Vidic, 2:00
L06
ETHICAL DILEMMA WITH PERMEABLE PAVEMENTS
Devon Sangrey (dms187@pitt.edu)
something is able to be done, does not necessarily mean that
it should be done.
PERMEABLE PAVEMENT
The National Society of Professional Engineers released a
code of ethics in which they state that all engineers have a
duty to “hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the
public” [4]. As an engineer, I have to do everything to protect
the safety of the general population. Permeable pavements
are just one of many ways to do so.
Permeable pavements are a fairly new technology and are
being used around the world as a way of returning rainwater
to the ground in a quick and efficient way. These special
materials also have the ability to filter the water that passes
through them and they remove possibly harmful toxins from
the water before it is returned to the ground.
According to Rick Harrison, author of Permeable
Pavement: Looking below the Surface, permeable pavements
require an expensive bottom layer that can hold water. This
bottom layer is necessary because the ground cannot always
absorb the water as fast as it needs to. This would lead to
puddling and it would defeat the purpose of a permeable
pavement. Areas with a more absorbent ground, like sand, are
able to have a smaller bottom layer, but areas with a ground
composed of a lot of silt or clay require a much larger and
more expensive bottom layer [1].
Ethics in civil engineering
Environmental protection is also a major concern of civil
engineers when dealing with any large project. The American
Society of Civil Engineers created their own code of ethics
for engineers within the civil and environmental engineering
discipline. The civil engineering code of ethics states that
civil engineers must be committed to improving the
environment [5]. The use of permeable pavements does this
by removing harmful toxins from rainwater before they are
able to contaminate the groundwater.
Porous pavements would also contribute to the safety of
the residents of the surrounding area. Because the pavements
allow water to pass through them, no water would be left to
form puddles. Puddles and standing water are key causes of
hydroplaning and other weather related accidents. According
to the United States Department of Transportation Federal
Highway Administration, on average, 385,000 people are
injured and 4,700 people are killed each year in car accidents
caused by wet pavement not during rainfall [2]. Accidents
like these would be greatly reduced as a result of the
installation of permeable pavements.
ETHICAL DILEMMA
Case 1039
As an engineer, I have had to face several ethical
dilemmas within the past few years. One of which is similar
to the case described in case 1039 of the Texas Tech
University ethical cases website.
In case 1039, Shariq, a field technician for an
environmental engineering firm is asked to take samples out
of two drums to test the toxicity of the material. After initially
looking at the samples, Shariq determines that the samples
are most likely hazardous. He reports his findings to his
supervisor and recommends that the material in the drum is
disposed of properly. His supervisor decides to take care of
the situation himself and that Shariq does not need to worry
about it anymore [6].
Ethics in engineering
According to Valorie Troesch, author of “Teaching
Engineering Ethics a Phenomenological Approach” explains
that the engineering code of ethics are the universal and
inviolable rules that govern “right” behavior for all engineers
[3]. Although these rules show how an engineer should work,
Troesch believes that no rules can be effective without
allowing room for interpretation. In her article, Troesch asks
if a person should lie to a murderer about the location of the
intended victim [3]. Most people, if asked this question,
would be quick to lie about the potential victim’s location to
protect the victim, but Troesch argues that lying opposes the
moral code of ethics, and in order to be ethically correct, the
person must tell the whole truth. This example shows that
ethics are meant to be interpreted based on the situation. This
relates to engineering because it shows that just because
Later in the next week, Shariq sees the drums, containing
what he believes is hazardous material, being loaded onto a
truck for disposal. The men loading the truck explain to
Shariq that the material has been tested and was determined
to be clean. Shariq knows that the material has not been
tested since the only samples are still in his possession [6].
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Devon Sangrey
The majority of the people who voted on what Shariq
should do in this situation believe that Shariq should test his
samples and only confront his supervisor about the situation
if the material is determined to be hazardous [5].
examine their permeable pavement could potentially save
entire ecosystems from being polluted by the toxins that
come from rainwater.
While this time I decided to follow the code of ethics, I
may not do this all the time. I will always use my best
judgement when making an ethical decision. If I believe that
the consequences of violating the code of ethics are not
severe enough to cancel the benefits, I will go against the
code and make my own decision.
My dilemma
I have recently faced a similar problem with my
supervisor. I was working on testing various permeable
pavements for their ability to filter toxins from the rainwater.
I concluded that a particular pavement was allowing water to
pass through, but it was also allowing all of the potentially
harmful material to pass through as well. I reported my
findings to my supervisor and I explained to him that the
particular pavement was ineffective. I also made it very clear
that the use of this material would be harmful to the
environment and it would have long lasting effects on the
quality of the groundwater in the area.
