1.012 | Spring 2002 | Undergraduate

Introduction to Civil Engineering Design

Projects

Design Portfolio

Design projects are documented in the design portfolios. The portfolio also serves to document the student’s professional qualifications and should be updated throughout his/her career. Begin by creating your own design portfolio using these guidelines.

The Design Process and Team Work

Design Projects

Design Project 1: Paperweight Design

This project intends to provide an introduction to some basic design concepts.

Design Project 2: Charles River Project

This is a large scale planning project and should be conducted within a team.

Design Project 3: A Coat Stand

This project gives another opportunity to design and build.

Design Project 4: The Green Line Project

This is another major planning project.

Design Exercise

This exercise requires design, fabrication and construction to be completed under a fixed budget and within a given time period.

Introduction

Congratulations! You are now a member of an expert design team. Your collective task will be to design a new residence suitable for inhabitants of the imaginary Deltoid plane. These written materials, provided to help you prepare for this task, are organized in four sections.

The next section provides an overview of life on the Deltoid plane, DeltaP as it is known to the natives. The following section describes your team, and the final, your design task. A second handout, different for each team member, provides the specific information you will need to perform the role you have been assigned within your team. Each team member will contribute different expertise to the project, and each has different design responsibilities to fulfill. All must work together for your team to create a first-rate design.

Life on DeltaP

Life on DeltaP, residential and otherwise, is quite different from what you have grown accustomed to here on Earth. First off, DeltaP is a plane, not a planet, so your team will be designing in two-dimensional rather than three-dimensional space. If your design “meets spec” and is considered attractive and functional by your Deltan clients, one view on a single sheet of paper will convey to those responsible for constructing it all the information they need to do so.

The view on this single sheet may not be quite what you expect, however, because in addition to lacking a z axis, Deltoid space has unfamiliar relations between the x and y axes as well. What we think of as “perpendicular” is hopelessly skewed to a Deltan, and vice-versa. In our units, a right angle on DeltaP measures 60° or π/3 radians. Thus all sides of an equilateral triangle form lines considered perpendicular to all others. If there were such a thing as a “circle” on DeltaP, it would be composed of only 4π/3 radians.

But there is no such thing as a “circle” on DeltaP, nor even the concept of continuity embodied therein. In this flat though angular world, residents construct their artifacts strictly with discrete triangular forms. Of these, the equilateral triangle – with its three perpendicular sides (!) – is considered the most pleasing. Accordingly, your team will design the residence by assembling into a cluster the most prized building materials on DeltaP, equilateral triangular components called “deltas.” Deltas come in red and blue versions and always measure 2 lyns per side. Four “quarter-deltas”, QDs, triangular units of area measure with sides of 1 lyn, fit within a delta.

Lyns? QDs? Not surprisingly, Deltan systems of measurement are as unfamiliar as that for spatial coordinates. Table 1 summarizes the measurement schemes on DeltaP that you will need to know to carry out your design task.

TABLE 1. Measurements on DeltaP

MEASUREMENT UNIT OF MEASUREMENT SYMBOL
Time Wex wx
Distance Lyn ln
Area Quarter-Delta QD
Heat Deltan Thermal Unit DTU
Temperature Degrees Nin °Nn
Force Din Dn
Moment Lyn-Din LD
Currency Zwig !

All of DeltaP’s units of measure share the divisibility and extensibility conventions of the metric system; in the measure of time, for example, there are both microwex (μwx) and megawex (Mwx). In relation to the attention-and life-spans of Deltans, these units are roughly equivalent to seconds and years, respectively, here on Earth.

As building components, deltas have functional and aesthetic characteristics that are more complex than their simple form and even dimensions would suggest. Especially when assembled into a cluster, as you will be doing, they behave in interesting ways. Deltas conduct heat among themselves, radiate heat to outer space, melt if too hot, and grow if too cool. Red deltas produce heat. All deltas are subject to DeltaP’s two-dimensional gravity (which is itself subject to axial shifts during DeltaP’s not-infrequent gravity waves). Three different kinds of cement are needed to join them together, and joint alignment with respect to gravity affects ease of production as well as structural integrity. Different colors and different quantities of deltas cost different amounts of money per delta, and can be assembled in clusters that are either exceedingly ugly or very attractive to the Deltans. Your task will be to create a design that meets prescribed goals for all of these characteristics.

Design Team Roles and Responsibilities

Your design team is organized such that each of you will be responsible for a subset of the design goals. Some of you will be PROJECT MANAGERS. Your main concerns will be with cost and schedule, the interpretation and reconciliation of performance specifications, and negotiations with the contractor and client. You want to keep costs and time-to-build at a minimum, but not at the expense of quality. When your team submits its final design, the project manager must report the estimated cost (in zwigs) and the time (in wex) that it will take to build.

Others of you will be the STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS. Your main concern will be to see that the design “holds together” as a physical structure under prescribed loading conditions. You must see to it that the two points at which your structure is tied to ground are appropriately chosen and that continuity of the structure is maintained. When your team submits its final design, the struc-tural engineer must attest to its integrity by identifying the strongest and weakest joints, and esti-mating the average load on all joints expressed as a percentage of the failure load.

Others of you will be the THERMAL ENGINEERS. You will want to insure that the design meets the “comfort-zone” conditions specified in terms of an average temperature. You must also ensure that the temperature of all individual deltas stays within certain bounds. When your team submits its final design, the thermal engineer must estimate internal temperature and identify the hottest and coldest deltas.

Finally, one of you will be the ARCHITECT. Your concern is with both the form of the design in and of itself and how it stands in its setting. You must see to it that the interior of the residence takes an appropriate form and that egress is convenient. You should also develop a design with character. When your team submits its final design, the architect should be prepared to discuss generally how and why the Deltans will find the residence attractive and functional. The architect will also be asked to estimate a few more quantitative measures of architectural performance.

The following section describes the specifications that your design must meet to be accepted by your clients on DeltaP. Familiarize yourself with these specifications. Then, for schooling in your specialty, you will receive a tutorial to be trained in the science and technology of your domain. The information found there includes the knowledge and heuristics you will need to estimate the design parameters for which you are responsible.You should be expert in your role before your team begins the design phase.

The Design Task

Your Deltan clients have cleared the space shown on the site map and come to your team with their need for the design of a new residential cluster. The cluster itself must meet the following specifications.

The client wants the cluster to provide a minimum interior area of 100 QDs (Each diamond on your girded site map defines an area of two QDs). The shape of this space, which can of course exceed the minimum, is a matter of design. The client has expressed enthusiasm for the newer mode of segmenting interior space, a mode that breaks with the two-equal-zone tradition and values the suggested privacy of nooks and crannies. Still the space must be connected, i.e. no interior walls can cut the space into completely separate spaces. There must be one and only one entrance/exit.

The client is known to be color sensitive blue; too much blue brings on the blues, so to speak, and may cause patients to become depressed. No more than 60% blue ought to be allowed; certainly blue deltas are not to exceed 70% of the cluster.

The residence, as all clusters, must be anchored at two points and two points only. There is a limit to the amount of force each anchor can support, as well as to the amount of internal moment each joint can withstand. Exceeding either limit would cause catastrophic failure and send the unwary residents tumbling into the void. The cluster should be designed for a life of thirty megawex. Gravity waves, rare but always possible, should be considered.

The average interior temperature must be kept within the Deltan comfort zone, which lies between 55 and 65°Nn. The temperature of the elements themselves must be kept above the growth point of 20°Nn and below the melt-down point of 85°Nn. Delta temperatures outside of this range will result in catastrophic structural failure with little more warning than excessive load.

All of this – design, fabrication and construction – must be done under a fixed budget and within a given time period. At your team meeting you are to develop a conceptual design that meets or exceeds all design goals. When each team submits their design, individual members will be asked to report design performance on parameters for which they are responsible.

TABLE 2. Summary of Design Specifications

Functional Internal Area 100 QD
Maximum Cool Deltas (% Total) 60-70%
Average Internal Temperature Range 55-65 °Nn
Individual Delta Temperature Range 20-85 °Nn
Maximum Load at Anchor Points 20 Dn
Maximum Internal Moment 40 LD
Overhead Factor -K 1.2
Total Budget !1400.00

Scope

Team or group work is central to the design process. Amongst the advantages of working in a team is that the project benefits from different ideas and points of view and different expertise. These differences, on the other hand, have to be dealt with and resolved in an optimal manner. This requires negotiation. Negotiation is particularly challenging when it involves not only different interests but different expertise. The Delta Game introduces you to such negotiations amongst experts.

The Delta Game is played in teams of four people. Each person will be a specialist in one of the following disciplines: Architecture, Structural Engineering, Thermal Engineering and Project Management.

Assignment

First read the Design Task. Following this organize your team. Each specialist will then have to read the corresponding Primer. It is very important that once the game starts you are competent in your discipline and are able to make decisions quickly. Primers should only be read by the particular specialist and not by the other members of the team.This contradicts in a way the “complete openness” required of good teams; the restriction is important in the context of the Delta Game to make the negotiation more pointed.

Before the actual game, which takes place on Ses #9 (2 hours). We will hold specialists’ meetings on Ses #8 (1 hour). In these meetings the specialists will get additional training in their fields of expertise. In order to be prepared for the meeting you have to read the primer and solve example A by Ses #8. There are no examples for architects. Instead they are to prepare an initial layout for the meeting.

You will have the chance to ask questions and solve example B during the meeting.

Specialists

  • Architects
  • Construction Managers
  • Structural Engineers
  • Thermal Engineers

Purpose
How to Organize Your Portfolio
Storage Media
Preparing Your Portfolio

Purpose

A portfolio of your design projects will be one of the means by which the faculty will assess your performance during this subject as well as in the subsequent specialty area design subjects (1.031, 1.041, 1.051) and in the capstone design subject (1.013). By the time you get your degree, your portfolio will be a collection of all your projects showing your work and your development as a designer.

By documenting your projects during your studies at MIT, your portfolio will also serve as a means to document your professional qualifications, showing your undergraduate work and continuing with what you do later. Hence the portfolio should be continuously updated during your career.

