Civil engineers should know the date on which monsoon would set in, which will help them to plan the execution and completion of projects well, said. P.C. Varghese, Honorary Professor, Anna University and formerly Professor and Head, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT-Madras, here on Friday.
Delivering the ‘Prof. G.S. Ramaswamy Memorial Lecture' on the occasion of CSIR Foundation Day, Dr. Varghese said knowing about monsoon and wind patterns would help civil engineers. If they were not aware of this, then the structure would be weakened to a great extent.
About earthquakes Dr. Varghese said world over seven major plates had been identified. Apart from this inside the continents there were several joints. Originally, the Indian subcontinent was close to the South Pole but, over a period of time, it slowly moved and settled at the existing place.
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Documenting seismic details in every city was very important. As far as Chennai was concerned it was in the Seismic Zone II from where it had moved to Seismic Zone III. A mild tremor could loosen the soil and rain following this would lead to major disaster. This is what happened at Udhagamandalam a few years ago, Dr. Varghese said.
Last year the Structural Engineering Research Centre received (SERC) the Young Scientists award, said Nagesh Iyer, Director Council for Scientific Research - SERC.
The organisation created facilities and assets worth Rs.4 crore.
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