Institution of Civil Engineers

This is an abridged version of the inaugural address of David Porter as the 161st President of the ICE on Tuesday 4 November 2025 to an audience at One Great George Street and online.

The inherited 'EIA' process at Brexit is based on a 'Project' period from Inception to the start of construction works.The 'Incompleteness' of the process covers and identifies stages that will impact on the environmental cycle: construction period, operational life, de-commissioning and a return to acceptable environmental footprint.A master environment structure-plan framework is required to commence with the upgrading of the complete 'EIA' process, embracing separate limbs for the UK's priority environmental targets for climate change, and other major adverse effects which result in serious 'harm' to the UK environment.The identification of the process for 'incompleteness' requires effective sustainability, and inclusion of effective management tools, for the essential 'monitoring/control/recording' procedures throughout the project life and the natural environmental cycle.This will allow the opportunity for a new approach to a structured 'Suite of EIAR Directives', to enable a 'EIAR' regime that 'will remain fit and proper for UK purpose'.

Le barrage de Regajo, situé dans la municipalité de Jérica (Castellón), est un barrage-poids de catégorie A, achevé en 1962. Il est actuellement en exploitation et ses principales utilisations sont l'irrigation et l’écrêtement des crues. Le barrage à une hauteur de 27,5 mètres depuis ses fondations et une longueur de 355 mètres. Actuellement, le barrage de Regajo présente un problème de capacité d‘évacuation insuffisante, ce qui entraîne l'absence des marges de sécurité nécessaires prescrites par les Normes Techniques de Sécurité Espagnoles de 2021 pour un barrage classé A. La capacité d’écrêtement presque nulle du réservoir, combinée aux dimensions de l’évacuateur, ne permet pas d’évacuer les crues de projet (1 000 et 5 000 ans) dans des conditions de sécurité adéquates. La solution proposée consiste en la combinaison des actions suivantes : abaissement du niveau normal de retenuel (RN), remplacement des vannes du déversoir existant, rehaussement de la crête, ajout d’un mur parapet, et surtout, construction d’un nouvel évacuateur sur la rive gauche. Cet article détaille le processus de conception de l’évacuateur, son optimisation et la validation de ses formes par des modèles numériques et physiques. La typologie projetée pour le nouvel évacuateur comprend un évacuateur en nappe libre aligné avec le barrage, déchargeant dans un bassin de dissipation (avec un virage de 7º), un canal de décharge (avec une deuxième section de contrôle) et une structure de restitution des débits au lit de la rivière.

These days, using analytics in real-time with big datasets is vital to the design of smart systems and methods for making decisions. This work aims to provide a framework for efficient analytical processing, focusing on minimizing latency in distributed cloud environments. Because the amount of data produced by IoT devices, social media, transactional systems, and sensor networks is constantly rising, a capable and scalable system is needed to quickly handle and review this data. According to this research, existing data pipeline systems struggle with data ingestion delays, restricted use of different processors, slow database connections, and inability to use resources well. To solve these problems, we present a new architectural model that uses micro batching, asynchronous functioning, edge computing, and smart load distribution. The methodology has five layers to accomplish this, starting with data intake, processing streaming events, storage, and real-time data analytics. It is scalable and fault-tolerant with containers deployed using Kubernetes. Comparisons are made between traditional and new architectures on both real and simulated data using AWS, Azure, and GCP cloud services. Assessing a performance means looking at how fast the system works, its response time, how it uses resources, and how much it costs. The experiments show that the framework can reduce total latency by 45% and increase data throughput by 60% when measured against typical systems. This document features a thorough review of current literature, a well-structured design of the system, suggestions for building it, a look at how it performs, and directions for future research. Integrating Apache Kafka, Apache Flink, and TensorFlow Extended, the proposed framework allows businesses to build fast and agile data analytics platforms in the cloud

Laura Cunliffe-Hall is Lead Policy Manager in the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Policy and External Affairs team. She discusses the Institution’s plans for engaging the new government and the announcements of note for infrastructure and development.

Reliable flood forecasting is crucial for minimizing infrastructure damage and fatalities. Utilizing multiple independent peak flow observations throughout the year, rather than solely relying on the annual maximum, can enhance flood estimation accuracy. Some studies have incorporated the partial duration series (PDS) alongside the annual maximum flood (AMF) to better estimate floods across the United States. With wet years expected to become wetter, independent high flow events within wet years may surpass the AMF of dry years. Given that global climate warming can exacerbate flooding, integrating several independent peak flow observations with the AMF could address nonstationarity in flood analysis more effectively.