According to Josep Basart and Montse Serras, co-authors
of Engineering Ethics beyond Engineers’ Ethics, when
something goes wrong during an engineering project, the
blame falls on the engineers [7]. The article also mentions
that pressure from managers and clients contributes to the
placement of the blame.
This relates to my situation because I was being pressured
by my supervisor to ignore the results of my testing so that
the company could have more business in the future. If the
ineffective pavement was used and a major environmental
was revealed because of it, I would take all the blame for the
environmental damages.
My supervisor quickly dismissed my findings, insisting
that I must have made a mistake in my tests. I tested the
material again and came up with the same results. I later
learned that my firm does a lot of testing for this construction
company and that telling them the results of my research
could discourage them from coming to us with future
business.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE
ENGINEERS
I know that I could lose my job if my company loses a lot
of business, but it is my duty as an engineer to follow the
code of ethics and always be committed to improving the
environment. With a difficult decision like this on my hands I
had to decide if I was going to do what was best for the
company or if I was going to do what was right according to
the codes of ethics.
Engineers in the future will have to deal with similar
ethical dilemmas, and I am able to provide some advice to
them based on my experiences with this situation. I have
come up with a procedure that I will follow if I am ever faced
with an ethical dilemma again.
The first thing an engineer needs to do if they are facing
an ethical dilemma is think of the possible decisions that
could be made. There will always be more than one thing an
engineer can do to solve the problem.
The codes of ethics for engineering were made to guide
engineers who have ethical dilemmas like mine to make the
right decisions, but they do not take into account the pressure
that can be caused by a supervisor or company.
The next step is to think of the possible pros and cons of
making each decision. This will help the engineer to see
which decisions are better at first glance. Some of the choices
can be eliminated at this time because they have significantly
more negative effects than positive effects.
Sometimes an engineer is pressured to ignore the code of
ethics and make a decision that will help the company make
more money. These types of decisions may not be the
ethically right decisions, but they are the ones that help
engineers keep their jobs.
After each possible decision has been carefully examined,
the engineer facing the ethical dilemma should look at the
various codes of ethics for engineers. The codes of ethics can
provide some insight as to what should be done in situations
such as the one being questioned.
My decision
I decided to make my decision based on the code of
ethics, and I told my supervisor that what he was doing was
wrong and he needs to advise the company to take a closer
look at the effectiveness of their permeable pavement. I know
I am making the right decision because I am following the
code of ethics for civil engineers and keeping the state of the
environment in mind. Forcing the company to more closely
The next thing an engineer can do is search for case
studies that are similar to the situation being faced. Case
studies can show what someone else did in a similar situation
as well as the consequences that were faced because of the
decision that was made.
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Devon Sangrey
The engineer can then begin to make his or her
information based on the information that was gathered.
Sometimes it will be more beneficial to go by the code of
ethics, but other times it is better to ignore ethics and make a
decision based on what others have done in the past. The
engineer involved must support his or her decision fully
because any doubt could indicate that it is not the right
choice.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank the following people for contributing
their support to this work: Dr. Natasa Vidic, engineering
analysis professor, Mr. Erick Dutchess, AP Environmental
Science teacher, and Shane O’Reilly, roommate.
REFERENCES
[1] “How do weather events impact roads?” (2015). Road
weather
management
program.
(Website).
http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/weather/q1_roadimpact.htm?Pa
rtnerID=&RefID=&EmailID.
[2] V. Troesch (2015). “Teaching Engineering
Ethics
a
Phenomenological
Approach.”
Technology and Society Magazine, IEEE.
10.1109/MTS.2015.2425615.
[3] “NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers.” (2007).
National Society of Professional Engineers.
http://www.nspe.org/resources/ethics/code-ethics.
[4] “Code of Ethics” (2006). American Society of Civil
Engineers. http://www.asce.org/code-of-ethics/.
[5] “Ethics Cases.” (2014). Texas Tech University.
http://www.depts.ttu.edu/murdoughcenter/products/cases.php
[6] J. Basart, M. Serra. (2011). “Engineering Ethics
beyond Engineers’ Ethics” Science and Engineering Ethics.
ADDITIONAL SOURCES
“Love Canal” (2006). Online Ethics
Center.
http://www.onlineethics.org/Education/pr
ecollege/scienceclass/sectone/chapt4/cs6.a
spx
”Honesty’s Always the Best Policy”
(2001).Webguru.
http://www.webguru.neu.edu/professional
ism/case-studies/honestys-always-bestpolicy
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