GuruIntroduction
Civil Engineering is the oldest branch of engineering which is growing right from the gravestone- age civilization. American Society of Civil Engineering defines civil engineering as the profession in which knowledge of the fine and physical lores gained by study, experience and practice is applied with judgement to develop ways to use economically the accoutrements and forces of the nature for the progressive well- being of man.Civil engineering is the operation of physical and scientific principles for the design, development and conservation of both the constructed and the naturally erected terrain.
Basic Areas in Civil Engineering
- Surveying
- Construction engineering
- Structural engineering
- Earthquake engineering
- Geotechnical and foundation engineering
- Quantity surveying
- Fluid mechanics
- Irrigation engineering
- Transportation engineering
- Environmental engineering
- Town planning
- Infrastructural development
- Project management
- Remote sensing
Surveying
Surveying is the science of map making. To start any development activity, the relative positions of various objects in the area with respect to horizontal and vertical axes through a reference point is required. This is achieved by surveying the area. Earlier, the conventional instruments like chain, tape and levelling instruments were used. In this electronic era, modern electronic equipments like electronic distance meters (EDM) and total stations are used, to get more accurate results easily.
Preparing topo maps of talukas, districts, states and countries and showing all important features like rivers, hills, forests, lakes, towns and cities in plan and elevation (by contour lines) also forms part of surveying. When maps of large areas are to be made corrections for earth curvature are to be made for all measurements. Such survey is called geodetic surveying also.
Construction engineering
Construction is the major activity of civil engineering. Hence civil engineer must know properties and uses of basic materials of construction like stone, bricks, tiles, cement, sand, jelly, steel, glass, glazed tiles, plaster of paris, paints and varnishes. Behaviour of reinforced cement concrete (R.C.C.) and prestressed concrete should be understood properly. Improved versions of many flooring materials, bath room fittings keep on appearing in the market. Construction engineer should study their advantages, disadvantages and cost effectiveness.
Construction technology should keep pace with the need of modern trend. In cities building tall structures in shortest possible period is the requirement while in rural areas and poor need the low cost housing technology. Construction engineer should know quantity of materials and man power requirement. He has to plan and execute the work in proper sequence without wasting man power, material and time of construction equipments.
Structural engineering
Load acting any structure is ultimately transferred to ground. In doing so, various components of the structure are subjected to internal stresses. For example, in a building, load acting on a slab is transferred by slab to ground through structural components like beams, columns and footings. Assessing various types of internal stresses in the components of a structure is known as structural analysis and finding suitable size of the structural component is known as structural design.
The structures to be designed may be of masonry, R.C.C., prestressed concrete or of steel. Structural engineering involves analysis of various structures like buildings, water tanks, chimneys, bridges etc. and designing them using suitable materials like masonry, R.C.C., prestressed concrete or steel. A structural engineer has not only to give a safe structure but he has to give economical structure. To get economical sections, mathematical optimization techniques are to be used.
Earthquake engineering
About 50 years ago it was thought, in India, only north-east region and some parts of north India are earthquake prone areas. But Koyna earthquake, Latur earthquake and Gujarat earthquake have brought lot of changes in earthquake engineering. India’s map of earthquake zones showing intensity of earthquake forces to be considered in different parts of the country has been redrawn. Behaviour of the structures to earthquake forces is dealt in earthquake engineering. Design of earthquake resistant structure is attracting lot of research. Studying magnitude, behaviour of structures and designing the structure for earthquake forces constitute earthquake engineering branch of civil engineering.
Geotechnical and foundation engineering
Soil property changes from place to place. Even in the same place if may not be uniform at various depth. The soil property may vary from season to season due to varying moisture content. The loads from all structures are to be safely transferred to soil. Hence, safe bearing capacity of the soil is to be properly assessed.
Apart from finding safe bearing capacity for the foundations of building, geotechnical engineering involves various studies required for the design of pavements, tunnels, earthen dams,canals and earth retaining structures. It involves study of ground improvement techniques also. Since stability of every structure depends on how safely load is transferred to ground, this branch of civil engineering is very important.
