Computer software for civil and structural engineering practice and education

Computer usage has become commonplace in civil and structural engineering practice and education. The computational speed and power of current personal computers make them ideal tools for many applications related to design and construction. Advances in computer hardware and software capabilities have opened tile door for creating innovative computer software packages with only a small amount of computer knowledge. While such computer programs are regularly used to address tile practical, everyday aspects of civil and structural engineering. they can also be effectively utilized in tile educational process. This paper describes the development and organization of several design and construction-related computer programs that have been developed by and under the guidance of the authors for both practice and education. Two programs focus on design. The first helps designers incorporate in their designs suggestions related to construction worker safety. The second design program addresses concrete formwork design issues, and provides various formwork member sizes and configurations for tile construction of concrete slabs and walls. Two programs related to construction have also been created. One program contains a database of construction safety checklists. The other program calculates productivity values as described by learning curve models. and assesses tile impacts of delays and interruptions in tile construction process. The programs have been developed for ease of use in a wide variety of applications. Each of tile programs has practical value, and is especially effective as a learning tool in an academic setting and for on-the-job training. These programs are only a few examples of the innovative software packages that can be easily and quickly created for use in the civil and structural engineering industry rising current computer technologies.