Have you ever crossed a bridge or seen a dam and wondered how those structures are designed, created, and built? Civil engineering is a remarkable discipline with many subdisciplines that plays a major role in construction projects not relating to buildings. Civil engineers work on construction projects such as roads, tunnels, bridges, and dams. Civil engineers work with a variety of professionals in other disciplines to execute large-scale building projects.
Being a civil engineer requires the ability to plan large construction projects while supervising other professionals in a variety of specialties to ensure that the building project goes smoothly. Civil engineers should have an advanced understanding of mathematics, geometry, and other mathematics disciplines as this will be included in part of the design of the building project. They must also understand the technical requirements of the job, but also be able to communicate them to other professionals who may not have this particular background.
There are many job requirements relating to construction projects that civil engineers must be able to accomplish quickly and efficiently. They must be able to understand a variety of surveys and reports relating to the environment in which they will be building, and they must be able to calculate the monetary and human cost of completing such a project. It is important for civil engineers to be able to understand and communicate not only how much a project will cost in materials and labor, but they must also understand if the project will pose any risk to the environment or to the public. Civil engineers also test the land to see if it is strong enough for the construction project, and they also test materials to see if the materials are suitable for what they will be used for. They also use software to design hydraulic and transportation systems within the project.
Many different careers fall under the scope of civil engineering that are involved in construction projects. Geotechnical engineers are civil engineers who test the foundations of the land before construction projects begin, and they inform other professionals on how the construction project that is about to begin will impact the environment, particularly the soil and rock. Transportation engineers are civil engineers that construct roads and highways, making them safe for travel. Structural engineers are a particularly important type of civil engineer that work on large-scale projects such as bridges and dams, making sure they are constructed safely and correctly.
