Department of Civil Engineering

Full Module Specification

Module Title/Course Name : Introduction to Civil Engineering
Module Code : CE-107
Module Level :
Academic Year : 2019-2020
Module Lecturer : MD. REZAUL ISALM
Contact Address : 01716-862295
Counseling Hour : Before or after class or by appointment
Module Credit : 2
Pre Requisites :
Co Requisites : N/A
Duration of Module : 2hrs/week
Grading : As outlined in the University policy
Teaching Methodology : Class room lecture, multimedia presentation,
discussion, group study, assignment etc.

Method of Evaluation : Attendance =20

Continuous Assessment =20
Mid-term =30
Final =30
TOTAL =100
 CE 107: Introduction to Civil Engineering

Course Outline

•Introduction to Civil Engineering,

•Water and Environment: Man and Environment,
•Components of Environment,
•Water resources,
•Wetlands in Bangladesh,
•Water Pollution,
•Renewable and Non-renewable Energy

History of Civil Engineering

•Pre 18th Century Civil Engineering: 4000 - 2000 BC – ancient

pyramids, great walls of China

•18th – 20th Century Engineering: Separate branch in 1819 in Norwich

University – ASCE etc. Societies

•Modern Civil Engineering: Design, create and test simulations

Introduction to Civil Engineering

•What is Civil Engineering?

•Branches of Civil Engineering

What is Civil Engineering?

•Civil engineering is the oldest engineering.

•Civil Engineering deals with the design, construction, and maintenance

of structures or public works as they are related to earth, water or in
space.

•Civil Engineering is also known as the mother of all engineering

Branches of Civil Engineering

 Structural Engineering

 Geotechnical Engineering

 Transportation Engineering

 Environmental Engineering

 Water Resources Engineering

Structural Engineering

 Design of new structures

 Upgrading existing structures

 Intelligent use of new technologies and materials to control

structural behavior

 Structures include buildings, bridges, offshore platforms,

transmission towers, and other specialized facilities

Dubai Towers Dubai, United Arab Emirates

 Eiffel Tower Paris, France

Geotechnical Engineering

 Geotechnical Engineering is concerned with engineering behavior

of earth materials
 Geotechnical engineers:
 Investigate existing subsurface conditions (tunnels excavations,
pipelines)
 Determine physical and chemical properties relevant to project
considered
 Assess risks posed by site conditions
 Design earthworks and structural foundations
 Monitor earthwork and foundation construction
Transportation Engineering

 Planning, Design, Operation and Maintenance of safe and efficient

transportation systems

 Incorporating new technologies to improve system performance

 Intelligent Transportation Systems

Environmental Engineering

 Protect & improve environmental quality

 Natural systems
 Engineered systems
 Protect human health & well-being
 Provide safe drinking water
 Waste water treatment systems
 Hazardous waste site clean-ups

Water Resources Engineering

 Physical control of water

 Public water supply
 Flood control
 Irrigation, navigation etc.
 Computer modeling of water flow

 Performance requirements for lock and dam structures

Water and Environment: Man and Environment and Components
of Environment

What is Environment?

 All the things around us with which we interact:

 Living things, animals, plants, forests, fungi, etc.
 Non-living things, Continents, oceans, clouds, soil, rocks

What is Environmental Science?

Environmental sciences an interdisciplinary academic field that

integrates physical and biological sciences, (including but not limited to
Ecology, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Soil Science, Geology,
Atmospheric Science and Geography) to the study of the environment,
and the solution of environmental problems. Environmental science
provides an integrated, quantitative, and interdisciplinary approach to
the study of environmental systems.
Related areas of study include environmental studies and environmental
engineering. Environmental studies incorporate more of the social
sciences for understanding human relationships, perceptions and policies
towards the environment. Environmental engineering focuses on design
and technology for improving environmental quality.

Why Study Environmental Science?

•Can help us avoid mistakes made by past civilizations.

•Human survival depends on how we interact with our environment.
•Our impacts are now global.
•Many great civilizations have fallen after depleting their resources.

What is Environmental Engineering?

Environmental engineering is the sister field of civil engineering and

involves integrating engineering principles and science to improve
natural environment and to protect it while providing potable water,
clean air and sustainable life for humans and other organisms. Another
crucial task tackled by environmental engineering is that of cleaning up
polluted areas/sites. It also deals with tackling issues that are being faced
by public.

Why there is always a need for Environmental Engineer?

•We always need clean water to drink

• We always have wastes to treat and dispose
• We always need clean air to breathe

We always want cheaper and better ways to improve all of the above

Major Environmental Problems

Food Supply Problems

• Overgrazing
• Farmland loss and degradation
 • Wetlands loss and degradation
• Overfishing
• Coastal Pollution
• Soil Erosion
• Soil Stalinization
• Soil Water logging
• Water shortages
• Groundwater depletion
• Loss of biodiversity
• Poor nutrition

Waste Production

• Solid Waste
• Hazardous Waste

Biodiversity Depletion

• Habitat destruction
• Habitat degradation
• Extinction

Air Pollution

• Global climate change

• Stratosphere ozone depletion
• Urban air pollution
• Acid deposition
• Outdoor pollutants
• Indoor pollutants
• Noise
Water Pollution

• Sediment
• Nutrient Overload
• Toxic Chemicals
• Infectious agents
• Oxygen depletion
• Pesticides
• Oil spills
• Excess heat

Major Components of Environment

Atmosphere –
• The mixture of Gases that surrounds the earth.
• Predominantly, nitrogen, Oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water
vapor.
• Climatic conditions affecting the earth occur within this layer
• The atmosphere acts as a shield protecting the earth from
cosmic rays and filters out the tissue damaging ultraviolet
radiation of the sun
• Without the atmosphere life would not be possible on earth

Hydrosphere –
• All of earth’s water, including oceans, lakes, streams,
underground water, snow, and ice – excluding water vapor in
the atmosphere (considered as part of atmosphere)
• The oceans and the seas cover seven-tenths of the earth’s
surface
• Ninety-seven percent of the total supply of water on earth are
held in the oceans and seas whilst the rest is freshwater
 • Oceans play an important role in determining the climate of a
region and are an important component of the hydrologic
cycle

Biosphere –
• All of the earth’s organisms, including both animal and plant
species.

