MODULE 3
(ES 113e – Civil
Engineering Orientation)
CIVIL ENGINEERING
AND SOCIETY AND
OTHER PROFESSIONS
Engr. Leo M. Sauro, D.M.
(+63)-9451136579
leomsauro@gmail.com
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OVERVIEW
Engineering has been an aspect of life since the
beginnings of human existence.
“Civil engineers are changing the world. They dream up
creative, practical solutions that benefit the everyday lives
of people and the communities in which we live. They
work with smart and inspiring people to invent, design
and build things that matter.”
In this module, the students will explore the role of
civil engineering in a society and its relation to other
professions.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of this chapter, you should be able to
1. Understand the history of Civil Engineering and
the profession
2. Familiarize with the practices of Civil Engineers in
relation to their interaction with society
INTRODUCTION
The scope of the practice of Civil Engineering is
defined in the Civil Engineering Law of 1950 or R.A. 544
and embrace services in the form of consultation, design,
preparation of plans, specifications, estimates, erection,
installation and supervision of the construction of streets,
bridges, highways, railroads, airports and hangars, port
works, canals, river and shore improvements,
lighthouses, and dry docks; buildings, fixed structures for
irrigation, flood protection, drainage, water supply and
sewerage works; demolition of permanent structures; and
tunnels.
The enumeration of any work in this section shall
not be construed as excluding any other work requiring
civil engineering knowledge and application.
The teaching, lecturing and reviewing of a
professional civil engineering subjects in the curriculum of
the BSCE degree or a subject in the Civil Engineering
licensure examination given in any school, college,
university or any other educational institution is also
considered as practice of Civil Engineering.
 ROLE OF CIVIL ENGINEER IN SOCIETY

A civil engineer has to conceive, plan, estimate, get

approval, create and maintain all civil engineering
activities. Civil engineer has very important role in the
development of the following infrastructure:

1. Measure and map the earth’s surface.

2. Plan new townships and extension of existing
towns.
3. Build the suitable structures for the rural and urban
areas for various utilities.
4. Build tanks and dams to exploit water resources.
5. Build river navigation and flood control projects.
6. Build canals and distributaries to take water to
agricultural fields.
7. Purify and supply water to the needy areas like
houses, schools, offices etc.
8. Provide and maintain communication systems like
roads, railways, harbors and airports.
9. Devise systems for control and efficient flow of
traffic.
10. Provide and maintain solid and waste water
disposal system.
11. Monitor land, water and air pollution and take
measures to control them.

Fast growing industrialization has put heavy

responsibilities on civil engineers to preserve and protect
environment. Infrastructural Development have great
impact on the economy of the country.

Civil engineering activities in the infrastructural

development are:

1. Good planning of towns and extension areas in the

cities. Each extension area should be self
sufficient in accommodating offices, educational
institutions, markets, hospitals, recreational
facilities and residential accommodation.
2. Assured water supply.
3. A good drainage system.
4. Pollution free environmental conditions.
5. A well planned and built network of roads and road
crossings.
6. Railways connections to all important cities and
towns.
7. Airports and harbors of national and international
standards.

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 Infrastructure also involves electricity supply,
without assured electric supply no city town can develop.
Internet and telephones are also desirable features.
Educational facility also forms part of infrastructure.
Proximity of good primary and secondary schools to
residential areas is desirable. Collegiate and professional
education also form part of infrastructure of a city.

Good health care facility is a necessity. Primary

health centers, specialized hospitals and doctors add to
the desirable infrastructure facility.

Effect of infrastructure facilities are:

1. Connecting producing centers to marketing places

minimize exploitation of producers by middlemen. Imports
and exports became easy and as a result of which whole
world becomes a village.

2. Improved irrigation facility enhances agricultural

products and hence producers as well as consumers are
benefitted.

3. Infrastructural facility develops scope for a number of

industries and it creates job opportunities.

4. Improved education and health care give rise to skilled

and healthy work force. Quality of life of the people is
improved.

5. Utilization of manpower for the benefit of mankind

brings down antisocial activities.

6. In case of natural calamities assistance can be easily

extended to the affected areas and misery of affected
people minimized.

7. Infrastructural facility improves defense system and

peace exists in the country.

