| Module | Credits | Compulsory/optional |
| Mechanical Science | 15 Credits | Compulsory |
| This module encompasses statics (fundamental concept of units, forces, force systems, free body diagrams, couples, moments, direct & shear stresses, beams, frames, shear force-bending moment relationships) and dynamics (quantities and concepts, linear & angular motion, non-constant acceleration, forces and torques, moment of inertia, application of free-body diagrams, work-energy equation, impulse-momentum equation, simple harmonic motion, dynamic mechanisms, engineering vibrations). |
| Civil Engineering Materials 1 | 15 Credits | Compulsory |
| Summary of what module involvesThis module introduces students to common civil engineering materials, their physical and mechanical properties (elastic and plastic deformation, tensile & compressive strengths, modulus, ductility, toughness, hardness), and testing methods. Students will also develop an appreciation of the ethical, environmental and social factors associated with the extraction and processing of materials. Practical activities will include the casting and testing of concrete, soil properties and testing of steel in tension to measure modulus.What the student will learn from the moduleStudents will learn about the properties and behaviour in-use of the main materials used in civil engineering, which will enable them to select the most appropriate materials for particular applications.Why will this be of benefitAn understanding of the behaviour of materials is fundamental to the construction and design of the built environment. |
| Site Surveying and Setting Out | 15 Credits | Compulsory |
| Summary of what module involvesThis module will typically include:• The appropriate and correct use of levels, theodolites, EDM’s, plumbs, lasers, data-loggers, tapes and associated equipment, to carry out:• Levelling, contouring, provision of vertical control and bench marks, area and volume calculation, mass-haul calculations.• Plan control, traversing, angles, bearings and linear measurement.• Detail surveys, manual recording and data-logging.• Setting out profiles, site and slope rails, buildings, drains and horizontal circular curves.• Checking verticality• Calculations, including misclosure, adjustment and accuracy assessment of the above processes.• Scale, co-ordinate systems, grids, automatic and manual plotting and plan production.• What the student will learn from the moduleStudents will learn the surveying processes that commonly occur in Civil Engineering projects, the importance of accurate observation, and how to successfully carry out the work involved • Why will this be of benefitSurveying is an essential part of virtually all Civil Engineering projects and is required at every stage, from initial plan production, to dimensional control and producing as-built drawings. |
| Principles of Sustainable Design and Construction | 15 Credits | Compulsory |
| The module covers the following topics:• Health and Safety on construction sites, legislation, safe working, risk assessment and risk management.• Design principles, sketching, interpreting engineering drawings, design for safety, construction and manufacture, lean methods, and codes and standards.• Principles of sustainability and the environment in civil engineering design, sustainable materials, sustainability assessment and the interface with Building Information Modelling.• Introduction to Construction Management – The socio-economic, demographic and commercial environment for infrastructure projects, project management, QCD, project life cycles, critical path and network analysis, tendering and contracts.• What the student will learn from the moduleStudents learn how designs are conceived and developed in a commercial and socio-economic context whilst balancing the need for sustainability, resource efficiency, economy and viability. • Why will this be of benefitThe context for major infrastructure projects is explored and students will appreciate the importance of sustainability, design processes, construction management and underpinning factors for future technological developments. |
| Professional Practice (L4) | 0 Credits | Compulsory |
| This module is the first in a series of Professional Practice modules. Apprentices will be encouraged and guided to maintain records of their work experience and gather documentary evidence of their knowledge, skills and behaviours acquired in relation to those listed in the relevant degree apprenticeship standard. These achievements will be recorded as an e-logbook with copies of documentary supporting evidence kept electronically through the University of Hertfordshire’s Virtual Learning Environment. The Virtual Learning Environment will also be used to provide guidance and support for the apprentices in developing their study skills, e.g. tips for time management, information searching, note taking and report writing, future planning and how to prepare for exams. This will include some formative assignments. The apprentice will be assigned an industrial mentor and personal tutor who will meet regularly with the apprentice to review progress and create a schedule of work to develop a broad portfolio of industrial experiences.At level 4 apprentices are expected to become familiar with Health and Safety procedures and follow industrial procedures as appropriate to the tasks they have been set. |
| Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics | 15 Credits | Compulsory |
| Summary of what module involvesThe module will typically involve the following topics:• Introduction to the properties of fluids including density, specific gravity, viscosity and kinematic viscosity, surface tension, atmospheric and gauge pressure, and pressure measurement.• Hydrostatics and forces on submerged surfaces including plane and curved surfaces, pressure variation with depth, and typical engineering examples of structures where hydrostatics are important.• Introduction to hydrodynamics including laminar and turbulent flow, discharge (mass and volumetric), steady incompressible flow, velocity, boundary layers, Reynolds number, conservation of mass, momentum and energy, total energy and hydraulic grade line and Bernoulli equation.• Instrumentation for fluid mechanics and hydraulics including pressure measurement, piezometers, manometers, differential pressure devices, electromagnetic and other electronic flow measurement methods• Pipe networks and pumping including pipe network analysis, frictional losses in pipelines, minor losses, rotodynamic machines and types of pump, pump and system curves, control of flow in pipelines, and pumps in series and parallel.• The management of water assets and typical application examples in civil engineeringWhat the student will learn from the moduleStudents will learn about how fluids move, the forces they apply to engineering structures and how water assets be used for the benefit of society. Topics will include developing an understanding of fluids at rest and in motion. • Why will this be of benefitThis module will equip students to solve typical problems relating to the storage, delivery and measurement of water and other fluids that engineers are frequently asked to design and build. |
| Dynamic Earth | 15 Credits | Compulsory |
| The aims of this module are to enable students to understand the dynamic processes that produce rocks and geological structures, and be able to recognise them in the laboratory and in the field. The geological evolution of the Earth and the importance of plate tectonics in the formation of rocks and geological structures will be studied, together with introductory igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic petrology. The module will also consider weathering, erosion, transport and deposition of Earth surface materials and the dynamic endogenic and exogenic processes that impact on anthropogenic activities and cause geohazards. |
| Engineering Mathematics | 15 Credits | Compulsory |
| The module builds on from A-Level mathematics (or equivalent qualification) to provide mathematical techniques required for engineering. The module includes the manipulation and applications of elementary functions (trigonometric, logarithmic and exponential), complex numbers, Boolean algebra and the techniques of differentiation and integration for functions of one variable. |
| Engineering Application of Mathematics | 15 Credits | Compulsory |
| The module follows on from the module 4PAM1007 Engineering Mathematics to provide further mathematical techniques required for applications in Engineering disciplines. The module includes the techniques associated with the manipulation of matrices and vectors, evaluation of eigenvalues and eigenvectors, development of power series approximations of elementary mathematical functions, techniques for the solution of ordinary differential equations and the principles of probability and data handling. The mathematics material will be supported using a suitable software package, for example MATLAB, and will also be used to solve engineering problems. |
