Civil engineering projects involve constructing or altering structures and the environment, from hydroelectric dams to beach nourishment. They can be public or private and range from wastewater treatment to seismic retrofitting. Civil engineers use math and science to ensure safety and efficiency and create designs that are flexible and robust. Projects can involve starting from scratch or refurbishing existing structures.
A civil engineering project is a project involving the construction and renovation of a structure or a significant alteration to the environment. An example of a constructed civil engineering project might be a hydroelectric dam that is used to generate power that provides flood control and irrigation, while an environmental alteration might involve beach nourishment to protect a shoreline. While many people connect the discipline of civil engineering with public works projects, civil engineering projects can also happen in the private sector, such as when a business builds a large office tower or when a homeowner requests the services of an engineering company to repair damage caused by a natural disaster.
Civil engineering projects take place on a very diverse scale across the globe. Some examples of civil engineering projects include: upgrading a city’s wastewater treatment system to accommodate a growing population, constructing a canal, constructing a bridge, widening a roadway, rehabilitating wetlands, and seismic retrofitting of private homes to meet local building codes. There are many disciplines within the very broad field of civil engineering, and projects typically also require input from other experts and a civil engineer, with an engineering firm overseeing the civil engineering project to ensure it is executed correctly.
The term “civil engineering” was coined to differentiate this very ancient branch of the engineering field from the even older military engineering, which involved the application of mathematics and science to military problems. Developing earthworks to serve as fortifications is an example of military engineering, for example, while creating earth walls to contain livestock falls under the purview of civil engineering. Some major civil engineering projects such as the Great Pyramids, the Parthenon and the Great Wall of China have lasted for thousands of years.
Civil engineering uses math and science to serve the human population in some way. Civil engineers are very concerned with the safety and efficiency of any civil engineering project and are also engaged in building designs that are designed to last, which means that they must be flexible enough to meet changing usage needs as well as being very robust and built to meet or exceed safety requirements.
A civil engineering project may involve starting from scratch to fill a need or solve a problem, such as when civil engineers build a wind farm that is used to generate renewable energy. It may also involve refurbishing, retrofitting, and upgrading existing designs to address changing uses and damage, as well as correcting or repairing structures that were built with techniques now considered obsolete, or that have failed due to faulty construction.
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