Civil engineering contributions to the welfare of society

CIVIL ENGINEERING CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WELFARE OF SOCIETY

Civil engineers work on the planning, design, construction and maintenance of projects such as roads, buildings, tunnels, airports, dams, bridges, and water supply and sewage systems. Civil engineers work as part of a team with a wide range of backgrounds and often use theory and models to predict how a design will perform. They generally test ideas in the field using scale mockups to prove new design theories without endangering lives. By developing the infrastructure for the society, civil engineers are essentially building the backbone for the world to relax on.

Çivil engineering has played a critical role in increasing the health and quality of life, by developing better water supplies, municipal sewer systems, waste water treatment plants to protect from natural hazards and provide health care, improved agriculture through water resource development and distribution projects, rapid and dramatic changes in transportation systems. Civil engineers have developed the basic infrastructure with which the modern society is dependent on.

Structural engineers are concerned with the conception, analysis, design and construction of components or assemblies to resist loads arising from internal and external forces. In addition to steel and concrete, new materials that are being developed and used in structural engineering include reinforced plastics and polymers. Typical civil engineering structures include large buildings, bridges and dams.

Geotechnical engineering is the study of the behavior of soils under the influence of loading forces and soil-water interactions. This knowledge is applied to the design of foundations, retaining walls, earth dams, clay liners, and geosynthetics for waste containment. The goals of geotechnical engineers could range from the design of foundations and temporary excavation support, through route selection for railways and highways, to the increasingly important areas of landfill disposal of wastes and groundwater contamination.

Transportation has always played an essential role in the development of society, originally with regard to trade routes and harbors, but presently with regard to land and air-based systems as well. It is the civil engineer's responsibility to plan, design, build, operate and maintain these systems of transport. Civil engineers do it in such a way as to provide for the safe, efficient and convenient movement of people and goods. The highway designed by a civil engineer adequately supports the weight and stresses of the vehicles in motion and of the centrifugal forces at the curves.

Civil engineers ensure that societal development and the use of water, land and air resources are sustainable. This goal is achieved by managing these resources so that environmental pollution and degradation is minimized. The water resources system designed by a civil engineer ensures water intake at an appropriate source, water conveyance that transports water to a water treatment plant and water distribution, delivering sanitized water to the society. Thus, the contributions of civil engineering to the welfare of society are very significant.