Civil Engineering

The civil engineering field is a wide assortment of engineering responsibilities that deal with the infrastructure of a planned community and the surrounding areas that will be affected by land mass utilization. The three construction phases that are followed in every civil engineering contract are project planning, construction and structural maintenance.

 During the project planning phase, several groups in the civil engineering field will consider the land areas that are available on which large structures can be placed. They will determine how these structures will be arranged on these properties following a project map of their own design. The only requirement to qualify for civil engineering services is that these structures must be constructed on a large scale, rather than simple residential communities, which are not under their area of responsibility.

 As a primary responsibility that is undertaken during the planning phase, civil engineering groups will also be responsible for creating maintenance plans for the aftercare of the structures that will be built. All buildings that are placed on large land masses must undergo this maintenance determination process.

 During the planning phase, civil engineering groups will also determine the environmental impact that these buildings will have on the surrounding cities and natural resources. During this time, civil engineering groups will create detailed maps that will outline the routes for all utilities that will be connected to these structures. All negative feedback that is received covering environmental impact studies will be corrected and rerouted at this time. 

 During the project planning phase, civil engineering groups will consider and define all options to effectively route external transportation frameworks such as railway systems, interstate highways, bridges, and further design internal transportation areas such as street design, public transportation, and traffic light placement. The planning phase will include the placement of all facilities that will be needed to make the planned construction a fully functioning engineered model such as fire and police stations, and hospitals.

 During the construction process, civil engineering groups will concentrate their efforts on building these structures that will generate the power needed to bring these built buildings to life. They will also develop maintenance plans for these power stations. The realm of responsibility of civil engineers extends underground to the sub-structure levels that will accommodate electrical lines, water lines, gas lines, telephone cabling, flood control systems, and security systems.

 The mission of the civil engineering work ethic is focused on how their structural creations react with nature based on their finesse with interpretive experimentation with equations that are the base of their designs. This field was conceived with the intention of being primarily for use by the military and the public. It later became necessary to redefine the meaning of the specialty to differentiate it from military engineering. There are still some affiliations with the military to this date through the United States Army engineering section that is defined as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. All contracted work is accomplished through an umbrella grouping of civil engineering sub-specialties that are trained and responsible for completing all phases of the construction process.

Geotechnical engineering

Is the branch of engineering concerned with the engineering behaviour of earth materials. Geotechnical engineering is important in civil engineering, but is also used by military, mining, petroleum, or any other engineering concerned with construction on or in the ground. Geotechnical engineering uses principles of soil mechanics and rock mechanics to investigate subsurface conditions and materials; determine the relevant physical/mechanical and chemical properties of these materials; evaluate stability of natural slopes and man-made soil deposits; assess risks posed by site conditions; design earthworks and structure foundations; and monitor site conditions, earthwork and foundation construction.

A typical geotechnical engineering project begins with a review of project needs to define the required material properties. Then follows a site investigation of soil, rock, fault distribution and bedrock properties on and below an area of interest to determine their engineering properties including how they will interact with, on or in a proposed construction. Site investigations are needed to gain an understanding of the area in or on which the engineering will take place. Investigations can include the assessment of the risk to humans, property and the environment from natural hazards such as earthquakes, landslides, sinkholes, soil liquefaction, debris flows and rockfalls.

A geotechnical engineer then determines and designs the type of foundations, earthworks, and/or pavement subgrades required for the intended man-made structures to be built. Foundations are designed and constructed for structures of various sizes such as high-rise buildings, bridges, medium to large commercial buildings, and smaller structures where the soil conditions do not allow code-based design.

Foundations built for above-ground structures include shallow and deep foundations. Retaining structures include earth-filled dams and retaining walls. Earthworks include embankments, tunnels, dikes, levees, channels, reservoirs, deposition of hazardous waste and sanitary landfills.

Geotechnical engineering is also related to coastal and ocean engineering. Coastal engineering can involve the design and construction of wharves, marinas, and jetties. Ocean engineering can involve foundation and anchor systems for offshore structures such as oil platforms.

The fields of geotechnical engineering and engineering geology are closely related, and have large areas of overlap. However, the field of geotechnical engineering is a specialty of engineering, where the field of engineering geology is a specialty of geology.