ILLUSTRATED HANDBOOK OFCivil Engineering

Civil engineering is arguably the oldest engineering discipline. It deals with the built environment and can be dated to the first time someone placed a roof over his or her head or laid a tree trunk across a river to make it easier to get across. The built environment encompasses much of what defines modern civilization. Civil engineers design, build, and maintain the foundation for our modern society ? our roads and bridges, drinking water and energy systems, sea ports and airports, and the infrastructure for a cleaner environment, to name just a few.

Illustrated Handbook of Civil Engineering covers how to design, develop and evaluate structures, equipment and systems to provide practical solutions to problems caused by increasing consumption and waste. Civil engineers are becoming more and more important with time. Now, they are also responsible for looking after the fire control systems and installing quick fire exit points in the buildings they design. This will help in minimizing the loss of life during fire accidents. Civil engineering is one of the oldest of the engineering professions. Ancient feats such as the building of the Egyptian pyramids and Roman road systems are based on civil engineering principles. Another very important aspect of civil engineering is environmental engineering. In this case, the civil engineers are concerned with applications of various methods to purify the contaminated air, water and soil. The polluted system should be cleaned, the waste extracted and the purified constituent must be sent back to the natural system. Civil engineers are also responsible for building good quality transportation systems like highways, airports, rail lines, sea ports, etc. A civil engineer is concerned with determining the right design for these structures and looking after the construction process so that the longevity of these structures is guaranteed after completion. These structures should also be satisfactory for the public in terms of comfort. Engineers use their skills to optimize performance and efficiency of community systems. They also develop water and sewer systems that balance safety standards with delivery of water and sewer processing, which are key functions in city operation and residents? health and comfort. The work that civil engineers do is not only essential, but also interesting, various and fun. Civil engineers use math and science for their calculations, but also use design and artistic principles to build their structures. This makes them central figures in community development. Without their unique talents, communities would not grow and prosper. Nowadays, perhaps more than in the recent past, the multiplicity of professions involved in infrastructure and the built environment requires a new way of collaborating and even a new type of engineer. The current problems and opportunities that go with this require a move away from the traditional engineering reductionism of complex phenomena into simple constituent elements in order for society to apply traditional engineering skills to find practical solutions to problems in nature such as climate change. Recognizing the importance of the interface between nature and society has never been more important than it is now and recent ideas and guidance about ecosystem services are helping with this. The new, or perhaps restated, boundaries to engineering need to help professionals move away from the traditional engineering technocratic perspective in order to include a wider range of knowledge, especially concerning societal values and interests.

Illustrated Handbook of Civil Engineering discusses the importance of civil engineering in the history of civilization, explores problems civil engineers face each day, and outlines some modern accomplishments in the field. This Handbook is intended as a Textbook for students and researchers of Civil Engineering.