SRI LANKA ENGINEERING NEWS - The Institution of …ioes18.wildapricot.org/Resources/Paper SLEN/SLEN...

SRI LANKAENGINEERING NEWS

The Newspaper of The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka Vol. 51, No 01, January / February 2015Registered at the GPO as a Newspaper No. QD/39/News/2015

The Institution of EngineersSri Lanka

120/15, Wijerama MawathaColombo 7, Sri Lanka

Tel: 2685490,2698426, 2699210Fax: 2699202E.mail:[email protected]/[email protected]:http://www.iesl..lk

in this issueHAVE YOU WATCHEDIPTV?....................................3Editorial..................................4Astrology and our destiny:Believe in self rather thanunknown planets.................7

PRESIDENT’S CORNERPRESIDENT’S CORNERPRESIDENT’S CORNERPRESIDENT’S CORNERPRESIDENT’S CORNER

PROF. R H PAULMEMORIAL LECTURE

The 111th birth anniversary of Eng.(Prof.) Robert Haisington Paul, (popularly known asR. H. Paul) was commemorated on 9th February, 2015 with a memorial lecture atthe Wimalasurendra Auditorium of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL) at

120/15, Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 7. This year’s R. H. Paul memorial lecture was deliv-ered by Eng. Anura Wijepala on ‘ Engineers and Scientists who can save the Planet Earthare Wanted’.

I am penning this column on theeve of my departure to NewZealand for the inauguration of

the IESL overseas chapter inAuckland. This will be the 4thsuchoverseas chapter of the institution;other existing ones being thechapters in NSW Australia, West-ern Australia and Qatar.

Overseas Chapters have been set up with the aim of reach-ing out to our globally dispersed membership enabling themto have access to membership services of the IESL. TheChapters can provide a forum for them for social network-ing and for sharing of knowledge and experience amongtheir colleagues in Sri Lanka. The members of the Chaptercan also organize themselves to pass on the knowledgeand experience they have gained by working in a countrywhere there is a lot of technology transfer from developedcountries like America, Europe, Japan, Australia, etc. totheir fellow members in Sri Lanka who can gain much fromthe overseas exposure of their colleagues in overseas chap-ters.The success of an overseas chapter depends greatly onthe support given by its members through playing a posi-tive role in the activities of the chapter. The NSW Chapter inSydney was the first overseas chapter to be set up by IESLin 2009. Today, the Chapter is doing yeoman service fulfill-ing our expectations of an overseas chapter. It is activelyengaged in membership drives and act as a bridge betweenthe mother centre and its members in NSW Australia en-abling the members there to continue to maintain profes-sional links with the engineering community back in SriLanka. They have donated engineering text books last yearto the engineering faculty of the Jaffna University. The Chap-ter also donated equipment to the library at the headquar-ters in Colombo .That the newly established Chapters inPerth Australia, Qatar and New Zealand too would, in time,fulfill the expectations of their members, I have no doubt.Theneed to establish similar chapters in other West Asian coun-tries, Europe and America have been articulated from timeto time and need to be seriously looked in to.The movement of engineering skills around the world is partof the dynamics of global interdependence and unbalancedglobal development. Its sustenance is through mutual un-derstanding among nations about the quality of such ex-pertise and their ability to establish standards that con-form to internationally recognized benchmarks. Through ourmembership in the Washington Accord, the benchmarkedstandards we establish for delivering engineering Degreeprogrammes will ensure that our engineering graduateswho have followed degree programmes accredited by uswill possess attributes that will make them acceptable forwork or for higher studies be they in Sri Lanka or else-where. Thus overseas chapters have a vital role to play inthe future.

Inauguration of Full TimeEngineering Programme byIESL College of EngineeringThe inauguration cer

emony of the FullTime Engineering

Study Programme of theIESL College of Engineer-ing was held on Monday,09th February 2015 at itsnew premises at No. 07Hector KobbekaduwaMawatha, Colombo 07.

