of ‘Are You Ready?’ was recognized in the very first year itself. The event came under
recognition as the best professional development project in the Rotaract District of 3220 in
the same year, and has
secured the crown of the
District’s Professional
Development citation for over
10 years.
In the course of its journey,
‘Are You Ready?’ also came
to be assisted by the Career
Guidance Unit of the
University of Moratuwa
which helped to make the
event even more successful.
With this development, ‘Are
You
Ready?’
was
recognized as the Official
Careers Fair of the
university. Over the 15 years
of its excellence, ‘Are You
Ready?’ has shown
commendable growth and
has now reached a point
where approximately 70
companies and 700
undergraduates take part in
it.
The first session of ‘Are You
Ready? 2014’, The Resume,
will commence on the 4th of
December, its objective being
to educate the participants
on how to prepare a CV that
sets them apart from the
crowd. The sessions The
Forum, YOU TM and The
Exemplar will follow from the
16th to the 18th of December,
each of them addressing
different aspects of becoming
a successful professional.
The highlight of ‘Are You
Ready?’, Flagship Day ,
where employers form the
corporate sector meet the
final year undergraduates of
the universities to assess
their abilities and recruit
them, will take place on the
19th of December. ‘Are You
Ready? 2014’ will conclude
with its final session, Dining
Etiquette and Grooming
Workshop, on the 27 th of
December.
4
Sri Lanka Engineering News - September / October 2014
IESL NEWS
The psychological factors that
constrain human responses in
disaster risk reduction
Sri Lanka
Engineering News
Dawn of another
session after
Annual Sessions…
T
hanks for the trust the engi
neers have upon me, I will be
continuing another term as
the editor. I requested in the previous editorial to have more participation by the members and we witnessed a remarkable progress in
participation by the members in the
IESL activities during the last
month.
The Members’ lounge at the Techno was for much of the
time, full of members and both the Techno and the AGM
were well attended by our members. More than that, participation in the annual session presentations was very
encouraging. Last year we observed that sometimes there
were less than 10 participants in some sessions, however, this year it was around 80-100 throughout. Discussions too were very constructive and I feel that the young
engineers had an excellent time with a lot of advice. This
has to be the “mentoring” that we all should expect from
the senior engineers, rather than complaining that the
young engineers do not perform well in the industry.
The way forward during this new session with the President, Eng. S.B. Wijeyakoon has to be always positive
and members’ involvement must be even more. I humbly
request the members to raise their voice and propose
new targets during the session.
I propose the following activities which were done during
last few years to be continued; use of IT in communication, conducting CPD courses to cater the needs of the
members, members’ reunion or members’ night, more
field visits organized by sectional committees (some were
even foreign visits), more activities by regional chapters
(SL and overseas), more CSR work such as building clinic
etc.
I was requested by the Qatar Chapter to reserve some
space in the newsletter for “Gulf Column”. Of course, it
will be done and why not for others. Please propose a
name for your column; it will be reserved for you. Valuable articles and your activities will be definitely published.
Always remember that “IESL is ours” and do not criticize
that IESL is not moving in the right direction unless you
actively contribute in IESL activities.
Eng. (Dr) Udeni P. Nawagamuwa
[email protected]
Contd. from page 1....
PRESIDENT’S CORNER
So in line with this we have already decided at the first Council
meeting held on October 18, 2014 to set up 3 Task Forces
and we have appointed members to these Task Forces and
I think they are going to work out their proposals on how we
can achieve these goals and then we will look at these
proposals and get the approval of the Council. I am planning
to introduce these activities by 1st January, 2015 and then I
will inform you the progress, may be during the coming
months especially through the Digital SLEN as well as the
SLEN and may be the website.
I kindly request all members to send your suggestions not
only for these 3 areas but also for any areas to improve the
IESL activities and we will look at these suggestions positively and see whether we can incorporate these things into
the activities and to improve the benefits for the members in
the following months. So thank you very much and wish you
a very good day.
by Eng. Thushara Dissanayake
I
(M - 4943), Department of Irrigation
t was very recently we wit
nessed the sorrowful land
slide
disaster
at
Meeriyabedda in Koslanda
area. National Building Research Organization (NBRO)
is the government institution
dealing with landslide hazards according to the disaster management act of Sri
Lanka. According to the
NBRO landslide hazard warnings had been issued several
times prior to the disaster on
this area. Apparently, people
residing at the location had
not vacated the place despite
such warnings. As usual
heavy arguments went on
among many parties with regard to who should take the
responsibility of the disaster.
Even at the moment of writing this article investigations
are being carried out into to
the incident.
According to the United Nations International Strategy for
Disaster Reduction (UNISDR)
“disaster risk reduction is the
concept and practice of reducing disaster risks through
systematic efforts to analyze
and reduce the causal factors
of disasters”. Accordingly reducing exposure to hazards,
lessening vulnerability of
people and property, wise
management of land and the
environment, and improving
preparedness and early warning for adverse events are
some basic actions of disaster risk reduction. Simply
speaking disaster reduction
is about choices. Each decision and action makes the
society either more vulnerable to disasters or more resilient to them. The magnitude of the impact depends
on the nature of the choices
people make.
Coming back to the
Meeriyabedda disaster, in
fact, there can be two possibilities for the scenario. One
possibility is that the authorities might have not taken necessary steps to shift those
people from the disaster
prone area and resettle them
in a safer place. Second possibility is that people have not
vacated the place irrespective
of provision of safer lands and
other requirements to resettle. Whichever the case
might have been the question
is why people kept silent neglecting such warning of a
hazard which has the potential of making their lives to an
end.
It is often mentioned that
most people do not care about
early warnings, safety precautions etc. The success of
disaster risk reduction activities largely depends on the
community participation.
Risks involve great deal of
uncertainties. Uncertainty is
the existence of more than
one possibility. As risks do
not always bring about disasters, different people will
perceive risk differently. At
times people heavily object
structural mitigation measures like relocation. There
can be various reasons for
such type of public resistance during risk mitigation
efforts. Lack of facilities at
new locations, high perceived value of their own
properties, problems with
regard to livelihood, separation from relatives, political
misleading, and ignorance
can be some of the reasons.
Similarly there can be some
psychological affiliations as
the root causes of such resistive behavior. They are
discussed under social psychology as psychological
traps or biases in decision
making and same could constrain human responses in
disaster risk reduction efforts
as well. These psychological factors may affect not
only relocation endeavors
but actually extend to a
broader scope of risk reduction practices. This article is
about implications of such
psychological traps with disaster risk reduction practices.
