Civil Engineering has developed over the ages to accommodate the society needs, and was

divided to many branches due to the massive information and theorems that was developed, and
so specialists in each field were required. Because of that we see now seven main branches of
Civil Engineering in the professional life and taught by the Engineering faculties around the world.

These fields are:

1. Construction Engineering
2. Structural Engineering
3. Geotechnical Engineering
4. Transportation Engineering
5. Environmental Engineering
6. Urban Engineering
7. Water resources Engineering

Construction engineering:
The construction phase of a project represents the first tangible result of a design; this phase is
to be managed according to the three main parameters of management: Cost, Time and Quality.
The construction engineers are responsible of taking the project to an equilibrium state between
these three parameters, and they turn designs into reality on time and within budget.
A construction engineer should have deep understanding of economic principles, design
fundamentals, material properties and management technique, as they apply their knowledge of
construction methods and equipment along with principles of financing, planning and managing
to turn the designs of other engineers into successful facilities.

Main tasks:

1. Review contracts of projects.

2. Hire subcontractors.
3. Provide quality control for the construction.
4. Order materials needed for the project.
5. Insure that the construction project is competed on time and within budget.

Employment by sub-discipline:

Oversees the entire construction project, organizes sub-contractors to meet the

critical path.
Project Manager

Formulates the expense of a project, prepares the bid proposal, and uses quality
control to reduce costs to the company to achieve the lowest bid on a project.
Estimator

Designs the critical path of project without sacrificing quality or safety, works
Scheduler
closely with the Project Manager.
 Designs the project to meet the specifications set by the owner and government
Project regulations, renders pragmatic solutions to daily problems during construction.
Engineer

Structural Engineering:
The first phase of building a structure is the design process that must assure the safety of the
structure, its esthetics and serviceability. Structural Engineers are to design and analyze
engineering structures such as; tall buildings, bridges, dams, platforms, stadiums …etc.

Tasks of a structural engineer can be divided into two main categories, the design and the
analysis. The design process is both creative and technical and requires knowledge of the
material and laws of mechanics which governs material response. After the design process, the
structure is analyzed to ensure that it has the required strength and rigidity, this analysis is used
to redesign the structure accounting for more accurate determination quantities.

Structural Engineers should have knowledge about the behavior of deformable bodies, about the
source, magnitudes and probability of applied loads, about material properties, design
philosophies and international and local design codes.

Main tasks:

1. Ensure that a structure is safe for use and resist their own weight and dynamic
environmental loads such as hurricanes, earthquakes, blizzards and floods.
2. Develop and utilize knowledge of the properties and behaviors of steel, concrete and
timber as well as new exotic materials.
3. Evaluate and improve the load resistance capabilities of existing structures.

Employment by sub-discipline:

Specializes (in larger firms) in areas such as bridges, offshore structures,

buildings, transmission towers, etc., formulates plans that meet criteria based
Designer on quality, cost, and safety.

Explores safety concerns on an existing structures, modifies structures to raise

safety levels or to expand existing capabilities.
Evaluator/Analyst
Geotechnical Engineering:
Till today all the structures are built in, on or with the earth. The plains of earth where the
structure is to be built must be analyzed carefully so that it will hold the structure and won’t fail.

Geotechnical Engineering can be defined as the sub discipline of civil engineering that involves
the study of natural materials found close to the surface of the earth; it includes the application of
the principles of soil mechanics and rock mechanics to the design of foundations, retaining
structures and earth structures.

Main tasks:

1. Study the properties of soil found in the project area; this study includes the
origins of soil, grain size distribution, ability to drain water, compressibility, shear
strength and load bearing capacity.
2. Design containment areas for depositing soil wise materials.
3. Analyze rocks and soils in a project area for their suitability to support extreme
loads.
4. Design the foundation of structures.

