Glossary of civil engineering

Glossary of Civil Engineering

Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment. This glossary provides definitions and explanations of terms commonly used in the field of civil engineering.

A

Aggregate

Aggregate refers to a broad category of coarse to medium-grained particulate material used in construction, including sand, gravel, crushed stone, slag, recycled concrete, and geosynthetic aggregates. Aggregates are the most mined materials in the world.

Asphalt

Asphalt is a sticky, black, and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It is used in road construction, where it is mixed with aggregate particles to create asphalt concrete.

B

Beam

A beam is a structural element that primarily resists loads applied laterally to the beam's axis. Its mode of deflection is primarily by bending.

Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle, such as a body of water, valley, or road, without closing the way underneath.

C

Concrete

Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens over time. It is widely used for construction purposes.

Culvert

A culvert is a structure that allows water to flow under a road, railroad, trail, or similar obstruction from one side to the other side.

D

Dam

A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Dams create reservoirs that store water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aquaculture, and navigability.

Drainage

Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area.

E

Earthquake Engineering

Earthquake engineering is an interdisciplinary branch of engineering that designs and analyzes structures, such as buildings and bridges, with earthquakes in mind.

Embankment

An embankment is a raised structure made of earth or gravel, used to hold back water or to carry a roadway.

F

Foundation

A foundation is the element of a structure which connects it to the ground, and transfers loads from the structure to the ground.

Fracture

Fracture refers to the separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress.

G

Geotechnical Engineering

Geotechnical engineering is the branch of civil engineering concerned with the engineering behavior of earth materials.

Girder

A girder is a large beam, especially one that supports a structure.

H

Hydrology

Hydrology is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability.

Hydrostatic Pressure

Hydrostatic pressure is the pressure exerted by a fluid at equilibrium due to the force of gravity.

I

Infrastructure

Infrastructure refers to the fundamental facilities and systems serving a country, city, or other area, including the services and facilities necessary for its economy to function.

Irrigation

Irrigation is the application of controlled amounts of water to plants at needed intervals.

J

Joint

A joint is a connection between two or more parts of a structure.

K

Kinetic Energy

Kinetic energy is the energy that an object possesses due to its motion.

L

Load

A load is a force applied to a structure or component.

Land Surveying

Land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them.

M

Masonry

Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar.

Mortar

Mortar is a workable paste used to bind building blocks such as stones, bricks, and concrete masonry units together, fill and seal the irregular gaps between them, and sometimes add decorative colors or patterns to masonry walls.

N

Noise Barrier

A noise barrier is an exterior structure designed to protect inhabitants of sensitive land use areas from noise pollution.

O

Overpass

An overpass is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway.

P

Pavement

Pavement is a durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway.

Pile

A pile is a long cylinder of a strong material such as concrete that is pushed into the ground to act as a steady support for structures built on top of it.

Q

Quarry

A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted.

R

Reinforced Concrete

Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars ("rebars"), reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen a material that would otherwise be brittle.

Retaining Wall

A retaining wall is a structure designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to (typically a steep, near-vertical or vertical slope).

S

Soil Mechanics

Soil mechanics is a branch of soil physics and applied mechanics that describes the behavior of soils.

Span

A span is the distance between two intermediate supports for a structure.

T

Tension

Tension is the state of being stretched tight.

Truss

A truss is an assembly of beams or other elements that creates a rigid structure.

U

Underpass

An underpass is a road or railway that passes under another road or railway.

V

Viaduct

A viaduct is a long bridge-like structure, typically a series of arches, carrying a road or railway across a valley or other low ground.

W

Water Table

The water table is the level below which the ground is saturated with water.

Wind Load

Wind load is the force on a structure arising from the impact of wind.

X

X-bracing

X-bracing is a system of diagonal supports used to reinforce building structures.

Y

Yield Stress

Yield stress is the stress at which a material begins to deform plastically.

Z

Zoning

Zoning is the process of dividing land in a municipality into zones in which certain land uses are permitted or prohibited.

Also see

• Structural engineering
• Geotechnical engineering
• Transportation engineering
• Environmental engineering
• Construction management