Hon. Minister of Power &Energy, Eng. PataliChampika Ranawakagraced the occasion asthe Chief Guest and Sec-retary to the Ministry of Ur-ban Development, WaterSupply and Drainage, Eng.Karunasena Hettiarachchiwas the Guest of Honour.Special Invitees for theevent included ChairmanCeylon Electricity Board,Eng. Anura Wijayapala,Deputy Chairman-CEB,Eng.Nihal Wickremasuriyaand General Manager-State Development & Con-struction Corporation,Eng.M.D.S. Wijayabandara.

Eng. S B Wijekoon, Presi-dent of the IESL and mem-bers of the Board of Direc-tors of the IESLCE offici-ated the event which wasattended by large numberof students, parents andstaff of the IESLCE.

Chief Guest Hon. Minister of Power & Energy, Eng. PataliChampika Ranawaka addressing the gathering.

Front view of the new IESL College of Engineeringbuilding.

Eng. Anura Wijayapala delivering the Memorial Lecture. Eng. Kosala Kamburadeniya, Chairman- Electrical & Electron-ics Engineering Sectional Committee introducing the lecturer.

Established 1906

IESL NEWS2Sri Lanka Engineering News - January/February 2015

NOTICE TOPAST MEMBERS

REINSTATEMENT OFMEMBERSHIP

The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL) has decidedto offer an amnesty to its past members in the classes ofFellows, Members and Associate Members to reinstatetheir membership if it has been lapsed due to nonpay-ment of subscription fees.

If you are a past member, you may reinstate yourmembership by providing only the following:

· A formal request for Membership Reinstate-ment addressed to the Executive Secretary using theform available for downloading at our website Click todownload · A payment of Rs 15,000/- if you were a Fellowor a Member and Rs 12,000/= if you were an AssociateMember

Since this procedure for reinstatement of membership willbe in force only up to May 5, 2015 you are kindly re-quested to make use of this opportunity at your earliest toenjoy the benefits of membership at the IESL.

EXECUTIVE SECRETARYTHE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS,

SRI LANKA120/15, Wijerama Mawatha

Colombo 7.

IESL QATAR –CPDActivities

January and February2015.

Reported by Eng. Thilakasiri Ekanayake

1. On 30th January 2015 the IESL Qatar chap-ter organized a CPD lecture on ‘ Design andConstruction of Artificial islands’ . Presen-tation was done by Eng. Mohamed Ismath,Chartered Civil Engineer, who works as aCoastal Engineering Expert at CH2M HILL .He is with 22 years of professional experi-ence.

2. On 27th February 2015 IESL Qatar Chapterorganized another CPD presentation on‘Project Communication Management’. Itwas conducted by Eng. M.I.M. Nizar who isa project controlling expert. He is a Plan-ning and Scheduling Professional(PSP) aswell as Project management Professional(PMP). He is a graduate of civil engineeringfrom University of Moratuwa with 22 yearsof field experience.

IESL NEWS 3Sri Lanka Engineering News - January/February 2015

HAVE YOU WATCHED IPTV?

With the immense growth of technology, watching TV has become more sophisticated. Early days we watched TV with the help of an analogantenna and the TV. It is the traditional TV system that we are accustomed to. At present, with the introduction of IPTV, watching TV has becomemore user-oriented. IPTV is the most interesting technology that has revolutionized the world of television; because it has given users wide range

of options in watching. Users can have more interactions with the TV system as they are given the chance to control the program at their will; rewind, pause,add to playlists, watch previous programs during a convenient time and so on.

by Eng. Tharindu Weerasinghe[MSc.Eng, BSc.Eng(Hons), C|EH, MIEEE, AMIESL]

In Sri Lanka you are able toenjoy the IPTV facility. Ac-cording to my knowledge ithas been in the local marketsince 2008; so at presentyou might be using IPTV athome. I thought it will be goodto write an article on IPTVsystems to enhance yourknowledge on it.

IPTV stands for Internet Pro-tocol based TeleVision. It isthe mechanism which trans-ports television content overthe Internet. In a nutshell,video/audio streams are en-coded and transmitted as IPpackets over the internet andthe receivers decode them toshow them to the users. Butlet me explain you how theIPTV systems work.

