UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI

(Font bold Times New Roman 20)

Guideline for the Preparation of the Final Year Projects in the Department of Civil Engineering
(Font bold Times New Roman 16

By Sixtus Kinyua Mwea, F16/

(Font Times New Roman 14)

A project submitted as a partial fulfillment for the requirement for the award of the degree of
(Font Times New Roman 16)

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING

(Font bold Times New Roman 16)

Year of submission

(Times New Roman 16) Table of contents (font 12) Chapter One (font 12) Introduction (font 16)............................................................................................... 1 Broad areas of the projects.........................................................................................................1 Title Page....................................................................................................................................1 1.3 Marking scheme for the projects..........................................................................................2 Chapter Two Structure of the Report ........................................................................................... 3 2.1 Typeface and margins for the report ...................................................................................3 2.2 Preliminary Pages.................................................................................................................3 Abstract .............................................................................................................................3 Dedication .........................................................................................................................4 Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................4 Table of contents ...............................................................................................................4 List of Illustrations .............................................................................................................4 2.3 Main Body of the Project......................................................................................................4 2.3.1 First Order Headings .................................................................................................5 2.3.2 Second Order Headings ...............................................................................................5 Third Order Headings ...........................................................................................................5 Chapter Three General Guidelines for the Various Chapters........................................................6 Introduction.................................................................................................................................6 3.2 Literature Review.................................................................................................................6 3.3 Theoretical Analysis.............................................................................................................6 3.4 Methodology/Data Collection/Experimentation..................................................................7 3.5 Analysis and/or Discussion of Results.................................................................................7 3.6 Conclusions and Recommendations.....................................................................................7 3.7 References.............................................................................................................................7 Referencing list at the end of the body of the report..................................................................8 3.8.1 Examples of References................................................................................................8 3.8 Appendices..........................................................................................................................10

Chapter One (font 12)

Introduction (font 16)

(Three spaces) The Department of Civil Engineering in the University Nairobi has been using notes for preparation of project prepared by Gichaga (1985). The broad guidelines remain the same with some modifications where necessary. The revised guidelines will ensure good quality presentation and more importantly uniformity of the projects in the department. The objective of FCE 590 is to give the student a chance to display his abilities in organizing a study or investigation or inquiry into an engineering problem and how to report on the same. The supervisor gives guidance but the project and the report at the end should be a student report following the study, investigation or design exercise. Broad areas of the projects There are four basic project types including: A) B) C) D) Design Projects Experimental Project Theoretical Project Descriptive Or Field Studies

Title Page 1

This is unnumbered page should be arranged as follows:Statement of the University Title of the project Authors name Statement of the degree Year of project submission University of Nairobi (Times New Roman 16 bold, 25 mm from top) The title should have a maximum of 16 words without punctuation (Centered 75 mm from the top) At least (Centered 100 mm from the top) At least (Centered 150 mm from the top) At least (Centered 240 mm from the top)

An example of a typical title page is the cover page for these notes 1.3 Marking scheme for the projects

When the project report has been submitted examiners use the scheme shown on Table 1.1 for awarding the project mark Table 1.1 Marking scheme for the projects (Elegant)
Details 1 Attitude, co-operation with supervisor and others 2 Presentation of the project report diagrams, layout, photographs, general format 3 Oral English language. and examination Design Projects (Category A) 4 Design analysis 5 Design Calculations 6 Drawings Experimental Projects (Category B) 4 Theoretical background 5 Experimental results 6 Discussion and conclusions and recommendations Theoretical Projects (Category C) 4 Critical Expositions of existing theory 5 Development and application of existing 6 Discussion and conclusions and recommendations Descriptive of field studies (Category D) 4 Critical discussion of problem 5 Collection and analysis of data 6 Discussion and conclusions and recommendations Out of 10 10 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 15 25 20 15 25 20

Chapter Two

Structure of the Report

(Three spaces)

The report may take several forms of chapters depending on the nature of the topic under investigation. The student with the consultation with the supervisor develops an appropriate structure. The following guidelines are to be followed with appropriate modifications to suit the different projects. 2.1 Typeface and margins for the report

