Civil Engineering Leaps to Next Generation with Application of AI-ML

Civil Engineering has been one of the oldest disciplines in the engineering sector. Like many other engineering trades, a lot of new techniques were developed and implemented to improve the quality of construction and maintain the economy of the structure. Now in the 21st century, this sector is on the verge of entering into a new dimension with the application of ‘Artificial Intelligence’ and ‘Machine Learning’. Here is how you will understand that the next generation civil engineering is not going to be the same as it used to be in the past or at least in the last decade.

Introduction:

Civil Engineering has been one of the oldest disciplines in the engineering sector. Like many other engineering trades, a lot of new techniques were developed and implemented to improve the quality of construction and maintain the economy of the structure. Now in the 21st century, this sector is on the verge of entering into a new dimension with the application of ‘Artificial Intelligence’ and ‘Machine Learning’. Here is how you will understand that the next generation civil engineering is not going to be the same as it used to be in the past or at least in the last decade.

The Past:

Let us just remember the society in ancient times. The infrastructures were developed based on the basic needs of the people. We have seen some beautiful structures in ‘Inka’ civilization. ‘Ottoman’ Empire had a great irrigation system. ‘Mesopotamian’ or ‘Harappan’ civilizations were also known

for their organized irrigation and water supply system. ‘Roman’ empire had built marvelous eye-catching monuments. Modern road construction techniques were first seen in ‘Roman’ civilization. The modern-day construction materials were introduced by the ‘Romans’. Other monuments like

‘the Great Wall of China’ or ‘Qutab Minar’ or even ‘Taj mahal’, all are built with almost similar methods of manual construction, and manual supervision. They all were built before the industrial revolution.

The Present:

The development of engineering can be classified into two phases: Pre- Industrial Revolution and Post-Industrial revolution. We all know that the first industrial revolution happened in the 17th century with the invention of the steam engine which excelled in the transportation engineering sector. The engineering sector especially the civil and construction industry evolved with the introduction of heavy equipment and machinery which helped humans to uplift and carry heavy materials easily from place to place. When concreting was becoming a popular method of construction technique, mixing all the ingredients of concrete used to be a manual process and took a lot of effort and time. A huge amount of human resources was also required for batching, mixing, and casting at the place of application. After all of it still, there was a chance of human error due to a lack of skill and supervision.

The second industrial revolution was driven by the invention of electricity in the 18^th century. Concrete mixers, batching plants, cranes, etc. have helped civil engineering to overcome a few of these challenges to reduce error and accidents on construction sites.

With the introduction of Information Technology in the 19th century, we are presently in the third industrial revolution. Different design and analysis software are also available in the market to make the life of designers easier these days. But still, the basic tasks of most civil engineers are practiced conventionally.

The Future:

The fourth industrial revolution is already underway in the 21st century driven by Artificial Intelligence. Hence all the engineering disciplines are on the verge to leap into a new dimension. This leads engineering into automation. Especially in civil engineering, Artificial Intelligence has a huge role to play and can change the elements of responsibility of a civil engineer in a whole new way. Artificial Intelligence generally consists of Machine Learning, Neural Network, Fuzzy System, Genetic Algorithm, etc. which are nothing but some sets of data along with the conditions and different calculations to predict the outcome of a new problem with a similar type of condition.

Every engineering project can be considered as a separate new experiment that has almost similar resources but different conditions. They all possess uncertainties and huge risks. In this case, Machine Learning may come as a great help to rescue us to minimize the risk and hazards associated with it. AI is a system through which one equipment can identify the problem, check the conditions, run the logical interpretation within it, and can make the suitable decision that will make the task fast, easier, safer, and economically viable. Artificial Intelligence is getting integrated into daily life for almost every gadget starting from mobile phones, and computers/laptops to lights, fans, ACs, doors, etc. We may have heard the concept of ‘Smart Building’ or ‘Smart Roads’ or ‘Smart Infrastructure’ which are nothing but some examples of the application of AI & ML in civil engineering.

Here are some examples of application of Artificial Intelligence in Civil Engineering:

• Structural Health Monitoring and warning system from time to time for repairing works and also to warn users to evacuate the place before collapsing of the structure.
• Soil Testing (checking of moisture content, dry density, and classification.
• Project Site Monitoring in the aspect of safety in dangerous working conditions.
• Building Information Modelling.
• Effective, Economic, and Suitable Project Planning, Project Scheduling, Managing, etc.
• Identify complicated project problems and solve them at any intermediate stage of the project.
• Prediction of optimum moisture content, the density of concrete, find out the proportional ratio of ingredients of concrete, and predict mix design using artificial neural network.
• To forecast weather conditions, rainfall intensity, and runoff rate.
• Prediction of discharge rate of river water, real-time reservoir capacity.
• To judge the water demand of an area, manage the water supply system.
• To figure out suitable crop types for agricultural lands, base, delta, duty, and
• canal discharge capacity.
• To Anticipate tidal effect in offshore structures, flood control measures in river basin areas.
• Estimation of accurate resources required for the project.
• To survey and reconnaissance.
• To find out the stability of the foundation, and ground slope.
• Analyze traffic volume, and pattern of movement.
• Optimization of traffic signaling system to reduce travel time.
• The fourth industrial revolution is already underway in 21^st century driven by Artificial Intelligence.

Though most of the areas in civil engineering can be beneficial with the application of AI & ML, also there are a few drawbacks that have to be overcome by the next generation of civil engineers. There are very few noes of persons in the field of civil engineering, who are fluent and comfortable with smart gadgets and equipment. It also requires regular software up gradation and high-specification computers or similar electronic devices to operate AI-enabled machines. Considering all these factors it can be concluded that the application of AI & ML in civil engineering is surely going to help to complete the project quickly and make the life of a civil engineer easier, more comfortable, and safer. Presently we have a limited no of civil engineers aware of the latest trends and techniques. Therefore, it comes as a huge opportunity for next-generation civil engineers to explore and excel in this area to shine bright in their careers.