I referred “http://www.althosbooks.com/ipteba1.html” to compilethis information as I thoughtthat reference is prettygood to understand thebasics.

IPTV system gathers datafrom various sources like livebroadcasts, stored media onthe internet, and other typesof communication links andso on. A centralized placecalled Headend, manages alldata received and preparesin a way that they can betransmitted. That meansdata management and en-coding/modulating are donein this place. Managed andmodulated data are transmit-ted over broadband connec-tions. Signals are transmit-ted as IP (Internet Protocol)packets.

Received signals are pro-cessed and converted into aformat that allows users towatch TV, by a special equip-ment places at each user’shome, Set-Top-Box (STB). Ifyou use IPTV at home, it isthe box that you switch ONbefore you watch TV. The fol-lowing diagram explains thefunctionalities in a nut-shell:Ref: http://www.al thosbooks.com/ipteba1.html

Functionality of IPTV STB:

The IP STB extracts thetransport stream (TS) from IPpackets. The channel de-coder detects errors in thesignal and corrects them andsends the transport stream

to the descrambler assem-bly. The descrambler assem-bly gets key information fromeither a smart card or froman external conditional ac-cess system (e.g. via a returnchannel). Using the key(s),the STB decodes the trans-port stream and the programselector extracts the specificprogram stream that has beenselected by the user. TheDEMUX circuitry of IP STB

then demultiplexes thetransport stream to obtainthe program information.

Demultiplexing is themechanism of extractingeach single signal from amulti-signal transport me-dium. It is the opposite ofmultiplexing. Multiplexing isarranging many signals inone transport medium toease the transmission.

The program table providesinformation to select streamsare for video, audio and othermedia for that program. Theprogram stream is then di-vided into its elementarystreams (voice, audio andcontrol) which is provided toa compositor that create thevideo signal that the TV candisplay. Refer the diagram Thebig picture of the IPTV STB:

Ref:http://www.althosbooks.com/ipteba1.html

IP Video System

You might be wonderinghow video can be sent viaan IP transmission medium.The following diagram illus-trates that an IP video sys-tem digitizes and reformatsthe original video, encodesand/or compresses thedata, adds IP address in-formation (unique identifierin the internet) to eachpacket, transfers the pack-ets through a packet datanetwork, recombines thepackets and extracts thedigitized video, decodes thedata and converts the digi-tal video back into its origi-nal video form.

Ref: http://www.althosbooks.com/ipteba1.html

The big picture of the IPTV STB


Sri LankaEngineering News

RE - INTRODUCTION OF RUBBLE AS ABASE COURSE MATERIAL & ITS

APPROPRIATENESS FOR THERURAL ROAD CONSTRUCTION,

Comments by Eng. M. Chandrasekera

I thank Eng. Deshapriya for raising this issue.

It is good that an Engineer working in RDA itself is raising this issue.However, I felt that the ‘non – technical style’ of his writing impairs highlighting/justifyingsome of the points he is attempting to raise.

See the following extracts.a. it can withstand more load & transfer more load to the ground with less settlementb. more energy can be absorbed before crushingc. It is cheaper material than ABCd. In a situation where the quality rock is not available in the village, ABC material will

have to be transported at a higher cost.e. It can be organized as a village centered labor intensive program to supply rubble from

the village itselff. the road built on rubble base since it provides heavy foundation, will be passable even

after subjecting to a flood until its repaired whereas no sign of road remains after aflood when built on ABC base.

g. easier to handle during rainy season is another factor towards positive direction.h. the benefit of using rubble bases is not limited to the rural roads. It can be widely used

for National roads as welli. Theoretically a rubble base course needs less compaction since it transfers load

mainly by means of interlockingj. As far as the large volume acquired by the rubble (being the main constituent) is

concerned, energy required for crushing to ABC particles & compacting again intodense form as is the present practice is completely eliminated

k. As stated earlier, it is an added advantage to relax the quality of filling material inpresence of rubble

There are many qualitative statements in his article similar to above, some of which could beaccepted on technical considerations while some others will have to be treated merely asthe writer’s opinions until/unless technically supported.

