Institute for Infrastructure & Environment

For the past 4,000 years, civil engineers have provided the infrastructure necessary to support the development of civilisation. Iconic structures from the Forth Bridge to the Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai rely on the application of the principles underpinning civil engineering.

Despite this long tradition of successful infrastructure provision many research challenges remain. Maintenance of civil society and key utility services and supply chains, global security concerns, sustainability and international development all rely on the provision of critical infrastructure and understanding the interdependence of our infrastructure assets. New developments in railway provision are required to increase rail capacity for both passengers and rail freight. This is essential to meet carbon reduction targets and to ensure that congestion on roads is not to be replaced by congestion on rail. Implementing the sustainable construction agenda requires developing improved understanding of infrastructure performance to prolong the useful life of assets and ensure well targeted maintenance.

In recent years the civil engineering field has expanded to encompass the challenges arising from sustainable development and climate change. Major problems facing civil engineering include restoring aquatic environments and minimising the impact of diffuse pollution to aid the implementation of the EU Water Framework directive. The flooding in June and July of 2007 caused more than £3.5 billion worth of damage, and in the UK, the total value of assets at risk from flooding now exceeds £238 billion. The development of appropriate catchment management plans and flood risk management strategies are essential to address these issues.

Staff within our Institute for Infrastructure and Environment working in water management, railway engineering, cementitious materials, critical infrastructure, geomechanics and structural analysis are leading the way in providing research solutions to these challenges.

Vision

Our Institute for Infrastructure and Environment aims to be world leading in civil engineering. It will deliver excellence in specialist areas of high value high impact research and postgraduate training across a wide range of fields within the professional discipline.

Mission

To advancing scientific understanding in civil engineering by addressing the problems posed by climate change, sustainable development, infrastructure deterioration, personal and national security.  The Institute will undertake cutting-edge research aimed at delivering technological advances and informing government policy on topics relevant to these problems.

Successful research requires active dissemination of research findings to research users in a way that changes industry practice in the short, medium and long term.  To achieve this, the institute will actively engage in knowledge transfer by undertaking joint research with industry and government, become involved in professional standards development, provide high quality training for research students and deliver excellence in postgraduate teaching.