Let’s look at some of those
psychological traps that can
hinder disaster mitigation
efforts.
Status-quo
The preference for the current state of affairs is called
status-quo bias. An individual weighs the potential
losses of switching from the
status-quo more heavily than
the potential gains. As such,
potential risks are underestimated and people refuse
to shift from certain disaster prone areas they have
used to live in. Similarly,
people are not willing to give
up practices that can increase the disaster risk. Unwillingness to adhere to
safety precautions in industrial activities, improper land
use practices for agriculture
and other development activities, environmental pollution especially by wrongful
discarding of solid and liquid waste can be given as
examples.
Over confidence
Over confidence effect is a
bias in which a person’s subjective confidence in his or
her judgments is reliably
greater than the objective
accuracy of those judgments. This may help a person think that he is safe from
a hazard. As a result, some
people are reluctant to vacate
their residencies despite warnings of possible disasters.
Some people say that they are
safeguarded by their religion
as they are behaving virtuously
according to their religion.
Sometimes workers do not
use safety precautions and attribute it to their vocational experience. Driving after consuming alcohol, driving extremely fast, risky overtaking,
not wearing seat belts are behaviors caused by overconfidence bias.
Conformity bias
Sometimes when people want
to decide what to do they look
around and see what others do
in this situation and imitate
them. This is known as the
conformity bias. People frequently conform to the majority view, even when they know
it is definitely wrong. This behavior can occur among
people during disaster mitigation processes as well. People
always do what the majority do.
If the majority refrains from
leaving a risky area other individuals also follow them despite their realization of risk.
On the contrary, people panic
unnecessarily during emergencies and create disasters
by themselves like injuries or
loss of lives due to congestion.
Gambler’s fallacy
The gambler’s fallacy is the
bias where someone expects
past events to influence the
future. For instance consider
people living in an area which
has got the risk of landslides
during rainy seasons. Suppose there were no landslides
during few consecutive rainy
periods. Then according to the
gambler’s fallacy people in that
area believe that there will be
no more landslides and engage in activities without caring the risk and finally subject
to a disaster.
At present human psychological aspects are taken into consideration only during post disaster phases like recovery.
When a community-wide disaster hits psychological treatments are done to restore
those who have mentally affected by the disaster. In fact,
this type of psychological intervention is equally important for
disaster risk reduction. Even
few educational programs on
this subject would benefit the
people a lot. The success of
the actions taken by authorities
to reduce disaster risks will
further improve if people are
able to make correct decisions
devoid of psychological biases.
Reference:
1. www.humancond.org
2. www.mindtools.com
3. www.psychwiki.com
4. www.unisdr.org
5. www.wikipedia.com
Sri Lanka Engineering News - September / October 2014
IESL NEWS
5
IESL Extends Global Reach - Establishes new chapters in Western Australia, New Zealand and Qatar
R
esponding to the demands of its globally dispersed membership the IESL has established overseas chapters in Western
Australia, New Zealand and Qatar this year in quick succession. The chapter in Western Australia which was the second in
that country (It already has a chapter in New South Wales Australia established during 2009/2010 sessions) together with
that in New Zealand were established in June this year. The Qatar Chapter, the first in West Asia region, was established in
September this year. Eng. Shavindranath Fernando – President of IESL for the 2013 / 2014 sessions personally attended the
inauguration ceremonies of all three new chapters.
The interim Committee appointed to conduct the affairs
of the Western Australia Chapter comprise of the following
office bearers; President:
Remy Jayasekera, Secretary:
Tissa Wijayasinghe, Treasurer: NimalJayaratne, Committee
Members:
BandulaSamarasinghe,
ChirantheWeerawardena,
Srinath
Fernando,
MithraMudiyanselage,
DumalKannangara
and
SisiraSanda
The New Zealand Chapter has
appointed an Interim Committee until a permanent committee could be appointed to conduct the affairs of the society
with following office bearers:
President: Gregory Shahane
De Costa, Secretary:
Sirimevan Rangamuwa, Treasurer: Madunishanthi K A,
Vice
President:
SampathDissanayake, Committee Members: Justin De
Silva,Renuka Anthony and
Don Karunaratne.
The Qatar Chapter is the latest overseas chapter to be established by the IESL in September this year and becomes
the first of its kind in South
Asia region.
Delivering the Keynote address at the inauguration of
IESL Qatar chapter on 27th
September 2014 at Mercure
Grand Hotel in Doha, Qatar,
President Eng. Shavnidranath
Fernando stated that he considered the year 2014 as the
year of professional excellence and it was with great
pleasure that he was participating at the inaugural meeting of the IESL Qatar chapter,
during the same year. He
stated that all the Sri Lankan
Engineers working in Middle
East region would benefit from
this initiative as he believed
that it will act as a catalyst for
the forming of more IESL chapters in the region, particularly
in UAE, Bahrain and Oman in
near future.
The Ambassador of Sri Lanka
in Qatar, Mr. Jayantha
Palipana who attended as the
Chief Guest, in his address
stated that forming a chapter of IESL which is the
apex organization of Sri
Lankan Engineers, is a historic event. He requested
the elected members to undertake the responsibility of
maintaining and growing
the Chapter as a reputed organization representing the
Engineers who have come
from
Sri
Lanka
President of the Sri Lanka
Society of Sri Lankan Engineers Qatar Eng.
Tilakasiri Ekanayaka delivering his welcome address
stated that formation of
IESL Qatar Chapter was
the brainchild of the executive committee of Sri Lanka
Society of Engineers Qatar
(SLSEQ) who successfully
liaised with the IESL making the Qatar Chapter a reality. This is the first IESL
chapter formed in Gulf Region and third IESL chapter established in overseas.
IESL Qatar Chapter inauguration photos
Commencement of the Meeting: at Head Table from left: Eng. Shantha
Weerasinghe Master of Ceremony, Eng. Kamil Ariff, Seccretary of
Srilankan Engineers’ Society Qatar(SLESQ), Eng. Tilakasiri Ekanayake President, SLECQ, Mr. Jayantha Palipana, the Sri Lankan Ambassador
for Qatar, Eng. Shavindranath Fernado, President IESL, Eng. M
Chandrasekera, Guest Speaker
Guest speaker Eng. M.
Chandrasekara spoke
about professional development paths for Engineers,
particularly for those who
are working in Middle East.