In general a portfolio will communicate that one possesses some or all of the following: design experience, breadth of talent, ability to handle responsibility, organizational skill and creativity. The portfolio which you will develop during your 1-C studies has a more narrow focus; it will document the way you approach the design process, how you represent your ideas and how you implement your designs. You should feel free, however, to include other things reflecting your studies and/or related experience. Clearly, for later professional use, you need to structure the portfolio in a way which best represents your work.

In the following sections we are giving you some guidelines on the organization and preparation of your portfolio. We are also including instructions on the use of electronic media.

How to Organize Your Portfolio

As mentioned before, the portfolio should reflect the projects you did for the sequence of design subjects. The projects can be ordered according to several criteria such as scale, materials employed, tools used during design, chronology, etc. We do recommend however that whatever criteria you choose to organize the order of your projects should be made clear to the reviewer.

As well as the general organization of your portfolio, each project should also be organized in a way that reflects three stages that will be present in most of your projects: the problem statement, your solution to that problem and the implementation of your solution. Another way to look at this division could be as their by-products: generation, representation and follow through. The degree to which these stages will be present in each project will change from one to another. For example, smaller projects in general will tend to be more developed in terms of implementation than large scale projects.

The ideas for each stage can be transmitted graphically as well as through text and complemented with technical data. The strong points of each design should be made clear and highlighted to whoever may review your portfolio later on.

To help you think about how to organize your work, you should assume that the person who will review your portfolio would not be familiar with your work beforehand. Your portfolio materials should include a brief description of each item, for example label your images, clear titles for each text, section, etc. You might want to include general introductory information such as when you developed it, for which class, and using what tool(s). It is particularly important to put the project in context if the person reviewing your portfolio isn’t familiar with your projects.

The following items are only suggestions that may help you as a guide but you are not limited to the following checklist. You are encouraged to find other items you think should be included that better represent your work. Also many of the points listed below are not applicable to all projects, you should decide which are useful to best explain each project and which ones aren’t.

  • Generation: Problem Statement
    • Statement of the Design Problem
    • Explain How You Developed Concepts for Your Design
    • Rough Drafts
  • Representation: Design/Problem Solution
    • Explain Why You Designed the Particular Project or Component in a Certain Way
    • Sketches
    • Plans
    • Photographs
    • Analytical Solutions
    • Details (Drawings, Optimization Spreadsheets in Appendix, etc)
  • Follow Through: Implementation
    • Show How You Prototyped and Tested Concepts for Your Design
    • Budget and Costs Breakdown
    • Mock-ups/Simulations/Other Implementations

Your portfolio shouldn’t be an assembly of all the work you did for each assignment. The portfolio assignments that will be included in each design task will be in great part a job of choosing from your records what you want to show. You will need to find which are the most important aspects of the problem, your design and the solution. Your work will be for the most part on reviewing the work you have done and selecting the elements that best represent the ideas you want to convey. For example, you do not want to show all the analyses you did for a particular job but only the most relevant technical data.

In general, we suggest that you include technical data and complementary information in the back as an appendix for further reference. This way the data will show the level of detail for the particular project such as structural calculations, drainage solution, specifications, etc, without interrupting the continuity in the exposition of the projects. This is general advice; the highlights of a particular project may require the use of other strategies to complement an appendix, or maybe all the technical information can be incorporated into the main body of the project overview.

Because your portfolio will include most of your work some projects may be stronger. You have to consider that your portfolio serves at least two purposes, initially to support the academic assessment of your work at MIT and eventually as a record of your professional qualifications. For the former a reasonably complete record is required while in the latter you want to emphasize your strengths. For this reason, we suggest that you keep your portfolio in a flexible format that will allow you to edit the projects. Keep in mind that, in general, a professional portfolio should include as much variety as possible.

The issue of flexibility brings us to the next subject which is what media would be best for you to store your work.

Storage Media

The work required to assemble a portfolio can be divided into 6 steps:

  1. Record-keeping
  2. Capturing Information
  3. File Storage
  4. Organizing Text, Data and Images
  5. Printing
  6. Web Publishing (Optional)

1. Recored-Keeping

Work on a portfolio starts long before the cut-and-paste stage. Keeping a record of what you’ve done, even if it’s not your best work, is essential for illustrating your capabilities. Spend some time arranging the original drawings, large scale plans, hand sketches, deciding which files you want to keep on a disk, etc. This fist step is basically an archival job; all you need to do is decide what is worth keeping for your records while you’re working on the design task.

2. Capturing Information

Once you have made a first cut of what drawings, models and files you want to save for later, you are ready to start recording it into a more convenient format. For example there might be a model or a large-scale plan that you want to keep, but the model might break or the size of the drawings might not be very convenient to store. Then you should probably scan, photograph or reduce your work to fit a common format, one that allows flexibility and the ability to add and subtract work. A good storage option for your work is in digital form. This handout explains how to scan images, take pictures with a digital camera and make screen shots of your CAD images to start keeping a record of your work. It’s a good idea to do tasks one and two in parallel with the design assignment.

3. File Storage

By keeping the raw digital files of your work (pictures of models, CAD files, text, spreadsheets, etc) you can easily reformat, rearrange and reproduce as needed. Once you have the digital files of your work you can store them on a zip drive and work on them on any computer later on. The recommended formats to store your images so that they can be opened by most image-processing packages are explained in the second part of this handout.

4. Organizing Text, Data and Images

After each design exercise you will be required to put together a chapter of your portfolio. Since you already have started recording most your work and you probably have more than what you need to show, at this point you will need to make a second cut. According to what was discussed previously about how to organize your portfolio, you will need to decide which ideas you want to emphasize for your project and which files will allow you to do that. After this final selection it’s just a matter of text, data and image layout. For the layout we also provide simple instructions in the second part of this handout on how to accomplish this using PageMaker®.

At the end of the semester, once you have turned in the last chapter for your portfolio you will be ready to burn a CD-ROM of your work. However, if your portfolio is on Zip or CD-ROM, make sure that anyone who reviews it afterwards has simple instructions on how to install/view it.

5. Printing

For each assignment you should turn in prints, either 8 ½" x 11" or 11" x 17". At the end of the semester the portfolio materials you turned in for each assignment will be assembled into an 8 ½" x 11" or 11" x 17" binder. These standard formats allow you to easily make copies from most computer printers later on as you add new projects.

6. Web Publishing (Optional)

Putting your portfolio online is optional, but once you have finished the layout on PageMaker® it’s very little extra work.

Preparing Your Portfolio

We recommend you begin compiling a portfolio early in the semester and to continue throughout your academic career, keeping a record of what you’ve done will be essential once you reach the capstone design subject.

  1. Recording Information
  2. File Storage
  3. Organizing your portfolio

Keep the Following in Mind as You Create Your Portfolio

Organize your portfolio either chronologically, by topic, by media, etc., but make its organization self-explanatory so it can be reviewed without edification. Chronological sequence, for example, allows seeing the evolution of an individual’s skills.

Organize, organize. Diverse projects, work examples and presentation techniques can be handsomely displayed and unified by simple graphic techniques like borders, titles or gridded format.

Keep your portfolio lean. Only your best work and those in which you’ve had the most significant responsibility should appear. Reams of work do not impress.

Apply quality control to the graphic presentation of your work. The portfolio should read like a well-edited art book. The graphic layout of a portfolio can be important indicators of design ability and organizational skills.

Final professional photos are not enough. You must show what you did on the project and the thought process you used to get there by including information of the design process. The idea is to illustrate the unique process you use in evolving a design and to show how you communicate graphically final presentations as well as design ideas with your teammates during the conceptual phase.

Things you should never include in your portfolio. Full-size sets of construction drawings, full size originals of school projects or presentation drawings, complete specs, models or slides.

Don’t show work you did not do. Did you have sole responsibility, or was it a collaboration between you and others? If you include work done by a team, specify what you did and demonstrate that you understand how your contribution fit into the project as a whole.

The format you select may be informal or very well defined. It may consist of one or several consistent features such as:

  • Lettering Style
  • Borders
  • Section Title Pages
  • Consistent Use of Color
  • Use of Grid for Layout
  • Uniform Title an Symbols

There are numerous organizing features but not every portfolio will or should include all of them. Use enough features to hold the portfolio together graphically, allowing emphasis on the contents and flexibility.

Orientation. Before you decide on portfolio size, think about a consistent orientation for your drawings. Nothing is more frustrating than turning and twisting every which way to see what is in the portfolio. All drawings should read from the bottom or from the right. If you have to change orientation, do it at a logical breakpoint, such as when a new problem is introduced.

Double Leaf Image. In composing the portfolio, remember that the basic module for composing a layout is two leaves of the binder. The more complete the information on this double leaf spread, the easier it is to hold the viewer’s attention. Try to put all related information on one double-leaf spread.

Consistent Signals. Try to set up a hierarchy, i.e., all title pages of a certain composition with the same size type. Use color strips or full pages as “flags” to indicate when you are beginning a new problem or section of the portfolio.

How to Scan Images

1. In order to start scanning your images into the computer you must first make sure the scanner is on and that Photoshop is open. You can find Photoshop in the Applications folder on the desktop of the Mac.

2. Once Photoshop is running choose File -> Import -> Twain Acquire from the menu.

3. Next, a dialog box will appear to start scanning your images. Once you have your document in the scanner facing down, make sure that the following settings are correct:

3.1. Document Source: Flatbed

3.2. Image Type: Color Photo (if scanning colors)

3.3. Destination: General

3.4. Resolution: 72 or 150 or more (depending if it’s for WWW or printing)

3.5. Scale: 100%

4. Now you are ready to start scanning:

4.1. Click on Preview.

4.2. Click on Auto

4.3. Choose the area of the window you wish to scan

4.4. Click on Scan

How to Make A Screen Shot from Microstation® into a JPG file In 4 Easy Steps

1. Open Microstation®, open a file, and orient the assembly into an interesting pose.

2. Next, under the menu bar select Utilities -> Image -> Capture:

3. Now a window will pop up with a button titled Capture Screen which enables you make the screen shots:

4. Once you clicked on Capture Screen a window will show up asking you to specify the name of the image file, the destination drive, compression and mode:

That’s it! Note that this will create an image at screen resolution, which is nominally 72 dpi. That is great for the WWW, as that is as good as screens are, and so the file will download quickly. However, for printing purposes, 72 dpi is not so great. Most printers are 600 dpi or better, and so the screen dumped images will not look good.

