Civil Engineering has developed over the ages to accommodate a society's needs, and was divided to many
branches due to the massive information and theorems that was developed, and so specialists in each field were
required.
Because of that we see now seven main branches of Civil Engineering in the professional life and taught
by the Engineering faculties around the world.
Construction Engineering:
The construction phase of a project represents the first tangible result of
a design; this phase is to be managed according to the three main parameters
of management: Cost, Time and Quality. The construction engineers are
responsible of taking the project to an equilibrium state between these
three parameters, and they turn designs into reality on time and within
budget.
A construction engineer should have deep understanding of economic
principles, design fundamentals, material properties and management
technique, as they apply their knowledge of construction methods and
equipments along with principles of financing, planning and managing to turn
the designs of other engineers into successful facilities.
Main Tasks:
- Review contracts of projects.
- Hire subcontractors.
- Provide quality control for the construction.
- Order materials needed for the project.
- Insure that the construction project is competed on time and within budget.
Employment by sub-discipline:
| Project Manager | Oversees the entire construction project, organizes sub-contractors to meet the critical path. |
| Estimator | Formulates the expense of a project, prepares the bid proposal, and uses quality control to reduce costs to the company to achieve the lowest bid on a project. |
| Scheduler | Designs the critical path of project without sacrificing quality or safety, works closely with the Project Manager. |
| Project Engineer | Designs the project to meet the specifications set by the owner and government regulations, renders pragmatic solutions to daily problems during construction. |
Structural Engineering
The first phase of building a structure is the design process that must assure the safety of the structure,
itsesthetics and serviceability. Structural Engineers are to design and analyze engineering structures such as;
tall buildings, bridges, dams, platforms, stadiums …etc.
Tasks of a structural engineer can be divided into two main categories, the design and the analysis. The design
process is both creative and technical and requires knowledge of the material and laws of mechanics which governs
material response. After the design process, the structure is analyzed to ensure that it has the required strength
and rigidity, this analysis is used to redesign the structure accounting for more accurate determination
quantities.
Structural Engineers should have knowledge about the behavior of deformable bodies, about the source, magnitudes
and probability of applied loads, about material properties, design philosophies and international and local design
codes.
Main Tasks:
- Ensure that a structure is safe for use and resist their own weight and dynamic environmental loads such as hurricanes, earthquakes, blizzards and floods.
- Develop and utilize knowledge of the properties and behaviors of steel, concrete and timber as well as new exotic materials.
- Evaluate and improve the load resistance capabilities of existing structures.
Employment by sub-discipline:
| Designer | Specializes (in larger firms) in areas such as bridges, offshore structures, buildings, transmission towers, etc., formulates plans that meet criteria based on quality, cost, and safety. |
| Evaluator/ Analyst | Explores safety concerns on an existing structures, modifies structures to raise safety levels or to expand existing capabilities. |
Geotechnical Engineering:
Till today al the structures are built in, on or with the earth. The plains of earth where the structure is to be built must be analysed carefully so that it will hold the structure and won’t fail. Geotechnical Engineering can be defined as the sub discipline of civil engineering that involves the study of natural materials found close to the surface of the earth; it includes the application of the principles of soil mechanics and rock mechanics to the design of foundations, retaining structures and earth structures.
Main Tasks:
- Study the properties of soil found in the project area; this study includes the origins of soil, grain size distribution, ability to drain water, compressibility, shear strength and load bearing capacity.
- Design containment areas for depositing soil wise materials.
- Analyze rocks and soils in a project area for their suitability to support extreme loads.
- Design the foundation of structures.
Employment by sub-discipline:
| Foundation Designer | Designs deep or shallow foundations to support load-bearing structures, examines soil and rock to determine the stability available for a project. |
| Landfill manager | Creates waste management facilities that meet the needs of a community, employs safe-management practices to avoid contamination of existing soils and water hydro patterns. |
| Engineering Geologist | Determines existing types of soil and rock, tests strengths of the ground to support loads, investigates landslides and other soil/rock related natural disasters. |
| Hazardous Waste Manage | Assesses sites to ensure that specifications meet the standards imposed by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, employs remedial acts to contain hazardous waste in facilities that do not disturb the environment. |
Transportation Engineering:
The transportation system is the basic component of any area’s physical, economic and social structure. The quality of a community is directly related to the quality of its transportation system. The main target of transportation engineering is to move people and goods safely and efficiently by planning and managing the transportation systems. It is the responsibility of transportation engineers to find methods of reducing traffic and make moving between far areas an easy task facing the challenge of increasing travel needs.
Main Tasks:
- Planning, designing, construction and management of transportation systems.
- Design highway systems, pavement materials and rapid transit projects.
- Design of bridges, tunnels and culverts.
- Designing, constructing and maintaining rail roads, airfields and ports.
- Upgrade the transportation capability by improving traffic control and mass transit systems.
Employment by sub-discipline:
| Planner | Works with the local, state, and federal levels to meet the requirements of the Department of Transportation |
| Consultant | Makes recommendations concerning the infrastructure, deals with transit related problems. |
| Operation Manager | Oversees traffic flows, alters roadway systems to meet the cyclic flow of traffic patterns. |
| Highway designer | Designs roadway systems. |
Environmental Engineering:
Environmental engineering aims to protect resources of the planet; it concerns itself with air pollution, water
pollution and ground water development.
Environmental engineers translate physical, chemical and biological processes into systems to avoid pollution
on earth.
Main Tasks:
- Design and analyze water treatment plants.
- Provide safe drinking water.
- Cleaning up sites contaminated with hazardous materials.
- Treat waste water and managing solid wastes.
- Develop ground water supplies.
Employment by sub-discipline:
N/A
Urban Engineering:
Organizing a community growth and replying it demands of buildings and factories is the job related to Urban engineering, urban engineers are the city planners who provide full development of community.
Main Tasks:
- Determining areas of industrial and residential growth.
- Coordinate projects such as projecting street patterns and identifying parks and residential areas.
- Develop plans for the growth of cities and systems.
- Street planning, zoning, residential, subdivision and industrial site development.
Employment by sub-discipline:
| City Manager | Oversees city engineers, works closely with local, county, and state political units, manages the overall upkeep of the city, responds to any natural or man-made disaster with emergency management techniques. |
| City Engineer | Specializes in Civil Engineering sub-discipline to meet city needs such as water quality, transportation, etc. |
| Federal Employee | Works for organizations like the Department of Transportation, Federal Emergency Management Association and Turnpike Authority. |
Water Resources Engineering:
The ultimate goal of water resources engineering is the maximum economic use of the total water resource. Water resources engineers are concerned with issues related to the quality and quantity of water.
Main Tasks:
- Supply water for cities, industry and irrigation.
- Construction and maintenance of canals, dams, pipe lines and pumping stations.
- Work with the behavior of water and other fluids from their conservation to their transportation.
Employment by sub-discipline:
| Hydraulic Engineer/Hydrologist | Analyzes rain fall data, characteristics of flow in open channels and pipes, designs, reservoirs, studies pollution migration and coastal and shore line protection. |
| Sanitary Engineer | Plans and designs municipal water facilities such as water treatment plants and sewage treatment plants. Also may operate and maintain these facilities. |
| Water Related Structural Engineer | Design such project as: hydroelectric plants, canals, docks and piers. |
