Multimedia surveillance systems is an emerging field that includes signal and image processing, communications, and computer vision. Multimedia Video-Based Surveillance Systems: Requirements, Issues and Solutions, combines the most recent research results from these areas for use by engineers and end-users involved in the design of surveillance systems in the fields of transportation and services. The book covers emerging surveillance requirements, including new digital sensors for real-time acquisition of surveillance data, low-level image processing algorithms, and event detection methods. It also discusses problems related to knowledge representation in surveillance systems, wireless and wired multimedia networks, and a new generation of surveillance communication tools. Timely information is presented on digital watermarking, broadband multimedia transmission, legal use of surveillance systems, performance evaluation criteria, and other new and emerging topics, along with applications for transports and pedestrian monitoring. The information contained in Multimedia Video-Based Surveillance Systems: Requirements, Issues and Solutions, bridges the distance between present practice and research findings, and the book is an indispensable reference tool for professional engineers.

This book investigates the latest modeling and control technologies in the context of air-conditioning systems. Firstly, it introduces the state-space method for developing dynamic models of all components in a central air-conditioning system. The models are primarily nonlinear and based on the fundamental principle of energy and mass conservation, and are transformed into state-space form through linearization. The book goes on to describe and discuss the state-space models with the help of graph theory and the structure-matrix theory. Subsequently, virtual sensor calibration and virtual sensing methods (which are very useful for real system control) are illustrated together with a case study. Model-based predictive control and state-space feedback control are applied to air-conditioning systems to yield better local control, while the air-side synergic control scheme and a global optimization strategy based on the decomposition-coordination method are developed so as to achieve energy conservation in the central air-conditioning system. Lastly, control strategies for VAV systems including total air volume control and trim & response static pressure control are investigated in practice.

From any perspective, the ideal construction project is one in which the contractor shows up on your doorstep with the right price and all of his tools, people, and equipment ready to start, and builds exactly what you want for the price you want and finish on schedule. Everyone then goes away, happy as clams. This is the ideal, but it never occurs.

The world is a competitive place; to survive, contractors must think competitively in order to win work. They must find a way to complete a quality project for the lowest price. Circumstances can easily derail even the best plans and contractors, but with planning, delays and cost overruns can be minimized.

This handbook helps guide the construction manager through the trials and tribulations of selecting, expecting, rejecting, prompting, requiring, and documenting what the contractor produces on the project.

Contracts can be written that foresee common problems and provide the construction manager with their resolution. The concepts in "Field Guide for Construction Management" can help you do just that.

Interest continues to develop in the design and construction of high-rise towers and tall buildings, structures with heights ranging from 75m to 500m and more. This volume presents the papers from the third in a series of international conferences on the subject, organized by the International Federation of High-rise Structures. The papers have been drawn together under the grand theme of the "Conquest of Vertical Space in the 21st Century". The conference was organized by the UK's Concrete Society and sponsored by the IFHS and the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat and the Federation Internationale de la Precontrainte (FIP). This book should be of interest to structural engineers, architects and building services engineers.

Deterioration of cement-based materials continues to result in substantially shortened lives for conventional structures due to poor performance and the need for early repair. With more advanced applications, where very long service lives are essential such as the storage of nuclear waste, understanding the degradation processes resulting in poor durability is very important. This book forms the proceedings of the latest in the series of symposia at the Materials Research Society Fall meeting in Boston dealing with cementitious materials in which the emphasis is on the chemical processes of deterioration. With contributions from leading international researchers and specialists in the field, the book provides a reference for all those concerned with current thinking on the subject.

This book forms the proceedings of the international workshop to be held in Essen, Germany. This workshop summarises the conclusion of the technical committee's investigations into the resistance of concrete to freeze-thaw attack, specific in this to resistance with or without de-icing chemicals. It presents the RILEM recommendations on testing the freeze-thaw and de-icing salt resistance of concrete.

The contributions to this book derive from the Second Cardington Conference held in March 1996 and are based on experimental work carried out on the first test structure at the LBTF, and eight-storeyed steel-framed building. They examine the role of full-size building tests in the development of structural design methods, and give recommendations on improved construction practice and safety of a building's occupants in the event of fire and explosion. Projects are covered in the fields of construction, static loading, dynamic response and the effect of fire and explosion loading. In addition, there are papers describing the future programme and other planned structures.

To optimise formwork costs and minimise the time for its construction, the contractor needs to understand the guiding principles of safe and efficient formwork construction. He must also have some insight into the relative merits of the various methods, and should appreciate the practical details of formwork construction. This is a practical, heavily illustrated and comprehensive manual for the construction industry. It is equally useful as a text for building students and teachers and trainees. Its large format, and extensive use of line drawings make it clear and straightforward to use.