To get around this, many applications now come with JPG or GIF image exporters. If so, you can use these for higher resolution.

How to download pictures from the digital camera

1. The software to download the pictures from the digital camera is called PhotoEnhancer for Kodak and you will find it under CEEMAC-252-1/2 -> Other Applications -> PhotoEnhancer for Kodak f.

2. Next, the camera must be connected to the printer port of the computer and turned on.

Make sure that AppleTalk is turned off before you continue. To turn AppleTalk off go to Apple->Chooser.

3. A dialog box will appear and you have to click on Inactive.

3. Once the software is open, you can view pictures from the camera by choosing Camera -> View Slides from Camera from the menu, to display the pictures currently in the camera as slides.

4. A dialog box appears so you can select to view the pictures stored on the camera and the range of pictures that you would like to open. For example, you may want to select the last 5 pictures out of 26. Click the From option and type 21 to 26 in the text edit box to open only those pictures.

5. Once you have decided which pictures to save on disk, click once on the picture you want to save or hold the shift key and click to save multiple pictures at one time.

6. Choose from the menu File-> Save As. The Save As dialog box appears. Locate the folder and drive where you want to save your picture. When saving a single picture enter a new file name if desired. Choose JPEG or TIFF under File Format and click save.

How to use the SGI cameras

Every SGI has a camera on top of the monitor that you can use to take pictures of your projects.

To use an SGI camera type in the xterm window:

capture

2. A camera window will show up, set the bottom left button to camera icon (instead of a mike or video).

From the menu bar select: Actions -> Setting, and a dialog box will show up. Some suggestions for setting everything up:

2.1. Frame Size: Full Size

2.2. Crop Area: 640x480

2.3. Click on Fixed Aspect Ratio

2.4. Click on Close once you are done

3. Clicking the record button will make a RGB file in your home directory.

To convert the RGB file into GIF or JPG format you can use XV, open the image and save it in GIF format.

add graphics

xv capture.rgb

Photographing Your Work

  • If you plan on using natural light, eliminate glare by shooting in the shade or on an overcast day.
  • For interior shots, position your work next to a window, at a 90-degree angle. There should be no other lights on in the room.
  • Photograph each piece individually.
  • Fill the camera frame with your work. Avoid including extraneous objects (e.g., fingers, legs, and furniture) in front of the image.
  • Don’t worry too much about the background. If your work is framed well in the shot, you can go back and mask the background out.
  • Remember: Not every shot will be “good.” So make lots of them so you have plenty of options.
  • Take your time. Don’t wait until the last minute. Re-shoot if necessary.

For my images, should I use TIF format, JPEG format or GIF format?

Here is the difference between these formats:

Format

Capable colors

File size

Loading time

Quality

GIF

256 colors

(8 bit)

Small

Fast

Low

TIF

Millions

(24 bit)

Large

Slow

High

JPG

Millions

(24 bit)

Up-to-you

Up-to-you

Up-to-you

In general, GIF images are smaller and lower quality than TIF. With JPG images, you can choose quality over file size, or file size over quality, but some color information of the image gets lost.

When you make these images, remember that you can go from TIF to GIF/JPG, but you should not go from JPG/GIF to TIF. The reason is that some information in your original 24 bit color TIF image is lost in JPG/GIF format. In other words, once the image is converted from 24 bit TIF image to 8-bit GIF format, you can never recover the quality even if you switch the format back to TIF.

Organizing Your Portfolio

Getting started

First you will need to start Pagemaker® by double clicking on the icon on the desktop of your computer.

Once Pagemaker® is open you are ready to start building your portfolio:

Setting up pages

To start you need to choose File -> New to begin a new file, the Document Setup dialog box appears. You can define the basic parameters of your portfolio, such as page size, orientation, margins, and the number of sides on which you print.

To set up your portfolio:

1. After starting PageMaker®, choose File -> New.

2. Specify page size and page attributes in the Document Setup dialog box as follows:

  • Select a standard page size from the Page Size pop-up menu.
  • Use the Dimensions text boxes to specify a custom page size.
  • For Orientation, select Tall for a page that is taller than wide (Portrait orientation), or select Wide for a page that is wider than tall (Landscape orientation).
  • Click Double-sided to set Inside and Outside margins to accommodate binding on pages that will be printed on two sides and to make the Facing Pages option available. Deselect Double-sided if you intend to print your portfolio on one side of the paper (single-sided) and don’t want to turn on Facing Pages.
  • Click Facing Pages if you want left and right pages displayed together (as a two-page spread) and you have selected Double-sided.

3. Enter the Number of Pages you initially plan for your portfolio. (You can add or delete pages later if necessary.)

Screen Layout

Your screen now should look something like this:

Changing Document Setup options after you started

Although the Document Setup dialog appears when you choose File -> New to create a portfolio from scratch, you can modify a portfolio’s Document Setup at any point in your work by choosing File -> Document Setup while the portfolio is active.

Toolbox Palette

Choose Window -> Show Tools or Window -> Hide Tools to display or hide the toolbox.

Pointer Tool: To select , move and resize text blocks and graphics.

Text Tool: To type, select and edit text

Rotating Tool: To select and rotate objects

Cropping Tool: To trim imported graphics.

Line Tool: To draw straight lines in any direction.

Constrained Line Tool: To draw straight lines in the horizontal or vertical direction.

Rectangle Tool: To draw squares or rectangles

Rectangle Frame Tool: To create a rectangular placeholder for text or graphics.

Ellipse Tool: To draw ellipes and circles.

Ellipse Frame Tool: To create a circular or oval placeholder for text and graphics.

Polygon Tool: To draw basic polygons.

Polygon Frame Tool: To create a polygonal placeholder for text and graphics.

Hand Tool: To scroll the page or to preview.

Zoom Tool: To magnify or reduce an area of the page.

Formatting your portfolio with master pages

Master pages can save time and ensure consistency across pages in your portfolio.

  • Position nonprinting guides on the master pages to help you place text and graphics accurately and consistently throughout your portfolio.
  • Create basic design elements on the master pages, including graphics or text that you want to appear on each page in your portfolio.
  • Add headers or footers to master pages.

To format the master pages double click on the master pages which are on the lower left corner of your screen:

Graphics and Text Objects: Using frames

Frames in Pagemaker® have two important functions for us:

  • A frame can hold content, either text or graphics.
  • One text frame can be threaded to other text frames so that a single text can flow through multiple frames.

Taking advantage of frames

By drawing empty frames as placeholders and threading text frames together, you create a template in which the layout and structure of the portfolio is set and content is easily poured into assigned spaces.

Creating a frame

To create a frame you use the frame tools in the toolbox. You can also turn any object you’ve created with the drawing tools (with the exception of straight lines) into a frame. If you add a frame to a master page, its border and content appears on each portfolio page to which the master is applied.

To turn a basic shape into a frame:

1. Create or select a PageMaker®-drawn shape.

2. Choose Element -> Change to Frame.

Note: If you don’t want a border around the frame, select the frame, and choose Element > Stroke > None. A non-printing, light-gray border appears around the frame.

Adding content to a frame

You can fill frames with text or imported images. You can also type directly into a frame to start a new text or to edit an existing one. A frame becomes a text frame or a graphics frame depending on the content you add.

**
To import text or graphics into a frame**:

1. Select the frame.

2. Choose File -> Place.

3. Select the file you want to place, select the Place Within Frame option along with other place options, and then click OK.

To type into a frame:

1. Click the text tool.

2. Click in an empty frame or in a frame containing text and start typing.

To delete content from a frame:

1. Select a frame.

2. Choose Element -> Frame -> Delete Content.

Adding and deleting pages.

You can add or delete pages as follows:

  • If you choose File -> Document Setup to alter the number of pages, the program adds or deletes pages from the end of the portfolio
  • If you choose Layout -> Insert Pages or Layout -> Remove Pages, you can add or remove pages anywhere in your portfolio.

To add pages anywhere in your portfolio:

1. Go to the place where you want to insert pages.

2. Choose Layout -> Insert Pages.

3. Type the number of pages you want to add, and select a location for the new pages.

4. Specify the master pages you want to apply, and then click Insert.

To remove pages:

1 Choose Layout -> Remove Pages.

Type the range of pages you want to remove, and then click OK.

Printing Your Portfolio

To print using the default settings:

1. Choose File -> Print.

2. Select the Document printing options you want.

3. Click Setup to set additional printing options.

4. Click Print.

The Print Document dialog box:

When you choose File -> Print, the printing dialog boxes shows up for the type of printer you selected.

  • Click Print to print your portfolio.
  • Click Document to display the Print Document options again.
  • Click Paper, Options, Color to view other printing options for PostScript printers.
  • Click Features to view printer-specific features for PostScript printers.
  • Click Setup, Options, or Color to view other printing options for non-PostScript printers.
  • Click Reset to change the printing options in a dialog box back to their original settings.

Posting Your Portfolio on the Web

Distributing your Portfolio Electronically

PageMaker® can export into two online formats:

  • PDF (Portable Document Format) which can be viewed and printed from several different platforms with the page layout and typography of the original document.
  • HTML (HyperText Markup Language) which is the standard used on the World Wide Web.

Preparing your portfolio for HTML

To convert your portfolio into an HTML file:

1. Choose File -> Export -> HTML.

2. In the HTML Export dialog box, click New.

3. Enter a document title (the title will display at the top of the browser window when the document is viewed).

4. Select Assign PageMaker® Pages if you want to define a page or range of pages to be exported as HTML .

5. Select an unassigned page to be exported into the HTML document you are defining, and click Add.

You can click View with a page number selected if you want to display the page.

6 If you want to apply a tiled background image for the document, click Background and then double-click the GIF or JPEG image you want to use as a page background.

To export pages with a page background color rather than an image, return to the PageMaker® window, and edit the PageMaker® color [Paper] to the background color you want to appear in the HTML page.

