Hidrológiai Közlöny 1974 (54. évfolyam)

3-4. szám - Könyvismertetés

Hidrológiai Közlöny 1974. 3—4. sz. 140 him, or conversely of finding the suitable specialist for a particular sphere of activity, even if those available have the same level of training. It is much rather the problem of keeping the professionals up to date with advances in their fields which will be embarked upon, since this is believed to present the most serious difficulty and problem to complex designing enterprises, namely to ensure that each professional engaged in creative work should have access to the latest information available in his particular sphere of interest. The designer must be informed on the latest advances in the basic sciences, the recent achievements in the various special branches all over the world, the new materials, construction equipment and technologies to be included in designing, as well as on developments in the technological equipment of water management projects, such as pumps, control engineering devices, together with the prices and delivery conditions. All this information must be forewarded to the designers. The flow of information must be guided so that it should reach the designer filtered according to profession and level, giving no more and no less than he is capable of commanding and using in his work. The organization of this flow of information calls again for specialists and staff. Central guidance and development in water management, as well as the increasing trend towards international work sharing calls for successively more detailed technical regulations in the form of standard designs, specifications and directives. Keeping track of these, taking notice of changes therein and channeling thereof to the designer interested form an organic part of information retrieval. Prefabrication in the domain in civil engineering construction calls increasingly for the application of standard designs and types, which however, are in the need of being revised and modified periodically, about at 4 to 5 years intervals. This implies that an organisation is needed for filing and replacing when necessary the standard designs library. A special group of problems is associated with the exploitation of the possibilities offered by the advent of computers. It should- be realized that no computer is capable of replacing the creative work and intellectual capacities of Man. The significance of computers lies in their memory and speed which are superior to those of the human brain. Once used properly and with the correct input data, its speed offers the possibility of taking into consideration a wide variety of aspects, which no single, or several human brains would be capable of doing. At the same time its speed offers great savings in intellectual work and time. Many alternative solutions can be elaborated and the optimum selected thereby. The regular use of computers is, however, impossible unless a number of programs can be made available. This is again a potential field for international cooperation, since the formulation of programs is a costly process, consuming much intellectual capacity, so that the exchange of programs both within a country and on an international level is of great practical significance. No designing enterprise can do now without a suitable library of programs and access to a high-capacity computer. It is not proposed there to embark upon all the details of technical equipment introduced already and contemplated in the near future to facilitate the work of the designers. No more than samples have been presented here of the organizational problems in the work of designing enterprises, without claiming that the activities related to the designing of complex projects have been covered fully. The objective here was, rather to highlight the differences between the organizations performing complex designing work at the turn of the century, 20 years ago and at present. Designing projects abroad presented new problems to the designing enterprises in Hungary. As long as the project is situated in Europe, no more than information must be obtained on the relevant standards and other specifications of the particular country, whereas when working in the Near-, or Far East, or in Africa a new set of informations is necessary. No more than the basic sciences retain validity. Differences exist in the climate, the people, the social demands and technical standards, with which familiarity must be aquired as a prerequisite of successful work. The functions and possibilities of technical designing are believed to have been adequately described in the foregoing. In the case of large projects, the costs of designing, including also the preliminary studies amount to round 4 to 8% of the total costs. However, as will be perceived from the foregoing, advanced designing calls for a substantially greater organization than before, appreciably more fixed assets, equipment, devices, etc. being needed in order to realize projects with optimum engineering results and at minimum, costs. The development objectives of water management outlined concisely by Mr. Vice President Vincze indicate clearly the magnitude of the problems to be solved by the designers. My remarks serve to emphasize the influence of the quality of designing work on the engineering and economic success or a particular project. For this very reason it is essential that the designing organizations should be reinforced, their technical equipment and procedures improved, the information facilities available to them extended to guarantee the effectiveness of projects amounting to 30 to 40 times the value they produce. The main tasks of the designing enterprises are summarized in the research-development program of the water management sector, in which the tasks are clearly defined. By introducing standard- and typical designs, or rather in connection therewith, a module system must be introduced for hydrotechnical structures. Conventional construction methods must be replaced by new ones, especially by utilizing the opportunities offered by prefabrication, advanced formworks and by the regional mixing plants already operating. The fields in greatest need of improvement are pipe laying and sewer construction, where the use of new materials and construction equipment is especially desirable. The designers must make efforts to ensure the operation of projects with the smallest possible personnel. Therefore automatic process controls are needed. The results of research must be transferred into practice, especially in the domain of the technology of waterand wastewater treatment. For this purpose relations with research institutes must be improved and continuous information exchange must be conducted with the industry manufacturing process equipment, with construction enterprises and with the suppliers of building materials. Provision must be made to make best use of the data library under organization and of the computers available, first of all by offering further training opportunities to engineers and technicians, as well as by elaborating new programs and methods. The internal information retrieval system, together with the auxiliary equipment used in designing must be improved. In the course of preliminary studies increasing reliance must be made on aerial photography, on advanced exploration and measuring devices and on the possibilities resulting from the use of microfilming. Regular specialized education of the designers is essential. Last, but not least, the organizational pattern and management methods of large designing enterprises must be revised and modernized. Ladies and gentlemen, in the brief time available to me, I have attempted, to review all the problems, which characterize the development in the field of designing during the past 20 years, as well as the tasks of the future. The subject will be expounded more in detail by the papers submitted to the conference, and by the discussions and contributions to the general reports to be presented at tomorrow's session. The exchange of ideas will, I expect, contribute to the solution of the problems which we will be faced with in the near future.