Transportation engineering constitutes a required portion of the civil engineering curriculum at over three-fourths of undergraduate civil engineering programs in the United States. The input of practicing transportation engineers is a critical source of information in determining the content of the first course in transportation engineering. A new survey was conducted in which respondents ranked 31 potential course topics by importance. The results are compared to a similar survey conducted $20\text{years}$ before to determine which topics have increased in importance, which have become less critical to cover, and which continue to remain of high priority. Topics such as traffic safety and traffic flow characteristics are of considerably higher priority today than $20\text{years}$ ago, while topics such as geometric design of highways and highway capacity studies continue to be of great importance. Preparation for follow-up and graduate coursework, for the Fundamentals of Engineering and Professional Engineer examinations, and issues of local setting are also considerations in determining the content of the first course in transportation engineering.

This paper presents a unique faculty development program called Gaining Retention and Achievement for Students Program (GRASP) developed at New Mexico State University. A fundamental assumption of GRASP is faculty are crucial to student retention and achievement, hence the primary focus on faculty. GRASP focuses on incorporating faculty’s teaching behaviors which increase student retention and achievement. The program is composed of four interlaced components: assessment of student learning styles; faculty development to cultivate and implement appropriate teaching strategies; in-class observations and feedback of faculty and students’ classroom behavior; and assessment of the impact on student retention and achievement. Student enrollment data is presented to demonstrate the success of GRASP in improving student retention and achievement. Faculty surveys indicate faculty changed teaching practices and intend to use program strategies in future semesters.

Engineering is largely a knowledge-based profession; value comes increasingly from what an organization or individual knows rather than possesses. Continuing training is the principal means by which engineers maintain and expand knowledge once in the profession. Within civil engineering, the rapid pace of technological change and the increased retirement of experienced personnel have placed increased pressure on training to provide more content, timelier delivery, and more flexibility for the same or less money. These pressures necessitate a training market shift from an employer-centered model, which is inherently inefficient and slow, to an employee-centered model, which is more efficient, individualized, and timely. Typical abilities and strengths of engineers indicate an approach to employee-centered training called self-managed learning could be successful. In order to increase the chances of success for such an approach, the array of training options available to civil engineers must be broadened to include more quality online self-directed learning options. This addition would better enable civil engineers to select training options that closely match their needs, schedule, and learning style preferences.

The incorporation of data from the physical environment allows a standard civil engineering probability and statistics course to double as an introduction to natural hazards. The requirement of a related term paper adds to the exposure. An established course, using such an arrangement, is described in this technical note.

This paper reports on a longitudinal study on the progress of statutory adjudication in the United Kingdom since its commencement in 1998. This study was carried out by the Adjudication Reporting Centre at Glasgow Caledonian University and it considers the statistical data provided by both Adjudicator Nominating Bodies and adjudicators themselves. Various trends are shown and reasons explored. These trends include the growth in adjudication referrals, numbers of adjudicators, causes of disputes, sums of money in dispute, seasonal trends, monitoring of adjudicators’ performance, procedures adopted, time limits, fees, etc. There is evidence that the disputes, while still predominantly about payment and valuation issues, are becoming larger and more complex. The impact of statutory adjudication on other forms of dispute resolution is considered.

In the modern world, some traditions are falling faster than others. The threat to end the legal concept of freedom of contract may be realized sooner than expected with the statutory interference of not only consumer contracts but contracts between nonconsumers. The family of security of payment legislation, beginning from the United Kingdom has been adopted by New South Wales and now in Singapore, regulates a business-to-business contract to facilitate progress payment in the construction industry by introducing statutory adjudication to resolve disputes producing the effect of nonpayment. The struggle between two parties, one with a right to demand payment and the other with the right to withhold payment because of his right to set-off and counter-claim, is examined in light of the new legislation called the Singapore Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2004. Having examined specific provisions of the Act and the experience of New South Wales—as Singapore has no relevant case law, it is concluded that the Act is a blunt but practical and equitable instrument to achieve its intention.

In recent times, the cost of litigation has emerged as a serious issue in construction law. This paper examines the approach adopted by the English Courts in the light of recent reforms to the civil justice system and important case law. Important legal decisions indicate a change in judicial attitudes to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) which was previously thought to be unenforceable by reason of uncertainty until very recently. This paper looks at the development of so-called “ADR law” in the English courts and discusses policy issues behind the recent case of Burchell v. Bullard. The paper concludes that although the English Courts will not impose ADR on unwilling parties, draconian cost sanctions await those who unreasonably reject ADR before proceeding to trial. Guidance is given on the tricky legal issue of how to ascertain whether a refusal is reasonable or unreasonable by exploring recently decided cases. The in-depth examination of Burchell v. Bullard gives an insight into how the judiciary approach perplexing questions of reasonableness in cases where a verdict of “unreasonable rejection” can have catastrophic cost implications for litigants.

The extent to which disputes affect the construction industry has been well-documented. There are a plethora of anecdotal stories, and even some data that explain how unresolved conflict can impact project cost, schedule, and quality. In response, many systems and procedures have been developed to address disputes and their resolution within the construction industry. However, no data exist that quantitatively compare these various alternatives and the real costs of resolving a dispute using methods other than litigation. This paper presents a framework for identifying and capturing the transactional costs incurred to resolve disputes throughout the full spectrum of resolution options. Transactional cost data from 46 recently completed construction projects, totaling over $2 billion of total installed costs, confirm that these sums can account for a large portion of the settlement/award amount, the original claim amount, and even the total contract value when using some dispute resolution methods. Furthermore, using dispute trend and cost data, a comprehensive dispute management system based upon the concepts of risk management is proposed, highlighting the overriding objective of promoting dispute avoidance/resolution in the most cost-efficient manner possible.

The engineer can prevent future disputes and failed engineering projects by employing a design strategy that incorporates empathy in all professional matters. The empathetic view can prevent disputes by considering the possible harm suffered as the result of engineering decisions. In this paper, we discuss how empathy can be a part of the design process, and we use a case study to show how the lack of empathy resulted in a failed engineering design. We propose that when the empathetic view becomes part of the engineering process, disputes can be avoided rather than resolved.