Employment by sub-discipline:

Designs deep or shallow foundations to support load-bearing structures,

Foundation examines soil and rock to determine the stability available for a project.
Designer

Creates waste management facilities that meet the needs of a community,

employs safe-management practices to avoid contamination of existing soils
Landfill Manager and water hydro patterns.

Determines existing types of soil and rock, tests strengths of the ground to
support loads, investigates landslides and other soil/rock related natural
Engineering disasters.
Geologist

Assesses sites to ensure that specifications meet the standards imposed by

the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability
Hazardous Waste Act, employs remedial acts to contain hazardous waste in facilities that do not
Manager disturb the environment.
Transportation Engineering:
The transportation system is the basic component of any area’s physical, economic and social
structure. The quality of a community is directly related to the quality of its transportation system.

The main target of transportation engineering is to move people and goods safely and efficiently
by planning and managing the transportation systems. It is the responsibility of transportation
engineers to find methods of reducing traffic and make moving between far areas an easy task
facing the challenge of increasing travel needs.

Main tasks:

1. Planning, designing, construction and management of transportation systems.

2. Design highway systems, pavement materials and rapid transit projects.

3. Design of bridges, tunnels and culverts.

4. Designing, constructing and maintaining rail roads, airfields and ports.

5. Upgrade the transportation capability by improving traffic control and mass transit
systems.

Employment by sub-discipline:

Works with the local, state, and federal levels to meet the requirements of
the D.O.T.
Planner

Makes recommendations concerning the infrastructure, deals with transit

related problems.
Consultant

Oversees traffic flows, alters roadway systems to meet the cyclic flow of
traffic patterns.
Operations Manager

Improves transportation systems through quality control and

implementation of efficiency measures (e.g. incident detection devices
Intelligent and High Occupancy Vehicle lanes), works closely with emergency
Transportation Systems services.

Designs roadway systems.

Highway Geometric
Design
Environmental Engineering:
Environmental engineering aims to protect resources of the planet; it concerns itself with air
pollution, water pollution and ground water development.

Environmental engineers translate physical, chemical and biological processes into systems to
avoid pollution on earth.

Main tasks:

1. Design and analyze water treatment plants.

2. Provide safe drinking water.
3. Cleaning up sites contaminated with hazardous materials.
4. Treat waste water and managing solid wastes.
5. Develop ground water supplies.

Employment by sub-discipline:

N/A

Urban Engineering:
Organizing a community growth and replying it demands of buildings and factories is the job
related to urban engineering, urban engineers are the city planners who provide full development
of community.

Main tasks:

1. Determining areas of industrial and residential growth.

2. Coordinate projects such as projecting street patterns and identifying parks and
residential areas.
3. Develop plans for the growth of cities and systems.
4. Street planning, zoning, residential, subdivision and industrial site development.

Employment by sub-discipline:

Oversees city engineers, works closely with local, county, and state political units,
City Manager manages the overall upkeep of the city, responds to any natural or man-made
disaster with emergency management techniques.
 Specializes in Civil Engineering sub-discipline to meet city needs such as water
quality, transportation, etc.
City Engineer

Works for organizations like the Department of Transportation, Federal Emergency

Federal Management Association and Turnpike Authority.
Employee

Water resources Engineering:

The ultimate goal of water resources engineering is the maximum economic use of the total water
resource.

Water resources engineers are concerned with issues related to the quality and quantity of water.

Main tasks:

1. Supply water for cities, industry and irrigation.

2. Construction and maintenance of canals, dams, pipe lines and pumping stations.
3. Work with the behavior of water and other fluids from their conservation to their
transportation.

Employment by sub-discipline:

Analyzes rain fall data, characteristics of flow in open channels and

pipes, designs, reservoirs, studies pollution migration and coastal and
Hydraulic shore line protection.
Engineer/Hydrologist

Plans and designs municipal water facilities such as water treatment

plants and sewage treatment plants. Also may operate and maintain
Sanitary Engineer these facilities.

Design such project as: hydroelectric plants, canals, docks and piers.
Water Related
Structural Engineer