7. Click Done to save the changes made so far and return to the HTML Export dialog box.

8. Click Document, and select Save Images into This Folder if you want your HTML document to include images from your portfolio and you want to store them in the same folder as the HTML document

9. Click OK.

10. To generate the HTML, click Export HTML.

The next step in the process is to make sure that the PageMaker® document is HTML compatible. The first time you save your portfolio as HTML, the program checks it for HTML compatibility. If the portfolio contains an element or layout attribute that is not supported by HTML, the program presents a dialog box informing you of the parts of your portfolio that need to be changed.

Setting up your www directory

1. Once you have collected all your HTML files on a disk, create a www/portfolio directory on your account:

mkdir ~/www/portfolio

2. Make that directory readable to anyone:

fs sa ~/www/portfolio system: anyuser read

3. Copy your HTML files from your disk to your www directory. Type in your Xterm window:

add mtools

mcopy a: ~/www/portfolio

4. Set the permissions for each file to readable:

chmod o+r filename

Replace username with your complete username. Ask a friend to look at your portfolio from his/her account to make sure that the page is world-readable.

Note: If you have lots of images to show on a single web page the best way to do it is using a set up similar to the one explained below. There are many examples of this on the web.

1. Use a small thumbnail preview in your page in GIF or low-quality JPG format. This will load fast even if you have many in-line images on a same page. The quality of each image suffers but it is used only for preview purposes.

2. Use a few full-size, full-color images in TIF format or high-quality JPG linked from your thumbnail previews in separate pages. These will take a bit more time to load but will give you a much better image quality.

General Design Process

  1. General Design Process
  2. Understand Problem
  3. Conceptual Design
  4. Embodiment Design
  5. Detail Design
  6. Prototype and Testing
  7. Completion (Implementation)

What is Design

  • Creative
  • Synthesis
  • No Unique Solution/Open Ended Problem
  • Collaboration in a Team

Learning of Design

  • Problem Formulation is as Important as Problem Solution
  • Do Design
  • Design Process and Tools

(CE)E - Design Sequence

(with selected feedback cycles)

The Decision Analysis Cycle

(after Stael von Holstein, 1973)

Deterministic Phase Probabilistic Phase
1. Define Problem and Limits of Investigation 1. Express Uncertainty in Variables by Means of Probabilities
2. Alternative Courses of Action 2. Probabilistic Model
3. Outcomes of Each Alternative 3. Establish Relative Value of Probabilistic Outcomes
4. Select Decision and State Variables 4. Probabilistic Sensitivity Analysis
5. Relate Outcomes and Variables  
6. Time Preference Information Phase
7. Dominated Alternatives Eliminated 1. Value of Perfect Information
8. Sensitivity of Outcome to Variables 2. Evaluate Various Information Collection Schemes

Design Process

The “Design Circle”

The “Design Spiral”

Pugh Chart

Pugh Chart / House of Quality

Screening Matrix

Scoring Matrix

Scope and Background

The industriplex Project is the third design project in 1.012. It is, similarly to the Charles River Project, a large scale planning project. However, there are some important differences:

- Rather than hypothetical development in a real setting as was the Charles River Project, this is real development in a real setting.

- You will go through two stages and end up selecting an alternative.

- The project will be revisited in some of the follow-up design projects. In particular, you will do detailed planning and design in the capping subject 1.013.

Design Exercise

Industriplex is a 244 acres (987,430 m2) site located near the intersection of Interstates I-93 and I-95 (Route 128) in Woburn, MA (Figures 1 and 2a). Woburn is a city of 35000 inhabitants in the middle and lower middle income range with significant industrial and commercial facilities. The Aberjona river, which runs North to South through Woburn and eventually flows into the Mystic Lakes also runs through Industriplex site.

Figure 1:

Figure 2a:

Figure 2b:


The Industriplex site and the Wells G + H site located just south of Rt. 128 (Figure 1 or 2a) are federal Superfund sites. Woburn drew national attention in the late 1970s when Wells G + H, two of the city wells, were discovered to be contaminated and in the 1980s with the subsequent court cases. In the Fall of 1995 there was the book called, “A Civil Action” on which last years movie was based, detailing the landmark trial involving numerous Woburn families who filed suit against several firms claiming the incidence of childhood leukemia was much higher locally because of the contaminated wells.

Figure 3: Hide Pile locations:

Figure 4: Topographic Map

These wells were closed in 1979. The Industriplex site was the location of leather and chemical industry for a century from the 1850’s till 1963., Contamination ranged from discharges of arsenic and chromium, and volatile organic compounds to the burying of large amounts of animal hides. However, due to joint efforts of the EPA, the Massachusetts Department for Environmental Protection and the Industriplex Residential Trust, which represents the property owners, the contaminated parts of the site have been concentrated in four places. They are covered and are monitored (Figure 3). The site is ready for development which has already started and as such will serve as a national and possibly worldwide example.

The Industriplex site provides the context for the 1-C Theme Project. You will do some initial design work in subject 1.012. Subjects 1.031, 1.041 and 1.051 will have small design exercises addressing some aspects of the Industriplex site. Finally in 1.013, you will develop a or several major projects on the site.

In 1.012 your task is to develop an initial Master Plan for the region including the Industri-plex site and the contiguous streets (shaded in Figure 2b). The constraints are: the site boundaries, the waste storage sites, wetlands and levels (figure 4). Details on the history of the site and on the constraints are given in the attached background material. You will note that wetlands can be replaced in kind on site and that contaminants may still flow from the waste sites into the underlying terrain and the groundwater and also into the Aberjona river. Land use in certain areas (specifically those regions with hide piles) is, therefore, limited to commercial, office, retail, etc, but residential buildings are not allowed. Clearly, land use could be extended if higher levels of contamination control and/or active remediation can be applied. Present plans foresee hotels, stores and offices but you should seriously consider other options. Also, the location of the intersection of two major highways makes the site very well suited as a transportation node. Right now there is a parking facility with a direct bus to Logan airport; the official plan includes a major transportation facility incorporating this Logan transport link, and a train and subway station. Again, other options are possible and you may look at the entire Boston area transportation network in this regard.

At this point in your civil engineering education, you do not have the knowledge to develop a sophisticated Master Plan. What you can and should do is to consider as many options as possible regarding what to do with the site to produce optimum benefits for people using it, the developers, the city of Woburn and the Boston Metropolitan area. Considerations should be technical, environmental (natural and social), economic and aesthetic. You may also think of “making a statement” given that this site can serve as an example of a redeveloped Superfund site.

In 1.012, you will do the project in two phases. In the first phase, you will develop an initial Master Plan. This has to include the proposed use of the site and the reasoning leading you to this. You should devise a rough street and zoning map possibly going into further details as to what you would like to have in the different zones. Your arguments leading to your decision need to accompany the plan. If you need further information in addition to the one provided to you, you need to let us know. As in the other projects in subject 1.012, you should use the discussion site on the class web page.

The result of the first phase will be critiqued by the faculty and TA teaching the subject.

In the second phase, you will use the critique as well as additional information on the actual development which we are going to give you. On this basis, you will refine your Master Plan. This information should not necessarily lead you to an adaptation of the actual development. Also, and this is the most important part of the second phase, you have to identify the critical and/or unresolved problems.

In the presentation at the end of 1.012, you will describe your refined plan and the critical/unresolved problem.

Figure 5: Aerial View of the Route 128 and I 93 Interchange, Industri-Plex and environs.
Industry fills the area to the left of I-93 and above Route 128 (I-95). The area below Route 128 belongs to another industrial park. The residential west end of Reading, Massachusetts is to the right of I-93. The chromium lagoons and arsenic pits were located mostly in the upper third of the site, as well as the hide piles (relocated after excavations when buildings were constructed)

The Woburn Industri-Plex Site

Context

Woburn, Massachusetts is located approximately 10 miles north of Boston (figure 6).

Figure 6 Location Map:

Figure 7 Wells G + H:

The city has two federal Superfund sites, the Industriplex, Wells G & H (figure 7), and forty state Superfund sites. In 1979 the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) closed the two municipal water supply wells because the water contained high levels of volatile organic contamination. During the same year the Environmental Protection Agency identified the Industriplex hazardous waste site as one of the largest hazardous waste sites in the country. It was ranked number 5 on the National Priorities List of Superfund sites.

The Industri-Plex site is a classic example of the estimated 10,000 plus sites around the country known to contain hazardous wastes, which are suspected of polluting the air and jeopardizing drinking water. Of these, the EPA estimates that about 2,000 pose “significant problems” for public health and has named 418 of the worst sites as eligible for Superfund money. Industriplex can serve as a case study to focus on a national environmental problem of how these sites are developed and how they are being handled today.

Background

The Industriplex property contains two branches of the Aberjona River (figure 8), streams, ponds and several wetland areas. Residences are located within 1000 feet, and more than 34,000 people live within 3 miles of the site. It was the site of the former Merrimac Chemical Company, one of the largest chemicals manufacturers in New England. For over 100 years the property was used for chemical manufacturing and glue making. Waste material was disposed of on the property, as was the common practice at the time. There were 55 acres contaminated with high levels of chemicals from the manufacture of arsenic based pesticides, sulfuric acid, chromium and lead. Approximately 20 acres contain buried animal hides used in past manufacturing processes. Groundwater was contaminated with benzine, toluene, and dissolved metals from reduced oxygen conditions created by the hide wastes.

Figure 8: Aberjona River Watershed

Figure 9: Chemical Disposal

Site Setting

During the 1970s the site included some occupied office buildings and industries, railroad tracks, power line right-of-ways, and old abandoned manufacturing facilities. Adjacent to the site is Woburn’s sanitary landfill (figure 9).

During this time, the property was purchased for the development of a shopping mall and industrial park. Excavation uncovered the buried animal wastes, creating a hydrogen sulfide gas odor that invaded residential areas and mobilized the public. Efforts to stop development took years. The developer had permission from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the agency responsible for hazardous waste at the time, to excavate and consolidate waste material on the property. In doing so four piles of hide wastes, commingled with soils containing arsenic, chromium and lead were built. Figure 9 shows the approximate location of a 35,000-square-foot lagoon containing 6,500 cubic yards of toxic chemicals, chief among them arsenic and lead. Nearby, three pits containing high levels of lead and chromium were discovered. Area residents, familiar with waste deposits on the property, took their complaints to the local government agencies, the DEP, EPA and Army Corps of Engineers who filed an injunction against further development of the property.