Nearly 75 enthusiastic Sri
Lankan Engineers working
in Qatar joined the event at
which the following office
bearers were unanimously
appointed for the year
2014/15. President: Eng.
Rohana Egodagamage,
Vice President: Eng.
Chandralal Mendis, Secretary: Eng. Kamil Ariff, Editor - Eng. Tilakasiri
Ekanayaka,
Office Bearers of IESL Qatar Chapter and SLSEQ with the President
IESL
Treasurer: Eng. Jagath
Perera, Committee Members : Eng. Geethananda
De Silva, Eng. Chamath
Muwangala, Eng. J. S.
Dayananda, Eng. Saman
Kumara and Eng. Ajith De
Silva.
At the end of the proceedings, a fellowship and dinner were hosted by the
Society of Sri Lankan Engineers
Qatar.
President IESL handing over a Plaque to the very first President of
IESL Qatar Chapter
6
Sri Lanka Engineering News - September / October 2014
IESL NEWS
Techno Sri Lanka 2014 - Awards Ceremony Dazzles
T
he Techno Sri Lanka 2014 Awards Ceremony was held
in grand style with the participation of stallholders,
sponsors, distinguished guests, Council members,
Past Presidents, members of the organizing committee and
staff of the IESL Secretariat on Sunday, 2nd November, 2014
at the Hotel Galadari, Colombo from 7.00 pm onwards.
Dr. Lawrence Perera – Chairman / CEO, Micro Holdings
(Pvt) Ltd, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest while Eng.
Shavindranath Fernando –IESL President for the 2013 / 2014
session delivered the welcome address and Eng. S.B.
Wijekoon proposed the Vote of Thanks. Winners of various
stallholder award categories, IESL Member Raffles and
Robogames and Computer competitions received their
awards. Token of appreciations for the various sponsor categories were also presented. In between presentation of
awards and speeches the audience was treated to superb
entertainment and music. The event concluded with buffet
dinner.
Dr. Lawrence Perera Chief Guest at Techno Sri Lanka 2014 awards addressing
the gathering.
Eng. Shavindranath Fernando, President, IESL session 2013/2014 presenting the award for Best Display of Engineering Services to Mr.
Kennedy Joseph, Senior Vice President, Browns & Company PLC
Dr. Lawrence Perera, Chief Guest presenting the Gold
award for Best Demonstrations to Mr. Kunchana
Jayaweera of Sri Lanka Telecom/Mobitel
Channa Upuli dancing Troup at the awards
ceremony
Techno Sri Lanka 2014 raffle draw first prize winner Eng. N M S
Kalinga receiving his prize of return air ticket to Singapore
(couple)
Sri Lanka Engineering News - September / October 2014
IESL NEWS
T
Techno Sri Lanka 2014 held for the 29th year...
echno Sri Lanka 2014, the national engineering and technology exhibition organized by the IESL was successfully held at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Memorial Exhibition Centre for the 29th consecutive year on 10th, 11th and 12th October, 2014 coinciding with the inauguration of the 108th Annual
Sessions of the IESL. It was declared open by Hon. Wimal Weerawansa – Minister of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common
Amenities. The exhibition which has built up a reputation as the best forum for showcasing cutting edge technology from around the world had more than
260 stalls taken up by international trade giants and their local agents this year.
Techno Sri Lanka Exhibition Chief Guest, Hon. Wimal
Weerawansa, Minister of Construction, Engineering Services,
Housing & Common Amenities lighting the oil lamp
Chief Guest and Eng. S B Wijekoon, President Elect, IESL visit
the exhibition stalls
Sectional Committees of the IESL representing the different
disciplines of engineering and IESL Centres from the provinces
operated stalls demonstrating engineering features unique to
them and of special interest to the public. Engineering Faculties of all state universities including the Open University of Sri
Lanka and other institutions like the HNDE that offered engineering education operated stalls demonstrating technical acumen of engineering undergraduates and students. .
Special features that have become unique to this exhibition
like the Building Clinic which offers free advice to those engaged in building a house of their own and daily seminars on
topics of relevance to the public were ever so popular this time
too.
Competitions organized by the Young Members Section like
the Sphagetti Bridge, Hackathon and Cad Eager competitions
had very enthusiastic participation from under graduates adding fun to the event.
Giving encouragement for creativity among the student generation the top 20 inventions at the Junior Inventor of the Year
(JIY) 2014 competition, conducted by the IESL for school children from schools all over the island were given the opportunity to exhibit their inventions at the event.
Book Launched
An autobiography of
Prof. Rohan Lucas
titled “A tongue – in –
cheek Autobiography
of Prof. Dr. Eng. Rohan
Lucas
including
Memories of others"
was launched on
Friday 17th October
2014
at
the
Wimalasurendra
Auditorium.
A distinguished Fellow of the IESL and a Fellow of
the Institution of Electrical Engineers (UK), Prof. Lucas
also has membership of the Computer Society of Sri
Lanka, Sri Lanka Energy Managers Association and
the SLAAS. An academic par excellence with nearly
40 years of postgraduate experience in teaching,
research and professional practice, he has published
over 60 papers in international and local journals and
co-authored several text –books in Electrical
Engineering topics.
The autobiography is available for sale at the
IESL@ Rs. 560/-.
Chief Guest at the Mobitel Stall
Structural Design Institute
Professional Development Course on
“Advanced Concrete Technology and State of the Art Practices”
On 19th December 2014
at
The Main Auditorium
of
The Institute of Construction Training and Development (ICTAD)
From 08:30 a.m. onwards
RegistrationFee:
General:Rs. 7,500/=
For Professionals: Associate Members or Corporate Members of IESL, SLIA, IQSLRs. 5,000/For Students: University Undergraduates, IESL studentsRs. 750/Registration fee will cover attendance for all lecture sessions, tea & refreshments, lunch, a set of
course notes and acertificate of participation.
Key Notes
High Performance Concrete
Prof. Priyan Mendis, University of Melbourne, Australia.
Design of Structural Members with High Strength Concrete
Prof. Priyan Mendis, University of Melbourne, Australia.
State of the Art Concrete Technology
Mr. Ravi Nissanka, Managing Director, Millennium Concrete Technologies (Pvt) Ltd.
Concrete in Practice – Applications and Challenges
Eng. Shiromal Fernando, Managing Director, Civil & Structural Engineering Consultants (Pvt) Ltd.