The two themes of integration of structural and durability design, and integration of concrete technologies in relation to global environmental issues are drawn together in this text. It presents the views of international researchers and engineers on these key topics as the 21st century approaches. Derived from a workshop on rational design of concrete structures held in Hakodate, Japan, in August 1995, the book provides a focus for debate about the ways in which concrete technologies around the world must respond to the necessity of ensuring that concrete construction achieves higher levels of durability, and about the growing imperative to meet higher environmental standards in concrete production and use.

This book introduces practising engineers and post-graduate students to modern approaches to seismic design, with a particular focus on reinforced concrete structures, earthquake resistant design of new buildings and assessment, repair and strengthening of existing buildings. Fundamentals of engineering seismlogy are covered in the first part, including structural dynamics, calculation of structural response, energy considerations, structural configuration, static and dynamic analysis of structures under seismic actions, represented by equivalent lateral loads, or by elastic and inelastic spectra including the Eurocode 8 spectrum. The second part explains the earthquake-related properties of reinforced concrete materials, and seismic behaviour of structural members. Eurocode 8 design provisions for each type of member are presented in detail, as well as a fully worked design application. It concludes with a discussion of methods for assessing seismic performance of structures, and several case studies involving concrete buildings with frames and structural walls with and without masonry infill panels. Seismic pathology of concrete structures, assessment of seismic capacity of exist

Learn essentials of managing projects well and within budget, from scheduling and jobsite safety to quality and customer service in this long-anticipated revision of Basic Construction Management. Leon Rogers, an experienced builder, author, and educator, offers proven practices for: recruiting and keeping the best trade contractors; scheduling that makes sense; developing and implementing quality practices This book guides you step-by-step from construction planning through warranty work, blending proven practices with the experiences of builders in the field. It offers a roadmap to excellence for new construction superintendents and for veterans who want to brush up their skills for managing people and projects. A companion Web page includes updated quality checklists and other customizable tools to help you manage your construction projects.

This book covers execution of mega industrial projects especially in oil and gas industries covering engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and performance testing. It enumerates various tasks and deliverables under each discipline and sub-disciplines to define the detailed scope of work, supplies and services, as per level III of Prima Vera Schedule developed from the contract-based schedule. It gives an overall idea of how a project rolls out from commencement date to initial acceptance and executed practically with total contractor's scope of work broken down into tasks/activities at level III platform, while highlighting that support for fool proof project execution.

We spend most of our lives in buildings and almost every building is unique. The purpose of this book is to explain what buildings are and to provide an integrated overview of how they are built and sustained.
The book does not presume any specialist knowledge of buildings, seeking instead to explain why the different groups involved in designing, constructing, managing and occupying them follow certain procedures. It is particularly concerned with the generation and circulation of information between these groups. In taking this view, the book considers the recommendations of Sir Michael Latham's 1994 report Constructing the Team which called for better cohesion and communication between specialists in the construction industry.


eBook available with sample pages: 0203476158

Although polypropylene has been marketed since the 1950s, research and development in this area is still vigorous. The consumption of polypropylene over the years has been relatively high, mainly due to the steady improvement of its property profile. Polypropylene: Structures, Blends and Composites, in three separate volumes, reflects on the key factors which have contributed to the success of polypropylene, dealing with all aspects of structure-performance relationships relevant to thermoplastic polymers and related composites. Volume 1, Structure and Morphology, deals with polymorphism in polypropylene homo- and copolymers, where molecular and supermolecular structures are covered, and the processing-induced structure development of polypropylene, showing the interrelation between the processing-induced morphology and mechanical performance. Volume 2, Copolymers and Blends, contains comprehensive surveys of the nucleation and crystallisation behaviour of the related systems. It includes the development of morphology and its effects on rheological and mechanical properties of polypropylene-based alloys and blends and a review of polypropylene-based thermoplastic elastomers. Volume 3, Composites, gives a comprehensive overview of filled and reinforced systems with polypropylene as a matrix material, with the main emphasis on processing-structure-property-interrelationships. Chapters cover all aspects of particulate filled, chopped fibre-, fibre mat- and continuous fibre-reinforced composites. Interfacial phenomena, such as adhesion, wetting and interfacial crystallisation, are also included as important aspects of this subject.

