BAKIL, AL-MAIZHAR J

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ACTIVITY 3: Various Fields of Civil Engineering

Civil Engineering is a profession that deals with the design, construction, and
maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment. It has a wide range of works that
includes public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage systems, structural
components of buildings, and railways. Civil engineering is broken into a number of sub-
disciplines: the Structural Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Construction Management
Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Water and Hydraulic Engineering, and Transportation
Engineering. Although in some countries, the number of Civil Engineering fields vary. There are
countries that categorize Surveying as a field of Civil Engineering with their own professional
license. These are the most common fields of Civil Engineering:

Structural Engineering
A field of civil engineering that involves using physics, mathematics, and empirical
knowledge to design the ‘bones’ and load-bearing elements of structures in a safe manner.
Structural engineers must also be able to compute the stability, strength, rigidity, and
earthquake-susceptibility of built structures, both for buildings and non-building structures.
Other designers, such as architects and building services engineers, are incorporated into the
structural designs. They can also be involved in the design of machinery, medical equipment, and
vehicles when structural integrity has an impact on the functionality and safety of the product.
Modern structural engineering provides a vast and precise body of knowledge that can properly
anticipate the performance of various shapes and materials used in structures in order to
withstand loads and stresses.

Construction Engineering and Management

Professionals in construction management engineering design, budget, and direct
projects such as highways, bridges, schools, hospitals, and residential and commercial structures.
Construction management engineers are in charge of selecting, hiring, and supervising speciality
trade contractors such as carpenters, plumbers, and electricians.
Construction managers are involved with a project from conception to completion, with
the goal of completing it on time and on budget. Their extensive construction knowledge and
project management skills are critical to getting projects off the ground and hiring contractors
that can deliver high-quality work on time.
Geotechnical Engineering
A field of Civil Engineering that deals with the behaviour of soils under the influence of
loading pressures and soil-water interactions. This knowledge is used to design waste
containment foundations, retaining walls, earth dams, clay liners, and geosynthetics.
Geotechnical engineers' objectives can range from foundation design and temporary excavation
support to route selection for railways and highways, as well as the increasingly important fields
of waste landfill disposal and groundwater contamination. As a result, the geotechnical engineer
participates in field and laboratory investigations to identify the engineering parameters of site
soils and other geomaterials, which are then used in the analytical examination of the problem.

Environmental Engineering
Environmental engineering’s purpose is to make societal development and the utilization
of water, land, and air resources as sustainable as possible. This goal is attained by managing
these resources in such a way that pollution and deterioration of the environment are minimized.
Environmental engineers research water, soil, and air pollution issues and propose
technical solutions that are compatible with legislative, economic, social, and political
considerations in order to solve, mitigate, or regulate these issues. Civil engineers are involved in
a variety of operations, including water supply and sewerage, surface water and groundwater
quality management, contaminated site remediation, and solid waste management.
The works of an environmental engineers include, but are not limited to, the planning,
design, construction and operation of water and wastewater treatment facilities in municipalities
and industries, modelling and analysis of surface water and groundwater quality, design of soil
and remediation systems, planning for the disposal and reuse of wastewaters and sludges, and
the collection, transport, processing, recovery and disposal of solid wastes according to accepted
engineering practices. Environmental engineers are called upon to play an important role in
environmental protection, because engineering solutions are required to meet the
environmental standards set by legislation.

Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Water resources engineering deals with the quantitative analysis of the hydrologic cycle
or the distribution and circulation of water linking the earth's atmosphere, land and oceans. It
involves the following: Surface runoff is measured as the difference between precipitation and
abstractions, such as infiltration (which replenishes groundwater flow), surface storage and
evaporation. Applications include the management of the urban water supply, the design of
urban storm-sewer systems, and flood forecasting.
 While Hydraulic Engineering consists of the application of fluid mechanics to water
flowing in an isolated environment (pipe, pump) or in an open channel (river, lake, ocean). Civil
engineers are primarily concerned with open channel flow, which is governed by the
interdependent interaction between the water and the channel. Applications include the design
of hydraulic structures, such as sewage conduits, dams and breakwaters, the management of
waterways, such as erosion protection and flood protection, and environmental management,
such as prediction of the mixing and transport of pollutants in surface water. Hydroelectric-power
development, water supply, irrigation and navigation are some familiar applications of water
resources engineering involving the utilization of water for beneficial purposes.

Transportation Engineering
Transportation has always been important in the evolution of society, initially in terms of
trade routes and harbors, but more recently in terms of land- and air-based systems. The
transportation engineer's job is to plan, design, develop, run, and maintain these transportation
networks in such a way that people and commodities can travel safely, efficiently, and
conveniently.
Growing environmental concerns have reignited interest in public transportation system
development and administration. Professional tasks can range from urban road and transit
design and operation to regional and national railroad, seaport, and airport location, building,
and operation. The traditional subject of highway design and planning, as well as the rapidly
increasing area of traffic control systems. The transportation engineer is faced with the task of
developing both network links and large terminals to meet transportation demands while taking
into account the facilities’ land-use, environmental, and other implications.

References:
Construction Management Engineering Degrees. (2021, August 19). All Engineering Schools. Retrieved
February 4, 2022, from https://www.allengineeringschools.com/engineering-
careers/career/construction-management-engineering/
Environmental Engineering. (n.d.). Civil Engineering. Retrieved February 4, 2022, from
https://www.mcgill.ca/civil/undergrad/areas/environmental
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering. (n.d.). Civil Engineering. Retrieved February 4, 2022, from
https://www.mcgill.ca/civil/undergrad/areas/water
Geotechnical Engineering. (n.d.). Civil Engineering. Retrieved February 4, 2022, from
https://www.mcgill.ca/civil/undergrad/areas/geotechnical
Structural Engineering. (n.d.). Civil Engineering. Retrieved February 4, 2022, from
https://www.mcgill.ca/civil/undergrad/areas/structural
Transportation Engineering. (n.d.). Civil Engineering. Retrieved February 4, 2022, from
https://www.mcgill.ca/civil/undergrad/areas/transportation