Quality surveying
This is the branch of civil engineering which deals with estimating the quantity of various materials required for a project work. For example in a building project the quantity of earth work in foundations, quantity of stones required for the foundation, quantity of bricks, cement, jelly, sand and steel requirements are to be assessed for various stages of construction. Estimated cost of the work depends upon the quantity of various materials required. At the planning stage itself one should have the idea of requirement of construction materials so that estimated cost is known. Main criteria for selecting any project is its estimated cost. Hence quantity surveying is an important branch in civil engineering.
How to make deduction for quantity of plastering for various types of openings in the wall, calculating area of painting for various types of doors and windows etc. also form important aspect of quantity surveying.Labour requirement for various activities of construction also forms part of quantity surveying.
Fluid mechanics
Water is an important fluid required for all living beings. For the design and construction of hydraulic structure study of mechanics of water and its flow characteristics is very much essential. This is important field in civil engineering and it is known as fluid mechanics/hydraulics; fluid mechanics being the general term applicable to all type of fluids.
Irrigation engineering
Water is to be supplied to agricultural field. Hence suitable water resources are to be identified and water retaining structures are to be built. Identifying, planning and building water retaining structures like tanks and dams and carrying stored water to fields is known as water resources and irrigation engineering. Constructing canals, distributories aquaducts and regulators form part of irrigation engineering.
Transportation engineering
Environmental engineering
Town Planning
Infrastructural development
Project management
Planning
- What: An individual or a group of enterprising people or a government/public sector agency plan to start a project. They form a group of high level managers. They identify goals, form the objective and identify the opportunities of the project. This type of planning is called as strategic planning.
- Where: The next step the strategic planners takes is where to start the project work.
- Who: The strategic planners identifying the middle level and operational level managers to carry out the task. The middle level management deals with financial management and coordinates with the operational planners and strategic planners.
- How: The operational planners have to work at minute details of the work assigned, find the requirement of machinery and work force and plan day to day activities. They should be ready with alternative plans, if uncertainties creep in at any stage.
The planning is key to success of a project. If the planning is good and work is executed as per the plan, a project can make a good profit and the organisation becomes competent for obtaining more work.
Scheduling
- Mobilizing
- Laying foundation
- Building superstructure
- Finishing
Laying the foundation may be divided into the following events:
- Digging
- Laying bed concrete
- Constructing stone masonry for foundation
- Providing coping concrete
- Pointing the joints and
- Filling the trenches
Like this all other stages involve a number of events. For each event, scheduled date of commencement and completion are to be fixed. Material, equipment and human resources requirement should be identified. For this bar chart or network representation of events is done. Critical activities are identified, the delay of which will delay the entire project. All efforts are concentrated to execute these events as per schedule.
Scheduling is necessary for the successful implementation of the project.
Construction Management
Management is the science and art of planning, organising, staffing, scheduling and executing the work. Achieving coordination among various people involved in the work is art of management. A manager not only directs his subordinates but motivates them to do the work. Communication skill and leadership qualities are to be developed for good construction management.
Planning, scheduling and construction management constitute project management branch of civil engineering.
Remote sensing
- Remote sensing is science and art of acquiring information about an object without physical contact with it. Though human sights and photographs are common examples of remote sensing, in civil engineering we restrict its meaning to sensing of the objects on the earth from satellites using electromagnetic energy.
- Most of the remote sensing methods make use of the reflected microwaves, infrared rays and visible light waves in the electromagnetic spectrum. When the electromagnetic waves sent from satellites strike the earth surface, its characters change due to transmission, absorption, emission, scattering and reflection.
- Since each feature on the earth has different characters, it is possible to identify the feature on the earth with satellite pictures. Remote sensing is mostly qualitative in nature. Data obtained from satellite is to be analysed by user and correctly identify the objects.
- This is called image processing. India has its own remote sensing satellites such as INSAT series, PSLV series etc.
Major area of application of remote sensing is for the following:
Conclusion
Civil engineering is a dynamic and essential field that touches every aspect of our ultramodern lives. It's responsible for the structure that supports communities and the inventions that ameliorate sustainability andresilience.However, you will find a wealth of openings to make a continuing impact on the world by designing, erecting, If you are considering a career in civil engineering.