Civil Engineering

How Does Water Relate to Civil Engineering?

As a professional discipline, civil engineering is closely related to the total human environment. Undergraduate students are required to take classes in each of the following subject areas, and can emphasize one or more areas during their course of study:

• Environmental engineering
• Geotechnical engineering
• Structural engineering
• Transportation engineering
• Water resources engineering

In all professional endeavors, the civil engineer must consider ecological effects as well as the social, economic, and political needs of people. The civil engineer designs systems to control and manage our water resources to provide electrical power, agricultural irrigation, flood control, recreation, water supplies, and wastewater treatment systems for our urban and industrial needs.

The civil engineer plans, designs, and constructs our transportation systems including highways, railroads, waterways, and airports to connect rural, urban, and industrial areas. The civil engineer also designs and constructs housing and facilities for recreational, industrial, and commercial complexes, which comprise the urban environment. It is the responsibility of civil engineering to minimize air, water, and land pollution and to protect the environment.