Introduction to Civil Engineering

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A proper introduction to Civil engineering is required for all students and professionals wishing to enter this field. Selecting a career is an important turning point in all individuals’ life. So, when selecting a field, we should have a sufficient amount of knowledge about the type of the field that we are going to learn, the industry that we are going to be putted on, the types of work we will have to do once we are in the industry etc. I hope this article will be helpful.

Another reason for this article is that there are many myths about civil engineering prevalent in the society which gives an entirely different picture about civil engineering to the common society. Due to these myths, certain people strongly believe that Civil Engineering is not a good field for females. These results in situations such as, certain women who really love Civil Engineering don’t end up in learning that because the society doesn’t permit them.

The society has started to believe the HARD HAT is the stethoscope for civil engineers. Yah, Civil engineers wear this once they are in the site, if they are site engineers or when they make a site visit for consultation purposes. But, how can that be the stethoscope for a Civil Engineer? The truth is, it is just a Personal Protection Equipment (PPE). The laborers use it more often than the engineers. I do not know of anything for Civil Engineers like the stethoscope for Doctors. Doctors will carry that wherever they go and that gives them an identification and respect. Civil Engineers simply have nothing like that.

Another myth that is prevalent is, Civil Engineers are responsible for the look and beauty of a building or any Civil Engineering structures. People credit or discredit the Civil Engineers by the look of the building or any other Civil engineering structure. This is not true in all situations. Except for certain complicated Civil Engineering structures, the design and look of all the other buildings are done by Architects along with the client (the owner of the building). There are many design drawings necessary for construction of a building. Many of them are designed and drawn by the Engineers. But what the society believes is, it’s civil engineers who draw the Architectural drawing and Architectural Drawing is the only drawing necessary for the construction of a building. Architect along with the Client decides how the building should look like and how the activity spaces (kitchen, bath room, hall etc.) has to be arranged etc. Architect and Client put on the complete imagination. The imagination will be made into reality by the Civil Engineers. It’s them who decide all the other parameters of the structure including the specification of the foundation and other structural elements, how the construction should be carried out in the environment etc. by considering the needs and wants of the client that are translated to the Civil Engineer by the aid of a Architectural drawing by an Architect.

Another and one of the very dangerous myths is, if the building or any Civil Engineering structure failed, engineers are the completely responsible for it. This has made a great fear in the society and this not 100% truth. The Civil Engineer has to take the responsibility only if the contractor has constructed it completely following the recommendations of the Civil Engineer. If that can be proven, Civil Engineer has to take the responsibility. Another very basic cause for the failure of the structures is using the structure for causes other than for what the structure was initially required. For an example, if a structure failed because a helicopter was landed on the structure and the structure was not designed for that purpose, the engineer can never be responsible. This is a very rare case and this won’t happen because they are technical people and we can’t expect them to do this great error. Let us take a very common example. Say an engineer designed a slab for a second floor for residential purpose. After construction, the owner used that area as a car park, parking huge vehicles, in that situation, if the structure fails; the Civil engineer is not responsible. These are very obvious cases, so engineers don’t have to fear.

A person can ask a question that, if the above said were not the reason for the failure and failure is solely because of the error in calculation by the engineer, are they not responsible? Yes, they are responsible in these cases. But, the chances for these situations are really low, because the engineers today, don’t do the calculations manually, almost all the calculations are computerized. It’s computers and reputed software that do the necessary calculations. So, the margin for error is very low.

Even then the Civil Engineers have a small risk. But remember, it is the risk which makes Civil Engineers superior.

So, what actually is Civil Engineering? And actually are Civil Engineers?

Engineering by definition means the application of the acquired scientific knowledge. It is scientist who research and develop scientific theories and laws. It’s Engineers who use those theories and laws for practical problems and find a solution for the practical issues.

How can this definition be applicable for civil engineering?

Civil engineering means to apply the knowledge acquired using scientific methodology to fulfill the requirements of the Clients by designing, building, maintaining and improving Buildings and Civil Engineering Structures. They design the parameters of the foundation, parameters of the structure etc.

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