What is Civil Engineering?

Civil engineering was involved with everything you see when you go about your day. The roads you drive on, the drains your down pipes run off into, the buildings you see, the shopping centres you shop in, civil engineering was involved in their development. Essentially civil engineers are why we all have the basic needs, facilities and infrastructure we need.

Civil engineering involves the design, construction and maintenance of all the infrastructure around us. The roads, highways, bridges, intersections, buildings, dams and reservoirs, railway stations, railway lines, airports, pipelines, sewage systems, ports, tunnels and even flood mitigation. And to do all this, civil engineers use maths, mechanics, physics and problem solving.

There are 5 key areas for civil engineering…

1. Engineering construction & project management

Also known as construction engineering management, this key area of civil engineering crosses the gap between the design team, the procurement team and the construction team to direct and organise each part of the project, from research and planning to completion.

2. Structural engineering

This centres on the framework, or the ‘bones’ needed to actually construct a structure that has been designed. This could be a building, bridge, tower, etc. It focuses on the stability, strength, rigidity, and susceptibility of these structures.

3. Geotech engineering

Before anything is built on land the earth materials, the soil, sand, rock, clay, etc, must be assessed and the outcomes of the assessments outlined, reported and factored in to the design of an above ground and below ground structure.

4. Water engineering

This key area focuses on just that… water based projects. More specifically the supply of clean water, disposal of waste and sewage water and also the prevention of flood damage. They don’t just focus on the design and development of water based projects, but also on the operation and maintenance of the finished projects.

5. Transport engineering

Transport engineering focuses on the planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance of transport facilities, with the aim to improve efficiency and effectiveness of moving, or transporting, people and freight.

At Civil Made, our expert team focuses on geotech, water, transport and construction and project management engineering.

Get in touch if you have a project that you’d like to discuss with our team.