Civil Engineering: The Most Influential People In The World

What is civil engineering? Civil engineers are one of the most influential people in the world. They aim improve communities through municipalities and private clients with their respective requirements. Civil engineering mainly consists of two divisions which is consulting and contracting. An engineer deals with consultation and they usually design most of the time. A technician and technologist deal with contracting and implementing the plans provided. Civil engineering is divided into different disciplines including water engineering, transportation engineering, urban engineering, structural engineering and geotechnical engineering.
It can be said that civil engineers usually depend on clients to commence a project and implement their expertise.

A structural engineer design buildings by creating drawings, perform calculations and they interact with other people to reach a common goal. Structural engineers focus analysis and design whereby they have to take a lot into consideration to complete the final plan and they are complementary. Analysis is the determination of forces in each element of the structure. Design is configuring elements to resist forces of known values. Structural engineering is strict in terms of accuracy and the engineers have a challenge to make sure that their calculations are accurate to ensure people’s safety. They work hand in hand with other engineers and they have to make the necessary analysis to check the feasibility of an architect’s design. An architect will design a building and make sure it’s aesthetically pleasing to the client, whereas a structural engineer will take care of the structural requirements. This division of civil engineering is said to be one of the stressful profession in civil

I have been lucky enough to be exposed to a construction site where they were dealing with road construction. Little did I know that there should be a provision for rainfall crossfall and this reduces the dampness or flooding that gathers due to rainfall. Concrete channels also contribute towards the storm water drainage and they are usually next to kerbstones. I’ve also been exposed to the different road layers that makes a complete road. The ground is usually prepared to ensure the right bearing capacity and they compact the ground if it is not stable enough. Sometimes a base coarse (G5) is filled to make sure it is stable then the prime coat is applied. After the application of the tack coat, the BTB is then applied to strengthen the layers and sometimes they make use of C3 (combination of G5 and cement) depending on the required strength. The tack coat is then applied on top of the BTB and then the final stage is the application of the wearing coarse, also known as the premix.

It is clear that civil engineering is a broad profession and one can always specialise at a field of their choice. The importance of communication is the key to a successful project that will satisfy the client. Civil engineers will have to ensure goo communication with other engineers like mechanical and electrical engineers. The difference between an actual engineer and a technologist