CURRENT

FIELDS/CAREERS IN
CIVIL ENGINEERING
INTRODUCTION:

“Engineering” is an incredibly broad

concept with numerous specializations
within it; likewise, “civil engineering” is a
beast in itself, containing its own
specializations that form part of its whole.
Employment of civil engineers is projected to grow
8 percent from 2014 to 2024, about as fast as the
average for all occupations. The main reason being
with the ever-changing world, civil engineers will be
needed to manage small to high-scale projects to
rebuild bridges, repair roads, build or repair dams
as well as airports and building structures of all
types across every country.
(US Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2016-17 Ed., Civil Engineers)
Civil engineering, not only creates the
environment we live in but improves and
protects our lives. Civil engineers are
responsible for sustainable energy, in
this era of fast depleting fuel and
resources, and even the supply of clean
water; a world without them would be
unimaginable.
Civil engineering is further divided into numerous other sub-
disciplines:
 Construction Engineering
 Hydraulics & water resources engineering
 Environmental engineering
 Structural Engineering
 Transportation Engineering
 Geotechnical engineering
Construction
Engineering
 Definition
A professional discipline that deals with
the designing, planning, construction and
management of infrastructures such
as roads, tunnels, bridges, airports, railroad,
facilities, buildings, dams, utilities and
other projects.
What is the difference between a construction
engineer and a civil engineer?
Civil engineering is mainly into planning,
designing and implementing of a particular
project as per the need of the customer
whereas construction engineering mainly
focuses on construction methods and
procedures.
 TRIVIA
What is the longest natural bridge?
-- Rainbow Bridge, tucked away among the rugged, isolated canyons at
the base of Navajo Mountain, Utah, USA. It is a natural wonder. From its
base to the top of the arch, it reaches 88,4 m (290 ft) – nearly the height of
the Statue of Liberty – and spans 83,8 m (275 ft) across the river. The top of
the arch is 12,8 m (42 ft) thick and 10 m (33 ft) wide.

. What is the longest street in the world?

--Toronto’s Yonge Street is listed as 1,178 miles (1,896 km) in length —
roughly the distance from San Diego, California, to Seattle, Washington.
 Hydraulics &
Water Resource
Engineering
 DEFINITION
Water Resource Engineering is a
specific kind of civil engineering that
involves the design of new systems
and equipment that help manage
human water resources.
 WATER RESOURCE VS CIVIL ENGG
A water resource engineer is often a civil engineer. However, Civil
engineering is a broad field, water resource engineering, as well as
structural design, road construction, excavation, waste management
and (some) environmental engineering. Water resource engineer
overlaps with civil engineering in the areas of dam construction,
hydroelectric facilities, water works and municipal supply, coastal
engineering and storm water management. However, other aspects of
water resource management, such as recreation, overland flow and
erosion control, groundwater management, meteorology, lake
dynamics, etc. are not usually considered part of civil engineering.
Basically, civil engineering deals with the built-up world.
 TRIVIA
The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the
Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei
province, China. The Three Gorges Dam has been the world's largest power
station in terms of installed capacity since 2012.
Location: Sandouping, Yiling District, Hubei
Length: 2,335 m (7,661 ft)
Normal elevation: 175 m (574 ft)
Construction cost: 203 billion CNY (US$31.765 billion)
Spillway capacity: 116,000 m3/s (4,100,000 cu ft/s)
Did you know: It is built entirely of steel and concrete, and during its
construction it used 510,000 tons of steel
Geotechnical
Engineering
 DEFINITION
Geotechnical engineering is the branch of
engineering concerned with the analysis, design
and construction of foundations, slopes, retaining
structures, embankments, tunnels, levees,
wharves, landfills and other systems that are made
of or are supported by soil or rock.
 GEOTECHNICAL AND CIVIL ENGG
Geotechnical engineers are responsible for evaluating
subsurface and soil conditions and materials, using the
principles of soil and rock mechanics. They are
commonly appointed as consultants on construction
projects. Engineers also examine environmental issues
such as flood plains and water tables.
Geotechnical investigations differ from civil investigations
in that they will often not only include a surface
exploration but also a subsurface exploration of a site.
 SALARY
 P51,578 per month
 TRIVIA
"Some
geotechnical
engineering
failures make
great tourist
attractions."
 TRIVIA

Karl Terzaghi (1883-1963) was the first to

elaborate a comprehensive mechanics of
soils with his publication of
Erdbaumechanik in 1925. Terzaghi
disseminated advances in soils
engineering that influenced the entire
civil engineering world.
Transportation
Engineering
 DEFINITION
Transportation engineering or transport
engineering is the application of technology and
scientific principles to the planning, functional
design, operation and management of facilities for
any mode of transportation in order to provide for
the safe, efficient, rapid, comfortable, convenient,
economical, and environmentally compatible
movement of people and goods transport.
 TRANSPORTATION AND CIVIL ENGG
Civil engineers are not specialized and generally work
on planning and designing facility construction, and
building or overall infrastructure maintenance. Civil
engineers are able to specialize in various subcategories,
one of these being transportation engineering. This
specialization focuses on the engineering of
transportation systems like highways, bridges, traffic
systems, airports, and runways.
Structural
Engineering
 DEFINITION
Structural engineering — a specialty within the field of
civil engineering — focuses on the framework of
structures, and on designing those structures to
withstand the stresses and pressures of their
environment and remain safe, stable and secure
throughout their use. In other words, structural
engineers make sure that buildings don't fall down
and bridges don't collapse.
 STRUCTURAL VS CIVIL ENGG
Civil engineering and structural engineering
are two engineering disciplines that are quite
similar to each other. However, they hold
vital differences that make them distinct from
each other. In a nutshell, it can be said that
all structural engineers are civil engineers
but not all civil engineers are structural
engineers.
 STRUCTURAL VS CIVIL ENGG
The basic difference between the two is that civil
engineering is a four-year bachelor’s degree
course offered in colleges and universities while
structural engineering is an advanced specialization
after one becomes a civil engineer. After obtaining a
bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, one can
proceed with postgraduate studies in structural
engineering in order to specialize as a structural
engineer.
 STRUCTURAL VS CIVIL ENGG
Structural engineering is taught as a subject in
civil engineering course at universities. It is very
rare to find structural engineering as a first degree
for undergraduates. However, structural
engineering is offered as a masters or PhD
degree. When one joins as a structural engineer,
his or her job will cover the structural engineering
part of the project.
 TRIVIA
Restoration work in
1990 and 2001
shifted the Leaning
Tower of Pisa back
to an angle of 4
degrees after it was
previously leaning
at an angle of 5.5
degrees.
Environmental
Engineering
 DEFINITION
Environmental engineers use the principles of
engineering, soil science, biology, and chemistry to
develop solutions to environmental problems. They
work to improve recycling, waste disposal, public
health, and water and air pollution control. They
also address global issues, such as unsafe
drinking water, climate change, and environmental
sustainability.
 DEFINITION
Environmental engineers are specialists
that are exclusively concerned with practical
environmental issues and problem solving.
Their work is based on development of
management systems and concepts for a
vast variety of environmental situations, on
national, regional and local levels.