The report should be typed in 1.5 line spacing using 12 pt Times New Roman typeface or equivalent in the way it appears. The text should be justified between the paper margins. The margins should 2.5 cm on all the four sides of the pages for projects with less than 400 pages. This margin should also be observed for figures, tables and any illustrations. For projects with more than 400 pages the left margin should be increased to 3.0 cm to allow for a bigger binding edge. These notes are prepared in the above typeface and margins 2.2 Preliminary Pages

Abstract Bold Lower Case skip line The abstract should be approximately 200 words. It is a very important element of the project and should be prepared with care. It must convey the essence of the report and all the important concepts and conclusions of the work. The abstract should be placed in a separate unnumbered page behind the title page

Dedication Bold lowercase Skip line The decision to include a dedication is entirely the authors own. In any case it should not exceed 100 words. A separate unnumbered page should be used after the abstract page. Acknowledgements Bold lowercase Skip line The decision to include acknowledgements is entirely the authors own. In any case it should not exceed 100 words. A separate unnumbered page should be used after the dedication page Table of contents Bold lowercase Skip line The table of contents is very important and should always be included. It enables the examiner to find his/her way around the work and should include an accurate listing of all the sections that follow. The sections and the subsections should be given with the page numbers. The contents pages should be numbered in small case Roman numbers List of Illustrations Bold lowercase Skip line This should follow the Table of contents pages. If there are different kinds of illustrations the list can be divided into subsections headed Figures, Plates, Maps, Charts etc. 2.3 Main Body of the Project

The main body of he project should be organized in a manner that can be understood by the reader (Examiner) easily. Subdivisions should be indicated clearly by headings. These physical subdivisions should facilitate the comprehension and provide a quick way of scanning through the project. The paragraphs are to be separated by indenting the following paragraph by 1.5cm without omitting a line.

Do not begin a new section at the bottom of a page. It is preferable to transfer a heading to the next page. The final editing to ensure this is achieved requires paraphrasing sentences and reorganizing your work for a good flow of the typing of the work. Too short or too long paragraphs or sentences are to be avoided 2.3.1 First Order Headings

These are usually the chapter titles. They are to be typed in capital and small letters flush to the left below the numbering of the chapter. An example of a first order heading is the chapter headings for these notes 2.3.2 Second Order Headings

The heading is preceded by one line and should be typed boldly in capital and small letters flush to the left with a tab of 1.5cm. It is followed by one line. Third Order Headings The third and highest order headings should be typed boldly in capital and small letters flush to the left with a tab of 1.5cm. These should be preceded by a line and followed by text without leaving one line of space.

Chapter Three

General Guidelines for the Various Chapters

(Three spaces) Introduction The introduction of the project should develop the project presentation so that the reader can be familiar with the background of the investigation. This chapter should clearly spell out: 3.2 The scope and purpose of the project The plan of development of the subject matter in the project Value to the reader (Examiner) Literature Review

Investigation to gather information on existing level of knowledge. Such information, which must be relevant to the subject, is included in this chapter. Those references quoted here must appear in the references list. 3.3 Theoretical Analysis

A theoretical chapter explains the theory behind the subject under investigation or it may be your wish to confirm a theory from investigations using full-scale tests. The relevant reference literature should appear in the references list at the end of the report. In some cases literature review and theoretical analyses may be combined to form one chapter.

3.4

Methodology/Data Collection/Experimentation

You may wish to describe the method(s) you used in collecting data from laboratory or field or both. This chapter describes the methodology and may incorporate results if so desired or else Results chapter should follow this chapter. Standard laboratory procedures need not be presented in detail. Thus, it is not necessary to present the methodology of determining the plastic limit of the soil under investigation. A simple mention that the plastic limit of the soil sample was determined is good enough. 3.5 Analysis and/or Discussion of Results

In this chapter the results obtained from the investigation are subjected to thorough scrutiny. Reference may be made to the Literature and Theoretical chapter (s). The chapter normally starts by reminding the reader about the objectives of the investigation. The rest of the chapter should then relate to how each objective has been tackled and achieved. The results from the studies are discussed in relation to those of other researchers or in relation to what was expected from theory or common knowledge. A discrepancy between theory and results or between ones results those of others are discussed and the author is expected to offer explanation for this. If there is no conclusive explanation it is necessary to recommend further investigation relating to that aspect. Where results show conclusive evidence of a behavior or phenomenon the same forms the basis for the conclusion and recommendations chapter. 3.6 Conclusions and Recommendations

The chapter presents conclusive findings and recommendations as will have been discussed in the discussion chapter. This is generally a short chapter with list of major findings, which must once again relate to the objectives of the investigation.