For Registration Contact:
Tharaka – 0777 666 803,Haadi - 077 106 76 06
E-mail: [email protected]
Bank Details for Payments:
Bank: Commercial Bank, Ward Place
Account Name: Structural Design Institute, Account Number:1145013032
Note: Kindly note that the registration will be on first come first serve basis due to limited
number of places available.
7
Sri Lanka Engineering News - September / October 2014
8
IESL NEWS
RE-INTRODUCTION OF RUBBLE AS A BASE COURSE
MATERIAL & ITS APPROPRIATENESS FOR THE RURAL
ROAD CONSTRUCTION (PROGRAMME), IN PARTICULAR
A
BC is a widely used
road material for the
construction of road
bases.It has become more
popular due to its easiness for
handling. How ever it shows
that comparatively large
stones such as rubble (9")
can be used very effectively
for the construction of road
bases. Accordingly the rubble
is proposed here for
constructing the road bases
together with ABC only as
the filling material for covering
the interstitial voids there in.
In the technical aspect, it
gives more bearing capacity
than ABC material.
Since it is big in particle size,
more area involves, hence it
can withstand more load &
transfer more load to the
ground with less settlement.
As a result of this, rubble
layer characterizes higher
B.C. value.
Since rubble is big in partical
size, more egergy can be
absorbed before crushing.
Hence it is a big advantage
to achieve more stronger
bases by using rubble than
ABC material.
Other point is the less cost
involved. It is cheaper material
than ABC & mainly due to
this reason the construction
cost is reduced remarkably.
Hence the rubble bases will
be very attractive for
constructing roads. More
stronger base at a lesser cost
is the main significance there
in.
Even though, rubble has been
used in traditional Mecadom
construction earlier, it is
stressed here that this
proposal is different to it , due
to involving well graded
aggregate in place of
uniformly graded aggregates
which is used in Mecadom
construction.
Hence the
failures
which
had
experienced in traditional
method due to unfilled voids,
lack of compaction, lack of
compatibility & consistency
in particle size etc. is avoided
here by introduction of well
graded ABC (GABC).
After facing problems as
above, with
Mecadom
construction, authorities have
changed straight away to the
present ( well graded) ABC
method.
In
the
circumstances. This proposal
lies, in mid way between
traditional Macadum method
& present ( well graded) ABC
laying operation in order to
economize the construction
work. Accordingly the ample
savings involved in this
method can be imagined
merely by assuming that the
present (well graded) ABC
layer is replaced as much as
by: Eng. S.D.S. Deshapriya - RDA
possible by rubbles (9")
which is cheaper in the
market.
In
the
light
of
the
government's rapid rural road
improvement programme,
benefit of the above proposal
will be much hilighted. Base
strengthening has also been
seen incorporated there in as
a measure of strengthening &
upgrading rural roads. In the
process of above road
programme,financial
dificulties which faced by the
government could be reduced
considerably by introducing
rubble laying in place of
(well)graded ABC to the rural
roads. In addition to this
rubble laying which followed
by a cheaper surfacing on top
will further reduce the cost.
Finally, being able to
construct more road length
at a lesser cost , will be the
main point of attraction. It will
be a direct benefit to the
villagers & rural folk to have a
good road net work. Length
of road section which has to
be cut off now due to the
limited funding could be
avoided completely by this
method & many villages in
remote areas could be able
to link within the available
budget. It will be a big boost
to their lively hood as far as
the rural falk is concerned.
In addition to the above effect,
some more advantages are
also involved in this proposal,
from the public point of view.
One is that it will give a
opportunity to have a very
intensive public participation
from the village level.
In a situation where the
quality rock is not available
in the village ABC material will
have to be transported at a
higher cost. In stead of it
nearby rock in the village
could be used for supplying
Rubble, since it requires only
less quality parameters
compared to GABC. This will
be further justified due to the
less traffic volume & less
speed in general which is
experienced in rural roads,
compared to the national
roads. Responding to this
situation, many available
rocks could be used for this
rural
roads
uplifting
programme very effectively. It
can be organized as a village
centered labour intensive
programme to supply rubble
from the village itself.
Since the main role is played
by the Rubble here, filling
material will not be much
important as far as the quality
is concerned. Hence it is an
added advantage that the
quality of the filling also can
be varied through a large
range without affecting to the
final quality of base layer.
Accordingly the various
filling materials which are
available in the village can
further be considered,
including insitu soil gravel,
weathered rock pieces etc.
under
the
technical
guidance.
Accordingly
people will be benifited in
two ways by participating
in this construction &
earning the wages in
addition to processing a
good road for their village.
In addition to the wide public
participation, being able to
use the available machine
fleet for this operation is the
encouraging factor therein.
Base Construction can be
started by laying rubble on
the existing
road or
compacted sub grade. In
order to assure the uniform
laying, simple contral bar
can be fixed to the dump
truck. It will be followed by
a Front end bucketed truck
so that the ABC can be laid
on rubble layer to cover all
undulations & to make the
surface smooth enough to
travel along. Finally the
compaction is achieved by
using the vibratory rollers
while adding any extra ABC
material as required for a
smooth finish. Due to the
effect of vibration, will push
rubble to the final stable
position & orientation which
sourrounded by the well
compacted ABC particles.
Suitability
to
village
conditions is another point
considered when using
rubble.
Most of the village roads are
not wide enough,hence
subjected to erosions &
most roads pass through
paddy fields which goes
under water frequently. In
such a situation, compared
to ABC, rubble stands well
ahead by withstanding
against erosion, inundation
& wash away. Specially the
road built on rubble base
since it provides a having
foundation, will be passable
even after subjecting to a
flood till it repairs where as
the no signs of road remains
after a flood which built on
ABC base. In such a
situation road with ABC
base will be a complete
reconstruction using heavy
budget but the remaining
strong rubble base after the
flood needs only a overlay
on it. Accordingly the less
secondary cost is very
significant in rubble base
as far as the life cycle cost
is concerned. Hence many
of public grevences for
restoring the roads after
floods & delaying repair
work due to lack of funds
can be minimized & be
attended at a low budget.
Easier to handle during
rainy season is another
factor towards positive
direction. Mostly the
prepared sub base surface
become muddy during the
rainy period & laying &
compaction of ABC on it
will not be practical. If the
work is also urgent, in such
a situation construction
using Rubble would be easy
due to the fact that bigger
stones will not be buried
(embedded completely) into
mud fully, hence the
construction
can
be
continued smoothly.
Further the rubble which
embedded so, will cause
to improve the sub-grade
condition as well against
settlements in sub grade.
