PREFACE
The second edition of this handy book presents some 2,500 formulas and calcu-
lation guides for civil engineers to help them in the design office, in the field,
and on a variety of construction jobs, anywhere in the world. These formulas
and guides are also useful to design drafters, structural engineers, bridge engi-
neers, foundation builders, field engineers, professional-engineer license exam-
ination candidates, concrete specialists, timber-structure builders, and students
in a variety of civil engineering pursuits.
The book presents formulas needed in 13 different specialized branches of
civil engineering—beams and girders, columns, piles and piling, concrete
structures, timber engineering, surveying, soils and earthwork, building struc-
tures, bridges, suspension cables, highways and roads, hydraulics and open
channel flow, stormwater, sewage, sanitary wastewater, and environmental
protection. Some 500 formulas and guides have been added to this second edi-
tion of the book.
Key formulas are presented for each of the major topics listed above.
Each formula is explained so the engineer, drafter, or designer knows how,
where, and when to use the formula in professional work. Formula units are
given in both the United States Customary System (USCS) and System
International (SI). Hence, the content of this book is usable throughout the
world. To assist the civil engineer using these formulas in worldwide engineer-
ing practice, a comprehensive tabulation of conversion factors is presented
in Chap. 1.
New content is this second edition spans the world of civil engineering.
Specific new topics include columns for supporting commercial wind turbines
used in onshore and offshore renewable energy projects, design of axially
loaded steel columns, strain energy in structural members, shaft twist formulas,
new retaining wall formulas and data, solid-wood rectangular column design,
blasting operations for earth and rock removal or relocation, hydraulic turbines
for power generation, dams of several types (arch, buttress, earth), comparisons
of key hydraulic formulas (Darcy, Manning, Hazen-Williams), and a complete
new chapter on stormwater, sewage, sanitary wastewater, and environmental
protection.
In assembling this collection of formulas, the author was guided by experts
who recommended the areas of greatest need for a handy book of practical and
applied civil engineering formulas.
Sources for the formulas presented here include the various regulatory and
industry groups in the field of civil engineering, authors of recognized books on
important topics in the field, drafters, researchers in the field of civil engineer-
ing, and a number of design engineers who work daily in the field of civil engi-
neering. These sources are cited in the Acknowledgments.
xi