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Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline
that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of
the physical and naturally built environment, including works
like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings Civil
engineering is the second-oldest engineering discipline
after military engineering, and it is defined to distinguish non-
military engineering from military engineering. It is
traditionally broken into several sub-disciplines
including architectural engineering, environmental
engineering,[ surveying, and construction engineeringCivil
engineering takes place in the public sector from municipal
through to national governments, and in the private sector
from individual homeowners through to international
companies.
- 1 History of the civil engineering profession
- 2 History of civil engineering
-
- 4.1 Materials science and engineering
- 4.2 Coastal engineering
- 4.3 Construction engineering
- 4.4 Earthquake engineering
- 4.5 Environmental engineering
- 4.6 Geotechnical engineering
- 4.7 Water resources engineering
- 4.8 Structural engineering
- 4.9 Surveying
- 4.10 Transportation engineering
- 4.11 Municipal or urban engineering
- 4.12 Forensic engineering
- 4.13 Control engineering
History of the civil engineering profession
Engineering has been an aspect of life
since the beginnings of human existence.
The earliest practice of civil engineering
may have commenced between 4000 and
2000 BC in Ancient
Egypt and Mesopotamia (Ancient Iraq)
when humans started to abandon
a nomadic existence, creating a need for
the construction of shelter. During this
time, transportation became increasingly
important leading to the development of
the wheel andsailing.
Until modern times there was no clear
distinction between civil engineering and
architecture, and the term engineer and
architect were mainly geographical variations referring to the
same occupation, and often used interchangeably.[7] The
construction of pyramids in Egypt (circa 2700–2500 BC)
were
some of the first instances of large structure constructions.
Other ancient historic civil engineering constructions include
the Qanatwater management system (the oldest is older than
3000 years and longer than 71 km,[8])
the Parthenon by Iktinos in Ancient Greece (447–438 BC),
the Appian Way by Roman engineers (c. 312 BC), the Great
Wall of China by General Meng T'ien under orders from Ch'in
Emperor Shih Huang Ti (c. 220 BC)[6] and the stupas
constructed in ancient Sri Lanka like the Jetavanaramaya and
the extensive irrigation works inAnuradhapura. The Romans
developed civil structures throughout their empire, including
roads.
In the 18th century, the term civil engineering was coined to
incorporate all things civilian as opposed to military
engineering. The first self-proclaimed civil engineer was John
Smeaton, who constructed the Eddystone Lighthouse. In
1771 Smeaton and some of his colleagues formed the
Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers, a group of leaders of
the profession who met informally over dinner. Though there
was evidence of some technical meetings, it was little more
than a social society.
In 1818 the Institution of Civil Engineers was founded in
London, and in 1820 the eminent engineer Thomas
Telford became its first president. The institution received a
Royal Charter in 1828, formally recognising civil engineering
as a profession. Its charter defined civil engineering as:
| “ | the art of directing the great sources of power in nature for the use and convenience of man, as the means of production and of traffic in states, both for external and internal trade, as applied in the construction of roads, bridges, aqueducts, canals, river navigation and docks for internal intercourse and exchange, and in the construction of ports, harbours, moles, breakwaters and lighthouses, and in the art of navigation by artificial power for the purposes of commerce, and in the construction and application of machinery, and in the drainage of cities and towns. | ” |
The first private college to teach Civil Engineering in the
United States was Norwich University, founded in 1819 by
Captain Alden Partridge.The first degree in Civil Engineering
in the United States was awarded by Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute in 1835.The first such degree to be awarded to a
woman was granted by Cornell University to Nora Stanton
Blatch in 1905.
History of civil engineering
Civil engineering is the application of
physical and scientific principles for
solving the problems of society, and its
history is intricately linked to advances
inunderstandingof physics
and mathematics throughout
history. Because civil engineering is a
wide ranging profession, including
several separate specialized sub-
disciplines, its history is linked to
knowledge of structures, materials
science, geography,
environment, mechanics and other
fields.
Throughout ancient and medieval history most architectural
design and construction was carried out by artisans, such
as stonemasons and carpenters, rising to the role of master
supplanted by advances. Structures, roads and infrastructure
that existed were repetitive, and increases in scale were
incremental
One of the earliest examples of a scientific approach to
physical and mathematical problems applicable to civil
engineering is the work ofArchimedes in the 3rd century BC,
including Archimedes Principle, which underpins our
understanding of buoyancy, and practical solutions such
as Archimedes' screw. Brahmagupta, an Indian
mathematician, used arithmetic in the 7th century AD, based
on Hindu-Arabic numerals, for excavation (volume)
computations.
The civil engineer
Education and licensure
Civil engineers typically possess an academic degree in civil engineering. The length of study is three to five years, and the completed degree is designated as a bachelor of engineering, or a bachelor of science. The curriculum generally includes classes in physics, mathematics, project management, design and specific topics in civil engineering. After taking basic courses in most sub-disciplines of civil engineering, they move onto specialize in one or more sub-disciplines at advanced levels. While an undergraduate degree (BEng/BSc) normally provides successful students with industry-accredited qualification, some academic institutions offer post-graduate degrees (MEng/MSc), which allow students to further specialize in their particular area of interest.
In most countries, a bachelor's degree in engineering represents the first step towards professional certification, and a professional body certifies the degree program. After completing a certified degree program, the engineer must satisfy a range of requirements (including work experience and exam requirements) before being certified. Once certified, the engineer is designated as a professional engineer (in the United States, Canada and South Africa), a chartered engineer (in most Commonwealth countries), a chartered professional engineer (in Australia and New Zealand), or a European engineer (in most countries of the European Union). There are international agreements between relevant professional bodies to allow engineers to practice across national borders.
The benefits of certification vary depending upon location. For example, in the United States and Canada, "only a licensed professional engineer may prepare, sign and seal, and submit engineering plans and drawings to a public authority for approval, or seal engineering work for public and private clients."This requirement is enforced under provincial law such as the Engineers Act in Quebec.
No such legislation has been enacted in other countries including the United Kingdom. In Australia, state licensing of engineers is limited to the state of Queensland. Almost all certifying bodies maintain a code of ethics which all members must abide by.
Engineers must obey contract law in their contractual relationships with other parties. In cases where an engineer's work fails, he may be subject to the law of tort of negligence, and in extreme cases, criminal charges. An engineer's work must also comply with numerous other rules and regulations such as building codes and environmental law.
Sub-disciplines
In general, civil engineering is
concerned with the overall
interface of human created fixed
projects with the greater world.
General civil engineers work
closely with surveyors and
specialized civil engineers to
design grading,
drainage, pavement, water
supply,
sewer service, electric and
communications supply, and land
divisions. General engineers
spend much time visiting project
sites, developing community
consensus, and preparing construction plans. General civil
engineering is also referred to as site engineering, a branch
of civil engineering that primarily focuses on converting a
tract of land from one usage to another. Civil engineers
apply
the principles of geotechnical engineering, structural
engineering, environmental engineering, transportation
engineering and construction engineering to residential,
commercial, industrial and public works projects of all sizes
and levels of construction.
Materials science and engineering
Materials science is closely related to civil engineering.
Material engineering studies fundamental characteristics of
materials, and deals with ceramics such as concrete and mix
asphalt concrete, strong metals such as aluminum and steel,
and polymers including polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and
carbon fibers.
Materials engineering also involves protection and
prevention
(paints and finishes). Alloying combines two types of metals
to produce another metal with desired properties. It
incorporates elements of applied physics and chemistry.
With
recent media attention on nanoscience and nanotechnology,
materials science has been at the forefront of academic
research. It is also an important part of forensic engineering
and failure analysis.
Coastal engineering
Coastal engineering is concerned with managing coastal
areas. In some jurisdictions, the terms sea defense and
coastal protection mean defense against flooding and
erosion, respectively. The term coastal defense is the more
traditional term, but coastal management has become more
popular as the field has expanded to techniques that allow
erosion to claim land.
Construction engineering
Construction engineering involves planning and execution,
transportation of materials, site development based on
hydraulic, environmental, structural and geotechnical
engineering. As construction firms tend to have higher
business risk than other types of civil engineering firms do,
construction engineers often engage in more business-like
transactions, for example, drafting and reviewing contracts,
evaluating logistical operations, and monitoring prices of
supplies.
