ECM157 – INTRODUCTION TO CIVIL ENGINEERING

Chapter 1:
Background, History, and
Wonders of Civil Engineering
 ECM157 – INTRODUCTION TO CIVIL ENGINEERING

Contents
 Course Outcomes & Program Outcomes
 Learning Outcomes
 Civil Engineering As A Profession
 Civil Engineering’s Historical Inheritance
 The Ancient Engineers
 ECM157 – INTRODUCTION TO CIVIL ENGINEERING

Course Outcome & Program Outcome

This chapter address CO1PO1/PLO1

CO1 : Formulate the knowledge of being professional in

engineering practices and attributes.
PO1 : Apply knowledge of mathematics, natural science,
engineering fundamentals and an engineering
specialization to wide practical procedures and
practices.
PLO1 : Knowledge
 ECM157 – INTRODUCTION TO CIVIL ENGINEERING

Learning Outcome
At the end of this session, students should be able to:

1. Understand the profession civil engineer

2. Explain the historical inheritance in civil engineering
3. Acknowledge the ancient engineer
 ECM157 – INTRODUCTION TO CIVIL ENGINEERING

Civil Engineering As A Profession

 In the western world, the origins of civil engineering as a profession

can be found in the years including the Industrial Revolution, the late
18th and early 19th centuries.

 The scientific discoveries the new commercial needs of the Industrial

Revolution converged to create an ideal environment for innovation.
During this period, certain military engineers began to work on
nonmilitary, or civil, projects.

 The term civil engineer was adopted to emphasize this difference. In

response to the growth of these new civil projects, the British
Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) was chartered in 1818 and the
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) was founded in 1852.
 ECM157 – INTRODUCTION TO CIVIL ENGINEERING

Civil Engineering As A Profession

 What is an Engineering ?
 According to the Accreditation Board for Engineering and
Technology (ABET)
 ENGINEERING is :
 Profession in which a knowledge of the mathematical and natural
sciences gained by study, experience, and practice is applied to
develop ways to utilize economically the materials and nature for
the benefit of mankind

 According to the Institution of Engineer Australia (IE Australia)

• ENGINEERING is :
 A profession directed towards application advancement of skill
based upon knowledge in maths, S&T , integrated with business
and management
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Continued...

 Who is an Engineer?

 Individuals who combine knowledge of

sciences, mathematic and economic to solve
technical problems that confront society.
 “The engineer is a problem solver”
 ECM157 – INTRODUCTION TO CIVIL ENGINEERING

Continued...

What is Civil Engineer?

 A broad field of engineering that encompasses the conception,

design, construction and maintenance of fixed structures, or
public works, as they are related to earth, water, transportation
systems, or civilization and their processes.

 American Society of Civil Engineers 1961 (ASCE)

 "Civil engineering is the profession in which a knowledge of

the mathematical and physical sciences gained by study,
experience, and practice is applied with judgment to develop
ways to utilize, economically, the materials and forces of
nature for the progressive well-being of humanity in creating,
improving, and protecting the environment, in providing
facilities for community living, industry and transportation,
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Civil Engineering’s Historical Inheritance

 After 4000 B.C., when humans began to abandon the

nomadic way of life, the need for water, permanent shelter,
religious monuments and burial sites emerged.

 Early river valley civilizations, such as those around the

Tigris and Euphrates (Mesopotamia), Nile (Egypt), Indus
(India), and Hwang-ho (China), required canal systems to
irrigate surrounding land so that farmers could raise
In the 18th century,
sufficient food to support the population. John Smeaton was the
first person to actually
call himself a “Civil
 Kings or rulers desired houses larger than huts of stone, Engineer’.
clay and priests wanted homes for the gods at least as
grand. To protect the growing wealth of these early
settlements, walls needed to be constructed. These were
the challenges that occupied the first engineers.
 ECM157 – INTRODUCTION TO CIVIL ENGINEERING
The Ancient Engineers
 The Original 7 Wonders of the World
 ECM157 – INTRODUCTION TO CIVIL ENGINEERING