Pre-remedial Conditions

The following summarizes the findings that form the basis for the selection of the remedial actions:

  1. The groundwater flow is north to south in a buried valley running under the Aberjona River.

  2. The groundwater flow rate in the buried valley is about 0.2-1 foot per day.

  3. Levels of arsenic (100 – 420 ppb) and lead (120 ppb) above drinking water standards (50 ppb) were detected sporadically.

  4. Zinc was found onsite and downgradient wells above the secondary drinking water standards (5000 ppm).

  5. Localized high ppm levels (32 ppm) of benzene and toluene were found onsite. At wells immediately downgradient of the site boundary, 747 ppb benzene and 177 ppb toluene were found, but no benzene or toluene was found at wells further downgradient.

  6. No potable water supply wells are operating downgradient of the site within about 1-mile. However, the groundwater from the site flows towards Woburn municipal drinking water wells (G & H) currently not operating (Figure 7).

  7. Generally, heavy metals were below drinking water standards even though higher levels were found occasionally and organics were higher upstream than downstream.

Containment Activities

The site was “remediated” (in fact it was only contained) by the Industri-Plex Remedial Trust, comprised by 22 current and former owners of the land, under the direction of the EPA. The groundwater has been studied over the past years, although the groundwater remedy design is not yet final. However, the soil, wetlands and odor remedies have been implemented. The actions taken are to contain the toxic material within a defined area and to reduce their spread to contiguous areas and the water table. The wastes have not been removed or neutralized. The EPA-approved final remedy as outlined in the 1986 Record of Decision include:

Figure 10: Section of the caps

Figure 11

  1. The design and construction of permeable caps to cover nearly 110 acres of soils and sediments contaminated with lead , arsenic and chromium above federal action levels shown in Figure 10;

  2. The design and construction of an impermeable cap over approximately 5 acres of the East Hide Pile, the remaining active odor source, and a gas collection and treatment system to capture the release of hydrogen sulfide gas shown in Figure 14.

  3. The design and implementation of Institutional Controls. Institutional Controls are required by the Consent Decree to maintain the integrity of the remedy while permitting the greatest possible use of the site (figure 15).

  4. Soil containing high concentrations of heavy metals had be covered with clean soil. Permanently covering the contaminants will prevent future physical contact and coverage was only applied to those areas already contaminated (figure 11).

    A few more details on these remedies are given below:

  5. After clearing the area, the four hide piles (South Hide Pile, West hide Pile, East-Central Hide Pile and the East Hide Pile, shown in figure 12 which comprised roughly 40% of the surface area were covered. The materials used to cover the South, West and East-Central hide piles were a layer of compacted fill, a layer of nonwoven geotextile membrane that will prevent washout of soil, 14 inches of clean fill and 4 inches of topsoil (figure 10). This permeable soil cap will enable liquids and gases to flow through. The permeable cap is complete but awaiting final EPA inspection.

    Figure 12: Location of hide piles

  6. In addition to the aforementioned layers, the East hide pile was covered with an impermeable cap of soil over a drainage layer, a layer of impermeable synthetic membrane instead of the permeable membrane and a 12-inch layer of gravel to absorb the gases that caused the odor. Unlike the permeable layer, this cap will provide a barrier, restricting the flow-through of liquids and gases. A gas collection system was built under the impermeable layer to collect and treat hydrogen sulfide gas and other gases produced by the decomposition of organic hide wastes (source of odors). Currently, the impermeable cap and the gas collection and treatment system are complete (figure 14).

    Figure 13: Groundwater treatment system

    Figure 14: Gas collection and treatment system

  7. The design of the interim groundwater treatment system (figure 13) was initially completed in 1992, however the system was altered to reflect changes from a pilot air sparging design in 1993. The air sparging system was operational for a short time in 1994 until it was discovered that the system failed to meet design standards. The system is currently undergoing alterations for an oxygen injection design and may be operational in 1998.

    Figure 15: Institutional Controls

  8. A draft Institutional Controls document was prepared by the potentially responsible parties in 1996 and is expected to be finalized by the EPA/DEP by year-end 1997. The draft Institutional Controls document divides the property within the site into four categories or “classes” of land shown in figure 15, in order to establish a clear method of regulating land use and minimizing the risks of exposure. The most stringent controls exist for Class D land (the hide piles) with progressively less stringent controls on Class C, Class B, and Class A. Class A land has been found to comply with the S-1 category of soil under the Massachusetts Contingency Plan, and has unlimited uses, except for a prohibition on groundwater use until such time as the EPA/DEP determine otherwise.

Development Activities

Twenty years after it was placed on the federal Superfund priority list as the fifth most polluted hazardous waste site in the country, the property will finally be at hand as a development known as MetroNorth Development. The site is viewed as a success and possibly a national model for similar jobs. It is believed an example in two ways: it is the only Superfund site that has been rehabilitated for public use as well as being the only case where the remedy contemplates not only cleaning the site but returning it to productive use.

Although 22 previous and current property owners were identified as “potentially responsible parties,” most of the cost of the cleanup was born by Monsanto Company and Stauffer Management Company. These two chemical companies which were found to have contributed to the pollution, are hoping to be partially reimbursed with revenues from future land sales. Those sales will also compensate Woburn for back taxes and state and federal environmental agencies for their expenditures on the site.

More typically toxic sites are cleaned up, fenced and abandoned. In this case, portions of the site that were home to chemical manufacturers will be reclaimed for commercial and industrial use. In addition, a Regional Transportation Center will link Woburn to Boston and to Logan International Airport. A new interchange with Interstate 93, a mile to the north of Route 128, is also under construction. Environmental planners and regulators say cleaning up hazardous sites and putting them back to productive use will start to become more common.

However, there are still problems though, that prevent this system to become widespread. Questions about new owners inheriting legal liabilities for subsequently discovered pollution, uncertainty about appropriate clean-up technology and fluctuations in real estate prices. For the Industriplex case, future owners cannot be held liable for past activities and contaminants on the site.

The benefits from this approach are threefold. For the taxpayer, it means a private company will shoulder at least part of the cleanup cost. For the developer, it offers a chance to reuse otherwise unusable land in often choice locations with services and highway access not available at other sites. For society at large it means steering industry to urban locations where jobs are most needed while limiting the urban sprawl.

At this point, the redevelopment is comprised of several mayor projects: the interchange off I-93, the Regional Transportation Center and private development on two parcels known as parcels A and B (figure 16a). On parcel B the developers will build an office park and hotel while on parcel A a retail center is foreseen. The public projects have already been discussed in the first design project and additional information is given here. The private development projects are introduced below.

Figure 16a: Redevelopment projects

Figure 16b: New exit off I-93

In order to implement the cleanup, the EPA designated a custodial trust in the consent decree to overlook the remediation process. As part of the settlement, in exchange for giving the land to the Custodial Trust, the previous owner did not have to pay for the cleanup. Money from the sale of the land would go to pay the City of Woburn for back taxes, the EPA, MA DEP and the Remedial Trust.

Therefore the Remedial Trust was charged with determining the extent of contamination and performing the necessary measures to make the land useful again. The Custodial Trust was in charge of marketing and selling the land once the remediation has been completed to pay for the cleanup costs.

The Industriplex site was rezoned from industrial park to business by petition of the Custudial Trust. With the current condition of the office park market, the business zone allowed for a more diverse range of uses such as retail, in order to expedite the sale of the land.

Infrastructure and Public Transportation

The planned infrastructure improvements will significantly increase the value and potential for high-end development of the site. As a result, the capability to generate commercial development will create new employment centers and job opportunities.

  • I-93 Interchange project

  • Regional transportation center

  • Extension of Commerce Way to Presidential Way

  1. The Massachusetts Highway Department of the Federal Highway Department will create a new exit off Interstate 93 for the site (figure 16b). The off-ramp will cost $15 million, and construction started mid-August 1997. The I-93 project is listed as one of Massachusetts Highway Department’s (MHD) highest priority projects. The project has been designated a “fast track” MHD project, where state and federal highway transportation funds will cover 95% of the costs for the interchange. In order to build the new highway interchange and connector road, 1.2 acres of waterways and wetlands needed to be filled at different locations. Creation of 1.35 acres of compensatory wetlands has been proposed as mitigation to the U.S Army Corps of Engineers.

  2. In fall 1996, several Massachusetts transportation agencies announced that they would build a major Regional Transportation Center (RTC) on the site (figure 17).The redevelopment work for the regional transportation system will be incorporated into the coverage phase of the site remediation. In other words, the development of the site itself becomes part of the remedy. The parking lot that will be situated adjacent to the regional transportation center qualifies as a permanent covering remedy, saving on coverage materials.

    Figure 17: RTC, interchange and wetlands

    Figure 18: Extension of Commerce Way

    Figure 19: Quarry Pond

    This center is being funded by the State of Massachusetts. Located on a parcel of land adjacent to the MBTA Lowell Line, the transportation center will provide a 2,500-car park-and-ride and links to subway, commuter rail and Logan Airport shuttlebus connection. This center will be operated by the MBTA and the Massachusetts Port Authority. The Transportation Center will be of particular importance to the region, as it will help meet critical regional transportation needs. It also will help with traffic problems associated with the central artery. Construction started on the Center during spring of 1997, after the owner of the 20 acre property, Janpet Associates, declared bankrupcy.

  3. The extension of Commerce Way will provide currently nonexistent access to north Woburn (figure 18).

Redevelopment Considerations

Some parts of the site that might need to be developed are vegetated areas with wetlands and rare species such as the Mystic Valley Amphipod, a state-listed species of special concern believed to live on the site. Though their presence could not be verified through samples of juvenile crustaceans, a biologist has confirmed that they live in wetlands on Parcel B shown in Figure 17, and the report adds “the tiny critters prefer cool, shaded places” as their habitats. Parcels A and B are shown in figure 20.

