 Tennessee Valley Authority civil engineers monitoring water flow on a scale model of Tellico Dam | |
| Occupation | |
|---|---|
| Names | Civil engineer |
Occupation type | Profession |
Activity sectors | Design and management of structures, transportation systems, infrastructure |
| Description | |
| Competencies | Technical knowledge, management skills, mathematical analysis |
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructure that may have been neglected.
Civil engineering is one of the oldest engineering disciplines because it deals with constructed environment[1] including planning, designing, and overseeing construction and maintenance of building structures, and facilities, such as roads, railroads, airports, bridges, harbors, channels, dams, irrigation projects, pipelines, power plants, and water and sewage systems.[2]
The term "civil engineer" was established by John Smeaton in 1750 to contrast engineers working on civil projects with the military engineers,[3][4] who worked on armaments and defenses. Over time, various sub-disciplines of civil engineering have become recognized[5] and much of military engineering has been absorbed by civil engineering.[6] Other engineering practices became recognized as independent engineering disciplines, including chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering.
In some places, a civil engineer may perform land surveying; in others, surveying is limited to construction surveying, unless an additional qualification is obtained.
- ^ "What is Civil Engineering?". Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics: Columbia University. Archived from the original on 24 December 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ "Civil Engineers". BLS.gov. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. May 2014. Archived from the original on 2018-06-15. Retrieved 2015-12-19.
- ^ Mark Denny (2007). "Ingenium: Five Machines That Changed the World". p. 34. Johns Hopkins University Press.
- ^ Florman, Samuel (1987). The Civilized Engineer. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-312-02559-5.
- ^ "Sub-disciplines of Civil Engineering | Faculty of Engineering". Islamic University of Madinah: Faculty of Engineering. Archived from the original on 12 October 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ Singh, Amarjit (January 2007). "Civil Engineering: Anachronism and Black Sheep". Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice. 133: 18–30. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)1052-3928(2007)133:1(18).