1.0 Great Pyramid of Giza

• The Great Pyramid at Giza was constructed between 2584 and 2561 BCE for the
Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu.
• It was the tallest manmade structure in the world for almost 4,000 years. Initially
standing at 146.5 metres (481 feet).
• It is estimated to weigh approximately 6 million tonnes which consisting of 2.3 million
blocks of limestone and granite.
 ECM157 – INTRODUCTION TO CIVIL ENGINEERING

2.0 Hanging Garden of Babylon

• The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built by its greatest king Nebuchadnezzar II
between 605-562 BCE.
• Multileveled gardens reaching 22 meters (75 feet) high, complete with machinery for
circulating water.
• High stone terraces which imitated mountains and which were planted with many
types of large trees and flowers. Terraces would not only have created a pleasant
aesthetic effect of hanging vegetation but also made their irrigation easier.
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3.0 Mausoleum of Halicarnassus

• The monument was the tomb of Mausolus, ruler of Caria, in southwestern Asia. It was
built in Halicarnassus (Bodrum, Turkey), between about 353 and 351 BCE.
• Stood approximately 45 m (150ft) tall, with each of the four sides a domed with
sculptural reliefs.
• In the center of the courtyard there was a stone platform on which lay the tomb. A
staircase flanked by stone lions led to the top of the platform, which had numerous
statues of gods and goddesses on its outer walls.
• The Mausoleum was destroyed by an earthquake between the 11th and the 15th
century CE, and the stones were reused in local buildings.
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4.0 Colossus of Rhodes

• The Colossus of Rhodes was a giant statue of
the Greek god Helios, god of the sun, 35m
(100 ft) tall which stood by the harbour of that
city from 280 BCE.
• Made of bronze and reinforced with iron.
• The statue, which took 12 years to build by the
Greeks, was collapsed by an earthquake about
225/226 BCE.
• The fallen Colossus was left in place until 654
CE, when Arabian forces raided Rhodes and
had the statue broken up.
 ECM157 – INTRODUCTION TO CIVIL ENGINEERING

5.0 Statue of Zeus at Olympia

• The statue was placed in the huge
Temple of Zeus at Olympia in western
Greece which took 8 years to construct
by Greeks.
• The statue, almost 12 m (40 feet) high
and plated with gold and ivory,
represented the god sitting on
cedarwood with ivory, gold, and precious
stones.
• The temple may have been destroyed in
a fire in 426 CE.
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6.0 Lighthouse of Alexandria

• The Lighthouse of Alexandria was built on
the tiny island of Pharos in the harbor of
Alexandria, Egypt.
• The construction began around 280 BCE
and took 33 years to complete. It is said to
have between 115 and 135 m (380-440ft)
high.
• It was used to guide thousands of ships
safely into the harbor. During the day, a
reflective mirror on the top level of the
lighthouse would reflect the sunlight to guide
the ships. At night, a fire was used instead.
• Lighthouse of Alexandria was collapsed due
to an earthquakes.
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7.0 Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

 The Temple of Artemis at
Ephesus located on the western
coast of Asia Minor (modern
Turkey) was built in the 6th
century BCE.
 It was the first marble temple of
the Ancient world and had 127
marble columns.
 It took 120 years to build.
 Early construction was built at the
expense of Croesus, the wealthy
king of Lydia.
 Herostratus burned it down to
achieve lasting fame. Rebuilt by
Alexander the Great and
destroyed again by the Goths.
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• The Seven Wonders of the Modern World

 It was chosen by the American Society of Civil Engineers

Channel Tunnel

CN Tower

Golden Gate Bridge

Itaipu Dam

The Empire State Building

Panama Canal

North Sea Protection Works

 ECM157 – INTRODUCTION TO CIVIL ENGINEERING

TUTORIAL
1. Describe the features of any FIVE (5) ancient man-made
engineering wonders in the world that were construct without the
use of modern technology.

2. Briefly explain the roles of civil engineers in the society.

3. Defined the term Civil Engineering and explain THREE (3)

examples of the Modern Wonders which are related to civil
engineering.

4. List FIVE (5) mega construction project in Malaysia.

ECM157 – INTRODUCTION TO CIVIL ENGINEERING

Thank you…