05/02/2026
Doing It Everywhere Does Not Make It Right in Engineering
In engineering, popularity does not equal correctness.
I say “in engineering” deliberately—because engineering is governed by principles, standards, and codes of practice, not opinions.
If a method is wrong by engineering standards, it is 100% wrong. There is no middle ground. A wrong process cannot produce a reliable or optimal result, no matter how common it is on site.
Take soil compaction as a clear example.
Under accepted civil engineering practice in Zimbabwe—guided by SAZS standards, the Ministry of Transport specifications, and established road and building codes—proper compaction depends on:
Layer thickness
Moisture content
Soil type
Yet on many sites, foundations are filled 900 mm to 1.2 m deep in one go and then “compacted” with a small compactor.
That is not compaction.
No compactor can effectively compact a layer of that thickness. Standards are clear: fill must be placed in 200–300 mm layers, each layer properly compacted before the next is placed. That is the only way to achieve optimal compaction.
Adding water and compacting everything at once may give some compaction—but in engineering, some is not enough.
Engineering is about control, accuracy, and performance. We follow standards to eliminate failure, not to explain it later.
So when I say a method is wrong, it is not opinion. It is based on engineering principles, codes of practice, and site experience.
Doing it everywhere does not make it right.
Arguing does not change the standard.
In engineering, we do not debate shortcuts.
We go back to the code of practice.
