Thank a civil engineer the next time you meet one

Everywhere you walk, drive or ride, the work of civil engineers guides your every move.  The complexity and far reach of civil engineering is more obvious in Washington DC and Virginia than many other places in the United States.  In this part of the country, you can see the applications of military engineering in buildings like the Pentagon and of civil engineering, specifically urban engineering, in the design of the roadways throughout the nation’s capital.

Evolution of civil engineering

Although a broad pursuit in the modern world, when civil engineering first emerged it was simply a name put on any engineering project that did not serve a military purpose. Today, it generally refers to large projects for use by the public that are funded by the government or by private entities such as airports, dams, canals, and highways.

Other disciplines within civil engineering include:

–          Environmental engineering

–          Structural engineering

–          Construction engineering

–          Coastal engineering

–          Earthquake engineering

–          Urban, or municipal, engineering

–          Transportation engineering

–          Water resources management

–          Geotechnical engineering

Civil engineers manage people and projects as they design and build the infrastructure of our lives which might include roads, buildings, bridges, airports or any of the other structures you see in your daily life.