(There in the rubble will act
as a strengthening measure
to the underneath weak
soil.) This has to be
considered in a situation of
a high bearing capacity
(BC) which processed
generally by the rubble base
resulting to impose more
resistance
against
settlement.
Hence the cumulative effect
of above two will work
successfully
against
settlement.
Hence rubble base will well
answer to the settlements
which occur frequently in
road sections near by paddy
fields in rural roads. With
the less maintenance
budget also will be able to
survive the roads in
passable condition for years
of which built on rubble
base.
This will cause the Rubble
laying to promote, as to
be the lasting solution in
general, for the settlements
of which observed along
roads.
However the benefit of using
rubble bases is not limited
to the rural roads. It can be
widely use for National
roads as well. Ultimately,
country will be processing
a very strong rubble
base(foundation) all over at
a lesser capital cost to
receive any overlay in
future. When the base is
strong,it is a secondary
decision to be taken for the
overlay, either for DBST, AC
etc. It will avoid future
settlements & the need for
reconstructions from the
bottom.
Theoretically a rubble base
course
needs
less
compaction since it transfer
loads mainly by means of
interlocking. Other factor
which attributed for less
compaction is only the filling
material of ABC requires
compaction where as Rubble
denies .
Hence it would be very
effective in areas where the
compaction is difficult to
achieve.
Since it will withstand against
washing away & errosion,
even during construction
stage exposed ruble layer will
withstand against any such
adverse situation. Further the
rubble bases has shown long
lasting
&
satisfactory
performance in hilly rerrains
than with ABC material. Hence
recommended for these
areas.
As far as the large volume
which acquired by the rubble
(being the main constituent)
is concerned,energy required
for crushing to ABC particles
& compacting again into
dense form as in the present
practice is completely
eliminated due
to the
intervention of these stones
here. Hence with energy
saving point of view, use of
rubble as an alternative
method is an environmental
friendly solution.
When more thickness is
required depending on the site
conditions, then rubble would
be more economical & more
stronger due to the load
distribution
improves
significantly.
Instead of 9" rubble, even
when the road is constructed
using material billow 9" size
(say 4"-6") also ‘will increase
B.C. due to the particle size
is still larger than ABC.Hence
particle size 4"-6" etc. also
can be applied very effectively.
In such a situation, even the
layer thickness lesser than
200mm. also can be applied
for satisfactory performance of
base course so that the
improved
B.C.
will
compensate for lesser layer
thicknesses.
As stated earlier,it is an added
advantage to relax the quality
of filling material in presence
of rubble. Accorgingly, when
using rubble, filling material
can be varied through a large
range without affecting to the
final quality of base course.
Reintroduction of rubble as a
base course material is the
main concern in this article.
However in addition to this,
filling materials are also to
be searched for in a large
range here as an extension to
the
above exercise.
Accordingly various filling
materials are proposed here
including insitu soil, gravel,
Contaminated ABC, ABC
mixed soil or with excessive
fines weathered rock silty clay
etc. for further researching.
Sri Lanka Engineering News - September / October 2014
IESL NEWS
9
Manmade Disasters and the Way Out
M
ost of the people who
are living today (other
than those in the developed countries and those in
the middle and upper classes
in other countries) have been
born not because of their wish
or because their parents
wanted them. They have been
born as byproducts of the natural biological process called
sexual
reproduction.
Nature has a Program by
which a male and a female
(once they attain teen age) are
drawn towards each other with
the end result of bodily satisfaction to one or both of them
while implanting of an embryo
in the body of the female
(which will eventually become
an element in the next generation).
Unfortunately when the nature
draws a male or female
homosapien towards each
other, it does not choose partners who are physically and
psychologically fit at the time
of their coitus to produce a
healthy offspring. As such,
children are born to physically
fit parents as well as to those
who are unfit to produce children (due to hereditary as well
as lifestyle impairments).
Also the present day’s children
who are born to wealthy and
middle class parents become
sick (afflicted by juvenile diabetes, obesity, hypertension,
visual impairment etc.) at very
tender ages thanks to their non
– healthy eating habits and
sedentary life styles planted in
them (and their parents) by the
liberalized mass media.
However, in accordance with
human rights that we value,
and thanks to the superior developments in the fields of
medicine, advance communication facilities and the disaster management facilities, we
are able to physically and
medically save many lives of
whom are those subjected to
disease and disasters. The
end result is the explosion of
population and also the rapid
increase of the number of dependant persons (socially and
economically inactive persons)
who are to be supported by
other persons (active persons).
Just imagine what would have
happened if all the coituses that
happen day and night ended
up with new fetuses? We
would not have had even standing space on the earth surface!!!
As we know, out of the earth's
surface, the habitable portion
is only about 10 %. In Sri
Lanka, out of the total land
extent, homesteads account
for about 800,000 ha out of the
total of 6,650, 000 ha. This is
about 12 % of the gross area.
According to 2013 census, Sri
Lanka population was 20.43
million. Hence, per capita
homestead extent is about
by Eng. M. Chandrasekera (F 649)
0.04 ha (i.e. about 400sqm
per capita). Prior to advent of
the industrial era in the 1900,
the population has been about
4, million and in the year
1950, it had been 7.7 million
and per capita homestead
extents had respectively been
0.2 and 0.1 ha approximately.
Thanks to pipe borne water,
grid electricity, advanced road
networks, modern communication systems etc. many
marginal lands that were practically uninhabitable half a
century before, have become
habitable by and by. Hence,
due to shortage or non
affordability of habitable land,
the successive generations
who became landless were
moving into lands that have
been lately made habitable by
human
intervention.
Nobody cared for this harmful
process, by taking the nature
for granted.
Although the nature has silently bared such interventions, it is wrong to take for
granted that the humans have
won over the nature. Nature
has its own ways and means
of retaliating with vengeance,
by way of creating calamities,
some of which are foreseeable and the others are not so.
In that sense, it can be seen
that even during good old days
(prior to advent of industrial
era), the nature has had ways
and means of keeping men
and animal populations under
check and balances by appropriate intervention.
See the examples of disasters listed in the Table given
below. In it, Category A disasters are those that could
be treated as naturally occurring. Some of those are
time immemorial ones. About
half of them come without any
prior warning and the rest
come with short warnings.
Occurrence of most of them
cannot be prevented. Very often, the short term Mitigatory
measures are limited to
evacuation and giving medical
assistance to those affected
in the immediate aftermath.
