CE 101

Introduction to Civil Engineering

The Past, the Present and the Future

OUTLINE
1. What is Civil Engineering?
2. Civil Engineering Fields
3. Civil Engineering: The Past
4. Civil Engineering: The Present
5. Civil Engineering: The Future
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What is Civil Engineering?

CIVIL ENGINEERING is a professional engineering discipline
that deals with:
Design,
Construction,
Maintenance of the physical and natural built environment,
including works such as
bridges,
roads,
canals,
airports
dams and
Buildings
etc.

One of the oldest professions ever.

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What is Civil Engineering?

Civil engineering is the fusion of
engineering (the soundness of infrastructures),
design (CAD sketches) and
art (designing aesthetic structures).
It is the professional art of applying scientific principles
to the optimum conversion of the resources of nature
for the use of the humankind.
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Definition by ASCE ( American society of civil engineers)

Civil Engineering is the profession in which knowledge of

the mathematical and physical sciences gained by study,
experience and practice is applied with judgment to develop
ways to utilize economically the materials and forces of
nature for the progressive well-being of man.

What is Civil Engineering?

Bridge Engineering
Construction engineering
Environmental engineering
Fire protection engineering
Geotechnical engineering
General engineering
Hydraulic engineering
Materials science
Piles Engineering
Structural engineering
Surveying
Timber Engineering
Transportation engineering
Water resources engineering
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What is Civil Engineering?

The name civil engineering originates from the purpose of
distinguishing its civilian activities from those of military
engineering in the 17th century.
Military engineering developed long before civil engineering
in ancient Rome.
In the 18th century, civil engineers wanted to show that they
were a different group doing different jobs like :
building villas, sewer lines or roads
rather than building military camps, fortifications, assault
bridges or tunnels

Origin of the name

The word engineer originates from the Latin

term ingenerare, meaning to invent, to create or
to regulate.

Branches of ENGINEERING ( sorted by date )

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Architecture
CIVIL ENGINEERING
Mechanical Engineering
Mining Engineering
Metallurgical Engineering
Naval architecture
Electrical Engineering
Aeronautical & Space Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Electronics Engineering
Nuclear Engineering
Biomedical Engineering
Industrial Engineering
Genetic Engineering
Environmental Engineering
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Civil Engineering : THE PAST

4.86 billion years old ( estimated age of planet earth )
3.8 million years appearance of 1st human being
Civil engineering activities can be assumed to have
started as soon as the humans changed from being
fruit/meat gatherers/hunters to farmers, and
communities began to form.
Protecting the settlement by building a wall around it,
is engineering of the simplest form.
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Civil Engineering : The Past

Pyramids have been built at various times and places; The bestknown are those of Egypt and of Central and South America.
The pyramids of ancient Egypt were royal tombs.
About 80 royal pyramids survive in Egypt, the greatest being those
at Giza.

Great Pyramids of Giza (around 2589 B.C)

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THE PAST First recorded Civil Engineer

Imhotep, a priest-architect responsible for planning
and execution of the works to build the King Zoser high
stepped pyramid in 2650 B.C. (Saqqarah, Egypt)

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THE PAST Glory of Ancient Rome

The Colosseum is an example
of ancient Roman
architectural engineering,
It was used for gladiatorial
games and was even flooded
for mock navy battles,
It measured approximately
85x53 m,
Overall capacity to
accommodate 87,000
people.

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The Colosseum
(70-82 AD)
Rome, Italy

The Pantheon
(120-124 AD)
Rome, Italy

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THE PAST American Pyramids

American pyramids include the pyramids of the Sun and Moon
at Teotihuacn, the Castillo at Chichn Itz, and various Inca and
Chim structures in Andean settlements.
built of earth and faced with stone; typically stepped pyramids
used for rituals, including human sacrifice.

