Lesson Structure:   Engineering 2 – Engineering Applications BSC205

There are 9 lessons:

1. Surveying

• Linear surveying
• Triangulation
• Determining slope
• Triangulation
• Contouring
• Traversing
• Levelling terms
• Grid systems – datum line, reduced level, backsight, change point, etc.
• Types of Level – dumpy, quickset, cowley
• Reading the levelling staff
• Levelling procedure
• Levelling a sloping site

2.  Earthworks

• Construction machinery and equipment
• Bobcats
• Front end loader
• Tractor
• Backhoe
• Bulldozer
• Explosives
• Shovel, Pick
• Cut and fill method
• Excavation
• Contouring and levelling
• Swales
• Types of Cultivator – Chisel ploughs, discs and harrows, tined cultivators, rotary hoes, etc.
• Calculating earth to move
• Prismordial rule
• Moving existing earth
• Importing soil
• Shaping and settling soil
• Case Study – Constructing a playing field
• Managing Soil degradation -erosion, compaction, salinity, etc

3.  Water management

• Irrigation systems
• Sub-surface
• Surface
• Sprinkler
• Trickle irrigation
• Irrigation equipment
• Watering cans
• Sprinklers
• Capillary watering
• Automated systems
• Water – sources, quality, treatment
• Pumps – piston, centrifugal, rotary
• Filters
• Irrigation scheduling
• Pulse watering

4.  Environmental control

• Atmosphere control
• Carbon dioxide effects
• Greenhouse considerations
• Covering materials
• Temperature control
• Benching
• Shadehouses
• Outdoor heating

5.  Chemical Applications

• Applying pesticides
• Parts of a basic sprayer
• Calibration
• Calibrating a knapsack sprayer
• Mixing chemicals
• Sprayer maintenance
• Safe chemical use
• Chemical labelling
• Material Safety Data Sheet
• Safe chemical storage
• Environmental contamination
• Protecting outdoor structures from chemical contamination
• Paints, Stains and Sealers
• Painting outdoor furniture and structures

6.  Fencing

• Fencing materials – wire mesh, barbed wire, wire strand, posts, strainer assemblies etc
• Traditional wire fencing
• Semi-suspension fencing
• Suspension fencing
• Electric fencing
• Bpx end assembly
• Post and stay assembly
• Barriers and walls
• Types of timber fence -panels, slats, pickets, hurdles
• Fencing houses and pools
• Gateways and gates
• Rock and rubble walls
• Brick walls
• Concrete walls
• Free standing walls
• Retaining walls
• Trellises
• Wood engineering – softwoods, hardwoods
• Preservatives
• Hedges

7.  Mechanisation

• Vehicles
• Tractors
• The clutch
• The transmission
• Harvesters
• Mowers – rotary, cylinder, flail, ride on
• Hedge trimmers – shears, blade, saw, flail.
• Trimmer maintenance
• Chain saw use
• Chain saw characteristics – petrol, electric, bar size, etc
• Chain saw maintenance; extending chain life
• Safety with chain saws
• Mulching machines
• Cultivators
• Milking machines
• Soil mixing machines
• Potting machines
• Planters, seeders, drills
• Harvesters – potato, carrot
• Grading machines

8.  Engineering efficiency

• Overview
• Costs
• Quality of product
• Replacement parts and servicing

9.  Developing engineering solutions

• Introduction
• Handling equipment
• Trays boxes, pellets
• Trolleys and barrows
• Trailers
• Fork lifts
• Tractor loaders
• Continuous conveying systems – conveyor belts, mono rails, etc
• Hoppers
• Staff comfort and safety

Learning Goals:  Engineering 2 – Engineering Applications BSC205

• Explain surveying, including basic principles and techniques, appropriate for horticulture and agriculture
• Determine earthworks required for an agricultural or horticultural site
• Determine appropriate water management for an horticultural/agricultural site.
• Determine technological solutions for environmental control problems, in rural or horticultural situations.
• Explain the operation of equipment commonly used to apply pesticides and other chemicals in both horticultural and agricultural workplaces.
• Determine appropriate fencing to use for different purposes; including security and restricting the movement of animals, pests or traffic, in agricultural and horticultural situations.
• Explain the operation of machinery commonly used to mechanise manual tasks carried out in horticultural and agricultural workplaces.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of engineering applications in agricultural and horticultural workplaces.
• Determine procedures for improving work tasks in agricultural and horticultural situations.

EARTHWORKS  CLASSIFICATIONS

Cut and fill 

The concept behind cut and fill procedure is that material that is cut from one area of a project may be required as fill in another area of the same project. Thus, costs of removal and acquisition of materials are cut. Even though the cut and fill equation will rarely be exactly proportional, and hence some material will have to be either carted away or brought onto the site, cut and fill is an extremely cost-effective procedure. 

Excavate 

This means to hollow out or remove and thus create a hole. Excavators, also called diggers, can be used for various tasks other than digging holes by using various attachments. These include digging trenches, moving large objects, grading and landscaping and removing vegetation.

Contouring 

Contouring is the manipulation of material to create rises and falls as required by the plans of the project. A grader may be used to take layers of material from the inside corner of a turning lane for instance. The purpose being that surface water will drain away down the slope. 

Swales 

Swales are channels cut or built along a contour, on sloping ground, to catch water. Swales are used in some areas of agriculture and horticulture (e.g. permaculture) to trap water runoff and to utilise the valuable resource. They are usually raised earth constructions designed to trap water long enough to ensure water is permitted to penetrate the soil. This ensures rainwater and surface runoff is saved and used by plants. They are regarded as semi-permanent in that they will last for a couple of years without much maintenance, after which time they naturally level out.

Levelling 

In many projects, levelling is achieved by the cut and fill procedures outlined above. Where the existing level is quite good a grader may be used to administer the final accuracies. A grader working in this manner will have its blade set at a certain angle and simply move across the ground to be levelled. Spots that are high are then scraped off and deposited by the grader in areas that are low.  

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Here is a list of the most often asked FAQ’s.

General

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