This definition of Civil Engineering is found at Answer.com. The tasks of civil engineering now come larger and larger.
Civil Engineering is a branch of
engineering that encompasses the conception, design, construction, and
management of residential and commercial buildings and structures, water
supply facilities, and transportation systems for goods and people, as
well as control of the environment for the maintenance and improvement
of the quality of life. Civil engineering includes planning and design
professionals in both the public and private sectors, contractors,
builders, educators, and researchers.
The civil engineer holds the safety,
health, and welfare of the public paramount. Civil engineering projects
and systems should conform to governmental regulations and statutes;
should be built economically to function properly with a minimum of
maintenance and repair while withstanding anticipated usage and weather;
and should conserve energy and allow hazard-free construction while
providing healthful, safe, and environmentally sound utilization by
society.
Civil engineers play a major role in
developing workable solutions to construct, renovate, repair, maintain,
and upgrade infrastructure. The infrastructure includes roads, mass
transit, railroads, bridges, airports, storage buildings, terminals,
communication and control towers, water supply and treatment systems,
storm water control systems, wastewater collection, treatment and
disposal systems, as well as living and working areas, recreational
buildings, and ancillary structures for civil and civic needs. Without a
well-maintained and functioning infrastructure, the urban area cannot
stay healthy, grow, and prosper.
Because the desired objectives are so
broad and encompass an orderly progression of interrelated components
and information to arrive at the visually pleasing, environmentally
satisfactory, and energy-frugal end point, civil engineering projects
are actually systems requiring the skills and inputs of many diverse
technical specialties, all of which are subsets of the overall civil
engineering profession.
Some of the subsets that civil engineers
can specialize in include photogrammetry, surveying, mapping, community
and urban planning, and waste management and risk assessment. Various
engineering areas that civil engineers can specialize in include
geotechnical, construction, structural, environmental, water resources,
and transportation engineering.
