You can thank Civil Engineer each time you utilize an electrical gadget, turn on a tap, take public transportation, or drive on the street. Civil Engineers are liable for the structures, constructions, and significant public works projects that make current life conceivable.
Civil Engineer & Civil Engineering
Civil engineer is a professional that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage systems, pipelines, structural components of buildings, and railways.
The word “Civil” stands for Civilization which means development. Hence, Civil Engineers deal (Design and Execute) with projects which are related with the development of the society or an area to an advanced stage. Most of the civil engineering works are associated with towns and cities while very rare civil works are conducted in village areas.
Education of Civil Engineers
Civil engineering is the application of physical and scientific principles for solving the problems of society, and its history is intricately linked to advances in the understanding of physics and mathematics throughout history.
Because civil engineering is a broad profession, including several specialized sub-disciplines, its history is linked to knowledge of structures, materials science, geography, geology, soils, hydrology, environmental science, mechanics, project management, and other fields.
Civil engineers typically possess an academic degree in civil engineering. The duration of study is four years in India, and the completed degree is designated as a bachelor of technology, or a bachelor of engineering. 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 on to specialize in one or more sub-disciplines at advanced levels. While an undergraduate degree (B.Eng/B.Tech) normally provides successful students with industry-accredited qualification, some academic institutions offer post-graduate degrees (M.Eng/M.Tech), which allow students to further specialize in their particular area of interest.
Civil Engineering, the mother of all engineering, is the oldest, broadest, most simple and useful of all engineering discipline. As Civil Engineering is related to every aspect of human life, it deals with a very large field. To make it simplified Civil Engineering is divided into the following sub-categories or fields:
- Structural Engineering
- Construction engineering
- Geo-Technical engineering
- Transportation engineering
- Environmental Engineering
- Water Resource Engineering
- Foundation engineering
- Hydraulic engineering
- Coastal and ocean engineering
- Forensic engineering
- Municipal or urban engineering
- Control engineering
Civil Engineering as a profession
Civil engineering has played a vital role in increasing the health and quality of life, from developing better water supplies, municipal sewer systems, waste water treatment plants, to the design of buildings to protect us from natural hazards and provide health care, to improved agriculture through water resource development and distribution projects to rapid and dramatic changes in transportation systems, civil engineers have developed the basic infrastructure on which modern society depends. Civil engineers were the first engineers and continue to be dedicated to technology development for the common good and the public.
Professional Associations for Civil Engineer
- American Society of Civil Engineers
- Canadian Society for Civil Engineering
- Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
- Engineers Australia
- Institution of Civil Engineers
- Engineers Ireland
- Institute of Transportation Engineers
- International Federation of Consulting Engineers
- Transportation Research Board
- Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors
- The Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh
- Institution of Engineers (India)
- Pakistan Engineering Council
The main objective of the above Civil Engineering Associations is to safeguard the profession of translators and interpreters; to promote among its members the principles of professional competence and decorum by organizing initiatives and activities; to ‘train’ clients by explaining the specificity of the translation and interpreting market and providing information on the Civil Engineering profession.
If a doctor makes a mistake then only one person dies, if a civil engineer commits a mistake the toll will be in hundreds or thousands. For instance in the construction of a dam if they forget to put the reinforcements in proper place then the entire structure will collapse.
These guys work up to 36 hours in at a stretch in some cases so that people will have uninterrupted power supply or a good road to travel. Mechanical and electrical engineers have an assembly line most of the time but for us every design is unique and it can’t be replicated anywhere. Every time we have to update ourselves for making lives easier for the society. The society will not have any of the modern amenities if it is not for the civil engineers.
Examples of Civil Engineering projects in our daily life
The place where you were born i.e. Hospitals were built by Civil Engineers.
The place where you will study i.e. Schools and colleges are built by Civil Engineers.
The place where you will drive your vehicle i.e. roads built By civil Engineers.
The place where you will work i.e. your offices built by Civil Engineers.
The place from where you draw water for the irrigation of crops will be supplied by Dams through Canals build by Civil Engineers.
The place where trains run i.e. railway tracks Build by Civil engineers.
The place from where the planes fly i.e… Runways build by Civil Engineers.
The place from where you get water in your homes to drink and for other purposes i.e. water tanks is build by Civil Engineers.
The place which gets affected due to Floods is photographically surveyed by Civil Engineers in order to get the information of the damage caused, so that proper relief measures can be taken in short time.
Civil Engineers are required everywhere on Earth
The activities of Civil Engineers are required everywhere on Earth. Being a Professional Civil Engineer myself, I would like to say, “There’s almost no Civilization without the existence of Civil Engineers.” Hence, it is recommended that every Civil Engineers should try to get knowledge in depth regarding the subjects they study in their educational course as much as possible.
The application of these subjects is required in our daily life. A Civil Engineer without a proper knowledge in civil engineering may become a huge threat towards the society if they perform a task related with civil engineering.