Also, I find that there are several misleading statements in Eng. Deshpriya’s letter.For example, rubble was replaced by ABC (or DGAB) not merely because of ‘easiness inhandling ‘as mentioned by Eng. Deshapriya.

In the good old days roads had pavements of the type called ‘penetration macadam’.It consisted of a (10 – 12 ton static roller compacted) layer of 150/225 mm rubble, followedby two layers of 50mm and a layer of 20mm aggregate. First coat of hot tar (penetrationgrade bitumen, say 80 pen) was applied on it and blotted with sand. The second seal wasdone after allowing the section to traffic for about a fortnight. We must not forget that thismethod of pavement construction was introduced to us by the British Engineers.In late 1970s, with the introduction of vehicles with heavier axle loads, the Highway Agencyin UK switched over from ‘penetration macadam’ type pavement to;

- ABC with single seal- ABC with double seal and- ABC with asphalt concrete, depending on the design loads to be carried in each

road.

This change was done subsequent to detailed studies undertaken by the Transport RoadResearch Laboratory (TRRL). As analysis of pavements from the first principles using‘Bousineque’s Equation’ was tedious; based on the results of their analysis, they pub-lished TRRL Laboratory Report 833(1978). Later, the Overseas Development Agency pub-lished Road Note 31(1993). These two documents laid out empirical methods to enable thepavement design Engineers to determine the type of road pavement based on the assumeddesign life, subgrade CBR values and the ‘the calculated number of equal standard axlesexpected to pass over the road during the assumed design life’.

As you will know, the two official documents issued by the RDA;

- RDA Standard Specification for the Construction and Maintenance ofRoads and Bridges – 1989 and;

- The Guide to Structural Design of Roads under Sri Lankan conditions –1999

have been prepared in line with the recommendations of TRRL Report No. 833 and OverseasRoad Note 31. In these documents, there is no reference to road pavement design or con-struction with ‘penetration macadam’.

A possible reason may be the absence of any empirical relationships to relate the ‘Benklemanbeam deflection values’ of existing pavements to a proper pavement design with a mac-adam base.

Engineers againstCorruption

Recently, one of mybatch mates invitedme to join a facebook

group called “engineers againstcorruption”. It was with a goodintention and without any hesi-tation that I joined that group.However, it made me to thinkof various other things. Arethere engineers supporting cor-ruption? If so, why?

As engineers, we have learnt ethics while in the universi-ties. Then we have taken an oath when we received ourcharter certificate saying that we would not be involved insuch corruption. I still remember, when I was reading formy PhD, one Japanese professor who taught me Con-struction Management, stressed to us that we should notaccept even a cup of coffee from a contractor if you are aconsultant. All these things resurfaced in my mind afterjoining with that facebook group.

Actually where are we? Are we just saying YES to anyproject proposed by a politician without raising our voicein terms of engineering judgment? We all are responsiblefor public funds and we must deliver the correct output.But, unfortunately, engineers’ voice is not well heard. En-gineers must do politics and then only they can talk againstcorruption. We always see engineers as neutral in poli-tics and try to serve the nation within their capacity. Nodoubt, this must be very well respected, but we must real-ize that the country needs our intervention more than that.As IESL, I do believe, we must talk against corruption andagainst wrong engineering decisions. Our members arereally keen to listen to real facts than an idealized out-come. Therefore, I urge the engineering community to li-aise with IESL and become a stronger body to talk againstcorruption. In conclusion, I do like the phrase, “engineersagainst corruption”.

Udeni P. [email protected]

Contd. on page 7...

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Astrology and our destiny: Believe inself rather than unknown planets

by Eng. Thushara Dissanayake (M - 4943)

Department of IrrigationAstrology has become a part and parcel of our culture except among a few ethnicities living in our country. This was a hottopic in our political arena as well during the recent past. We are a risk-averse nation. Whenever we have to take riskydecisions we tend to rely on astrological forecasts based on the horoscope rather than our abilities. Many of us commenceimportant tasks and celebrate special life events according to auspicious times.

