Civil
engineering is a very vast field. It can be classified into:
1.
Surveying
2.
Construction engineering
3.
Structural engineering
4.
Earthquake engineering
5.
Geotechnical and foundation engineering
6.
Quantity surveying
7. Fluid
mechanics
8.
Irrigation engineering
9.
Transportation engineering
10.
Environmental engineering
11. Town
planning
12.
Infrastructural development
13.
Project management
14.
Remote sensing
Scope of each of these is
presented in this article.
 |
| Types of civil engineering |
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 equipment 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. Behavior 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 equipment.
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.Behavior
of the structures to earthquake forces is dealt in earthquake engineering.
Design of earthquake
resistant structure is attracting lot of research. Studying magnitude,
behavior 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.
QUANTITY
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 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 aqueducts and
regulators form part of irrigation
engineering.
TRANSPORTATION
ENGINEERING
Another
important amenity that public requires is good roads. Design of good road
involves the design
of base courses, surface finishes, cross drainage works, road intersections,
culverts, bridges and
tunnels. Roads need suitable design of horizontal and vertical curves also.
Railway is another important
long way transport facility. Design construction and maintenance of railway
lines and signal
systems are part of transportation engineering. Design, construction and
maintenance of harbors
and airports are also the need of globalization era. For proper planning of
these transport facilities
traffic survey is to be carried out. All these activities constitute the
transportation engineering.
ENVIRONMENTAL
ENGINEERING
Supplying
potable water to rural areas, towns and cities and disposal of waste water and
solid waste is
another field of civil engineering. Solid waste management and disposal of
electronic waste
systematically is the need for maintaining good environment. Study of sources,
causes,effects
and remedial measures associated with air pollution, water pollution, land
pollution and noise pollution forms
environmental engineering branch of civil engineering.
TOWN PLANNING
New
towns and cities and extension areas of existing cities are to be planned
properly so that suitable
communication system,
educational facilities medical facilities, shopping
centers are provided
along with residential areas. Growing industrialization of country has brought
importance to ‘Town Planning’ aspect
of civil engineering.
INFRASTRUCTURAL
DEVELOPMENT
Importance
of an interdisciplinary approach to total infrastructural development is
necessary.Any new
area developed should have proper approach roads, electricity and water supply,telecommunication
facility. Proximity of primary schools, high schools, health care and market facility
should be provided. Civil engineers have to work with other organisation and
government agencies
for suitable infrastructure developments for the new as well as existing
localities of the towns and cities.
PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
Planning,
scheduling and management forms the basis for taking up a project.
Planning
Planning
is the decision-making process about What, Where, Who and How (WWWH) to start a project
work.
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 plan.
Scheduling
Scheduling
is the process of dividing the project into various stages, various events and
identifying time,
machinery and human resources required for each event. For example, the
construction of a
building may be divided into the following stages:
1.
Mobilizing
2.
Laying foundation
3.
Building superstructure
4.
Finishing.
Laying
the foundation may be divided into the following events:
1.
Digging
2.
Laying bed concrete
3.
Constructing stone masonry for foundation
4.
Providing coping concrete
5.
Pointing the joints and
6.
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, organizing, 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 SENSING111
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.
0 Comments
For more Information Please Comment