Concrete is ubiquitous and unique, found in every developed and developing country. Indeed, there are no alternatives to concrete as a volume construction material for infrastructure. This raises important questions of how concrete should be designed and constructed for cost effective use in the the short and long term, and to encourage further radical development. Equally, it must be environmentally friendly during manufacture, in an aesthetic presentation in structures and in the containment of harmful materials. The central theme of the Congress is "Concrete in the Service of Mankind", under which five self-contained Conferences, each dealing with a particular aspect, are planned. The Congress offers opportunity to discuss how to improve and extend this service to mankind using responsible exploitation, underwritten by sound technical understanding and research base. It brings together the shared skills and experience of the various disciplines involved in the construction process world wide. This major publication continues the tradition established by Dundee University of organizing major international conferences every three years dealing with some aspect of concrete and also

This second edition of this well-respected book covers all aspects of the traffic design and control of vertical transportation systems in buildings, making it an essential reference for vertical transportation engineers, other members of the design team, and researchers. The book introduces the basic principles of circulation, outlines traffic design methods and examines and analyses traffic control using worked examples and case studies to illustrate key points. The latest analysis techniques are set out, and the book is up-to-date with current technology. A unique and well-established book, this much-needed new edition features extensive updates to technology and practice, drawing on the latest international research.

An important state-of-the-art report prepared by RILEM Technical Committee 108 ICC. It has been written by a team of leading international experts from the UK, USA, Canada, Israel, Germany, Denmark, South Africa, Italy and France. Research studies over recent years in the field of cement science have focused on the behaviour of the interfaces between the components of cement-based materials. The techniques used in other areas of materials science are being applied to the complex materials found in cements and concretes, and this book provides a significant survey of the present state of the art.

The durability and service life of building materials and components is a topic of growing interest all over the world. The pursuit of sustainable development is highlighting such issues as life cycle assessment of materials and building products, recycling and reuse of materials, use of substitute raw materials etc., and in this way the demand for knowledge on degradation factors and processes, service life data and life cycle economy. In all countries the stock of building is growing. An estimate is that the built environment - buildings and infrastructure - constitute more than 50 per cent of the real capital of each country. The effective and environmentally friendly management and renewal of these investments, calls for improved abilities to predict service life, cost effective building materials with well documented long-term behaviour and improved procedures to maintain the serviceability of building products. Research into durability aims at increasing the knowledge base in all these areas. This book presents the latest research and development and offers researchers and practitioners articles from around the world on the main topics: prediction methods and modelling; measurement a

Protection against fire and prevention of explosion is vital in a modern industrial economy. Only recently have fire science and related risk assessment become serious areas of academic study. This published proceedings of the First European Conference on Fire Engineering and Emergency Planning provides an authoritative base of materials covering the research of the late 1990s, applications and hypotheses as a cumulative reference work and a platform for exchanges of ideas within the academic fire community.

Contents - Preface - 1. The Physical Background - 2. The Chemical Background - 3. The Measurement of Resistivity - 4. Dispersion - 5. Gaseous Dielectrics - 6. The Breakdown of Solid Dielectrics - 7. The Measurement of Dielectric Loss - 8. Special Techniques for Liquids - 9. Tests on Complete Equipment - Index -

A manual of constructional details which shows how successful results in acoustic design can be achieved by correct use of building materials, products and components. Details are drawn to scale and carry informative labelling and supplementary text. This updated and revised edition of an established reference book, in an improved format and layout, will be a welcome addition to current reference works on acoustic design.

At some point, most home-owners have to make a choice: whether to move or extend their property. In the case of the latter, there is a further choice - to put the whole matter into other hands or to try to understand the processes involved so that the whole business is carried out efficiently and cost-effectively. Those working or planning to work in the construction industry also need to be reminded of the pitfalls of local authority requirements, building control and planning, and this text provides an account of the necessary action.

This book provides a comprehensive and authoritative review of durability of the frost resistance of concrete. It will enable both concrete materials specialists and practising engineers to better understand the deterioration processes which take place during freezing and thawing, and the effects of de-icing salts on concrete. It shows how test procedures can be used to provide worthwhile information and explains the many problems associated with their use. Durability of Concrete in Cold Climates explains how concrete can be designed and produced to be durable in cold environments, through careful selection of materials, mixture composition and proper use of air entrainment. It is fully illustrated with photographs and diagrams and contains over 250 references to sources and other publications. The main topics covered are: theories of frost ction and de-icer salt scaling mechanisms; laboratory tests; influence of materials and mix characteristics; air entrainment; field performance; and frost durability of dry concretes.

A state-of-the-art report prepared by RILEM Technical Committee 116-PCD. At present, durability of concrete is controlled by specifying the materials to be used, the methods of mixing, placing, curing and so on. This approach is often unsatisfactory and it is a common objective of concrete researchers and engineers to develop performance criteria which allow the potential durability of a particular concrete mix or structure to be estimated. However, the complexity of concrete as a material and the difficulty of developing consistent and reliable test methods has meant that progress has been slow. International interest in the subject is growing strongly with the development of international standards and so this book is very timely in giving an authoritative, international review of the subject. It will set the scene for the next few years as a key source of information and advice.