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THE PAST American Pyramids

Pyramid of the Magician, Uxmal, Mexico ( 600 AD)

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Ellora Caves , India, 630 AD

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Engineering TODAY
Today, civil engineers are in the forefront of technology.
They are the leading users of sophisticated high-tech
products.
Applying the very latest concepts in computer-aided design
(CAD) during design, construction, project scheduling, and
cost control.

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Civil Engineering: The Present

Civil engineering is about community service, development,
and improvement.
It involves the conception, planning, design, construction, and
operation of facilities essential to modern life, ranging from
transit systems to offshore structures to space satellites.
Civil engineers are problem solvers, meeting the challenges of
pollution, traffic congestion, drinking water and energy needs,
urban redevelopment, and community planning.

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A Showcase of Excellence
Channel Tunnel
One of the most current and
exciting civil engineering feats has
linked Britain and France for the
first time in 8,000 years.
The Channel Tunnel (or "Chunnel")
is among the largest engineering
projects in history and the longest
undersea tunnel ever built.
High-speed trains are now crossing
the English Channel on a regular
schedule.

Marmaray Project, Istanbul

Marmaray Project, Istanbul

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Beijing National Stadium the "Bird's

Nest"
21 hectares

258,000 m2
Seating capacity: 91,000 + including
11,000 temporary seats.
two independent structures: a red
concrete seating bowl + outer steel
frame.
$290 million.

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High speed trains

Sleek, silvery bullet trains reach speeds of close to 500 kilometers per
hour in Japan and Europe.
Today, more and more sophisticated rail lines are being proposed to
solve transportation needs around the world.

Civil Engineering: The Future

Our future as a nation will be closely tied to space, energy, the
environment, and our ability to interact with and compete in
the global economy.

As the technology revolution expands, as the world's

population increases, and as environmental concerns mount,
your skills will be needed.

There is no limit to the personal satisfaction you will feel from

helping to make our world a better place to live.

Whatever area you choose; design, construction, research,

teaching, or management, civil engineering offers you a wide
range of career choices.

Civil Engineering: The Future

Engineers are involved in designing and building of:
the roads you drive on;
signalization of the traffic lights that you see on these roads;
bridges and overpasses that you use;
amphitheaters and theatres that you see plays;
dams, irrigation channels, water distribution systems and
sewer systems that you daily use;
buildings that you live and work;
towers, shopping centers and hotels;
Etc.

Civil engineers have the pleasure of

undertaking the most important role of
making the environment more favorable for
the humanity with the structures they built.

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Demands for the future

Build better, faster, cheaper.

The cities of the future

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CIVIL ENGINEERING
at

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Civil Engineering Program aims

To educate the students as civil engineers who:

have a capability of using the basic sciences in the solution and

analysis of complex civil engineering problems,
have advanced oral and written communication skills,
have a strong background of analysis, programming and
drawing applications by computer,
have interaction with the disciplines other than engineering in
the scientific and social subjects,
Individuals who know the ways of learning, thinking, making
research,
have the leadership attribute and are in reciprocal influence
with the social environment that they are in and beneficial for
that environment.

General
Civil Engineering covers a wide range of engineering
applications from dams, tunnels, pipelines and
highways to buildings.
Civil Engineering is distinguished as being one of the
earliest engineering disciplines.
Throughout the ages it has provided creative and
feasible solutions to many of the basic human needs
and problems, and it still continues to take pride in
being a fundamental building block of civilization
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Program
The first two years of the undergraduate program is dedicated to the study
of basic sciences and mathematics which provide the student with
engineering fundamentals.
The study of mechanics and materials which is basic to civil engineering
begins in the second year.
The third and fourth years involve the study and application of the
principles of geotechnical engineering (behavior of soils, design of
foundations), structural engineering (analysis and design of reinforced
concrete and steel structures), hydraulics engineering (flow of water in
pipes, open channels, water resources), and the general systems approach
to engineering problems.

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Mission
Our mission is to educate the students to gain
an understanding of the fundamentals of
science and engineering so that they can
develop solutions to Civil Engineering
problems and enhance their computing,
communication, and research skills.

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