This post is in response to an engineer asking me what technical things he should know. The list is personal and a bit quirky - and I hope you will disagree with some of the things I have included. Some of these things an engineer needs a thorough and intimate understanding of; others, knowing the basics and where to find the details is enough.
Some of the items are specific to Auckland, New Zealand but most places will have their equivalent. Let me know in the comments if you would like me to add US or Australian equivalents to the standard documents)
Make a comment if you think there is anything I should add.
- Mannings equation
- Selecting Mannings n values from photos
- N values for flattened grass
- Culvert design hydraulics
- Sand grading curves
- Sedimentation - Stokes equation
- Fish passage basics
- Rock scour protection design
- Erosion around pipe outfalls design and weaknesses (ARC TP10)
- Tractive stress method
- Open channel flow basics
- Froude number
- Open channel flow profiles
- Humidity, vapour pressure, boiling point, dew point
- SketchUp
- Rational method (and at least one irrational method)
- Time of concentration for overland flow
- Basic boundary layers
- Flood flows (ARC TP108, SCS TR-55 Method)
- Dissolved oxygen, temperature and redox
- Autumn turnover
- Bridge energy losses and hydraulics
- Scour calculations around piles and abutments
- Phosphorus processes in waterways
- Nitrogen cycle
- Darcy equation and Ergun equation
- Erosion and sediment control (ARC TP90)
- Sediment pond sizing
- DEB (decanting earth bunds)
- USLE (Universal soil loss equation) Note 1
- Flotation calculations
- Forces from moving water
- Scour hole sizing in sand
- HIRDS and finding rainfall data
- Adjust rainfalls for climate change
- PE pipe properties
- Creep in plastics
- Pressure and acceptance tests in plastic pipes
- Hand augering and basic soil assessment
- Local soil types (In Auckland ECBF, Puketoka formation)
- Shear vane use and adhustment. SPT testing
- Porosity
- Stream quality modelling
- Compaction tests and optimum soil moisture
- Air locking and velocities for moving air bubbles
- Bill of Quantities (Schedule of Prices) Preparation
- Specification writing for a contract
- General Conditions of Contract (NZS3910)
- Extensions of time
- On-site wastewater disposal (ARC TP58 and AS1547)
- Colebrook-White equation
- Colebrook-White equation for open channels
- Hydraulic jump
- Energy equations for open channel flow
- Vee-notch weir
- Sharp crested weir
- Broad crested weir
- Road as weir
- Free overfall
- Culvert Analysis Software (HY8 or equivalent)
- Algal vs macrophyte dominance in ponds and lakes
- Eutrophic status
- Water network modelling software (EPAnet)
- Rip-rap basin design
- Freshwater invertebrate
- Wetland plant species
- Heavy metals chemistry speciation
- Weed species
- Basic reinforced concrete design
- Steel plate design
- Maori perspectives on water
- Pollutant runoff levels (kg per hectare)
- Stormwater filters
- Stormwater treatment device design (ARC TP10)
- Simple water tank design for developing countries
- On-site stormwater treatment (Countryside Living Toolbox)
- Swales for stormwater treatment design
- Flood report basics
- Soakage testing for rock bores
- Stormwater soak pit design (Onehunga soak pit)
- HEC RAS
- HEC HMS
- HEC22 US FHA Urban Drainage Design Manual
- Catchpit design, Megapits
- Basic hydraulic structures
- Manhole head losses sophisticated
- Pipe fitting head losses - valves bends etc
- Stainless steel selection
- Stainless steel corrosion
- Welding
- PE pipe welding
- Floating wetlands basic
- Raingarden design
- Permeable paving design
- LID theory
- LID and urban design
- Animal vs human faecal contamination
- Eel lifecycle
- Koaro, galaxiid and mullet life cycles
- Whitebait can't jump
- Tannins
- Woody streams and geomorphology
- Grass selection
- Topsoil Specification
- Fencing
- Concrete pipe external loads and selection
- Timber protection
- Rip-rap design
- Wave run-up calculations
- Dye testing and tracer analysis
- CCTV analysis
- GIS
- Ground penetrating radar
- Riparian zone planting
- Integrated catchment management planning (ICMP)
- Skinks and geckos
- Gumlands ecology
- Directional drilling and micro-tunnelling
- Urban design principles
- Settlement assessment
- Peat
- Flood routing
- Modelling basics 1d vs 2d
- Tide levels and datums
- Working in the Coastal Marine Area
- Trench safety
- Gas detection and cold water safety
- Rock breaking
- Geotextiles and when to use them
- Joining PE pipes to manholes
- Floodgates
- Duckbill valves
- Stream rating systems
- Stream gauging
- Litter traps (in stream)
- Litter traps CDS etc
- Oil traps (API and more)
- Spillway design
- Morning glory outlets design
- Rapid drawdown bank stability
- Basic slope stability
- Gabion design
- Protecting steep clay slopes
- Ephemeral stream criteria
- Regulatory Auckland Regional Plan: Air, Land and Water
- Vortices
- Stormwater pumping (flood pumps)
- Pipe bursting
- Pipe lining
- Pipe bridges
- Part full pipes analysis
- Waves in open channels
- Manhole diameter selection
- Concrete pipe bends and factory selection
- Rain tank design
- Leaf guard
- Tank vac
- First flush theory
- First flush diverter
- Wingwall subtlety
- Landscape theory basic
- Pond wildlife
- Mosquito breeding and control
- Mosquito fish/pest fish/carp
- Carp
- Safe velocity vs depths for flow paths and people
- Aquaplaning
- Hydrology
- Does planting trees increase river flow?
- Vertical pipes air entrainment
- Building code (E2)
- Dispersal trench design
- Penman equation for evaporation
- French drain spacing
- Groundwater movement
- Phreatic zone
- WHO crop requirements
- Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP)
- Chemical sediment control
- Extreme value distributions Gumbel
Notes
1) It is unlikely that the Universal Soil Loss Equation is in fact universal or that it is particularly applicable anywhere off planet Earth.