Abstract BackgroundDecisions about eating and drinking for people with severe dementia in acute hospitals are often difficult. Using a codesign process, we developed a decision guide for family carers and hospital professionals to help everyone making these decisions.MethodWe conducted a systematic review and qualitative interviews with people with mild dementia, family carers and hospital professionals in the UK. We ran four online workshops with family carers and hospital professionals to codesign the decision guide. In parallel with the codesign workshops, a matrix approach was used to synthesise data from all studies, including the workshop data, and to develop a prototype of the decision guide. We refined the prototype through workshops and discussions among the research team and lay people. User testing evaluated the prototype, which finalised the decision guide.ResultMost participants were aware of the limited benefits of artificial nutrition and hydration for people with severe dementia. However, participants often found conversations and decision‐making processes confusing and fragmented in hospitals. The codesign process highlighted the importance of meeting individuals’ needs and preferences. The decision guide aimed not only to help people reach evidence‐based decisions but also to support conversations and decision‐making processes. It was designed to clarify the decision‐making process, provide necessary information about eating and drinking interventions, and elicit the values/preferences of everyone involved. It emphasises person‐centred care, best‐interests decision‐making, and multidisciplinary team approaches. From the user‐testing, family carers and hospital professionals perceived the decision guide to be useful in starting conversations and helping with the decision‐making processes. The final version of the decision guide was widely disseminated and is being used in clinical practice.ConclusionThe codesigned decision guide may facilitate conversations between family carers and hospital professionals and help them reach shared decisions that meet the needs and preferences of people with severe dementia. Further evaluation research of the decision guide is required to test its real‐world impacts.

In this study, it was aimed to stabilize the dredged materials with low bearing capacity, brought from Edirne, by using cement and pozzolanic binder mineral additives. In the first stage of the study, the geotechnical properties of the dredging materials were determined. Then, the optimum water contents and maximum dry unit weight values of the soil samples without additives and with different additive ratios were found by compaction tests. Pure and additive unconfined compressive samples were prepared with the optimum water contents obtained in the compaction tests. Samples were prepared by adding 8%, 10% and 12% cement and 2% pozzolanic binder additive by weight to the dredged materials. Unconfined compressive tests were performed on the samples at the end of instant, 1-day, 7-day and 28-day curing periods. In addition, soaked CBR, permeability and flexural tests were performed on 12% cement+pozzolanic added samples. As a result of the experiments, with the addition of cement and pozzolanic binder additives in different ratio to the dredged materials, permeability decreased, unconfined compressive strength, soaked CBR values and flexural strength increased significantly.

Abstract The COVID‐19 crisis provides important examples whereby Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway (the EEA EFTA States) deemed it necessary to influence the content of EU rules. Despite participating in the internal market through the EEA Agreement, they were not initially excluded from the EU's restrictions on the export of personal protective equipment and later the export of vaccines against COVID‐19, and they sought to reverse these decisions. This article explores how the EEA EFTA States influenced EU policy in this regard and which methods proved to be most effective. Did the nature of the COVID‐19 crisis have an impact on EU decision‐making processes as well as the methods and channels used by the EEA EFTA States? The EEA EFTA States’ relationship with the EU is also examined as it relates to their ability to influence EU legislation and the legitimacy of such influence.

Abstract This paper presents an approach to the two-dimensional analysis of elastic isotropic deep beams using the finite difference method (FDM). Deep beams are subjected to in-plane loading and present a shear span to height ratio less than 2.50; consequently, Euler-Bernoulli beam theory and Timoshenko beam theory do not apply. Deep beams analysis is generally conducted using numerical methods such as the finite element method and to a lesser extent the FDM; the strut-and-tie model and the stress field method are also widely utilized. Analytical approaches usually make use of the Airy stress function, where stresses are formulated in terms of the stress function; however, the exact solution of this function satisfying all of the boundary conditions can hardly be found, even for simple cases. In this paper, deep beams were analyzed using the FDM. The FDM is an approximate method for solving problems described with differential equations. The FDM does not involve solving differential equations; equations are formulated with values at selected nodes of the structure. Therefore, the deep beam was discretized with a two-dimensional grid, and additional nodes were introduced at the boundaries and at positions of discontinuity (openings, brutal change of material properties, non-uniform grid spacing), the number of additional nodes corresponding to the number of boundary conditions at the node of interest. The introduction of additional nodes allowed us to apply the governing equations at boundary nodes and to satisfy the boundary and continuity conditions. An Airy stress function approach and a displacement potential function approach were considered in this study whereby strong formulations of equations (equilibrium, kinematic, and constitutive) were set. Stress and stability analyses were carried out with this model; furthermore, deep beams of varying stiffness, layered beams, and beams having openings were analyzed. For slender beams, the results obtained with the Airy stress function approach showed good agreement with those of Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, and for deep beams, the shapes of stress distributions were in good agreement with a proper understanding of the behavior of structures. On the other hand, the displacement potential function approach delivered unsatisfactory results, probably due to the use of an inefficient equation solver; a more powerful tool will be needed in future research for this purpose.