Teaching First Year Engineering Design And Design Criteria-The Thames Barrier

The Thames Barrier is an iconic engineering structure protecting London from dangerous storm surges that might otherwise flood the city. Built in the 1970s, engineers considered many different designs before settling on the final one featuring six rising sector gates and four falling radial gates. The design of the Barrier and the many different design iterations that the engineers went through in response to the changing requirements of the client provide an excellent context within which to teach first year general engineering students design and design criteria in an introductory context. The design process of the Thames Barrier has been used as a case study in a general first year engineering subject at the University of Melbourne for several years. This paper describes several of the original designs proposed to close the Thames before the final design was developed. A detailed description of the Thames Barrier as built is given before the application of the case study to the classroom is discussed. An analysis of 226 concept maps prepared by the class 10 weeks after the material was delivered provides an insight into how the students integrated and retained the material from the case study.