What is Civil Engineering?

Civil Engineering

Definition:

"...to design and construct public works;"

Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary,

The Riverside Publishing Co., 1984.

Historically, there were only two types of engineers: military and civil. Although they shared many of the skills required to be successful, the ultimate goals of each type of engineering were very different. While military engineers designed and constructed those things that aided in the waging of war, such as fortifications, weapons, and siege engines, civil engineers planned and constructed those things that were expected to improve the lives of the public, such as roads, bridges, public buildings and water distribution systems.

As the centuries have passed, the areas of responsibility of the engineer have grown. Now, civil engineering is only one in a wide variety of topics from which an engineer can choose. Nautical design, mechanics, mining, chemistry, electricity, computer systems, and aerospace design are just a few of the other topics.

Civil engineers continue to plan, design, construct, and maintain public works, but the range of projects that the term "public works" encompasses has also grown with time. The areas of specialization that civil engineers can choose from can be divided into six general categories: structural, transportation, geotechnical, hydrotechnical, environmental, and municipal engineering.

Structural Engineering

The structural engineer designs and analyses structures such as buildings and bridges.

When designing, the engineer is concerned with providing a safe, reliable structure that performs well the intended function of the structure, is economical to build and maintain, and is aesthetically pleasing.

When analysing a structure that is either planned or already built, the engineer is concerned mainly with the determination of the strength and durability of the structure under different conditions, and the reaction of the structure to those conditions.

Environmental Engineering

All civil engineers must consider the impact that their systems and structures will have on the environment. However, as a specialization within civil engineering, enviromental engineers are particularly concerned with protecting the environment from the potentially harmful effects of human activity, and protecting human populations from the effects of adverse environmental factors. They analyse environmental quality and design systems and structures that improve air, water and soil quality, and thus improve human health. Using chemistry, microbiology, mechanics and a variety of other disciplines, environmental engineers manage such systems as water treatment, sewage treatment, and solid waste disposal.

Transportation Engineering

The transportation engineer plans and designs transportation systems and facilites. Some of the areas of specialization are: traffic flow and traffic impact studies, either on land, in the air, or on water; the planning and design of airports, harbours, highways, subways, and railroads; and the design and construction of public transit systems.

Hydrotechnical Engineering

Hydrotechnical engineers are concerned with the analysis of water and other fluids, with flow characteristics, and with the design of machines and structures for fluid containment, control and distribution. Some examples of the projecst that hydrotechnical engineers would participate in are: water distribution systems, sedimentation lagoons, ports and harbours, dams, and irrigation and canal systems.

Geotechnical Engineering

Geotechnical engineers apply civil engineering technology to soils and rocks. Some different aspects of geotechnical engineering are: soil and rock mechanics, which are the analysis of the properties and behaviour of soils and rocks so that they can be used as engineering materials to be built upon or built with; foundation engineering, which uses knowledge of soil mechanics, geology and structural engineering to design and construct foundations for engineering structures; and rock engineering which applies rock mechanics and structural engineering to design underground structures, such as tunnels and mines, and some surface structures, such as dam foundations carried to bedrock, and stabilized rock slopes.

Municipal Engineering

Municipal engineers deal with the engineering tasks required by municipal or local governments. These include: water treatment and distribution, sewage collection and treatment, solid waste disposal, repairs and maintenance of municipal roads and bridges, and snow removal planning. The responsibilities of municipal engineers are wide and varied. This requires that they must have a good understanding of the science and engineering of many different areas within civil engineering.

As can be seen, civil engineering encompasses a wide variety of topics. A civil engineer must have a general knowledge of all these areas because any specific area touches many others. The choice of specializations within civil engineering is practically limitless. Within each category described above, there are many interesting topics. Civil engineers are employed in all levels of government, in consulting and contracting firms, and in the supply industries. They are not only in positions that require wide technical knowledge, but they can often have high levels of managerial and administrative responsibility. Civil engineering continues to remain an important field in our increasingly technical world.