A quarry pond shown in figure 19 adjacent to the Phillips pond will be filled in to make the area more attractive to retailers. Under current regulations the quarry is technically defined as a wetland, these regulations prohibit building within 100 ft of wetlands and state environmental laws require that any modified wetland will have to be replicated with a new wetland of the same dimensions elsewhere on the site. Therefore, in conjunction with the project, the trust that governs the Industri-Plex will construct a new body of water with similar surface areas to compensate for the loss of the quarry. Wetland replacement and construction in general will temporarily displace the animals. But because the species currently inhabiting the area are particularly tolerant to human activities, after the work is completed the potential habitat for the local species can be restored to its previous conditions.

MetroNorth Development

A development company, National Development of New England (NDNE), has purchased parcels A and B which account for almost half the Industri-Plex site and some adjacent properties for $100 million.

NDNE has assembled approximately 103 acres of land on both sides of the proposed interchange. A master development agreement negotiated by NDNE with the City of Woburn and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts serves as the framework and legal agreement to develop infrastructure and improvements serving this area. Construction of office, retail, and hotel facilities has begun. The mixed-use development plan includes:

MetroNorth Corporate Center (Parcel B shown in figure 20)

  • 1,000,000 square foot office development

  • 150-room hotel on 75 acres.

MetroNorth Retail Center (Parcel A shown in figure 20)

  • 60,000 square foot retail center

  • 135,000 square foot Target Department Store development.

Figure 20: Parcels A & B and Mishawum Rail Station

Figure 21: Proposal showing maximum building area for parcel B

MetroNorth Corporate Center (Parcel B)

A 75-acre project will be developed with up to 1,000,000 S.F. of office space and a hotel. Twenty-three acres of the land (Parcels C1 and C2 in figure 21) are fully permitted with drainage design and MEPA approval in place. Eleven acres will be permitted to accommodate ArQule, a 260,000 square foot campus to be developed in two phases of 130,000 square feet each. Parcel C2 is a fully permitted 10-acre parcel which can be developed with up to a three story, 150,000 square foot building slated for completion in the spring/summer of 1999.

NDNE is in the process of securing final state permits for parcel B. Based on the current schedule, permitting should be completed by the fall of 1998. Site plans can then be permitted on a parcel by parcel basis. Delivery of new space could be accomplished on Parcel B in the next 2 years.

MetroNorth Retail Center (Parcel A)

Target Stores has bought parcel A, the 27-acre tract off Commerce Way. The city of Woburn received $227,000 in partial payment of back taxes on the land as part of the $11.5 million agreement between Target and the land’s trustee. The store will take up about 135,000 square feet, also two smaller retail stores totalling 64,5000 square feet and up to 1,000 parking spaces will eventually be built there.

The sale has put the land, and eventually the new building itself, back on Woburn’s tax rolls. The completion of the store is depending on the the completion of the interchange which will drop traffic off nearly in front of the parcel at the intersection of Commerce Way and Atlantic Avenue.

Current Use of Parcels A and B

  • Commercial, light industrial use and access: 60 acres

  • Undeveloped land: 185 acres

Future Use of Land

  • Commercial development: 110 acres

  • Infrastructure/public transportation 25 acres

  • Wetland and open land (environmental enhancement programs): 100 acres

The developer will also incorporate existing buildings and facilities, including:

  1. 510,000 square foot Commerce Way Business Center, which will be renovated;

  2. Commuter rail lines;

  3. Subway lines;

  4. Local roads.

Technical Containment Problems

After nearly a decade, the containment is nearly completed and development has begun, but there are several concerns. Concerns were raised during the containment activities over the quality of the soil used to cover the contaminated land and the soil-testing procedures. Over half of the fill came from Deer Island, where some sites had proven to be contaminated. Once the coverage is complete it will be subject to random EPA tests. The final cover has not received final certification from the EPA.

Woburn’s Citizen Advisory Committee raised questions over the alternate design cover proposed by the Remedial Trust. The EPA initially recommended a 30-inch RD/AP cover. It consisted of 24 inches of fill topped by 6 inches of loam and vegetation (figure 22). This design would have cost twice as much as a geo-textile fabric textile. So an alternate cover design was implemented. This cover replaces 12 inches of soil with a geo-textile filter fabric, a bottom barrier to the cover and there would be 12 inches of soil minimum (figure 23). The most important issues for the alternate cover were the safety factors for freeze-thaw effects, durability as well as quality control.

Figure 22: EPA recommended design

Figure 23: Actual design implemented

Allegations of improper conduct during the construction of the remedial cap were under investigation by several government agencies. A former site worker had filed suit alleging improper conduct during the construction activities. Charges have been brought against the firms in charge of implementing the cleanup for discharge from the Industri-Plex site into streams and drainways. In one case, during the day shift, when EPA supervisors were on site, water from the site was pumped into tanker trucks so that it could be transported for treatment at an off-site plant. But during the night a witness claimed to have seen workers pumping water into the drainway that empties into the Aberjona River.

Groundwater contamination beneath, and migrating, from the site has not yet been addressed by the EPA, MA DEP or responsible parties. Reduced oxygen conditions in groundwater, caused by the presence of the animal hides beneath the cap, cause arsenic and chromium to become soluble in groundwater. Estimates point that 200 kilograms of arsenic are released from the site and transported along the Aberjona River to the Mystic Lakes, a mechanism which could continue for centuries, an issue the firms in charge of the cleanup are still studying.

The Record of Decision for the Industri-Plex site, and the Consent Decree between the EPA and the responsible parties requires that Institutional Controls be developed to define construction and reuse activities on the property. These may place restrictions on construction and development. The Institutional Controls have not been reviewed and approved yet, even though the sale of the lots has already started.

Soil contamination inside the Industri-Plex site property boundary has been well documented in numerous reports since the early 1980s. However, to date no attempt has been made by the EPA, MA DEP, or the responsible parties to characterize the extent of contamination outside the property boundary, which could pose a health risk. Some residual contamination has been found off site, south of the Boston Edison right-of-way but it hasn’t been determined yet if it is a health or environmental hazard.

Questions were raised over the waiver of the of an impact study relative to the proposed new ramp from I-93. To speed up the construction of the interchange due to development pressures, submission of the environmental impact studies was waived.

Other Redevelopment Examples

  1. Iron Horse Park in Billerica, a onetime rail maintenance yard. One owner, Guilford Transportation Industries, is cleaning up its portion and plans to use it as an industrial park.

  2. Arsenal Mall in Watertown, which the developers opened in 1983 after reclaiming from an abandoned World War II weapons factory.

  3. Pesticide repackaging plant in Caribou, Maine, which is being cleaned and will likely reopen as retail space.

Appendix A: Chronology of Events

Mid-1800s-1934 – Developed as industrial site by companies who produced chemicals for local textile, leather, and paper manufacturing industries. Also used to manufacture munitions during WWI.

1934-1969 – Glue manufactured at site utilizing tanned animal hides. Solid wastes disposed in pits, waste water discharged to streams, later to sewers.

1968 – Mark Phillip Trust purchased site for development of Industri-Plex 128 industrial park.

1970s – Construction activity for the industrial park uncovered the industrial by-products and wastes that had accumulated on the site. The exposure and movement of decaying hides buried during past site activities caused the release of noxious odors, similar to a rotten egg smell. Many of the chemical and hide wastes in the soil were relocated and mixed into piles near and in wetland areas on the property.

1975 – Citizens complained to state agencies about odors. Dept. of Environmental Quality Engineering (now the Dept. of Environmental Protection, or DEP) issued numerous notices violation to the developer.

1977 – Lawsuit by the Town of Reading and the Massachusetts Attorney General resulted in a court order prohibiting the developer from excavating two untouched parcels thought to contain most of the remaining glue wastes.

1979 – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stops further development on site for wetlands issues.

1980 – DEP sprayed latex cover over part of the site where inorganic wastes were found.

1982 – EPA adds Industri-Plex Site to its list of priority hazardous waste sites that are eligible to receive federal funding for investigation and clean up.

1982 – Study conducted on nature and extent of contamination on site.

1985 – Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study completed, analyzing nature and extent of contamination and outlining alternatives for remediation.

1986 – EPA issued record of Decision (ROD), which outlined remedial alternatives and EPA’s preferred remedy for the site.

1989 – Consent decree issued by EPA which included outcome of negotiations with past and present site owners to determine cost sharing of remediation. The Industri-Plex Site Remedial Trust and the Industri-Plex Site Interim Custodial Trust are established as part of the decree. The Remedial trust is made up of 22 past and present owners and operators.

1990 – EPA approved Pre-Design Investigation, outlining what information the Industri-Plex Site Remedial Trust had to collect to proceed with design of remediation process. Additional testing carried out. City rezoned the site from office to industrial use.

1991 – Final plans for the remediation filed with EPA and DEP.

1992 – design of the final soil remedy completed.

1993 – EPA and DEP approve soil remedy. Physical work on remediation process begins.

1996 – Remediation of the site completed. Remediation cost: $70 million. Duration: 7 years.

Appendix B: DATA for the Project

Data for the Case Study on the Industri-plex site is in two forms:

  1. Hardcopy plans and reports; and

  2. CAD files on the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering server

Access to the hardcopy plans and reports will be available at Barker Library Reserve.

Reports include:

  1. Environmental Notification Form (June 1995)

  2. Feasibility Study (August 1995)

Drawings include:

  1. Location of Work

  2. Existing Conditions

  3. Details of Soil Cap

  4. Location of Utilities

  5. Existing Buildings and Site Layout

Access to the CAD files will be through read-only access (although it can be copied into your account). All the figures along the text plus, additional images and the Cad files can be downloaded from the class web page.