Earthquake engineering
Earthquake engineering involves
designing structures to withstand
hazardous earthquake exposures.
Earthquake engineering is a sub-
discipline of structural
engineering. The main objectives
of earthquake engineering areto
understand interaction of
structures on the shaky ground;
foresee the consequences of
possible earthquakes; and design,
construct and maintain structures
to perform at earthquake in
compliance with building codes.
Environmental engineering
Environmental engineering is the
contemporary term for sanitary
engineering, though sanitary
engineering traditionally had not
included much of the hazardous
waste management and environmental remediation work
covered by environmental engineering. Public health
engineering and environmental health engineering are other
terms being used.
Environmental engineering deals with treatment of chemical,
biological, or thermal wastes, purification of water and air,
andremediation of contaminated sites after waste disposal or
accidental contamination. Among the topics covered by
environmental engineering are pollutant transport, water
Environmental
engineers administer pollution reduction, green engineering,
and industrial ecology. Environmental engineers also
compile
information on environmental consequences of proposed
actions.
Geotechnical engineering
Geotechnical engineering studies rock and soil supporting
civil engineering systems. Knowledge from the field
of geology, materials science, mechanics, and hydraulics is
applied to safely and economically
design foundations, retaining walls, and other structures.
Environmental efforts to protect groundwater and safely
maintain landfills have spawned a new area of research
called geoenvironmental engineering.
Identification of soil properties presents challenges to
geotechnical engineers. Boundary conditions are often well
defined in other branches of civil engineering, but unlike
steel
or concrete, the material properties and behavior of soil are
difficult to predict due to its variability and limitation
on investigation. Furthermore, soil exhibits nonlinear (stress-
dependent) strength, stiffness, and dilatancy (volume change
associated with application of shear stress), making
studying soil mechanics all the more difficult.
Water resources engineering
Water resources engineering is
concerned with the collection and
management of water (as a natural
resource). As a discipline it therefore
combines hydrology, environmental
science, meteorology,
management. This area of civil
engineering relates to the prediction
and management of both the quality
and the quantity of water in both underground (aquifers) and
above ground (lakes, rivers, and streams) resources. Water
resource engineers analyze and model very small to very
large areas of the earth to predict the amount and content of
water as it flows into, through, or out of a facility. Although
the actual design of the facility may be left to other
engineers.
Hydraulic engineering is concerned with the flow and
conveyance of fluids, principally water. This area of civil
engineering is intimately related to the design
of pipelines, water supply network, drainage facilities
sewers), and canals. Hydraulic engineers design these
facilities using the concepts of fluid pressure, fluid
statics, fluid dynamics, and hydraulics, among others.
Structural engineering
Structural engineering is concerned with the structural
design and structural analysis of buildings,
structures like oil and gas fields in the
sea, aerostructure and
other structures. This involves identifying the loads which act
upon a structure and the forces and stresses which arise
within that structure due to those loads, and then designing
the structure to successfully support and resist those loads.
The loads can be self weight of the structures, other dead
load, live loads, moving (wheel) load, wind load, earthquake
load, load from temperature change etc. The structural
engineer must design structures to be safe for their users
and
to successfully fulfill the function they are designed for (to
be serviceable). Due to the nature of some loading
conditions, sub-disciplines within structural engineering have
emerged, includingwind engineering and earthquake
engineering.
Design considerations will include strength, stiffness, and
stability of the structure when subjected to loads which may
be static, such as furniture or self-weight, or dynamic, such
as wind, seismic, crowd or vehicle loads, or transitory, such
as temporary construction loads or impact. Other
considerations include cost, constructability, safety,
aesthetics andsustainability.