Longer term solution is the
relocation of vulnerable communities.
In the given Table, Category
B disasters are fully or partially manmade. Of them, the
first three (that are caused
due to burning of fossil fuels)
are the most widespread and
devastating.
As medium term measures to
alleviate the harms that befall
due to Category B disasters,
stop gap ‘adaptation’ measures are being implemented.
For example, in the field of agriculture, the customarily
used longer term paddy varieties for Maha cultivations are
being substituted with shorter
term varieties. In the field of
air conditioning, CFC
gases are being replaced
with HFC gases; but
(while they are good substitutes from Ozone protection aspect), they
have been lately classified as green house
gases which are 4000
times worse than CO2
due to their ability to survive in the atmosphere
for about 50years!!!
The principal evil today is
the ever increasing energy demand by the man
for maintaining the lately
adopted extravagant life
styles (which was not so
in the pre – industrialization era). It is correct
that the quality and durability of human life has
vastly improved by the
industrial products that
have become part and
parcel of contemporary
life of the man. Nevertheless, their production as
well as use requires energy. Per capita annual
energy consumption in
the world in year 1990
has been 30 gigajoules.
In the year 2000 it has
been 80 gigajoules of
which 65% has come
from fossil fuels(oil, coal
and natural gas).
In the Economists’ jargon, the production of
economic goods and services yields ‘economic
growth’ brought about by
the ‘value addition’ applied to factors of production: land, labor, capital
and entrepreneurship.
They may call it ‘growth’
but alongside this growth,
the population too keeps
on increasing. As we all
know, the ‘resources meaning the ‘factors of
production’ are limited
whereas the human
needs are unlimited.
The net outcome is dog
fight by too many people
to make as much of the
resources as possible
for their own benefit. The
result is the going down
of ‘per capita share of resources’.
Do not forget that every
item of industrial product
comes with a quantity of
‘waste’. Very often, those
who make products do
not take responsibility of
‘safe disposal’ of the
waste generated by
them. It thus becomes a
public responsibility.
Hence, ‘the per capita
waste quantity’ too
keeps on increasing with
the increase of the products. Good examples are
the garbage dumps at
B l o o m e n d a l ,
Meethotamulla
and
Karadiyana etc.
As there is no socialism any
longer in the world, naturally
the ‘haves’ exercise a bigger
command of the resources.
They also generate the lion’s
share of waste. The ‘havenots’ who have little or no
command of the resources
are forced to take care of the
disproportionate quantum of
waste generated by the
‘haves’.
It has been found that the rich
20% in the world consume
80% of the goods and services produced at any given
time today. The burden of
energy generation for their
production/use and disposal
of associated waste is largely
borne by the 80% poor. The
most harmful out of all wastes
according to today’s findings
is CO2, the scale of its harm
on the society is measured
by the indicator called ‘carbon foot print’ which is related to the tonnage of CO2
released to atmosphere by
human activity. In accordance
with this indicator, the biggest
offenders are countries such
as USA, Europe, Australia,
China and India. The first
three are economic giants
and the last two are emerging economic giants.
Even if we look at most of the
remaining items of Category
B disasters given in the Table
(except those relevant to particular localities such as
Ebola infection, wild elephant
attacks), the situation is similar.
This is the stark reality of the
present day’s world order.
Today it is customary to make
economic forecasts/plans for
periods of 5 years, 10 years
or for a maximum of 20 years.
But nobody can predict (or all
of us are clueless) of what
will happen possibly in another 50 or 100 years due to
many uncertainties the mankind has to face with today;
unfortunately all of which are
due to their own sins. World
population in year 1950 has
been 2.5 billion, in year 2000
it has been 6.3 million. By
2050 it is projected to hit 9
billion.
No agronomist, engineer, scientist or doctor, can say how
these people could be provided with at least their basic
human needs in the form of:
water, food, shelter, clothing
and medical needs etc. of
such a large population.
It is as if the whole world is
pushing itself towards an irreversible catastrophe. The irreversible processes that we
follow today will result in exhaustion of all basic resources available in the
world, having been used up
for making the goods and
services for the present generation (at the expense of the
generations to born).
As Engineers we know how
fast the water sources from
which we are obtaining drinking water is depleting; how fast
the sources of basic raw materials such as steel, earth,
rock we need for construction
are depleting. Agronomists
know very well that they are
running short of arable land to
grow food needed for the growing population. Doctors are
battling with more and more
diseases inflicted upon the
growing populations. In my
opinion one basic mistake we
make in providing for the
needs of the present day
population is the adoption of
irreversible processes. By this
process, we get products as
well as loads of waste. Most
of the products too will become waste after being used
for some time. The end results
are piles of waste.
The only way out appears to
be to revert to cyclic or reversible processes in carrying out
human activities. If that process is followed almost all the
wastes can be turned over to
‘resources’ again and again.
Consider simple examples
such plastic, glass, metal
products etc. that we use day
to day which end up in garbage dumps. The pipe borne
water we let go after washing,
bathing etc. to the public
sewer, to road drain or to open
ground. All these can be made
reusable by subjecting them
to appropriate recycling processes. We habitually waste
many ‘resources’ day in and
day out due to our ignorance
or sometimes to our pride.
It is my opinion that all those
living today (considering the
generations to be born tomorrow), must adopt the following
measures if they really wish
to avoid a total annihilation of
mankind from the earth in the
near
future.
Each country shall appoint a
think tank consisting of qualified, trustworthy persons;
1.
To recommend measures to be adopted to switch
over to ‘cyclic’ or ‘sustainable’
production/consumption processes with a view of turning
over the wastes to resources.
2.
To recommend cost
effective and efficient measures to be adopted to capture/store as much solar energy as practicable to meet al
energy needs of the humans.
3.
Recommend the
ways and means for human
beings to
adjust their
lifestyles to live with solar en
Contd. on page 10....
Sri Lanka Engineering News - September / October 2014
10
IESL NEWS
Contd. from page 9...
No.
Manmade Disasters.....
Disaster type
Category
Consequence/s
Predictability
Preventive measures
Mitiigatory measures
1.
Cyclones
A
Loss of life, properties,
Crops
only short notice is
possible
none
Loss of life and movable
assets could be
minimized by timely
evacuation
2.
Droughts
A
Loss of life, crops
Time of onset/duration/
severity, not predictable
none
Provide emergency
assistance: food and
water to those affected
3.
