Civil Engineering Orientation

Civil Engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals
with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical

and naturally built environment, including works like roads,
bridges, canal, dams, and buildings.
• Civil engineering is the oldest and broadest area of engineering. (3000 BC)
• The self-proclaimed civil engineer was John Smeaton, who constructed the Eddystone
Lighthouse.
• The term engineer and architect were mainly geographical variations referring to the
same occupation, and often used interchangeably.
• The construction of pyramids in Egypt (circa 2700 – 2500 BC) were some of the first
instances of large structure constructions.
• Other ancient historic civil engineering contructions:
• Qanat Water Management System
• Parthenon by Iktinos in Ancient Greece (447-438 BC)

• Other ancient historic civil engineering contructions:
• Appian Way by Roman Engineers (c. 312 BC)
• Great Wall of China (c.220 BC)

IMPROVEMENTS IN CIVIL ENGINEERING METHODS
Some of the key advantages gained through quality management include:
• Improved Timelines: Timeline issues are a significant cause of budget overruns and serve to
compound all the hazards inherent to any project – including safety issues, legal liabilities, and many
others. Even a single day saved can make a significant difference.
• Cost-Effectiveness: Attention to quality helps ensure adequate personnel and resources are
allocated at all phases of a project and that potential challenges are properly prepared for. This
raises overall productivity and reduces costly procurement and rework.
• Enhanced Safety: Safety is a paramount goal at any worksite. When work is performed efficiently
and backed by a commitment to safety, reportable incidents can be reduced. Lessons learned in
quality improvement can be applied to generate safety best practices.
• Improved Workmanship: Every day a project is “live” helps determine the future fate of the
structure. Overall cost of ownership and limits of usage are determined every day by the quality of
the effort each stakeholder invests to realize the project’s aims.
NEW CONSTRUCTION METHODS AND CONSTRUCTION
INNOVATION IN THE FIELD OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
1. Self-healing concrete
 Cracking is a major problem in
construction, usually caused by exposure
to water and chemicals. Researchers at
Bath University are looking to develop a
self-healing concrete, using a mix
containing bacteria within microcapsules,
which will aid building innovation by
germinating when water enters a crack in
the concrete to produce limestone,
plugging the crack before water and
oxygen has a chance to corrode the steel
reinforcement.
2. Thermal bridging
 Heat transmission through walls tends to
be passed directly through the building
envelope, be it masonry, block or stud
frame, to the internal fascia such as
drywall. This process is known as “thermal
bridging”. Aerogel, a technology developed
by Nasa for cryogenic insulation, is
considered one of the most effective
thermal insulation materials and US spin-
off Thermablok has adapted it using a
proprietary aerogel in a fibreglass
matrix. This can be used to insulate studs,
which can reportedly increase overall wall
R-value (an industry measure of thermal
resistance) by more than 40 per cent.
3. Photovoltaic glaze
 One of the most exciting new technologies
used in civil engineering is building
integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) glazing,
which can help building generate their own
electricity by turning the whole building
envelope into a solar panel. As well as
saving on energy bills and earning feed-in
tariff revenues, its cost is only marginal
over traditional glass, since construction
and framework costs remain, while
cladding and shading system costs are
replaced.
4. Kinetic Footfall
 One of the latest civil engineering
technologies under development is kinetic
energy. Pavegen provides a technology
that enables flooring to harness the energy
of footsteps. It can be used indoors or
outdoors in high traffic areas, and
generates electricity from pedestrian
footfall using an electromagnetic induction
process and flywheel energy storage. The
technology is best suited to transport hubs
where a large flow of people will pass over
it.
5. Kinetic Roads
 Italian startup Underground Power is
exploring the potential of kinetic energy in
roadways. It has developed a technology
called Lybra, a tyre-like rubber paving that
converts the kinetic energy produced by
moving vehicles into electrical energy.
The cutting-edge technology is able to
collect and convert this energy into
electricity before passing it on to the
electricity grid. In addition to improving
road safety, the device upgrades and
promotes sustainability of road traffic.
6. Predictive Software
 Predictive software can help ensure even the
most innovative structures in civil
engineering are safe and efficient, by
simulating how they will behave.
 The structural integrity of any building is only

as good as its individual parts. The way those
parts fit together, along with the choice of
materials and its specific site, all contribute
to how the building will perform under
normal, or extreme, conditions.
7. 3D Modelling
 Planning and building innovation has been
driven by the growth of smart cities.
CyberCity3D (CC3D) is a geospatial-
modelling innovator specializing in the
production of smart 3D building models. It
creates smart digital 3D buildings to help
the architectural, engineering and
construction sector visualize and
communicate design and data with CC3D
proprietary software. It provides data for
urban, energy, sustainability and design
planning, and works in conjunction with
many smart city SaaS platforms such as
Cityzenith.
8. Modular Construction
 Modular construction is one of the most
popular developments in civil engineering
where a building is constructed off-site
using the same materials and designed to
the same standards as conventional on-site
construction. This innovative building
technique limits environmental disruption,
delivering components as and when
needed, and turning construction into a
logistics exercise. It also has strong
sustainability benefits, from fewer vehicle
movements to less waste.
9. Cloud Collaboration
 Another new technology used in civil engineering
is a cloud collaboration tool called basestone.
basestone is a system allowing the remote
sharing of data on a construction site in real time.
It is predominantly a review tool for civil
engineers and architects which digitizes the
drawing review process on construction projects,
and allows for better collaboration. The system is
used to add “snags”, issues that happen during
construction, on to pdfs, then users can mark or
add notes through basestone.
10. Asset mapping
 Asset mapping focuses on operational equipment,
including heating and air conditioning, lighting and
security systems. The process includes collecting
data from serial numbers, firmware, engineering
notes of when it was installed and by whom, and
combines all the data in one place. This system can
show engineers in real time where the equipment
needs to be installed on a map and, once the assets
are connected to the real-time system using the
internet of things, these can be monitored via the
web, app, and other remote devices and systems. It
helps customers build databases of asset
performance, which can assist in proactive building
maintenance, and also reduce building procurement
and insurance costs.

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Civil Engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals

with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical

• Parthenon by Iktinos in Ancient Greece (447-438 BC)

• Great Wall of China (c.220 BC)

 The structural integrity of any building is only

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