3.7

References

Referencing must be done properly so that if the reader can always obtain the relevant reference from library or from the publisher to check. Only references cited in the text should be included. Unpublished observations, personal communications, etc. should not be included in the reference list but should only be mentioned in the article text. The referencing should be in accordance with the Harvard Referencing style. When this style is used references should be referred in the text as (Mwea, 2001, or Gichaga and Mwea 1990 for two authors). When more than two authors are involved only the first authors name should be mentioned, followed by et al (Noureldin et al 1994). In the event that an author cited has had two or more works published during the same year, the reference, both in the text and in the reference list, should be identified by a lower case letter like a or b after the date to distinguish the works. The reference within the text should be as follows: Within a sentence as follows: The department of civil engineering has been using notes for preparation of project prepared by Gichaga (1985). After a sentence as follows: However it is the ingress of water and loading which results in accelerated failure of a cracked pavement (Mwea 2001). Referencing list at the end of the body of the report References to books, journal articles, articles in collections and conference or workshop proceedings, and technical reports should be listed at the end of the report before the appendices in alphabetical order. 3.8.1 Examples of References

References to books and thesis Skinner, R.J., and Rodell, M.J., (eds.), (1987). People, poverty and shelter (book title in italics), London: Methuen. Mwea S. K. (2001). Studies of flexible road and airport pavements in Kenya. (Thesis title in italics) Doctor of Philosophy thesis, University of Nairobi pp282

Chapter in edited book Rodwin, L., and Sanyal, B., (1987). Shelter, settlement, and development: An overview, in Rodwin, L., (ed), Shelter, Settlement & Development (book title in italics), Boston: Allen and Unwin: 39-47. Journal Article Schlyter, A., (1987). Commercialisation of housing in upgraded squatter areas: the case of George, Lusaka, Zambia, African Urban Quarterly (Journal title in italics) 2, 3 (August): 287-97. Conference proceedings Gichaga F. J. and Mwea S. K. (1990). Structural Strength condition for some flexible road and airport pavements under tropical conditions. Proceedings of international conference on bearing capacity of roads and airfields pp 743-756 Trondheim, Norway. Milonas, S., (2002) Evaluating alternative scenarios for existing building stock with the use of assessment tools. In: Pettersen (ed.), Sustainable Building 2002: 3rd International Conference on Sustainable Building, 23-25 September 2002, Oslo: Ecobuild. On CDRom. Noureldin A.S. Dhalaam M.A., Fatani M.N.Y., and Al-Abdulwahbabh (1994). National study of rutting of the asphalticic pavements in Saudi Arabia. Proceedings of the sixth conference on asphalt pavements for Southern Africa Vol. III pp136-151 Cape Town Reports Gichaga F.J. (1985). FCE 390 Guidelines to the preparation of civil engineering projects (report title in italics), Department of Civil Engineering University of Nairobi. Struyk, R.J., (1988). Assessing housing needs and policy alternatives in developing countries (report title in italics), Washington DC. Urban Institute Report 88-4. Newspaper articles Quinn, S., (1999). Homeless turn to estate agency for squatters, The Daily Nation (Newspaper title in italics), 6/8/99: pp32

On the Internet Omari OO (2004). Moi and Mama Ngina in Ndungu land report. http://www.nationaudio.com/ (web site in italic) Daily Nation 17th December 17, 2004, Nation media group 3.8 Appendices

The appendices include large sections of tables, illustrations and bulk calculations, which would make the reading of the report unnecessarily cumbersome and or difficult. The results from the analysis presented in the appendices however, are to be discussed and presented in the main report. Only the appendences referred to in the main body of the report should be presented.