Design Engineering

BOOK REVIEW

presented is applicable to any engineering discipline, the design

Review of Engineering Design, and construction of large projects have unique characteristics. The

by Rudolph J. Eggert examples presented in this book do not address these unique char-

acteristics. For example, civil engineers certainly have customers

Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, N.J., 2005; 394 pp. Price:

similar to the examples presented for the designer of a bicycle or

$82.67.

coffee pot. However, a major difference is that civil engineers

cannot usually design a working prototype of a large project, such

Darrell G. Fontane

as a major structure, to be tested by the user. Another crucial issue

Professor of Civil Engineering, Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins,

for civil engineers is the potential large-scale safety and environ-

CO 80523.

mental impacts that could result from the failure of a major

project.

One of the more dif cult tasks in engineering education is to

effectively teach the concept of design. The design process is

very broad and involves a wide range of activities, from abstract

thinking to detailed modeling and calculations. In Engineering

Design, author Rudolph J. Eggert presents a well-structured and Review of Fluvial, Environmental and

thorough overview of engineering design concepts and methods. Coastal Developments in Hydraulic

A major strength of this book is the presentation of the overall

Engineering edited by M. Mossa, Y. Yasuda,

design process, the illustration of the systematic concepts that are

and H. Chanson

involved in every phase of design, and de nitions of the terms

that are used in design. The author has experience with various 2004, A. A. Balkema, Taylor and Francis Group, The Netherlands,

organizations, including General Electric, Fisher-Price Toys, ISBN 04-1535-899-X; 235 pp. Price: $119.

Wurlitzer, and the New York State Energy and Development Au-

thority, and that experience with the design process no doubt con-

Pierre Y. Julien

tributed to the effective organization of this text. Engineering Research Center, Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO

The author states that this is a text for undergraduate or rst- 80523. E-mail: ******@****.*********.***

year graduate engineering students. He also states that the book

has a focus of integrating engineering design with topics about This book contains the Proceedings of the International Workshop

the business of manufacturing. This reviewer teaches civil engi- on State-of-the-Art Hydraulic Engineering. The workshop was

neering. In my opinion this textbook might be particularly appro-

held February 16 19, 2004, at the LIC, Coastal Engineering

priate for use in senior-level capstone design courses. It is my

Laboratory of the Technical University of Bari, Italy. The four

observation that engineering educators are very good at teaching

main themes of the workshop were 1 behavior of air-water

the science of design. By this I mean they are good at making

ows, 2 stepped spillways, 3 environmental and coastal hy-

appropriate engineering calculations once a design concept has

draulics, and 4 transition ows. Perhaps transition ows could

been established. However, the more abstract processes of design,

be better de ned, particularly since three of the four section head-

such as developing an initial design concept or working with

ings include the wording transitional ows. Each section con-

customers, are not as easy to teach. The strength of this textbook

tains 2 4 expanded lectures on those subjects. Laboratory and

is its presentation of a coherent structure for understanding the

prototype investigations show the complexity of free-surface

more abstract processes.

aeration processes. A basic dimensional analysis aims at lling

In this book Rudolph Eggert provides a systematic description

the gap between gas-liquid ow expertise and traditional hydrau-

for every phase of the design process. Chapter 3 gives an example

lic engineering. New experiments on stepped spillways are pre-

of the design of a motorcycle that clearly illustrates the steps

sented in the book. The energy loss of skimming ows is clari-

involved in developing design concepts. Other examples in the

ed, and the changes in energy loss with dam height and step

text also use items that students can relate to, including the design

height are discussed. Furthermore, the authors propose an analy-

of a coffee pot and the manufacturing of bicycles. The discussion

sis of air-water ow structures and interactions between free-

of customer satisfaction curves, in Chapters 3 and 8, is particu-

surface and cavity recirculation. The results are discussed in the

larly useful in terms of providing the basis for the concepts of

context of over ow embankment stepped spillway design.

performance functions and ultimately multicriteria decision

In terms of environmental and coastal hydraulics, the book

analysis techniques. These tools provide a basis for both guiding

presents results of wastewater ocean outfall, jet-current interac-

decisions as well as documenting decisions made during the de-

tions, and jet-wave interactions. Other chapters include an analy-

sign process. Chapter 10 covers topics of design failure, safety,

sis of tidal bores and shway design in a slit-type Sabo dam.

and environment that it is crucial to present to engineering stu-

The authors were successful at completing the proceedings of

dents. Finally, Chapter 14 on Projects, Teamwork, and Ethics has

this workshop within a relatively short period of time. There are

some very useful material.

only eight authors to this workshop, and the presentations are at

While I believe that this would be a textbook strongly worth

the level of refereed conference papers. The topics are so varied

considering for an engineering capstone design course, as a civil

that it is very dif cult to de ne the thread linking these topics

engineer I would have liked some detailed examples of design

that relate to large, one-of-a-kind projects. While the material altogether.

JOURNAL OF HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING ASCE / JULY 2005 / 629

Readers purchasing this book solely from its title risk disap- The book is generously illustrated with a variety of black and

pointment. The title is misleading, because the reader can hardly white photographs, and numerous graphs with laboratory and

nd applications to rivers and uvial systems. The word coastal eld measurements. Each lecture is self-contained with its own

in the title also seems questionable since only 50 pages refer to gure and table numbering, references, and equation number.

waves and coastal basins. It is dif cult to suggest a better title, but Slight inconsistencies in the presentation are noticeable with, for

there are about 150 pages of material concerning aeration and

instance, capitalized references and boldfaced equations in the

stepped spillways, and this seems to be the primary contribution

rst section. The typesetting seems more standard in the follow-

of the book. Perhaps the title could have included key words like

ing three sections. The publisher provides a high-quality binding

aeration, air entrainment, or perhaps diffusion. However, readers

that will last forever. At 50 cents per page, the price is certainly

interested in those topics may nd similar material from the same

high for this relatively small volume, but those who attended the

authors in other books. The fact remains that it is hard to pinpoint

workshop will certainly appreciate having all this material avail-

the primary theme of this book.

able in a single document.

The appealing aspect of this book is that it contains a broad

spectrum of information, including dimensional analysis, labora- In summary, this book s title may be misleading and the po-

tory experiments and results, recent developments in laboratory tential buyer should rst check the table of contents. The strength

turbulence/aeration measurements, 3D computer model applica- of the book lies in the high-quality proceedings of this interna-

tions and eld measurements to the Gulf of Taranto in Italy, eld tional workshop. It should be of primary interest to scientists and

applications to Sabo Dams, river estuaries and environmental experts in the eld of air entrainment, stepped spillways, and

considerations for aquatic species. This breadth of information is

coastal basins. On the other hand, it is dif cult to assess the

quite eclectic. It is nevertheless very dif cult for the reader to nd

unique and well-focused contribution of this set of workshop lec-

a way to stay focused on such a variety of topics. This book

tures. The price may also be high for readers interested only in a

should appeal to scientists and experts interested in stepped spill-

small portion of its content.

ways, air entrainment, and coastal basins.

630 / JOURNAL OF HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING ASCE / JULY 2005

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