Surveying
Surveying is the process by which a surveyor measures
certain dimensions that generally occur on the surface of the
Earth. Surveying equipment, such as levels and theodolites,
are used for accurate measurement of angular deviation,
horizontal, vertical and slope distances. With
computerisation, electronic distance measurement (EDM),
total stations, GPS surveying and laser scanning have
supplemented (and to a large extent supplanted) the
traditional optical instruments. This information is crucial to
convert the data into a graphical representation of the
Earth's
surface, in the form of a map. This information is then used
by civil engineers, contractors and even realtors to design
from, build on, and trade, respectively. Elements of a
building
or structure must be correctly sized and positioned in
relation
to each other and to site boundaries and adjacent structures.
Although surveying is a distinct profession with separate
qualifications and licensing arrangements, civil engineers
are
trained in the basics of surveying and mapping, as well
as geographic information systems. Surveyors may also lay
out the routes of railways, tramway tracks, highways, roads,
pipelines and streets as well as position other
infrastructures,
such asharbors, before construction.
- Land surveying
In the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and most
Commonwealth countries land surveying is considered to be
a distinct profession. Land surveyors are not considered to
be
engineers, and have their own professional associations and
licencing requirements. The services of a licenced land
surveyor are generally required for boundary surveys (to
establish the boundaries of a parcel using its legal
description) and subdivision plans (a plot or map based on a
survey of a parcel of land, with boundary lines drawn inside
the larger parcel to indicate the creation of new boundary
lines and roads), both of which are generally referred to
- Construction surveying
Construction surveying is generally performed by specialised
technicians. Unlike land surveyors, the resulting plan does
not have legal status. Construction surveyors perform the
following tasks:
- Survey existing conditions of the future work site,
- including
- topography, existing buildings and infrastructure, and even
- including underground infrastructure whenever possible;
- Construction surveying (otherwise "lay-out" or "setting-
- out"): to stake out reference points and markers that will
- guide the construction of new structures such as roads or
- buildings for subsequent construction;
- Verify the location of structures during construction;
- As-Built surveying: a survey conducted at the end of the
- construction project to verify that the work authorized was
- completed to the specifications set on plans.
Transportation engineering
Transportation engineering is concerned with moving people
and goods efficiently, safely, and in a manner conducive to a
vibrant community. This involves specifying, designing,
constructing, and maintaining transportation infrastructure
which includes streets, canals, highways, rail systems,
airports, ports, and mass transit. It includes areas such as
transportation design, transportation planning, traffic
engineering, some aspects of urban engineering, queueing
System(ITS), and infrastructure management.
Municipal or urban engineering
Municipal engineering is concerned with municipal
infrastructure. This involves specifying, designing,
supply networks, sewers, street lighting, municipal solid
waste management and disposal, storage depots for various
bulk materials used for maintenance and public works (salt,
sand, etc.), public parks and bicycle paths. In the case of
underground utility networks, it may also include the civil
portion (conduits and access chambers) of the local
distribution networks of electrical and telecommunications
services. It can also include the optimizing of waste
collection and bus service networks. Some of these
disciplines overlap
with other civil engineering specialties, however municipal
engineering focuses on the coordination of these
infrastructure networks and services, as they are often built
simultaneously, and managed by the same municipal
authority.
Forensic engineering
Forensic engineering is the investigation of
materials, products, structures or
components that fail or do not operate or function as
intended, causing personal injury or damage to property. The
consequences of failure are dealt with by the law of product
liability. The field also deals with retracing processes and
procedures leading to accidents in operation of vehicles or
machinery. The subject is applied most commonly in civil
law cases, although it may be of use in criminal law cases.
Generally the purpose of a Forensic engineering
investigation is to locate cause or causes of failure with a
view to improve
performance or life of a component, or to assist a court in
determining the facts of an accident. It can also involve
investigation of intellectual property claims,
especially patents.
Control engineering
Control engineering (or control systems engineering) is the
branch of civil engineering discipline that applies control
theory to design systems with desired behaviors. The
practice uses sensors to measure the output performance of
the device being controlled (often a vehicle) and those
measurements can be used to give feedback to the input
actuators that can make corrections toward desired
performance. When a device is designed to perform without
the need of human inputs for correction it is called automatic
control (such as cruise control for regulating a car's speed).
Multidisciplinary in nature, control systems engineering
activities focus on implementation of control systems mainly
derived by mathematical modeling of systems of a diverse
range.
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