Civil Engineering Branches to Choose Your Career and be the Expert

Design, implementation and maintenance of public works are commonly termed as Civil Engineering. This involves facilities and structures such as large scale monuments, government buildings, transportation routes, hydraulic structures, as well as other structures. Civil Engineers work for the government or for a public company or by himself to construct such structures or any work related to civil engineering. Civil engineers may also be hired either by a city, a city employed private firm or an independent company. Even a civil engineer can perform personally and can earn a great amount. Besides job opportunity for the civil engineer is noticeable. There are many branches of civil engineering; one can be an expert in one branch or on all branches. So, knowledge of branches of civil engineering will help one to choose one’s branch of interest. The branches of civil engineering are discussed below:

Construction Engineering:

Construction engineering is a branch of civil engineering that focuses on the planning, construction and maintenance of the structures. Its name reflects its purposes mainly. You will learn about the construction of any structures, its maintenance and safety measures required during the construction process. As a construction engineer you can play an important role in the development of infrastructures. This includes the construction of all structures from building to road. A civil engineer works as part of a team with other engineers that supervise the entire construction project and meet the specifications required. A construction engineer must be present during field work and must supervise the project from beginning to end, solving any problems that may arise. Due to the wide range of responsibilities, a construction engineer’s role is somewhat similar to the role of a project manager.

Structural Engineering:

Structural engineering incorporates design and structural analysis. A structural engineer has the role of analyzing structures, ensuring they are in accordance with safety regulations and designing structures that meet given specifications while safely tolerating any possible stresses and forces without causing damage to the structure. A structural engineer must take into account natural disasters and climate change when designing or inspecting structures.

Geotechnical Engineering:

Geotechnical engineering focuses on foundation capacities which are determined by the behavior of earth materials. A geotechnical engineer must pre-evaluate all planned construction sites to ensure that the foundation can withstand the foreseen structure and determine any possible earth material problems for already existing structures.

Transportation Engineering:

A civil engineer that has specialized in transport engineering must plan, design and manage the construction of transportation infrastructures that provide a safe and comfortable mode of transportation, while being economic and environmentally friendly. Transportation engineering can be divided into six sub-divisions: highway, air, waterway, aerospace, costal and oceanic and urban transportation.

Surveying:

This branch of civil engineering inspects and contours terrain sites. Engineers must use a number of different instruments to perform tasks such as locating and measuring property lines, building layouts, bridges, channels, highways and pipelines for foreseen constructions. There are two divisions of survey engineers: plane surveying engineers and geodetic surveying engineers.

Water Resource Engineering:

Water resource engineers are responsible for the design, construction and implementation of hydraulic structures. Hydraulic structures generally include dams, water canals and water distribution systems. The engineer must closely adhere to safety precautions in all aspects while undertaking such projects.

Environmental Engineering:

Environmental engineers are concerned with designing environmentally friendly solutions and sewage management. They aim to decrease pollution and better manage sewage in new and inventive ways.

Municipal Engineering:

This branch of engineering is responsible for planning, managing and maintaining urban areas. These engineers work in co-operation with government officials to ensure that the structures within the city are running as planned.

Coastal Engineering:

Coastal engineers are responsible for coastal and marine structures. They must construct and maintain such structures, ensuring safety while minimizing the disturbance of coastal regions.

Tunnel Engineering:

Tunnel engineers are civil engineers that plan, design, construct and maintain tunnels, while ensuring that all safety specifications are strictly being adhered to.

Earthquake Engineering:

An earthquake engineer must use knowledge of seismic forces in order to design and construct structures that will be resistant to such forces.

Material Engineering:

Material engineering focuses on the properties of materials that are to be used in construction and ceramics. Properties such as strength must be taken into account to best determine the most suitable materials for each structure. These properties in conjunction with the projects specifications aid the engineer make such a determination.