Basics of astrology

Due to the curiosity in thissubject we studied it to a cer-tain level. It is with this knowl-edge that we express our opin-ions in this article. Accordingto astrology all aspects of ourlife is determined according tothe position of nine planets inthe sky at our birth time. Thehoroscope chart consists of12 boxes representing all as-pects of our life. For instancebox number seven representsthe details of marriage partnerand marriagelife of a personwhile box number 10 give de-tails of occupation. The predic-tions are made according tothe way planets are placed inthose boxes at your birth-time,their combinations, whetherthey can see each other andwhether they interact friendlyor in a hostile way. Each ofthese planets is of specificcharacteristics. The planetVenus concern itself with ro-mance, beauty, luxuries, aes-thetic abilities etc., while Marsrepresents energy, drive, ag-gression, passion etc.

An individual’s life span is as-sumed to be 120 years andthese nine planets govern spe-cific periods of life known as“mahadasha”. The Venus gov-erns for 20 years while theperiod belonging to Moon andSaturn is 10 years and 19years respectively. Accordingto the mahadasha prevailing atthe birth other dashas comeinto effect according to a se-quence. Nature of all life mat-ters of an individual will be ac-cording to the influence of theplanet governing themahadasha. If someone hasVenusmahadasha in his earlylife he will be successful in hisstudies provided Venus is a fa-vorable planet to him. In fact,astrological forecasting is avery complicated process andonly basics were mentionedabove.

We respect your freedomof beliefs. But for us as-trology is non-other thanpsychology. We havecome to this conclusionafter comparing real lifeevents with astrologicalpredictions relevant tomany people. However, theimportant thing is thatthese predictions canshape our lives either posi-tively or negatively. For thatreason rather than labelingit as a pseudo-science wecan use it as positive rein-forcing method for the bet-terment of peoples’ lives.With the idea of justifyingabove opinion fundamentalpsychological conceptsbehind the astrological pre-diction process are dis-cussed in following para-graphs.

Ambiguity

Most of the astrologicalpredictions are vague.They do not convey clearinterpretations due to thecomplexity of the predic-tions process itself. Some-times, there are many in-terpretations on the sameobject. Let us see an ex-ample. An astrologer mayhave predicted that yourson would become highlysuccessful in his or hereducation. In case your soncould not get through ad-vanced level examinationto enter to a university, thesame astrologer willpresent reasons for it bysaying that the child is hav-ing a bad period due to themalicious effects of suchand such planets. Thus,the astrologer can getaway with any challenge tohis predictions. Eventually,you may pay attention ondoing some remedies onsuch ill-effects while takingastrology for granted.

Selective perception

Selective perception is theprocess by which individualsperceive what they want towhile ignoring contradictoryinformation. Selective per-ception is a psychologicalbias as we interpret informa-tion in a way that is consis-tent with our existing beliefs.

You may be reading astro-logical forecasts appearingin weekly newspapers ac-cording to your birth sign.Within the list you may finda forecast saying that youare going to meet with a roadaccident. Suppose it be-came true. Then you remindthe forecast and come to theconclusion that astrology istrue. Although there weremany other predictions inthat list that did not cometrue you naturally disregardthem and cling on to the pre-diction that came true.

Confirmation bias

Confirmation bias refers totendency where we pay at-tention only to the informa-tion that confirms our precon-ceptions. Suppose your as-trologer says that you arehaving a bad period through-out this year according to theplanetary position. Then youwill attribute all your troublesand failures to this bad plan-etary influence. Some ofthose failures may be due toyour own faults and can beeasily avoided. As far as youindulged in those beliefs youwill not try to rectify yourfaults.

