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Definition:
Civil Engineering is a very important branch of engineering that deals with the design and construction of buildings, roads, bridges, canals, tunnels, harbors, dams, airports, railways, sewerage systems, etc.
John Smeaton is known to be the father of Civil Engineering. He was the first self-proclaimed civil Engineer.
History of Civil Engineering:
Since the beginning of human civilization, Civil Engineering has been a very important part of human life. Civil Engineering work existed from 400 BC – to 2000 BC. In this era, a different civilizations like Egyptian, Indus valley, and Mesopotamia did enough growth. Construction and development of shelter became very popular in this era. They also discovered wheel and water transportation. The pyramids of Egypt are a very good example of ancient Civil Engineering work. Some other constructions like the Qanat water supply system in ancient Iran (3000 BC), the Construction of Parthenon in Greece (447-438 BC), The Great Wall of China (220 BC) other structures like the bridge, road, aqueduct, etc. built by Romans.
Before the 18th century, Civil Engineering was part of military engineering. After the 18th century, Civil Engineering separated from military engineering to co-operate only with civil society, not the defense.
John Smeaton was assumed to be the first Civil engineer and he is called the father of Civil Engineering. John Smeaton made Eddystone Lighthouse which is built on Eddystone Rocks. In the 1771 century, John Smeaton made the Smeaton Society for Civil Engineers.
In 1818, the first Civil Engineering institute was opened in London. In 1828 Civil Engineering became a professional course for students.
Education Curriculum for Civil Engineering:
Civil Engineers possess a degree in Civil Engineering. Normally, it is a 4-5 year duration course and it is called Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) or Bachelor of Engineering (B.E). It includes some basic subjects like professional communication, personality development programs, Management subjects, and other core Civil subjects like the strength of the materials, mechanics, structural analysis and design, survey, concrete technology, water resource engineering, transportation engineering, environmental engineering, etc.
Categories in Civil Engineering:
1. Construction
2. Material Science
3. Survey
4. Earthquake Engineering
5. Coastal Engineering
6. Water Resource Engineering
7. Urban Planning
8. Geo technical
A details description for each category is as follows.
1. Construction:
Construction in civil Engineering includes work such as planning and execution. It deals with the construction of buildings, skyscrapers, roads, tunnels, canals, harbors, airports, etc. Ms. Project and Primavera is popular software that is used for planning. It uses techniques of Civil Engineering sub-discipline to complete the work.
2. Material Science:
“Study of different types of material and their properties is defined as Material Science.”
These properties of the material are used to design the structure. A Civil Engineer should have strong knowledge of material science to design the structure.
Some basic properties of materials from the perspective of Civil Engineers are as follows.
Strength:
Strength is the property of materials which indicates the amount of load a material can bear up to a certain limit. It resists the deformation against the applied load.
Hardness:
The act of absorbing energy by the material is called toughness. In this process, the material deforms plastically without fracture.
Brittleness:
When a material is not distorted under load but suddenly breaks is called brittleness. Brittle material can be broken even if we apply a small load. Brittle material can absorb only a small amount of energy which causes their failure. Material such as glasses, ceramics comes under this category.
Stiffness:
Stiffness shows the flexibility of a material. It is complementary to flexibility. If the material is stiffer then it will be less flexible and vice versa.
Ductility:
The ability of material through which it can be divided into different size wires is called ductility.
Malleability:
The property of material through which it can be deformed and further can be divided into thin sheets under applied load is called malleability.
3. Survey:
Survey Engineering is a very important part of Civil Engineering. Surveying is a technique in which we record and analyze the 3-D position of a point on the earth and further draw a map on the field or in the office. Sometimes the position of a point can be above or below the earth.
4. Earthquake Engineering:
Studying and analyzing the seismic force to design earthquake resist structures is called Earthquake Engineering. A country can be divided into different earthquake zone based on geographical conditions and the probability of earthquakes occurring. Normally, every country has its Owen Earthquake Code of practice. So it is very important for Civil Engineers to study these codes that will help to design earthquake resist structures. I will recommend learning some designing software like Staad Pro, Safe, and Etab. This software is used worldwide for the analysis and design of the structure. Staad Pro and Etab are very popular throughout the world.
5. Coastal Engineering:
Development of coastal area and protect the land from soil erosion by using different Engineering techniques is called Coastal Engineering.
Most of the work is done under the supervision of public enterprise and they can pose the construction if any hazardous geographical event happen. There is a huge scope of coastal engineering in the defense sector because they protect the boundaries of sea cost for the safety and security of its military as well as its citizens.
6. Water Resource Engineering:
Water resources engineering is a very important aspect of Civil Engineering. It is concerned with the management of natural water resources, metrology, environmental engineering, floods, water channels, pipelines, fluid mechanics, irrigation, etc.
Water resource engineering is also concerned with hydraulics in which we study the behavior of the fluid.
7. Urban Planning:
Urban Planning concerns the built environment of a particular region. The main aim of urban planning is to develop a specific region for a good quality of life. It is a systematic development of water supply distribution networks, sanitation, communication, public transportation, telecom network, education, entertainment, business, etc.
8. Geo-technical:
The study of rocks, soil, their bearing capacity, types, and uses comes under the category of Geotechnical Engineering.
It is an important part of Civil Engineering. The design of the foundation and retaining wall is done by analyzing soil bearing capacity (SBC). Different types of soil have different characteristics and should be designed accordingly.
Uses of Civil Engineering
Civil Engineering has wide scope throughout the world and it has a bright future. Civil Engineering provides lucrative packages and rewarding careers but it demands high skills too. Civil Engineers deal with the big public enterprise to small homeowners. Some departments like railway and municipality co-operations provide blue color jobs, but it requires strong academic skills and good practical knowledge.
There are several departments like designing, construction, and planning Civil Engineers can get jobs. A Civil Engineer should have great practical knowledge and software skills to get a job in the field of design. On the other way construction, execution and management need strong management skills to tackle daily problems on site. If a Civil Engineer wants a job in the field of planning he should learn planning software like Primavera and MS Project.
Final Thought:
This article gives you an idea about what is civil engineering, branches of civil engineering, work scope, and job opportunities in the field of civil engineering.
If you have any doubts, please comment below.
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