Engineering Community

Engineering Disciplines

Civil Engineering

Civil Engineering

Introduction -

There is a general belief that God made man but man with his brilliance, talent and efforts, made this world a better place to live and this would not have been possible without the great skills of Civil Engineering.

Civil Engineering has a very wide scope. Civil Engineering deals with constructing various physical structures including Bridges, Roads, Dams, Canals, Tunnels, Airports, Ports, Highways, River Navigation, Traffic Control, skyscrapers and buildings. A Civil Engineer is responsible for planning and designing a project, constructing the project to the required scale and maintenance of the construction. The planning part of the work involves site investigation, feasibility studies, creating solutions to complications that may occur and the actual designing of structures.

Generally, Civil Engineers work closely with the expert surveyors to fit and serve projects within their given site, community and terrain by undertaking activities like designing, grading, drainage, pavement, water supply, sewer service, electric and communications supply and land divisions. Civil Engineers spend much of their time visiting project sites, developing community consensus and preparing construction plans.

Our beautiful homes, schools, offices etc. are all result of Civil Engineering. Can we ever imagine India without the beautiful “Taj Mahal” and Paris without the Eiffel Tower? And how can we ignore the under construction “Burj Khalifa” of Dubai which is hogging the limelight. It is a fact that if we did not have the Civil Engineers, we would have been living a rural life.

Educational Requirement: A student has to pass the 10th standard board examination with 50% successfully to be eligible for a Diploma course. But if the student really dreams for a bright career in Civil Engineering then the need is go for a Bachelor’s degree –B.E/B.Tech. The eligibility criterion for a B.E./B.Tech is 50% marks in class 12th Board Examination in Science Stream with Physics, Chemistry and Maths as compulsory subjects. Diploma Holders in Civil Engineering too can get direct admission in the second year of B.Tech course of Civil Engineering. A bachelor’s degree is required if you want to do an advanced course which is M.E./M.Tech. A person can also aim for a PhD to do research on matters related with Civil Engineering. There is also a provision of Distance Education which helps in attaining a bachelor’s degree through Associate Examination of the Institute of Engineers (AMIE)

Selection: - The admission to the civil engineering course is very competitive. A student should pass IIT-JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) to attain admission in one of the prestigious IITs. This highly competitive test checks student’s ability in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. For other reputed institutions like NITs one has to succeed in AIEEE(All India Engineering/Pharmacy/Architecture).Also, there are state level and national level examinations as some institutions opt for their own entrance examinations.

Duration: - The B.E./B.Tech (bachelor’s degree) is a 4 year course in Civil Engineering. The person can proceed further for an M.E./M.Tech course which is of 2 years. The duration for the Diploma course in Civil Engineering is 3 years.

Different Branches –

Civil Engineering is also known as site engineering. The main focus of civil engineering is on converting a tract of land from one usage to another.

A student can acquire specialization in the following disciplines of Civil Engineering: -

1. Construction Engineering - This discipline deals with the planning and execution of the designs by including various activities like transportation, site development, hydraulic, environmental, structural and geotechnical Engineers. As construction firms are likely to have higher business risks than other types of civil engineering firms, many construction engineers prefer to take on role that is more business like in nature: drafting and reviewing contracts, evaluating logistics operations and closely monitoring prices of necessary supplies.

2. Structural Engineering – This discipline deals with the design and construction of steel structures, including building, bridges, tunnels and off shore construction such as oil Rigs etc. The sub-discipline of Structural Engineering is Earthquake Engineering. Earthquake Engineering covers ability of various structures to resist hazardous earthquake exposures at the site of their particular location.

3. Environmental Engineering – This discipline deals with the study of waste water treatment, air pollution management and the handling and processing of hazardous waste. It also deals with the gathering of information on the environmental consequences of proposed action for the purpose of assisting society and policy makers in the decision making process.

4. Hydraulic Engineering: - This discipline deals with the collection and management of water. This area of civil engineering relates to the prediction and management of both quantity and quality of water both underground (aquifers) and above the ground (lakes, rivers and streams).
Hydraulic Engineers analyze and model very small to very large areas of the earth to predict the amount and content of water as it flows into, through or out of a facility. The branch includes dams, canals and water pipeline systems.

5. Geotechnical Engineering – This discipline deals with the design and construction of rock and soil based structures including foundations and retaining walls. Environmental concerns in relation to groundwater and waste disposal have generated a new area of study called the geo-environmental engineering where the knowledge of biology and chemistry is very essential. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a classic example of Geotechnical Engineering.

6. Material Engineering – This discipline deals with the aspects of Material Science. Material Engineering deals with ceramics such as concrete, mix asphalt concrete, metal such as aluminum and steel, polymers and carbon fibers.
It also consists of protection and prevention like paints and finishes. Alloying is also a type of material engineering.

7. Transportation Engineering - This discipline deals with developing transportation system, including highways, airports, runways and rail systems.

8. Surveying – This discipline deals with the process by which a surveyor measures certain dimensions that generally occur on the face of the earth. Surveying equipment such as levels and theodolites are accurate measurement of angular deviation – horizontal, vertical and slope distances.

Civil Engineering

Career Options for Civil Engineers: -

Civil Engineering being the broadest of all disciplines, offers unlimited job opportunities to Civil Engineers. They can find jobs in Government departments, private and public sector industries; research and teaching institutions etc. Now even private sector companies are very aggressively taking big construction related activities like building dams, power plants, highways etc.
Civil Engineers will always be needed to maintain and repair existing facilities and structures. Civil Engineers build the world’s infrastructure. In our modern world there is always space for new construction and therefore civil engineers would always find their names in the plans of the government. Civil Engineer work involves dealing with clients, government officials, contractors and the supervision of work according to standards.
After doing B.Tech one can look for jobs in road projects, building work, consultancy firms, quality testing laboratories or housing societies. There is a high demand for experienced civil engineers even in developed countries.
An aspiring civil engineer should enjoy mathematics and science and must have a good hand at drawing. The student should also have a curious mind and the knack of studying every detail and if a person has Computer (Autocad) knowledge, it improves the job prospects for the person.

Salary – In India, a fresh Civil Engineer with B.Tech degree can begin with Rs.12,000 to Rs.18,000. Once a civil engineer gains experience, the person would be entitled to more compensation. Companies abroad in Singapore, UAE etc. pay about Rs.20000-30,000 for candidates with 2-3 years experience. In USA according to 2001 Salary survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, a civil engineer with bachelor’s degree is offered a starting salary of an average $40,616 per year, a person having master’s degree received an average offer of $44,080 and PhD civil engineer were offered $62,280 a year.

The Best Civil Engineering Colleges in India are: -

1. Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

2. Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi

3. Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai

4. Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai

5. Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur

6. Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

7. Indian Institute Of Technology Guwahati

8. National Institute of Technology, Warangal

9. National Institute of Technology, Karnataka

10. BITS-Pilani

The Best Civil Engineering Colleges in USA are: -