Civil engineering is a professional discipline with a long history. Most civil engineers have at least a bachelor’s degree and specialize in a specific sub-discipline of engineering. Here are three things you should know about civil engineering.

1. Civil Engineers Can Work in an Office Or in the Field

A civil engineer may work directly on a project, as a civil engineering consultant or both. All civil engineering work can require both fieldwork and work in an office. The services of consultants are often requested for land development projects and may visit a site periodically or assist in managing projects. Civil engineers may be more directly involved in design, planning, construction, testing and reporting.

2. There Are Several Types of Civil Engineering

Most civil engineers choose to specialize in one or more sub-disciplines in the field. Some sub-disciplines are environmental engineering, structural engineering and transportation engineering. Each discipline focuses on one type of structure or development and has different requirements. For example, environmental engineers work to design eco-friendly structures, structural engineers help design large structures and transportation engineers are involved in constructing all aspects of transportation, from harbors to highways.

3. It’s Involved in All Steps of the Construction Process

Whatever project a civil engineer works on, he or she will be involved throughout the process, from the initial design phase until construction is complete. To help with this, many civil engineering industries nowadays use bespoke software like finite element analysis which will help with the use of calculations, models and simulations to predict and understand how an object might behave. Civil engineers ensure the safety and structural integrity of both the process and the final product. Depending on the structure, civil engineers may be involved even after construction is complete, assisting in routine maintenance or monitoring.

Civil engineering is an important profession in society. Civil engineers are responsible for ensuring structures as different as airports and dams are built to be safe, sturdy, long-lasting and functional. They’re also necessary for systems related to these structures, such as traffic flow and control.