History of Civil Engineering

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4000 BCE 2000 BCE

The Earliest Practices

Humans st art ed to const ruct longer last ing shelt ers in Ancient Egypt and Mesopot amia.

2600 BCE

•◀︎ The Pyramids of Egypt

T he Pyramids of Egypt were const ruct ed around 2600 BC. First inst ance of large st ruct ures
built by humans.

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447 BCE 438 BCE

The Parthenon
T he Part henon by Ilkt inos in Ancient Greece was built .

220 BCE

•◀︎ The Great Wall of China

T he Great Wall of China was first built in 220 BC by Qin Shi Huang who was t he first Emperor of
China. Part of t hat wall st ill remains.

20 BCE

•◀︎ Extensive highway system in Europe

T he Romans built an ext ensive highway syst em t hroughout t heir conquered land. Built to expand t rading
and move legions quickly, t he init ial st ruct ure st ill remains.
 1450

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Machu Picchu
T he Machu Picchu locat ed in Peru was built around 1450. It was built at t he height of t he Inca
Empire and built in t he Andes Mount ains was a huge engineering achievement based of t he fact it had
running wat er and drainage syst ems t hroughout t he cit y.

1747

•◀︎ Early Education of Civil Engineers

During t he 18t h cent ury, civil engineering began to be formally t aught . T he first engineering school was
locat ed in France and opened in 1747.

1835

•◀︎ First U.S. Civil Engineering degree

T he first civil engineering degree in t he Unit ed St at es was awarded in 1835 by Rensselaer
Polyt echnic Inst it ut e.

2018

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Civil Engineering Today
Civil Engineering is one of t he professional engineering disciplines t hat cont ains design,
const ruct ion, st ruct ures and maint enance of buildings bot h man-made and nat urally built . Second oldest
engineering, where t he oldest is milit ary engineering.