My Name is John F Claydon  

BSc(Hons) CEng MICE  Cert Ed.

I was a lecturer in Civil Engineering and this is me Standing outside the main building on the campus.   But at the end of August 2008, I retired from full time education and am just doing some part time teaching in Hydraulics. 

My main areas of teaching were Structural Analysis (affectionately known as Struct. anal), Structural Design, Hydraulics and Fluids, Mathematics, Surveying, Computer Aided Design/Drawing and Health & Safety.

If I was to ask you to name a famous engineer, the chances are you would answer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.  Two hundred years after his birth, he is, without question, the popular embodiment of civil engineering.

I.K.Brunel was born on the 9th of April 1806.

A glance through Brunel's portfolio explains why.  He started, with his father Marc, on the Thames Tunnel and the rest of his achievements include Clifton Suspension Bridge, the Great Western Railway, Box Tunnel, Maidenhead Bridge, Paddington Station and his ships the Great Western, Great Britain and the massive Great Eastern.

Take a look here to find out more.

For those new to Structural analysis, I have added Structural Mechs Intro to give you the very fundamental basics.  Hope it helps.

I have  some photographs of my students working in the laboratory, you can access these via the Hydraulics page.  Look for the laboratory experiments link.

A big interest of mine is in figures or numbers.

What is so special about the number 1.618?

How do you divide 17 donkeys such that one person gets exactly one half, another gets exactly one third and last person gets one ninth? Take a look here.

If you have a six or seven digit phone number, try this little experiment.

If you are a fan of the Da Vinci Code, you will enjoy this puzzle.  Click on the link and let me know how you got on.

From time to time, I shall add interesting civil engineering web sites for you to explore.  The one below is about a new bridge in France.

The tallest bridge in the world and taller than the Eiffel Tower, is slung across the valley of the River Tarn, the Viaduct de Millau (Viaduc de Millau) is the chosen solution for taking the A75 motorway from Clermont-Ferraud south to Beziers.  For more information and loads of construction photographs, go to useful links.

Turning Torso, Sweden: Upon completion, Turning Torso will reach 190 metres above sea level and consist of nine cubes with five storeys in each individual cube. 146 apartments will be located between cube three and nine. There will be 54 floors altogether, including the intermediate floors and each will have approximately 400 square metres of living space.

Each floor will consist of an almost square area around the centre core, and a triangular section reinforced by an external steel support. The entire construction twists 90 degrees on its way up to the top storey.  For more details of this building and lots of good photographs, go to useful links.

For Civil Engineering Resources and Jobs Online
It has online resources in the Civil Engineering field, covering listings of Civil Engineering departments, websites, journals, books and reviews, employment opportunities and events.

In the photographs section, I have added photographs shot on the students end of year two day residential site visits.

If you are interested in the use of spreadsheets for solving surveying problems, take a look at the Spreadsheet page.

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