CIVIL ENGINEERING

the profession of designing and executing structural works that serve the general public. Civil engineering is a form of human activity that has been pursued as long as human beings have sought to change the natural environment for their own benefit. It is well described by the definition given in 1828 by Thomas Tredgold when the British Institution of Civil Engineers was applying for its charter: That species of knowledge which constitutes the profession of a Civil Engineer; being the art of directing the great sources of power in Nature for the use and convenience of man, as the means of production and of traffic in States both for external and internal trade, as applied in the construction of roads, bridges, aqueducts, canals, river navigation and docks, for internal intercourse and exchange; and in the construction of ports, harbours, moles, breakwaters and lighthouses, and in the art of navigation by artificial power for the purposes of commerce; and in the construction and adaptation of machinery; and in the drainage of cities and towns. Of course, added to this are the particular forms of construction that serve modern needs, such as airports, highways, dams, tunnels, and power stations of various types, but these are minor refinements on the general theme of the civil engineer as the creator of the physical infrastructure on which any level of civilization depends. Although essentially a practical profession, civil engineering is founded on applied science, and training is based on the appropriate courses in engineering as well as in ecology and public health. To this theoretical knowledge are added several years of practical training and experience under the direction of a practicing civil engineer. The total period of education and training required for the attainment of full professional status varies among countries but commonly is in the range of 8 to 10 years. The profession of civil engineering can be divided into three broad categories, which may be described as consulting, contracting, and municipal engineering. The consulting civil engineer is the technical adviser to the client, who may be an individual, a commercial firm, or a government department. The consulting engineer is the designer of projects, and the duties generally include the outline preparation of a project and an estimate of cost; surveys and site investigation; the detailed design of the project, including drawings, specifications, schedules of quantities, and forms of contracts; advice to the client on which construction bid to accept; and administration of contracts and supervision of the execution of the work. In the execution of contracts the consulting engineer may be required to act in a quasi-judicial capacity to decide on various questions that may arise between the client and the contractor. Consulting engineers usually work in partnership with a small number of other engineers, and it is usual for such partnerships to specialize in a particular branch of engineering, such as transport, water supply, dams, large buildings, and so on. The task of actually building the project is the responsibility of a firm of contractors, and firms that handle many government projects employ professional civil engineers capable of interpreting the design and of devising methods for carrying out the work. It is they who organize and control both labour and machines. The duties of the contracting civil engineer are to make detailed surveys of site conditions, to obtain information about the supply of materials, to plan in detail how the work shall be carried out, and determine what kind and quantity of both machines and manpower will be required. The municipal engineer serves local or state government directly in planning and supervising the construction and management of water-supply and sewage-disposal systems, roads and bridges, public-transport systems, public buildings, and many other significant features of modern life. In addition to a variety of engineering work, the municipal engineer is also to a large extent responsible for the welfare, health, and safety of the community that is served. the profession of designing and executing structural works that serve the general public. The term was first used in the 18th century to distinguish the newly recognized profession from military engineering, until then preeminent. From earliest times, however, engineers have engaged in peaceful activities, and many of the civil engineering works of ancient and medieval timessuch as the Roman public baths, roads, bridges, and aqueducts; the Flemish canals; the Dutch sea defenses; the French Gothic cathedrals; and many other monumentsreveal a history of inventive genius and persistent experimentation. Additional reading The history of civil engineering is covered in Richard Shelton Kirby and Philip Gustave Laurson, Early Years of Modern Civil Engineering (1932); James K. Finch, Engineering and Western Civilization (1951); Hans Straub, A History of Civil Engineering (1952; originally published in German, 1949); Charles M. Norrie, Bridging the Years: A Short History of British Civil Engineering (1956); and J.P.M. Pannell, An Illustrated History of Civil Engineering (1964). Works dealing with civil engineering practice include Paul N. Cheremisinoff, Nicholas P. Cheremisinoff, and Su Ling Cheng (eds.), Civil Engineering Practice, 5 vol. (198788); D.D. Piesold, Civil Engineering Practice (1991); and Frederick S. Merritt, M. Kent Loftin, and Jonathan T. Ricketts (eds.), Standard Handbook for Civil Engineers, 4th ed. (1996). A number of ambitious civil engineering projects are presented in National Geographic Society (U.S.), Book Division, The Builders: Marvels of Engineering (1992). J. Garth Watson The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica