ELEMENTS OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

Assistant Professor
Dr. Rajiv Kumar

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

JALANDHAR
 Overview of Course
Subject Code- CECI-101

Course Name – ELEMENTS OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

Credit Point- 3-1-0 (L-T-P)

Course Objective –

 To inculcate the essentials of Civil Engineering field to the students of all branches
of Engineering.
 To provide the students an illustration of the significance of the Civil Engineering
Profession in satisfying societal needs.

Method of delivery
 Face lecture
 Mini project
 Power point presentation
 Overview of Course
Minimum Study Time (Per week)
 3+1 hours in class
 2 hours at home/hostel

Marks Evaluation:
 Minor 1--------------20 marks
 Minor 2--------------20 marks
 End semester--------------50 marks
 Attendance ---------5 marks (75%- 0, 75-80%- 1, 80-85%- 2, 85-90%- 3, 90-95%-4, 95-100%-5)
 Assignment/ quiz----5 marks

 Detain criteria - Less than 75% attendance

 Overview of Course

Text and Reference Books:

1. Surveying and Levelling by Kanitkar, Kulkarni - Vidyrthi Prakashan

2. Build Planning and Built Environment by Shah ,Kale, Patki- Tata McGraw Hill
3. Civil Engg. Materials by Dr . S. V. Deodhar - Khanna Publications
4. Environmental Engineering by Donald R. Rowe, George Tchobanoglous, and Howard S.
Peavy - Mc Graw Hill India
5. Basic Civil Engineering by M.S. Palanichamy - Tata McGraw Hill
6. Basic Civil Engineering by Shatheesh Gopi - Pearson
7. Elements of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics by R. V. Raikar – PHI Learning
Pvt. Ltd.
Week Topic will cover Topic Remar
covered ks

1st Introduction to Civil Engineering: Basic Areas in Civil Engineering – Surveying, Construction Engineering, Fluid 

Mechanics, Transportation Engineering, Irrigation Engineering, Project Management, 

2nd Structural Engineering, Geotechnical and Foundation Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Quantity 
Surveying, Town Planning, Earthquake Engineering, Infrastructure Development, 

3rd Role of Civil Engineer in the construction of buildings, dams, expressways, and infrastructure projects for 21st 
century. Importance of an interdisciplinary approach in engineering. 

4th Materials and Construction: Basic materials for construction – cement, bricks, stone, natural and artificial 

sand, Reinforcing Steel

5th Mild, Tor, and High Tensile Steel. Concrete Types ‐ PCC, RCC (prestressed and pre‐cast). Recycling of materials. 

6th Substructure – Definition and functions of foundations (only concepts of settlement and bearing capacity of 

soils). Types of shallow foundations. Deep foundation (only concept of friction and end bearing pile). 

7th Minor 1

8th Superstructure – Types of loads: ‐ Dead Load, Live Load, Wind Loads, Earthquake considerations. Types of
Construction – Load bearing, Framed, Composite, Fundamental requirements of masonary.

9th Introduction to automation in construction:‐ Concept, Need, examples related to different civil engineering
projects.

10th Use of maps and field surveys: Principles of survey, Introduction to scale, types of maps and their uses.
Modern survey methods using levels, Theodolite, EDM, Lasers, Total Station and GPS. Measuring areas from
maps using digital planimeter.

11th Minor 2
Week Topic will cover Topic covered Remarks

12th Simple and differential levelling for setting out various benchmarks, determining the elevations
of different points and preparation of contour maps. Introduction to GIS software and its
application areas.

13th Ecology and Ecosystem: Concept of Environment – biotic and abiotic factors, Impact of the
human behavior and the technological advancements on the environment. Need for conserving
natural resources and preserving the environment. Engineer’s role in achieving sustainable
development, Environment Impact Assessment (only concept).

14th Introduction to solid waste management, electronic wastes and its disposal. Planning for the
Built Environment: Concept of an integrated built environment‐natural and manmade. Principles
of planning. viz. Aspect, Prospect, Roominess, Grouping, Privacy, Circulation, Sanitation,
Orientation, Economy.

15th Use of various eco‐friendly materials in construction. Concept of green buildings. Role of by‐laws
in regulating the environment, Concept of built up area, carpet area, plinth area. Plot area, FSI.
Energy and Environmental Pollution: Types of energy – conventional and non‐conventional.
Need for harnessing alternative energies to meet the increased demand. Methods of harnessing
energies. Sources, causes, effects and remedial measures associated with Air Pollution, Water
pollution, Noise Pollution, Land Pollution.
 Introduction to Civil Engineering

• Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that

deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the
physical and naturally built environment, including works like
roads, bridges, canals, dams, building etc.

• Civil engineering is the oldest engineering discipline after

military engineering.

• It is traditionally broken into several sub-disciplines including

environmental engineering, geotechnical engineering,
structural engineering, transportation engineering, municipal
or urban engineering, water resources engineering, materials
engineering, coastal engineering, surveying, and construction
engineering.
 Introduction to Civil Engineering

• Because civil engineering is a wide ranging profession,

including several separate specialized sub-disciplines, its
history is linked to knowledge of structures, materials science,
geography, geology, soils, hydrology, environment, mechanics
and other fields.

• The construction of the dams and power stations that provide

the electricity we use every day requires civil engineers.

• Civil engineers also help to analysis and design of irrigation

systems which include dams, weir, barrage, canals, drains and
other supporting systems etc.
 Introduction to Civil Engineering

• The water and sewage treatment plants that provide us with

safe water supplies require the expertise of civil engineers.

• The paths and roads we travel are civil engineering projects.

• In fact most structures, large and small, require the help of a

civil engineer whether in the designing, planning or managing
of the project.
 SCOPE OF DIFFERENT FIELDS OF CIVIL
ENGINEERING
Civil Engineering may be divided into the following fields:
• Surveying
• Construction Technology
• Fluid Mechanics
• Transportation Engineering
• Water Resources and Irrigation Engineering
• Project Management
• Structural Engineering
• Geotechnical and Foundation Engineering
• Environmental Engineering
• Quantity Surveying
• Town planning
• Earthquake Engineering
• Infrastructure Development
 Surveying

• Surveying is the science of map making. To start any

development activity in an area the relative positions of
various objects in the horizontal, vertical directions, angular
deviation and slope distance are required which is generally
occurs on the earth. This is done by surveying the area.

• Earlier, the conventional instruments like chain, tape and

levelling instruments were used. In this computerisation era,
modern equipment’s like electronic distance measurements,
total stations, Global Position System (GPS), laser are used
to get more accurate results easily and convert this crucial data
into graphical representation of earth surface.

• The modern technologies like photogrammetry and remote

sensing have made surveying easier. Surveyors may also lay
out the routes of railways, tramway tracks, highways, roads,
pipelines and streets as well as position other infrastructures,
such as harbours, before construction.
There are mainly two types of survey

• Plane Surveying
It is done on an area of
less than 250 km²

• Geodetic Surveying
It is conducted by the survey of
India Department and carried out
over an area exceeding 250 km²
 Application of Survey Engineering
• In order to successfully renovation and also protect the
structural integrity of existing buildings, it is important to have
accurate plans of the building including the interior spaces.

• To prepared the topographical map which show the hills,

valley, rivers, villages, town forest etc. of the country.

• To prepared an engineering map which shown the details of

engineering works such as road, railways, irrigation canal,
reservoirs etc.

• To prepared the contour map to determine the capacity of a

reservoir and to find the best possible rout of the roads,
railways etc.
 Construction Technology

• Construction engineering is branch of civil engineering which

deals with the designing, planning, construction, and
management of infrastructures such as highways, bridges,
airports, railroads, buildings, dams’ utilities. Construction
processes involving various construction works such as
excavation, foundation, footing, masonry, concreting and
finishing etc.
 Construction engineer basically is concerned with
two parts as follows:

Materials for construction:

• Finding suitable materials which is good quality and
economical for construction
• Field testing and laboratory testing of the material is done.

Construction processes:
• Construction is done exactly as per the recommended
procedure and specifications for acquiring high strength and
good finish for various items of construction.
 Application of Construction Engineering

• Improve client satisfaction with timely and actionable field

reports
• Convey field reports from the project site
• Reduce inspection overtime expenses
• Improve the quality of information captured in field reports
and punch lists
• Reduce time to compile daily, weekly, and monthly reports
• Manage change order requests proactively
 Fluid Mechanics
• Fluid mechanics is a branch of civil engineering which deals
with the study of behaviour of the fluids such as liquids and
gases at rest or in motion.

• Fluid is a substance, which is capable of flowing and

undergoing continuous deformation whenever subjected to the
shear stress.

ex. Flow through pipes and canals.

Flow through pumps and turbines
Fluid mechanics is further divided into three
categories
i)Fluid statics: it is the branch of Fluid Mechanics which deals
with the behaviour of fluid when it is in rest.
ii)Fluid kinematics: it is the branch of Fluid Mechanics which
deals with the behaviour of fluid when it is in motion without
considering the forces
iii)Fluid dynamics: it is the branch of Fluid Mechanics which
deals with the behaviour of fluid when it is in motion with
considering forces
 Applications of Fluid Mechanics

• Fluid mechanics is useful in the design of gates which are used

to control the floodwater in case of dam.

• Fluid mechanics is useful in design of spillways, irrigation

channels and flow through pipelines, water reservoir etc.
 Transportation Engineering
• Transportation engineering is a branch of civil
engineering which deals with design, development,
construction, and maintenance of roadways,
railways, airports etc. by providing the safe, rapid,
comfortable, convenient, economical, and
environmentally compatible movement of people and
transport of human being and goods from one place
to another.
 Classification of roads based on location and their
functions are.
a) Roadways:
i) National Highway: Road which connects capital cities of various states, carried
fast heavy traffic and generally width of road 7 to 15 m.

ii) State Highway: Road which connects various districts of the states and carried
medium fast traffic and generally width of road 7 to 10 m.

iii) Major District Road: These are the roads between district head-quarters,
commercial centres and other important place within district.

iv) Other Districts Road: Road which connects important rural centres and market
place with major district road and state highways, carried moderate traffic and
generally width of road 5 to 8 m.

v) Village Roads: These roads connect villages with one another and nearby district.
Structurally road consist of following:
 Classification of Roads Based on Materials 
Types of road based on materials.

(i) Earthen roads: It is cheapest type of road prepared from natural soil such
as clay, sand present originally on the site.

(ii) Water bound macadam roads (W.B.M.): W.B.M consists of broken

stones of irregular shape whose voids are partially filled with fine materials
usually gravel.

(iii) Gravel Road: Gravel road is low cost road; gravel is mix with required
quantity of binder. The binder not only bind the gravel together but it also fills
voids between the gravels.
 Road pavement broadly classified into two basic 
types:
(i) Flexible pavement:
 The road pavement which can change their shape to some extend without
rupture called as flexible pavement.
 This is a road in which binders used as bituminous material which bind
together course and fine aggregate and such road as black top road.

(i) Rigid pavement:

 The road pavement which cannot be changing their shape without rupture
called as rigid pavement.
 The road having their wearing surface consisting of cement concrete slab
are called cement concrete road.
 Difference between flexible and rigid pavement
Sr.no. Flexible Pavements Rigid pavements

1 Low initial cost but high maintenance cost High initial cost but low maintenance cost

2 Short life span Long life span

3 More thickness Less thickness

4 Joints are not required between the Joints are required

pavement

5 Repair work is easy Repair work is difficult

6 A reasonably good subgrade is required A reasonably good subgrade is not necessary.

7 Stresses are not induced due to temperature Heavy stresses are induced due to temperature variation
variation

8 It is suitable for all types of traffic It became noisy under the iron wheel

9 They can be open to traffic shortly after They required curing and thus causes delay in opening to traffic
construction
 Advantages:

 Road facilitate communication on land.

 They are important for economic prosperity and general
development of county.
 Road help in the growth of trade and other economic
activities in and outside the villages and town.
 Roads serving and feeder lines help the development of
other means of communication.
 Railways:
• Railways are one of the important modes of transportation.

• In India about 90% of the long distance passenger and good traffic is
transported by the railways.

• Railway is commonly termed as permanent way for transportation

means.

• Steel rails are fixed to the wooden or pre-cast concrete sleepers

resting on ballast and sub-grade.
• Gauges: The rails run parallel to each other and maintain constant distance
between them throughout. A clear distance between inner faces of rail is
termed as 'Gauge' of track.

Sr. Gauge Clear distance

No. between the inner
faces
1) Narrow gauge 0.765 m
2) Meter gauge 1.000 in
3) Broad gauge 1.676 i n
 
 Advantages:

 Railway provides a fairly comfortable and safe journey

which reach to the common man.
 Railways transport goods in large quantities like raw
materials coal, ores etc. from mines, factories and
agricultural product for long distance cheaply.
 Railways form a main source of revenue to the country.
 Railways help in industrialisation of the country.
 Difference between railway and roadways
Sr.no. Railways Roadways

1 Suitable for only from one station Suitable for all types of traffic.
to another station Provides door to door service
2 Load carrying capacity is more than roadways. Load carrying capacity is less than railways.

3 Maintenance cost is more. Maintenance cost is less.

4 Railway track is subjected to very heavy Only light load move on the road
concentrated loads of locomotives, coaches
and wagons
5 Railway track is reserved only for the Different type of vehicles like motor cycle, trucks,
movement of trains pedestrians etc. move on the road

6 For longer distance railway transport is Comparatively expensive.

cheaper
7 Limitations of the steeper Suitable for steeper gradients
gradients.
Waterways:
Port and harbour engineers handle the design, construction, and
operation of ports, harbours, canals, and other maritime facilities.

Airways:
Airport engineers design and construct airports. Airport engineers must
account for the impacts and demands of aircraft in their design of
airport facilities. These engineers must use the analysis of predominant
wind direction to determine runway orientation, determine the size of
runway border and safety areas, different wing tip to wing tip
clearances for all gates and must designate the clear zones in the entire
port
 Application of Transportation Engineering:

a) Easy and quick transportation of men, machines, animals, materials and

goods can be made.

b) Connected the area by proper means of transport can be developed fast.

c) Remote areas and rural areas become accessible and communicable if

connected by proper means of transport.

d) Transportation through airways also plays an important role of

communication to the people staying in remote areas and also helps the
people in difficulties during floods.
 Project Management:

 Project Management is a branch of civil engineering which deals with

executing the project using management principles.
 Project management involves men, money and material and time of start
and time of finish.
 The project manager roll has to plans every activity in connection with site
like procurement of material, site layout, requirement of labour, schedules
of starting, finishing and sequencing of constructing activities etc.
 The project manager therefore uses tools like bar-chart, Critical Path
Method (CPM) and Review Technique (PERT) to plan all activities,
their timings and sequences.
 Project manager roll in multi crore projects invaluable as far as economy of
the project is concerned.
 Application of Project Management

 Planning all project activities with respect to time, so

that resources are used optimally.

 Arranging for timely procurement of material and

labour whenever required.

 Taking corrective measure to finish project within time.

 Water Resources and Irrigation engineering

 Irrigation engineering is the branch of civil engineering which

deals with the development of water resources and properly
distribution of water from the source developed.
 Irrigation engineering is used for the purpose of cultivation of
crop, drinking and industrial use.
 The water source is developed by constructing a dam on a river
or a stream to retain the water on one of its side.
 Ground water storage can also be developed by constructing the
percolation tank.
 Application of Irrigation engineering:
 Development of water resources at the right places.
 Determining the capacity of reservoir.
 It ensures water supply for crops during periods of less rainfall or
during summer when water is not available in abundance.
 Construction and maintenance of dams, canals and regulatory works for
supply of water whenever it is needed either to fields or to the public.
 Crop rotation can be done effectively.
 From the view of irrigation engineering, design and construction of
different types of dams can be designed.
 Development of new techniques such as sprinkler irrigation and
drip irrigation.
 It helps to study the flood control devices.
 Structural Engineering

 Structural engineering is branch of civil engineering which deals with the

analysis and design of structures that resist loads
 Structural engineers must ensure their designs satisfy given design criteria,
predicated on safety (e.g. structures must not collapse without warning) and
performance (e.g. building sway must not cause discomfort to the
occupants).
 Structural engineering theory is based upon physical laws and empirical
knowledge of the structural performance of different materials and
geometries.
 Structural engineering design utilizes a number of simple structural
elements to build up structural systems that can be very complex.
 This involves identifying the loads which act upon a structure and the
forces and stresses which arise within that structure due to those loads, and
then designing the structure to successfully support and resist those loads.

 The loads can be self-weight of the structures, other dead load, live loads,
moving (wheel) load, wind load, earthquake load, load from temperature
change etc.

 Load acting on a structure is ultimately transferred to ground. In doing so,

various components of the structure are subjected to internal stresses. For
example, in a building, load acting on a slab is transferred by slab to ground
through beams, columns and footings. Assessing the internal stresses in the
components of a structure is known as Structural Analysis and finding the
suitable size of the structural component is known as design of structure.
 Application of structure engineering:

 Structural engineering is concerned with the structural design and structural

analysis of buildings, bridges, towers, flyovers, tunnels, off shore structures
like oil and gas fields in the sea, and other structures.

 A civil engineer has not only to give a safe structure but he has to give
economical sections. To get economical section mathematical optimization
techniques are used. Frequent earthquakes in the recent years have brought
importance of analysis of the structure for earthquake forces. Designing
earthquake resistant structures is attracting lot of researches. All these
aspects fall under structural engineering field.

 The role of a structural engineer today involves a significant understanding

of both static and dynamic loading, and the structures that are available to
resist them
 Geotechnical and Foundation Engineering

 Geotechnical engineering is branch of civil engineering deals with

the rock and soil. Knowledge from the fields of geology, material
science and testing and mechanic are applied by geotechnical
engineers to safely and economically design foundations, retaining
walls, and similar structures.

 Soil property changes from place to place. Even in the same place it
may not be uniform at various depths. The soil property may vary
from season to season due to variation in moisture content. The load
from the structure is to be safely transferred to soil. For this, safe
bearing capacity of the soil is to be properly assessed.
 Application of Geotechnical engineering

 Apart from finding safe bearing capacity for foundation of

buildings, geotechnical engineering involves various studies
required for the design of pavements, tunnels, earthen dams, canals
and earth retaining structures. It involves study of ground
improvement techniques also.
 Safe bearing capacity of soil can be determined by geotechnical
engineering
 Find out the index properties and classification of soil should be
studies in this branch.
 To find out the capability of subgrade soil
 Geotechnical engineering or soil mechanics is the basic requirement
for designing of different type of foundation and the structure.
 Foundation Engineering:

 Foundation is the part structure which below the ground

level also called as substructure which directly comes
in contact with subsoil to receive the load of
superstructure and to transfer to hard strata.

 Foundation engineering is branch of civil engineering

deals with design, construction and maintenance of
footing, foundation walls, pile foundation etc.
In general foundation of building are divided into two major categories:

 Shallow Foundation: Shallow foundation is common type of spread

footing which consists of strips or pads of concrete (or other materials)
which extend below the frost line and transfer the weight from walls and
columns to the soil or bedrock

 Deep Foundation: A deep foundation is used to transfer the load of a

structure down through the upper weak layer of topsoil to the stronger layer
of subsoil below. There are different types of deep footings including
impact driven piles, drilled shafts, caissons, helical piles, and earth
stabilized columns.
 Application of Foundation engineering

• Following are the different application of

Foundation engineering.
 To find out proper type of foundation for the
particular structure
 It also helps for designing the foundation of
buildings, bridges, dams, machine foundation etc.
basis on bearing capacity of soil.
 Environmental Engineering

 Environmental Engineering is the branch of civil engineering which

deals with climatic change and environmental impact due to
urbanisation and effect of new construction.

 Proper distribution of water to rural areas, towns and cities and

disposal of waste water and solid waste is another field of civil
engineering. Industrialisation and increase in vehicular traffic are
creating air pollution problems.
 Application of Environment Engineering

 To study ecosystem and interrelationship between biotic and

abiotic factors of environment.
 Study sources of waste water and design, construction and
maintenances of waste water treatment plant.
 Study of different sources of pollutants, causes, effects and
suggestive remedial measures of different types pollutants.
 In this branch deal with conservation and prevention of natural
resources and environment.
 Quantity Survey

 Quantity survey is the branch of civil engineering which deals with

mathematical process used in estimating cost of a new building
construction, improvement, or reproduction.
 Estimated is a process of working out probable cost of construction
based upon various items such as excavation, foundation, brick
work, plastering etc. of building and multiplying the measurement
by their current market rate.
 The costs of estimation are including the cost of construction
material required and labour.
 Application of Quantity Survey

 Determined the quantity of various items of construction

which can be estimated from plan section and specification of
the construction

 Quantity survey also including the valuation of open plot,

existing building or old property.

 Determine the exact quantity and probable cost of work before

construction.
 Town Planning
 Town load is the branch of architecture which deals with the control
of the use of land and design of the urban environment, including
transportation networks, to guide and ensure the orderly
development of settlements and communities.
 Township planning play an important role to reduce illegal
construction in the area by formulation Development Control (DC)
rules for the specific area.
 Town planning mainly deal with planning aspect and construction of
industries in such way that natural resources conserved and used in
best manner.
 According to the new government policy, government is promoting
development of township in various states including Maharashtra
which is important key for successes of environment conservation
project.
 Earthquake Engineering:
 Earthquake engineering is the branch of civil engineering which deals with ability
of various structures to withstand hazardous earthquake exposures at the sites of
their particular location.

 Dynamic load acts on the building due to rapidly variation of seismic force with
time.

 Earthquake happens due to sudden release of tremendous amount of energy within

the earth by sudden movement at a point called as hypocentre.

 The point on the surface of earth which is directly above the hypocentre called as
epicentre.

 Seismic loading means application of an earthquake-generated excitation on a

structure. It happens due to contact surfaces of a structure either with the ground or
with adjacent structures or with gravity waves from tsunami.

 Vertical and horizontal movement like movement of ground happens in case of

earthquake but most destructive force is in horizontal direction because horizontal
motions are much greater ass compared to the vertical motion.
 Infrastructure Development:
 Infrastructure Development is the branch of civil engineering which deals with
provision of good infrastructure facilities such as electricity, telephone, internet
facility, educational and healthcare facilities etc. for economically growth of any
particular area.
 MIDC (Maharashtra Industries Development Corporation) provides infrastructure
facilities at many places in Maharashtra which is fast development and growth of
the area.
Civil engineering amenities in the infrastructure developments are listed below:
(i)A good town planning and developing sites
(ii)Providing suitable roads and network of roads
(iii)Railway connection to important places
(iv)Airports of national and international standards
(v)Assured water supply to towns, cities and rural areas
(vi)A good drainage and waste disposal system
(vii)Pollution free environment.
 Effect of Infrastructure Facilities
 Connecting producing centre to marketing places minimises exploitation
from middlemen. Both producer and consumers are benefitted.

 Imports and exports become easy as a result of which whole world

becomes a village. The infrastructure development generates scope for lots
of industries.

 Antisocial activities come under control. Improved education and

healthcare give rise to skilled and healthy work force.

 Quality of life of the people is improved. In case of natural calamities

assistance can be extended easily and misery of affected people is reduced.

 Infrastructure facility improves defence system and peace exists in the

country. Improved economic power of the country brings a respectable
status in the world.
 Role of Civil Engineers..
A civil engineer has to conceive, plan, estimate, get approval, create and
maintain all civil engineering infrastructure activities. Civil engineer has a
very important role in the development of the following infrastructures:

• 1. Measure and map the earth’s surface.

• 2. Plan and develop extensions of towns and cities.

• 3. Build the suitable structures for the rural and urban areas for various
utilities.

• 4. Build the tanks and dams to exploit water resources.

• 5. Build river navigation and flood control projects.

• 6. Build canals and distributaries to take water to agricultural fields.

• 7. Purify and supply water to needy areas like houses, schools, offices etc.

• 8. Provide and maintain communication systems like roads, railways,

harbours and airports.

• 9. Devise systems for control and efficient flow of traffic.

• 10. Provide, build and maintain drainage and waste water disposal system.

• 11. Project Manager and Chief Inspector for the Owner,

• 12. Project Manager for the Contractor,

• 13. Surveyors Engineer, Materials Engineer, Field Engineers and the most
popular, the Agency or Jurisdiction's Engineer.

• 14. For the design, there will be surveyors, hydrologists, civil, structural and
geotechnical involved perhaps environmental, irrigation and others.
 Role of civil engineering in Building Construction.. 
Civil engineering is field of engineering sciences, related to construction, design
and maintenance of buildings.
Civil engineering has to perform the following role or functions:

Engineering Survey:
Civil engineer determining the feasibility studies of the project and rough
estimate by reconnaissance survey. After that, choose the best location for the
work.

Preparation of detailed survey:

• Civil Engineer is responsible to preparing the detail survey of the location of
the construction site, obtain the detail form the field measurements of the
plot.
• Finally prepare a detail drawing with a suitable scale. This detailed
engineering drawing (engineering plan) with all the functional details.

Finding the foundation details

• A geotechnical engineer should provide a detailed investigation of the subsoil
and foundation design.
• Civil engineer is also decides the type of foundation for structural load.
 Role of civil engineering in Building Construction 
Design of Building Structural
Structural engineer prepares the structural analysis and design i.e. deciding sizes
of various structural elements like beam columns, etc. along with reinforcement.

Estimation of cost
Probable project cost should be found out with all detail quantity survey.
After the budget any approval, the actual construction of project starts.

Testing, planning, supervision and execution

• The civil engineer has the responsibility of testing of the construction material
at site;
• maintain a quality work by proper supervision,
• execution the work as per the drawings and
• make payments for the finish works to the contractors and labour.
• The Construction Engineer has to plan every activity as per requirement, like-
material procurement, labour requirement on site, cash flow by use in
techniques such as critical path method, bar chart, etc.
 Role of Civil Engineer in Construction of Dams

Site Selection of dam

• The primary purpose of geological site investigations for a dam project is
provide the information that dam designers require in order to design a safe
dam structure and to be able to estimate with reasonable accuracy how
much the dam is going to cost.

• Various factors such as availability of construction materials, topography,

Geotechnical conditions, Climatic conditions, accessibility, etc are to be
considered before finalizing the site.

• Similarly he has to check the type of material available at the dam sit and
decide upon type of dam whether it is earthen dam or concrete dam.
 Role of Civil Engineer in Construction of Dams
Survey
• Detailed field survey should be carried out of the selected dam site.
• After surveying the area, Civil Engineer prepares contour plan of the terrain.
• This helps for locating the dam at such a location that will give maximum
storage with minimum submergence.

Catchment area and capacity studies

• Catchment area studies to determining the capacity of the dam. Hydrological
studies (rain fall) to estimate the total amount of water received by the darn.
• Decide upon reservoir capacity required depending upon demand of water for
various activities like irrigation, water supply (domestic, industrial), power
generation, agriculture etc.
• Projected demand keeping in view next 25 to 30 years growth shall be
considered.
 Role of Civil Engineer in Construction of Dams
Socio-economic role
• At the time of site selection and construction of the dam should be consider
all the sensitive issue and involves various social, economic and
environmental aspects.
• The Civil Engineer has to make a plan for evacuation of the land and
rehabilitation of the people displaced, jointly with concerned Government
officials.
Geotechnical investigation
• After selection of the dam site, a geotechnical engineer should carried out a
detailed investigation of the subsoil, which would be particularly useful for
earthquake-resistant design
• Foundation treatment if any can be decided upon.
 Role of Civil Engineer in Construction of Dams
Estimate
• To estimate the entire project cost of the dam and plan the
construction activity.
• This will also involve cost incurred for compensation given to land
owners whose land is acquired for the said project.

Planning and design of hydro-electric power plant

• If the dam is to be constructed for generation of hydro-electric
power then the planning, designing and construction of power plant
is a joint responsibility of Civil Engineer, Electrical Engineer and
Mechanical Engineer.

Structural Design of the dam

It aims at determine the width, length, and height of the dam with
design aspect.
Structural design of foundation, retaining wall, canals and spillway (as
and where required). The design also includes safety against
earthquake.
 Role of Civil Engineer in Construction of Dams
Construction of dam and related hydraulic structures
To execute the entire project in stipulated time and under the proposed
cost.
A typical construction sequence for a fill dam is:

Stage 1: Excavate diversion tunnel and build coffer dams. The end of
this stage is marked by the milestone of diverting the river through the
diversion tunnel.

Stage 2: Carry out foundation treatment and grouting. Excavate and

haul fill construction materials from their sources and place and
compact in the dam embankment. Excavation of the spillway will also
be under way during this stage.

Stage 3: Complete outlet works, spillway and all other parts of dam
project.