• Comprise of -
• The flora –

• Hundreds of thousands of species of plant life, both terrestrial

and aquatic
• The fauna –

• All species of animals on land and water

• The biotic community interacts within themselves and with
its physical environment. Together they form what is known
as the ecosystem.

Geosphere –
• The solid earth, principally composed of rock and regolith
(the irregular blanket of loose, uncemented rock particles).
• Most of the earthquake occur along and near these
Water Resources

Wetlands in Bangladesh

What are Wetlands?

 Bangladesh possesses enormous area of wetlands including rivers

and streams, freshwater lakes and marshes, haors, baors, beels,
water storage reservoirs, fish ponds, flooded cultivated fields and
estuarine systems with extensive mangrove swamps.
 Wetlands of coastal and marine origin are less important in
Bangladesh. The haors, baors, beels and jheels are of fluvial origin
and are commonly identified as freshwater wetlands.
 These freshwater wetlands occupy four landscape units -
floodplains, freshwater marshes, lakes and swamp forests.

Wetlands: Examples

 Located in the lower edge of the topography, wetlands are subject

to periodic inundation/flooding, shallow to deep, during wet
monsoon.
 Apart from the major river courses and streams, the major
wetlands of fluvial origin occupy the floodplains.
 The manmade wetlands including ponds, dighis and lakes are
distributed all over the floodplains. Some important wetlands of
the country are chalan beel, Atrai basin, lower Punarbhaba
floodplain, Gopalganj-Khulna Beels, Arial Beel, and Surma-
Kushiyara floodplain.
Importance of Wetlands

 The wetlands have a wide range of ecological, socio-cultural,

economic and commercial importance and values in Bangladesh.
 These are important habitats for a large variety of flora and fauna
of local, national and regional significance.
 Wetlands are critically important in Bangladesh for human
settlements, biodiversity, fisheries, agricultural diversity,
navigation & communication, and ecotourism.

Degradation of Wetlands

 Degradation of wetlands has caused several problems including

 extinction and reduction of wildlife,
 extinction of many indigenous wild and domesticated rice
varieties,
 loss of many indigenous aquatic plants, herbs, shrubs and weeds,
 loss of natural soil nutrients,
 loss of natural water reservoirs and of their resultant benefits,
 increase in the occurrence of flooding and degeneration of wetland
based ecosystems, occupations, socio-economic institutions and
cultures.

Hydrologic cycle

 Movement of water in the seas, land, and air

 Driven by solar energy and gravity
 Fig: Hydrologic Cycle

Long-Term Severe Drought Is Increasing

•Causes
 Extended period of below-normal rainfall
 Diminished groundwater
•Harmful environmental effects
 Dries out soils
 Stream flows
 Decreases tree growth and biomass
 Lowers net primary productivity and crop yields
 Shift in biomes
What is a Dam?
Dam: An artificial barrier usually constructed across a stream to retain
water for hydropower, irrigation, flood management, etc. Example:
Kaptai Dam

Fig: Kaptai Dam

What is a Barrage?
Barrage: A structure built on a river mainly to divert its flow by closing
gates. During flood the gates remain open and the barrage functions as a
bridge. Example: Teesta barrage
 Fig: Teesta barrage

Terminologies

Inundation: The overflow of waters at upstream lands may be

occasioned due to placement of dam or other intervention (fringe area in
the Kaptai reservoir). But often no distinction is made between flooding
and inundation.
Water Logging: Prolonged water level setup at a depression due to
absence of adequate drainage route (Beel Dakatia).
Drainage Congestion: Water level setup due to inadequate drainage
opening or unfavorabledownstream condition (urban drainage in Dhaka
city).
Renewable and Non-renewable Resources

Resources

Renewable: resource is something that cannot be depleted, but renewed

continuously. Solar energy is an example of perpetual resource. It is
expected to last at least another 6 billion years.

Potentially Renewable: resources are those which can be replenished

fairly rapidly (hours to several decades) through natural process.
Examples are forest trees, grasslands, wild animals, water, air, etc.

Sustainable yield : A potentially renewable resource can be depleted if it

is exhausted at a very fast rate, greater than its replenishment. The
highest rate at which a potentially renewable resource can be used is
called its Sustainable Yield.
Renewable and Non-renewable Resources
Environmental Degradation: When potentially renewable resources used
up at a faster rate than its replenishment, the available supply begins to
shrink, a process known as environmental degradation. Deforestation
and desertification, excessive erosion of top soil, depletion of ground
water, etc. Several types of environmental degradation can change
potentially renewable resources into nonrenewable or unusable resources
(handout)
Example: Sahara desert was once upon a time a huge green area with
grasslands and trees. Overgrazing and deforestation lead to its present
condition.

Nonrenewable Resources: Resources that exist in a fixed quantity in

the earth crust are called nonrenewable resources.
On a geologic time scale of million or billion year they might be
renewable, but not at a shorter human time scale of hundred or even
thousand year.
- Energy resources like coal, oil and gas
- Metallic mineral resources like iron, aluminum and copper, etc.