Floods
A
Loss of life, properties,
crops
only short notice is
possible
Creation of storages and Loss of life and movable
detentions
assets could be
minimized by timely
evacuation
4.
Landslides
A,B
Loss of life, properties
advance warning
possible
prevent human activities
in vulnerable lands
Loss of life and movable
assets could be
minimized by timely
evacuation
5.
Volcanic eruptions
A
Loss of life, properties
advance warning
possible
none
Loss of life and movable
assets could be
minimized by timely
evacuation
6.
Earthquakes
A
Loss of life, properties
Time of onset/duration/
severity, not predictable
none
Evacuation, medical
treatment of the affected.
7.
Tsunami
A
Loss of life, properties
Time of onset, duration,
severity, not predictable.
Short warning possible
none
Loss of life and movable
assets could be
reduced by timely
evacuation
8.
Lightening
A
Loss of life, properties
only short notice is
possible
none
Follow the
recommended
precautionary measure
9.
Pestilence (air borne pests
Weevils, beetles)
A
Loss of crops, pain,
disease to those bitten
Time of onset/duration/
severity, not predictable
none
Controlled by biological
or chemical methods
10.
Pestilence ( tree borne pests:
Caterpillars)
A
Loss of crops
Time of onset/duration/
severity, not predictable
none
Controlled by biological
or chemical methods,
Cut/burn the affected
vegetation
11.
Vector borne epidemics:
Malaria, Dengue, encephalitis
A
Physical deformity,
mental depravity, death
only short notice is
possible
Controlled by biological
or chemical methods
Destroy habitable
places, give medication
to affected
12.
Viral diseases: air borne
(swine flu ,chicken pox, SARS,
small pox, rubella, measles
A
Physical deformity,
mental depravity, death
Time of onset/duration/
severity, not predictable
vaccination,
immunization
Take precautions in
contacting with those
affected.
1.
Increase of CO2 in the
atmosphere
B
Increase in ambient
advance warning
temperature, melting of
possible
polar glaciers and
Himalayan ice caps, sea
level rise, Loss of
habitable land, marine
resources
Reduction of fossil fuel
burning
none
2.
Contamination of atmosphere
with acidic gases: SOX, NOX
B
Loss of forest, reduction
of crop yields
advance warning
possible
Reduction of fossil fuel
burning
none
3.
Particulate emissions to
atmosphere
B
Increase in respiratory
diseases, allergies
advance warning
possible
Reduction of fossil fuel
burning
none
4.
Release of CFC gases to
ionosphere
B
Depletion of ozone layer,
reduction in the ability of
shielding the earth
surface from harmful
cosmic radiation, cause
skin cancer
advance warning
possible
Do away with the use of
CFC gases in industrial
products.
e.g.: air conditioners
none
5.
Chemical/biological pollution of
water bodies
Disease, physical
deformity, mental
depravity, death
advance warning
possible
Control of causative
human activity
Avoid consumption of
polluted water
6.
Biological and Chemical
attacks
B
Loss of life, water
bodies, crops
Time of onset/duration /
severity, not predictable
none
Avoid the consumption of
affected water, crops
Take medication as
needed
7.
Deforestation
B
Water table depletion,
reduction of sinks for
excess CO2. Rise in
ambient temperatures,
melting of glaciers,
sealevel rise
advance warning
possible
none
Reforestation in a
sustainable manner
8.
Eutrophication (water bodies
becomes rich in dissolved
nutrients from fertilizers or
sewage)
B
encourage the growth
and decomposition of
oxygen, depleting plant
life resulting in harm to
other aquatic organisms
advance warning
possible
Control of fertilizer/
agrochemical
applications
none
9.
Radioactivity leakages
B
Cause cancer, physical
deformity, mental
depravity, death
advance warning may or
may not be possible
avoid contamination by
adopting precautions
none
10.
Cyber attacks
B
Loss of stored data,
information,
malfunctioning of web
based services,
computer networks
Time of onset/duration
severity,not predictable
Incorporate protective
and notification software
into computer systems /
networks
Back up the valuable
data in remote storages
Contd. on page 11...
Sri Lanka Engineering News - September / October 2014
IESL NEWS
Contd. from page 10..
No.
11
Manmade Disasters.....
Disaster type
Category
Consequence/s
Predictability
Preventive measures
Mitiigatory measures
11.
Life style viral diseases - body
fluid borne
B
Diseases such as AIDS,
Ebola, Hydrophobia
advance warning may or
may not be possible
Avoid contact, adjust
lifestyle
none
12.
Garbage dumps
B
contamination of water
bodies with leachate,
release of objectionable
odor, infestation of
disease carrying flies,
mosquitoes
advance warning
possible
Safe disposal of
garbage
none
13.
Growth of invasive, poisonous
plant species
B
Loss of crops, useful
vegetations, pollution of
water bodies
advance warning may or
may not be possible
Control harmful spreads Destroy physically/chemi
cally of harmful plants
14.
Increase of Kidney failures
B
Consumption of
advance warning
chemically polluted water possible
Awareness campaigns
and making available of
safe potable water
none
15.
Insect attacks (beetles, wasps)
B
Allergic reactions, pain,
death
advance warning not
possible
Avoid disturbing the
nests. Wear safety attire
medication
16.
Wild animal attacks
(e.g.: elephants)
B
Loss of life, property,
crops, plantations
only short warning is
possible
Relocation of harmful
animals, Erection of
repellent fences
Create conducive
habitats and adequate
fodder enclaves to
animals
ergy alone (assuming that the sun will be kind enough to keep on pumping its energy in the foreseeable future, and by realizing that it is the only
‘sustainable energy donor’ to all earth beings).
4.
To determine the population each country could support in terms of the resources available in the country and to recommend the measures to attain
that population goal and maintain it.
5.
To recommend ways and means to prevent the accumulation of disproportionate wealth among a few people and to prevent them making use of
disproportionate use of natural resources (in other words, too much of goods and services) for their living.
Thereafter, the governing politicians of the respective countries must implement the recommendations of the above think tanks in a time bound manner. A
future generation,, if and when they master the nuclear fusion technology (hopefully in another 50 – 100 years), could re-consider switching to a more energy
consuming lifestyle. Till then, the generations need to act with adequate restraints..
Contd. from page 1....
108th Annual Sessions...
I am happy to see him in the
audience today to witness my
induction as the new President of the institution and I
thank you sir for your presence here today and all your
guidance and advice in the
past.
