Civil War Railroads Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Civil War Railroads - Research Paper Example To a greater scale, the Civil War marked the first and successful militarization by utilizing the railroads and resulted in a continental scale conflict. In addition, the Civil War contributed to the invention and use of conventional weaponry that included machine guns and artillery and to top up, railroad weapons1. This paper explores the role played by the Civil War Railroads. The impact of railroads on operations Railroads played a role in facilitating logistical support during the Civil war, for armies while on the other hand, they proved significant in advancing the economies of warring nations. In essence, railroads influenced operations during the Civil War by enhancing mobility of armies in terms of transporting troops and other supplies. Railroad technology improved the production of weapons since, it provided a means of transporting large loads, efficiently2. The strategy adopted by the Union arm entailed an effective logistical operations that would replenish supplies and a sophisticated means of transport that, enable a rapid shift of troops to critical locations. As a result, an extensive railroad system allowed the Union soldiers to transport more soldiers that was impossible without a railroad network. Compared to the Southern army, the Northern army received more supplies as a result of controlling over 30,000 miles of railroad in America. In other situations, locomotives served the purpose of reconnoiter and enhanced the process of gathering information related to the enemy troop disposition. In addition, the mobility of locomotives, provided an effective means as courier vehicles for commanders rushing intelligence information to their headquarters. The railroad provided a rapid communication service and played an important role in terms of gaining advantage against frequent raids on telegraph lines that characterized the Civil War3. The railroads further enabled locomotives to operate as rams where, troops used these locomotives to destroy en emy train and railroad facilities. The railroads also enabled troops to launch modified cars that were set on fire to destroy bridges used by opponents. On another note, freight trains during the Civil War, served the purpose to deceive the enemy by running a train back and forth within one location. This tricked scouts into giving false information about opponents reinforcing their positions while, the trick acted as a cover for troops leaving an area. The railroad further revolutionized warfare and operations as a result of the introduction of railroad monitors that transported a large contingent of infantrymen. The rail monitors, increased fire power and improved the troop’s capacity to combat the invading enemy. However, the railroads on the other hand, impacted negatively on operations as a result of fierce completion that existed among railroad owners. Further, the maintenance of the rail lines, and including the trains presented a hurdle to owners. As a result, the rai lroads begun to experience difficulties because of a lack of new parts to replace the worn out parts. This affected the speed of locomotive that dropped to almost 10miles an hour from averagely 25 miles an hour. Fuel too, became an issue and especially, for the southern locomotives that relied heavily on wood. The strategy by the Confederate government to conscript skilled railroad workers into military also impacted on

Soil Consolidation during Construction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Soil Consolidation during Construction - Essay Example Generally, any undrained loading or unloading will produce excess pore pressures in the loading area. Hence, construction of any type of infrastructure generates pressure on the soil on which the construction takes place. The excess pore pressures may be positive or negative, depending on the long term steady state pore pressures. In time, these excess pore pressures give rise to hydraulic gradients which cause seepage flow which then results to changes in the volume of the soil. Hence, the changes in soil volume are based upon the changes of effective stress as the excess pore pressures disperse. The gradual reduction in volume of a fully saturated soil of low permeability which is caused when stress is what consolidation refers to. More specifically, consolidation is the union of seepage caused by hydraulic gradients with compression due to the flow of the leakages and changes of effective stress placed against the soil. Consolidation leads to drainage of some of the pore water, which triggers the continuity of soil consolidation until the excess pore water pressure caused by the stress against the soil has completely dispersed. Through the test of time, consolidation leads to settlement of foundations or constructions due to the gradual softening of soil in excavations. Therefore, consolidation settlement is basically the vertical dislocation of the construction as a result of the volume change of soil during the consolidation. Hence, if a building is built over a layer of saturated clay, consolidation settlement will cause a stratum overlying a clay layer. Likewise, if an excavation is made in a saturated clay, crowding, the reverse of settlement, can be observed in the bottom of the excavation. This, on the other hand, is due to swelling of the clay resulting to a gradual increase in volume of the soil. The most basic case of consolidation is that of one-dimensional on which the strain generated against the soil is zero-lateral. One-dimensional consolidation occurs when all seepage flow and the effective stress placed against the soil is vertical. Hence, there should be no radial seepage or strain. If effective lateral stress is placed against the soil, the settlement will occur faster. This is because of the deformation of the soil under undrained conditions, in addition to consolidation settlement. Immediate settlement can be estimated using the results from elastic theory, which will be able to determine the elastic properties of the soil. Furthermore, before a structure is completely conceptualised, the magnitude and the rate of consolidation settlement should first be predicted using effective tools. One of the popular processes used in predicting the progress of consolidation is by setting up piezometers in order to document the change in pore water pressure with time. The scale of consolidation settlement can be determined by recording the levels of appropriate reference points on a construction and in the surface on which it will be built. In such measurement, levelling of the reference points should be accurate, working from a point of reference which is not subject to any type of settlement. During this process, every output should be documented, as this will determine the competence of theoretical methods to be used. The attributes of a soil during one-dimensional consolidation can be measured through oedometer test. This test, developed