We often go about our daily lives without little thought about how things have materialized. We don’t often consider how the sidewalks were established or who thought of and designed the buildings we work in. I know after the toilet is flushed I give very little analysis to where the remains went and how they got there. The little conveniences in life that we take for granted are the work of civil engineers.
Civil engineering’s are the people who plan for, create and preserve the environment that we live in. Have you ever thought about the effort and thought that goes into making a bridge safe? Civil engineers are the people responsible for erecting the bridge, overseeing the construction and research all aspects of travel on the bridge. The distance of the bridge, traffic on the bridge, the environment surrounding the bridge are all things civil engineers will have to review and think about when constructing these massive structures. There are many things for them to consider and plan for before a structure of any kind can be built.
Civil engineering can into play well before there was a name for it. Think about the people who lived before us without roads and the natural travel paths we enjoy today. Early engineering was taking place as society moved from one that drifted from place to place to a civilization that was focused on creating dwellings to permanently live. A need and desire was placed on developing construction techniques that would provide suitable housing for the occupants. Civil engineers, whether they had coined the phrase back then, were leading society into the modern times we now exist in.
Imagine what the environment would be like today without engineers looking at all aspects of development. Without people directing nature for people to construct homes, roads, canals, lighthouse and break walls life would not be what it is today. If civil engineers did not did not apply all aspects of the physical and scientific sciences to our living environments today we might be living in a state of natural disaster all the time. Imagine if buildings were not built to sustain the natural forces Mother Nature throws at us. If every hurricane, earthquake or heat wave produced building failures and bridge collapses society would not be what we enjoy today.
We live in a place that we know is safe because of the existence of civil engineering. Engineers apply science to direct the powers of nature for the convenience of the human race. These skilled people take into consideration external and internal forces of nature, effects from society and apply their knowledge to construct buildings, roads, bridges, canals, ports, harbors to make navigation and living comfortable in the modern world we live in.