Late Engineer E F M Perera
who was a retired Director of
Highways and a Fellow of the
Institution and Late Engineer
J B DIssanayaka, former
Deputy Director Bridges, also
a Fellow of the Institution
encouraged and guided me
to specialize in bridge construction and designs. Late
Engineer K H.S.Gunathileke,
former Chairman of State
Development and Construction Corporation, a Fellow of
the Institution and Engineer
M B S Fernando former
Chairman of the Road Construction and Development
Company also guided me to
develop my professional career, specially on the lines of
good governance. I cherish
the guidance I received from
Late
Engineer
SanathRanatunga, former
Dean of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of
Peradeniya for encouraging
me and guiding me to be an
academic. I value so much
all these advice I received
from them.
One other important person
I would like to mention here
is the senior engineer who
pushed me to participate in
the activities of the Institution of Engineers, Sir Lanka
and it was his persuasion that
finally made me join the
Council of the Institution in
1989 as a Representative of
Members. Ladies and
Gentlemen he is engineer
PalithaManamperi, a dynamic personality and a very
experienced bridge engineer.
I thank you sir for your presence here specially for coming all the way from Sydney
just to witness my induction
as the president. Your guidance and encouragement
have paved the way for me
to stand up here today as the
president of the Institution of
Engineers, Sri Lanka for the
coming session.
Let me now talk about the
achievements of the IESL.
The Institution has been admitted as a signatory to the
Washington Accord and this
has made us the only body
authorized to accredit engineering
education
programmes conducted in
Sri Lanka and these degree
programmes that are so accredited by the IESL will be
recognized by all other
Washington Accord signatories. Also the IESL members have been given due
recognition as qualified persons along with the other professionals in the recently
passed Act on Construction
Industry Development. Also
the president of the IESL has
been made appointment as
a member in the National
Advisory Council on Construction. Furthermore, after
few years of deliberations
the IESL has been able to
convince the decision makers about the importance of
establishing the Sri Lanka
Engineering Council and
hopefully the related Act will
be passed in the coming
months. Through these
achievements the IESL has
been elevated to stand at a
higher level among its sister
Institutions and industry,
both here and abroad, and
also among the public. As a
result, all the stakeholders
and members expect a very
high level of performance,
better or improved service
and enhanced benefits from
the IESL. Therefore it is our
responsibility to develop our
strategies to deliver these
expectations in the coming
year as well as in the future.
In order to deliver the expectations we need to have a
good mechanism within the
IESL, in other words a dy-
namic and systematic
mechanism should be established in the IESL
Headquarters. The Institution has been running in the
past based on the public
sector model for its administration and financial matters and we have noticed
during the last few years
that the speed of this
model is inadequate to deliver the expectations of
the members and the
stakeholders and specially
at a time when the expectations of the members
are very high. We have to
expedite decision making
and improve the quality and
standard of all our activities in the future if we are
to remain as a professional and world class institution.
Therefore Ladies and
Gentlemen, I am proposing 3 main activities to be
implemented during my tenure as president of the
IESL for the 2014/2015
session. Firstly, to develop
and implement a hybrid
model for IESL for speedy
administration and financial
matters with adequate
transparency, including the
improvement of the efficiency and effectiveness
of the staff. Staff will be
given the authority to execute all activities with responsibility and accountability. Secondly I propose
to develop a high level ICT
system to takeover the
current administration and
other activities of the IESL.
It is very important to have
a very effective information
management system and
speedy information flow to
improve the activities in
the IESL. During the session 2012/2013 a membership management system
was introduced under the
leadership of Eng. Tilak de
Silva, Past President who
is here with us today at the
head table, which has now
run for 18 months without
any difficulty and I am sure the
majority of the members now realize the importance, usefulness and effectiveness of the
system. I am proposing to further enhance the information
and technology system for the
activities of the IESL by giving
more powers to the ICT committee to act with responsibility
and accountability.
Ladies and Gentlemen my
3 rd objective would be to
strengthen and increase the
membership by providing more
facilities and benefits to members, especially for those living
in the provinces and overseas
and encouraging engineers with
the necessary qualifications and
experiences who have still not
joined IESL, to do so. I too am
residing in a province and whenever I contested the elections I
received a large number of
votes from members in the
provinces. Therefore I believe
it is my responsibility to provide
better facilities and more benefits to them without diluting any
facilities given to members in
the Western Province. According to the IESL records approximately 45 percent of its membership, other than student
members, is stationed in the
provinces and in line with this I
am proposing inter-chapter activities to promote interaction
among members. I am also
planning to provide further assistance for their building
projects and for improvements
of the ICT facilities, including
video conferring facilities, and
for decentralizing some of the
activities presently carried out
at the headquarters to a few selected chapters on a pilot basis and depending on its success to extend the decentralization to other chapters as well.
Ladies and Gentlemen there are
still large numbers of engineers
in the industry as well as the
academic field who are yet to
join IESL and we urgently need
their expertise to increase the
level of service provided by the
IESL. With recent achievements and developments in the
IESL their enthusiasm has increased and they want to be-
come members. I am planning to address this issue
without diluting the standards and the quality of the
membership.
All these activities will be
implemented on project basis as proposed in the IESL
Corporate Plan that has already been approved giving
clear Guidance, Terms of
Reference and Time
Frames. One year being a
very short time I don’t want
to announce more than 3 activities, however, all the other
activities that have been already started by my predecessors at the IESL will be
continued without interruptions. I just took over the
baton
from
Eng.
Shavindranath Fernando and
now it will be my responsibility to run as quickly as
possible to win the race with
support from all of you.
I am happy to announce that
the general membership has
elected the Council for the
session 2014/2015 with a
dynamic enthusiastic and
committed group of members and I am pretty sure that
they will extend me their fullest support to implement the
ideas presented today as
well as other activities without any hindrance. I also request the fullest corporation
and support from all classes
of members as well as from
Council members, past
presidents and IESL staff
members and all other
stakeholders to me during
this coming session so that
together we can bring the
institution to the highest possible level and provide our
services to the members and
to the general public in a
very professional manner
meeting their expectations.
My request to our members
is to allocate at least 4 hours
of your time in a week for
IESL activities to make this
objective a reality and the Institution a better place for all
of us. Thank you for your patient listening. Wish you a
very good day."
12
Sri Lanka Engineering News - September / October 2014
IESL NEWS
Printed by Karunaratne & Sons (Pvt) Ltd., No. 67, UDA Industrial Estate, Katuwana Road, Homagama