List of Material on Reserve at Barker Library

Drawings

Regional Transportation Center Alternate Cover Design

C-1A - Industri-Plex Site Location of Work and 1996 Work Areas
C-2 - Existing Conditions Plan
C-2A - Compilation of Historical Utilities
C-2B - Compilation of Existing Utilities (1/2)
C-2C - Compilation of Existing Utilities (2/2)
C-2D – Pre-remediation Extent of Arsenic Lead and Chromium at or Above Action Levels
C-3 - Demolition Plan
C-4 - Excavation Plan
C-5 - EPA/DEP Approval
C-5A – Layout Plan
C-6 - Erosion Control Plan
C-7 - Erosion and Sediment Control Details
C-8 - RTC Site Final Grading and Drainage Plan
C-9 - Alternate Cover Transition Plan
C-10 – Alternate Cover Transition Details (1/3)
C-11 - Alternate Cover Transition Details (2/3)
C-12 - RTC Site Transition Details (1/2)
C-13 - RTC Site Transition Details (2/2)
C-14 - Alternate Cover Details (1/2)
C-15 - Alternate Cover Details (2/2)
C-16 – Site Details (1/3)
C-17 – Site Details (2/3)
C-17A – Site Details (3/3)
C-18 - Site Sections (1/3)
C-19 - Site Sections (2/3)
C-20 - Site Sections (3/3)

Reports

Regional Transportation Center

Feasibility Study
Environmental Notification Form
Summary of Proposed Institutional Controls

Additional Files

1. Geological Studies
1.1. Plan Showing Sections
1.2. Section A-A
1.3. Section B-B
1.4. Section C-C
1.5. Section D-D
1.6. Section E-E

2. Topographic Map

3. Orthographic Map

Pre-Handout

Scope and Background

This design project is a large scale planning project and as such it is open ended. Its complexity requires that the design is done by a team. You should follow the design process as given to you in the lectures.

The intent of this project is to have you define the constraints as part of the problem formulation. While it may be unusual to have such a “wide open” project it is a good way to start with any planning or design project to assume very relaxed boundary conditions. This will give you the freedom to come up with innovative solutions even when you add constraints.

In this particular exercise you will not only have the opportunity to plan and design a different “Back Bay” but you will be able to compare what was actually done with what one (you!!) could have done.

Imagine Boston in the topographical shape of the late 18th century!

When the first settlers founded Boston, its topography looked much different from what it looks now. At that time Boston was a pear-shaped peninsula, which was connected to the mainland only through a narrow neck.

The peninsula was bordered by large tidal flats and had many inlets and coves. One of these, North cove, was cut off by a mill dam/causeway already in 1640. On a small scale the shoreline had been changed more or less permanently from that time onwards. However, changes on a larger scale did not occur until the beginning of the 19th century.

Design Task

You are charged with the development of the Back Bay area based on the topography as it existed around 1800, but using modern construction technology and satisfying present day requirements. You have to create a mixed residential-commercial area with 50,000 inhabitants. You are completely free in your choice of buildings, access (transportation), providing foundations a.s.o. You are strongly encouraged to propose non-traditional solutions.

The result of your work should be in form of a rough plan indicating residential/commercial zones, major streets or other access. In an accompanying report (max 4 pages, double-spaced) you should explain how your design satisfies the boundary conditions and present concepts of how you address major technical, aesthetic and environmental issues. One technical and/or environmental problem should be analyzed more thoroughly. You should also indicate if what you propose will end up with medium or with high costs. More specific comments on the deliverables are given below.

Topography, Design Area

The Charles River is a tidal basin with the tides varying between el. 100.8ft (mean low water level) and el. 110.2ft (mean high water level). The highest reported tide occurred in 1851 with el. 116.6ft. The elevation of the adjacent land is approximately 117 feet. As mentioned above, part of the Charles River bottom is exposed during low tide, forming so-called tidal flats. Conversely, during high tides the water level in Boston Harbor may be such to cause considerable backflow into the Charles River. If this occurs in conjunction with major rainfall and large flows in the Charles River, the shore areas can be flooded.

The design area is Back Bay, which is bordered by today’s Massachusetts Ave., Storrow Dr. and the original shoreline of the Boston peninsula.

The buildings and streets on the original peninsula are the way they are at present. Assume that there are no railway lines and no T-lines existing in the design area.

Geology, Rules of Thumb for Foundations

A typical soil profile of the present Back Bay is shown in Figure 1. One-story buildings can be placed directly on the fill without basement, 3-5 story buildings can be placed on the fill with a 1 story basement, higher buildings require correspondingly more basements. High rises up to 15 stories can be put on piles reaching into the till; higher buildings have to be put on piles reaching the bedrock. Clearly deeper foundations cause higher costs. (Note: There was no fill when the original Back Bay existed)

As indicated earlier, you should work with the most modern construction technology and materials. If you want to fill the area with soil before building, you can either use gravel from gravel pits in the Needham area or from dredging in the Charles River next to Back Bay. (You need to think about the consequences using these material resources, however.)

Protection from High Tides

One of the options you may consider is to close off the Charles River from Boston Harbor. Keep in mind, however, that what you propose will have some environmental impacts, which you have to address.

Several cities have installed facilities to protect themselves from high tides. Here are some examples:

  • London: The Thames barriers are open during normal operation but close during surge tides. (see Flood London).
  • Venice: To protect the lagoon from high tides a new barrier system is proposed..

Deliverables

  1. Land use plan with transportation network, building type both re use and height, and other land usage
  2. Report with figures (the figures are in addition to the 4 page text) describing:
  • Land use reasoning
  • Concept re major technical issues (e.g. foundations, structures, transportation, utilities)
  • Concept to handle tidal problems and other environmental issues that may arise
  • More detailed discussion of one technical/environmental problem (without going into more than rule-of-thumb calculations)

Scope

In this project, students will again design and build the project, in this case a coatstand. The project will give you the opportunity to follow the entire design process, since the problem/project is relatively simple. Specifically: Several concepts of the coatstand should be developed and selected based on the criteria you have formulated. Once this is done, you can proceed to detail design which also involves some simple analysis. You might possibly have to revise your concept during the detail design. Finally, you will build the stand. It is important that you consider this during conceptualization! For this project you will work in teams of three.

Your task is to build a coat-stand. The construction material will be wood as well as glue and screws for connections. In addition to this there will also be steel hooks. The wood pieces are considered to be raw material, i.e. you can cut them into any shape. In a first step each of you will after understanding the problem individually conceptualize a coat-stand. In a second step the group will finalize the conceptualization, select one of the designs, do the detail design and build one coat-stand.

Task 1 - Design

First you are to create a design. The function of the coat-stand is, obviously, to carry coats, possibly also hats, scarves a.s.o. There are four basic requirements: It must be safe against tipping over, sturdy without being too heavy, aesthetically pleasing and economical. In addition to this there are constraints concerning the available raw material:

The wood will be supplied in form of pine 1 by 4’s (3/4" x 31/2" cross-section) and 1/8" thick plywood, You can only use up to 4 sqft of plywood. Also, you can use steel hooks.

As a result of your design, you should produce the following deliverables (see at the end of “Task 1” for the timing of the deliverables). Deliverable a) is first done individually, then a) - d) are done by the entire team.

a) Sketch: Prepare a sketch of the proposed coat-stand. Try to do it three-dimensionally.
b) Calculations: Present a calculation which „proves" that the coat-stand has an adequate factor of safety against tipping over. The „design coat", e.g. the heaviest load that the coat-stand must safely carry weighs 10 pounds. Write a short rationale, describing how you define the factor of safety, what you consider to be an adequate factor of safety and why.
 
 

As a measure of how sturdy the coat-stand is, you should calculate the expected deflection d, when loaded with the „design coat". (Hint: arm, post and pedestal contribute to the total deformation). Especially if you have complicated shapes, it will be necessary to make a simplified calculation model. Use your engineering judgement! Again it is up to you, to define what acceptable deflections are. Write a short rationale, describing your assumptions and simplifications as well as your reasoning on what is sufficiently sturdy.

Hint: The Young’s modulus of wood is approximately 1.45*106 psi (10 GPa).
You can use the program “Frame2D”.
c) Drawings Prepare a plan view and a side view of the finished coat-stand. Then prepare a drawing of each piece of wood that you order and indicate, how you cut out the necessary pieces.
d) Order list: Make a list of the raw material you need. Specify the dimensions of the pieces of wood. Of course they must be compatible with the available sizes.

Each of you should start with sketching the coat-stand to define its approximate shape. While doing this you should also think about how you actually want to build it. Finally you should specify the dimensions and do the necessary calculations.

For the design which the group choses to build, you also need to present drawings, the necessary calculations and an order list. Before you start building, a review of your design by the TA and Chris Dewart (see below) will prevent you from trying to build very difficult or impossible structures. Finally you should specify the dimensions and do the necessary calculations.

Task 2 - Building

To build the coat-stand you have to use the wood-shop. Chris Dewart, Technical Instructor, will be there to instruct you in the use of the tools and machinery. Before building the stand you must obtain the weight of the wooden parts.

Although varnishing and painting is not part of the assignment, you will later have the opportunity to do so.

Time Schedule

WEEK #10:
Introduction, Understand Problem and Start Conceptualizing as a Group
Homework: Conceptualize Individually, Prepare Sketches, Start on Calculations

WEEK #11:
- Conceptualize as a Group
- Individually Work on Calculations (TA may help)
- Discuss Construction with Chris Dewart (2nd hour)
- Group Complete Drawings and Order List for Selected Design
(the drawings and order list need to be approved; the earlier you have this the better)
- Build Coat-stand (in woodshop)
- Finish Coat-stand

Scope and Background

This design project intends to give each student an introduction to some basic design concepts. Specifically, it will introduce you to the interplay of function and form. In addition, you will get a feeling for what role material can play. Finally, issues of cost (economics) will have to be considered.

Any device or structure fulfills a function, possibly several functions; this is usually the purpose for which the structure or device is built. As you will see, the same function can be satisfied in many different ways.

The form of the device or structure results from a variety of factors, notably the material which in turn reflects strength, deformability, workability. Very often one likes to have the form reflect the function. Also, the form should be aesthetically pleasing. These comments indicate that defining a “good form” may be difficult and is certainly subjective.

Material properties affect the way in which the device/structure can fulfill its function. Some materials may never be capable of fulfilling a function, others may require forms which are unacceptable for aesthetic or other reasons and some may be too costly. When talking about cost, both the material cost and the cost of working with the material have to be considered.