8. Improved economical power of the country brings a

respectable status in the world. The world has realized
that a government should not involve itself in production
and distribution but should develop infrastructure to
create an atmosphere for economical development

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 CE and Other Professions

Civil Engineering works are generally one-of-a-

kind projects; they are often grand in scale; and they
usually require cooperation among professionals of many
different disciplines. The completion of a civil engineering
project involves the solution of technical problems in
which information from numerous sources and myriad
non-technical factors play a significant role. Some of the
most common examples of civil engineering works
include bridges, buildings, dams, airports, ports and
harbors, highways, tunnels, towers and water distribution
systems. Civil Engineers are concerned with flood
controls, landslide, air and water pollution, and the design
of facilities to withstand earthquakes and other natural
hazards.

Civil Engineering is one of the broadest

engineering disciplines both in terms of the range of
problems that fall within its preview and in the range of
knowledge required to solve those problems.

Civil engineers collaborate with architects with

regards to the design of infrastructures; they also
coordinate and supervise construction, working with other
engineers and contractors and other personnel. Example,
electrical engineers on electrical works; mechanical
engineer on mechanical works like centralized air
conditioning; Plumbing engineer or master plumber for
plumbing works; geotechnical engineer on soil analysis
and soil stabilization and others. They make decisions on
the best materials and methods, review and approve
project drawings, manage budgets, schedule equipment
and materials purchases and delivery, and make
necessary changes when the situation warrants or when
clients change their minds about something.

The allied programs to BS Civil Engineering are

Architecture, Electrical Engineering, Geodetic
Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Sanitary
Engineering , Management Engineering and Industrial
Engineering.

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 FEEDBACK:

Civil Engineers Do Great Things, Whether People

Realize it or Not!

We as engineers absolutely do great things! Wikipedia

defines civil engineering as a professional engineering
discipline that deals with the design, construction and
maintenance of the physical and naturally built
environment, including works such as bridges, roads,
canals, dams and buildings.

So basically, what they are saying is civil engineers

design, or at least contribute to the design, of just about
everything and anything you see when you walk
outdoors, right? Buildings, roadways, dams, traffic
signals, traffic signs, storm water ponds and catch basins,
dams, utilities, curbs, sidewalks….

I think you get the picture. How many objects that we

come in contact with each day are designed by civil
engineers? A lot! What we do is so important to everyday
society; however people rarely recognize it because they
take all of these things for granted.

Occurrences like what happened during earthquakes and

the like really show you how important our work is. If we
fail, people can die and we can lose our license and even
go to jail. If we succeed, everything is normal……

I salute all of you engineers out there who work long

hours to meet stressful project deadlines and in doing so
greatly improve the lives of people all over the world.

I leave you with the following excerpt from a speech

made by Herbert C. Hoover, Engineer and 31st President
of the United States:

Engineering is a great profession. There is the fascination

of watching a figment of the imagination emerge through
the aid of science to a plan on paper. Then it moves to
realization in stone or metal or energy. Then it brings jobs
and homes to men. Then it elevates the standards of
living and ads to the comforts of life. That is the
engineer’s high privilege.

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 The great liability of the engineer compared to men of
other professions is that his works are out in the open
where all can see them. His acts, step by step, are in
hard substance. He cannot bury his mistakes in the grave
like the doctors. He cannot argue them into thin air or
blame the judge like the lawyers. He cannot, like the
architects, cover his failures with trees and vines. He
cannot, like the politicians, screen his shortcomings by
blaming his opponents and hope that the people will
forget.

On the other hand, unlike the doctor, his is not a life

among the weak. Unlike the soldier, destruction is not his
purpose. Unlike the lawyer, quarrels are not his daily
bread. To the engineer falls the job of clothing the bare
bones of science with life, comfort, and hope. No doubt
as years go by people forget which engineer did it, even if
they ever knew. Or some politician puts his name on it.
Or they credit it to some promoter who used other
people’s money with which to finance it. But the engineer
himself looks back at the unending stream of goodness
which flows from his successes with satisfactions that few
professions may know.

LEARNING EXERCISE:

1. If you become a civil engineer someday, what role

will you portray in the current situation in your local
community? (Name your local community or LGU)

2. During the construction of GAISANO Grand

Catarman, besides the civil engineer, what other
professions were involve in the construction of the
said infrastructure and in what particular items of
works?

Note: (Pls indicate on your answer sheets your Name, Subject,

Module #, Activity #)

Use A4 size bond paper for your answer sheets. Submit your Student
Activity/Assessment (hardcopy and handwritten) to
* thru the UEP municipal link or university main link
* any mode that will be deemed safe for you and me, on or before
Sept 28, 2021.

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 REFERENCES

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