Our complex world continues to prosper. It continues to grow and change. The world as we know it and enjoy it is the way it is in part from engineers and the services they provide for us to enjoy. When we cross bridges, flush a toilet, run a lawn mower or enjoy the convenience of driving our car thank an engineer. The branches of engineering run far and wide. The many concentrations and extensions of engineering services allow us to enjoy the benefits we do in society.
Civil engineering is of utmost importance to allow for society to blend growth, functionality and natural environments. The designs, construction and maintenance civil engineers provide allow us to use the land without exploiting it. Within civil engineering there are several sub-disciplines. Each brings a unique twist to the discipline and helps transform the environment.
Geotechnical engineering explores the use of raw materials coming from the Earth and how using the resources will affect the environment as well as the project on a whole. As the name implies they are mainly concerned with the geological resources within a civil engineering project site. They explore, extract and process the raw substances and give analysis and recommendations based on the information collected. For instance when doing land surveys they often perform a soil analysis. If the soil analysis were to find substances within the soil that could be hazardous if leaked into a water supply a project may be moved to another plot of land.
Structural engineering is a division of civil engineering that handles issues that arise with the structures support. They ensure that a structure is stable for the environment that is built. In California buildings are built structurally sound to prevent major disasters during earthquakes. Structural engineering services also provide for buildings to support incredible winds, weather related events and different architectural engineering.
Transportation engineering ensures the safety of people and goods as they are transported via roadways, waterways, rail systems and through the air too. This includes things we take for granted such as stop lights and the way they are timed out. Engineering services provide for us to enjoy traveling safely without too much congestion and without running into one another. They also provide railway safety and air safety to allow for safe travel and design programs to allow for tracking.
Environmental engineering applies to improving, maintaining and protection of the environment we are building in and around. The services they provide are designed around the ecosystem. They apply sanitary engineering, hydraulic engineering and municipal engineering. Working together these engineering services help protect our surroundings and allow the environment and society to design a co-habitat for all the living and non living resources in it.
Civil engineering services are just one of the many that allow our society to function as it does. Engineers design, implement, maintain and provide the analysis to keep us safe and moving forward. Engineering services allow for the function of everyday life and provides solutions for the hiccups that arise.