All this may seem perfectly obvious but the interplay may be quite complex. The intent of this first design project is to let you get a feeling for this by going from playing to building and assessing what you do and why.

Material

Since this is for most of you an initial design experience, the problem will be somewhat constrained. Each of you will, therefore, work with a given set of materials. Specifically, you will receive 2 aluminum cubes, 6 plexiglass cubes, 9 trapezoidal prisms and 6 equilateral triangular prisms made of plexiglass. In addition, you will get a small tube of glue, tape and a set of rubber bands:

Task 1 - Building of Free Structures

During the remainder of the first laboratory session you will build as many structures as you can. You are completely free in what you build, but for each structure you have to use all pieces. Also, you should try to build each structure twice exchanging the position of the aluminum cubes. For your first structures, you should simply try to pile the pieces on top/next to each other. Do not set your goal as to fulfill a function (i.e. bridging a gap or similar). Later on you may but you do not have to specify what you want to build and then do it.

After building a particular structure, you should think and write notes for you about:

  • Does the free form fulfill any function (which function)?
  • Say why you find the form attractive or not.
  • What role do material properties play?
  • If you define a function first how does the form reflect it?

Task 2 - Paperweight

As homework and part of the next laboratory, you have to develop a paperweight. The only conditions are:

  • Has to effectively hold down a pile which includes 8.5" x 11" and smaller sheets.
  • You are allowed not more than 6 unused elements.
  • The paperweight should be able to sustain normal handling without falling apart (e.g. falling off the paper pile onto the desk)
  • The workmanship should be “clean” (see hints below).

Workmanship Hints

Faces of pieces that are to be glued together should be completely and evenly covered with glue. Otherwise the glue can be seen on the connections. You should also keep visible surfaces clean (especially of glue) and try not to scratch them. Tapes and rubberbands are intended only for temporary connections.

Task 3 - Assessment

Task 3A: Function - Form - Material

Describe from memory how you developed your paperweight design.

Are form and function related in your design? If so, how?

Did the difference of materials play a role in your design regarding form, regarding function, regarding both?

Task 3B: Production

Building paperweights by gluing pieces together is probably not the most cost effective way. Put yourself in the position of a paperweight factory owner who wants to have a raw material (building blocks) that can be assembled in a variety of forms. This includes the contradictory requirements:

  • Minimize Expensive Labor such as Machining of Complex Shapes (Skilled Labor Cost)
  • Minimize the Number of Assembly Steps (Labor Cost)
  • Produce Many Different Forms

Draw an influence diagram for this decision making process. An influence diagram shows the relation of different factors reflecting a process (manufacturing or construction) and is used as a basis for analyzing a process. We will show you how to construct such influence diagrams.

The Green Line of the MBTA is a major part of the Boston/Eastern Massachusetts transportation system. It is the oldest “subway” in the United States. The present Green Line consists of tunnel sections, surface sections largely on a separate right of way, surface sections in streets but separated and surface sections within streets. Technically it is a mix between “Light Rail” and “Streetcar”. The system,while substantially contributing to public transport in Boston and nearby cities would benefit from improvements. Planning and designing such improvements is your task.

In 1.012 you will do the “Green Line” project in two phases. In the first phase, each team will describe several alternatives as outlined below. In the second phase, each team will further develop one of the alternatives (or develop a new one).

Phase 1 WEEK #8 - WEEK #10

Each team develops a solution for each of the following improvement strategies:

  1. Operational improvement (different vehicles, different operating strategies, minor infrastructure changes)

  2. Extension of Green Line to other areas (e.g. re-establishment of Arborway line, new Somerville line, others).

  3. Major overhaul of central part of Green Line infrastructure including connection to other subway/rail lines.

Items 2 and 3 are somewhat interdependent but you need to approach them separately.

You are required to submit a report on SES #R10 describing your alternative(s) for each strategy.

Phase 2 WEEK #12 - WEEK #14

Each team will work on one of the strategies, evaluate different alternatives and then further develop/design one of them.

This will result in a report and will also have to be orally presented.

At present it is open if the teams for Phase 1 are going to be the same as for Phase 2. You will have a major say in this decision.

Background Material

  • Each team will get a set of existing design concepts developed by the Boston Transportation Department.

  • Reports and plans are available.

  • There will be a field trip in WEEK #8 to the MBTA Control Center on 45 High Street in Boston.

Problems

  • Science and Engineering Education Focus on the Individual’s Work
  • No Experience
  • Product Orientation

Necessities and Advantages

  • Complexity Requires Many Experts
  • Education Improved
  • Social Advantages
  • Product Improved

Team Building and Team work

  • Goal Statement
  • Social Contract
  • Roles
  • Interaction
    • Interpersonal Relations
    • Communication/Information Exchange

Guidelines for Effective Meetings

(Partially from Bush, MIT M.Sc. Thesis, 1998)

Meeting Organization

  • Facilitator
    • Agenda
    • Keeps Rules
    • Avoids Domination
    • Keeps Time
  • Record Keeper
    • Takes Notes
    • Distributes Notes
  • Rotate Roles!
  • Running a Meeting: See Separate Handout

Beginning

  • Start meetings on time and hold them in a place where the group won’t be distracted or interrupted.
  • Come to meetings prepared.
  • Assign someone in the group to prepare an agenda before each meeting to be finalized and agreed upon in the first few minutes of the meeting.

Speaking

  • In speaking, the most important thing to aim for is balance. Try to balance the input of each member.
  • To maximize the group’s collective wisdom, seek to hear from everyone.
  • As a group, appoint a leader during each meeting to notice who is speaking and who is not and to invite the comments of those who are silent.
  • Encourage each other to speak for no more than 2 minutes at a time unless a group member has a report to give.
  • Individually try to find a place where you are not monopolizing nor withdrawing from the conversation at hand.
  • When you do speak, try to be honest, courteous, and to the point regarding your own work and the work and ideas of others.
  • Avoid interrupting and side conversations; one conversation at a time is plenty, while three or four concurrent conversations make it impossible to go anywhere collectively.
  • Stories whether about basketball games or political farce, should probably be saved for other forums.

Listening

  • View listening as more important than speaking.
  • Listen well enough to be able to paraphrase what is said.

Giving/Receiving Feedback

  • Give feedback to each other in non-threatening supportive ways (a good way to do this is to focus on the group goals and how a particular issue assists group objectives without attacking any group member).
  • Seek feedback from each other, because it is most often useful even if disconcerting.
    Expect to disagree with each other.
  • Do not personalize disagreement; instead, try to learn from it.
  • Acknowledge as a group that wisdom and information can come from many different sources: facts, feelings, hunches, opinions, ideas, mistakes, and even silence.
  • Seek to maximize the information you obtain from each other in your meetings through asking questions.

Decision-making

  • Be careful with the decision-making process. Once a decision has been made, it is very difficult and painful to backtrack.
  • Be patient with the process of shaping consensus; make sure everyone agrees with a decision before moving on. One member’s disagreement is a liability to group effectiveness.
  • Make sure you hear and address all sides of an issue.
  • If necessary, go through several iterations of analyzing alternatives, eliminating the most obvious, re-analyzing, eliminating, etc.
  • If the decision-making process is not handled with care, a decision will probably have to be rethought at a later date after unneeded headache and work.

Assess Group Interaction

  • Once a week discuss what goes well/not well re. group work.

Ending

  • End meetings on time.
  • Make significant progress towards the goal of a meeting before ending.
  • Whenever these two objectives conflict, be sure to discuss why significant progress was not achieved and whether to continue or meet another time.
  • Summarize what the meeting accomplished.
  • Set the date and time of your next meeting, the possible agenda, and any necessary preparations or tasks.

Indicators of Successful Teamwork in Industry

Hensey, 1992

  • Obtaining the opinions and involvement of other group members in issues that concern them before making final decisions.
  • Being willing to help team members even when inconvenient or requires extra effort.
  • Voluntarily offering relevant experiences, ideas, and findings to team members.
  • Making timely contribution to someone else’s action plan or project when requested.
  • Acknowledging a colleague’s contribution to a project when working with a client or senior manager, sharing the credit.
  • Being non-defensive and receptive to the suggestions, ideas, opinions, and needs of colleagues; making effort to understand before criticizing.
  • Considering impact your plans and actions will have on others.
  • Being unwilling to criticize third party who is not present, not gossiping.
  • Coming prepared to present or participate when you have a role to play in meetings.
  • Expressing appreciation for teamwork extended to you and your people that was helpful.
  • Identifying and helping to pick up loose ends even though they may not be in your area of responsibility.
  • Keeping people advised of changes and developments and new information on a task or project.
  • Being supportive of team’s objectives once they are set, rather than sabotaging, fault-finding, or being negative behind the scenes.
  • Pitching in when the whole team needs help in meeting a deadline or solving a problem, even if it’s “not your job”.
  • Trusting the team to develop consensus on an issue, even if it takes a little more time.

Not all Groups are Teams: How to Tell the Difference

Katzenbach, Jon R., and Douglas K. Smith. “The Discipline of Teams.” Harvard Business Review (1993).

WORKING GROUP TEAM
Strong, Clearly Focused Leader Shared Leadership Roles
Individual Accountability Individual and Mutual Accountability
The Group’s Purpose is the Same as the Broader Organizational Mission Specific Team Purpose that the Team itself Delivers
Individual Work-products Collective Work-products
Runs Efficient Meetings Encourages Open-ended Discussion and Active Problem-solving Meetings
Measures its Effectiveness Indirectly by its Influence on Others Measures Performance Directly by Assessing Collective Work-products
Discusses, Decides, and Delegates Discusses, Decides, and Does Real Work Together

Assignment

After having worked out your solution for the development of the Back Bay, the articles listed below will tell you, what in fact has been done to develop the Charles River Basin in general and Back Bay in particular. They will inform you about the problems encountered and the chosen remedies.

Please read the Charles River articles (available in the readings section) and then compare your solution to what has been done. Most importantly you should assess, if you would change your solution based on this information or not. You need to also provide your reasons for this. This needs to be done in form a report of about 4 pages (typed, double spaced) which has to be prepared individually (not by the team!)

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