Self-fulfilling prophesy

According to self-fulfillingprophecy predictions be-come true, by the very termsof the prophecy itself, due topositive feedback betweenbelief and behavior of an in-dividual. Some astrologersare used to writing down lifepredictions for individualsbased on their horoscopes.Suppose the respective per-son reads these predictionsduring his early childhood.Then there is a higher prob-ability of becoming those pre-dictions true. In fact, whathappens is these early child-hood beliefs guide theperson’s behavior. For in-stance suppose the predic-tions say a person will en-gage in medical profession.Then there is a higher prob-ability that he reaches that

level. At least he would en-gage in career related tomedical stream.

On the contrary, if a child isdiscouraged by criticizinghis weaknesses he will even-tually fail to achieve thethings even if he could haveachieved according to hisinherent talents. If a child’sastrological predictions saythat he will not get a goodeducation and unable toreach to a higher level in so-ciety the same things willbecome the reality as all hisbehaviors are formed accord-ing to these predictions. Ul-timately, we believe astrol-ogy to be true while neglect-ing the psychology inducedbehavioral process that ledthat child to the miserablesituation.

Astrology for self-develop-ment

Your beliefs matter a lot inshaping your life. The au-thenticity of those beliefs isimmaterial as far as you be-lieve them to be true. In thatsense astrology can beused as a personal develop-ment tool. Positive predic-tions on life during childhoodwill greatly influence an indi-vidual make his life success-ful. The astrologers can playa big role if they are genu-inely dedicated to such anendeavor. Unfortunately,most of them are trying toearn money by some unethi-cal practices. Some astrolo-gers highlight impending ill-effects to their customersand at the same time pro-pose remedial measures toavoid those effects. Theycharge big money for suchremedies and the amountdepends on the economicposition and social status ofthe customer. The main rea-son for the propagation ofsuch activities is that thosewho are having a worrying lifeperiod see the astrologer tobe their last resort.

Final thoughts

John Galbraith, a Harvardeconomist who was also theUS Ambassador to Indiaonce said “There are twokinds of forecasters: thosewho don’t know and thosewho don’t know they don’tknow”. Therefore, let us be-lieve in ourselves rather thanunknown planets to makeour lives better.

While agreeing unreservedlywith Eng. Deshapriya on ‘thesaving of extra energy (elec-trical or fuel)’ needed for theproduction of ABC, in myopinion, working with ABC ismuch more efficient. Itsstrength after rolling can beeasily and scientifically testedwith the standard tests unlikein rubble a rubble paving. ABCwill also allow the Engineer toachieve a better surface fin-ish within the range of speci-fied Roughness Indexes.The two enemies of the ABCare;- Stagnant or flowingwater below the wearingsurface and;- Penetration of waterfrom the wearing surfacedue to damaged seal coat orcracked asphalt

If these two enemies could bekept at a bay (year on andyear out), ABC will stand fine.On the other hand, as Eng.Deshapriya rightly points out,a rubble base has much bet-ter resilience against boththese invaders.

Eng. Deshapriya places moreweight on the rural road reha-bilitation in his write up. Mostof the points he raises hasmerit in considering of roadsin that category. We knowthat the two official docu-ments published by the RDA(listed by me above) have notbeen prepared with a focus onrural roads, probably becauserural roads (which are ofClasses C and D) do not comeunder RDA’s purview. Withoutany authoritative documents(backed by adequate re-search and trials), for refer-ence and adoption, EngineerDesapriya or I cannot intro-duce rubble pavements to anypublic roads, however muchwe love to do so.If Eng. Deshapriya and otherlike-minded Road Engineerswish to revert to penetrationmacadam for ‘rural roads es-pecially in water table affectedareas’, they must approachthe Research and Develop-ment Section of RDA (whoare the compilers of the twoofficial RDA publications onthe design and constructionof road pavements) and com-pel them to publish;-an appropriate designguideline-an appropriate constructionspecificationIn addition, I believe that sev-eral new items may have tobe incorporated into theSchedule of Rates (HSR)prior to putting them into use.Eng. Chandrasekera BSc(Hon.) C Eng., MICE(London), FIE (Sri Lanka)

Contd. from page 4....

RE - INTRODUCTIONOF RUBBLE AS A BASECOURSE MATERIAL......


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