What is Civil Engineering?

Civil engineering deals with planning, designing, constructing, maintaining and managing buildings, bridges, roads and railways. It is considered as one of the broadest fields of engineering and one of the oldest disciplines. At one point in time, there were only two fields considered in engineering, military and civil engineering. Although military engineering still exists today, it is incorporated in the civil engineering umbrella incorporating many related specialties. The major specialties within civil engineering are environmental, structural, land & water resources, transportation and construction engineering.On a smaller scale, Civil Engineers design and supervise the construction of airports, sewage systems, dams, roads, power plants, tunnels and water supply. There are many factors that must be considered during the planning and design process; which include government regulations, the life expectancy of a particular project, construction costs as well as the potential environmental hazards and conditions such as earthquakes, tornadoes or massive flooding.

Education & Civil Engineering Today

In today's society, Civil Engineers are needed to design and construct safe and higher capacity transportation, infrastructures, large building complexes, water supply and pollution control systems. This has resulted in an increase in general population growth as well as the federal government's requirement to place a greater emphasis on infrastructure security. Civil Engineers are also needed to repair or replace existing roads, bridges and other public structures.
It is critical to know that almost all entry-level engineering jobs require a bachelor's degree. Obtaining a graduate level degree in engineering is essential for a faculty, research development or management career. Although this does vary by state, some states allow supervised work experience to be substituted for a college diploma. In addition to education requirements, several years of practical experience is encouraged and often times mandatory to be promoted to a management position. Regardless of your job ranking and experience, continuing education is important for those wishing to stay ahead of the evolving technology.

Careers & Trends in Civil Engineering

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Civil Engineers are expected to see average employment growth through 2014. With Civil Engineers being the most popular career within the realm of engineering, they encompass 237,000 or 16.4% of the total engineering population.Depending on the educational background, Civil Engineers may obtain administrative or supervisory positions, ranging from a City Engineer to a Supervisory position at a construction site. The majority of civil engineering graduates start with entry-level positions or jobs with low responsibility. Once they've proven their competence and ability to work as part of a team at a construction site, they are given more and more responsibility. Other Civil Engineers have been known to work in research, teaching, construction and design, and acquire a broad range of experience prior to advancing their careers.Considering that many Civil Engineers are employed in design and construction industries, employment opportunities and job security can decrease during economic slow downs depending on the geographic area.

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