In the beginning there was civil engineering.  Well, possibly shortly after military engineering.  And from civil engineering came forth other engineering disciplines.  And society saw that this was good.

Including, good for civil litigation lawyers and insurance claims managers – good in the wide selection of engineering expertise available to a forensic engineer investigating the cause of a client’s problem.

I’ve written this item to introduce you to some of the different engineering specialties.  These are listed below.  Lists can be boring so I’ve added a little history and my take on how some specialities got started.

Society has been “engineered” for 1,000s of years

Engineering has contributed to the development of society since the beginning of human existence.  Back when humans started to give up a nomadic way of life, settling down, and erecting more permanent shelters – structures, as in built-environment.  Civil engineering would have developed as the built environment developed.

I’m certain that military engineering evolved at the same time considering how difficult societies can be with one another.

Some literature indicates that the earliest practice of civil engineering may have begun between 4,000 and 2,000 BC in ancient Egypt and ancient Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq). Construction of the pyramids in Egypt (circa 2,700 – 2,500) might be considered the first instances of the construction of large structures.

Also, the manner in which the blocks in the pyramids were fitted together demonstrated an early appreciation of a very basic and important principle in geotechnical and foundation engineering. The beginning of geotechnical engineering?

The Romans developed civil structures throughout their empire (circa 2,700 BC – 410 AD) including aqueducts, insulae (a kind of urban apartment building), harbours, bridges, dams, and roads.

(I must confess, I don’t know what was happening in Asia and other parts of the world. For certain, the built environmennt and civil engineering were developing in areas other than in Europe)

The “first” civil engineer

The term, “civil engineering”, was coined in the 18^th century to incorporate all things civil as opposed to military engineering.

The first self-proclaimed civil engineer was John Smeaton who constructed the Eddystone Lighthouse in Great Britain.  In 1771 he and some of his colleagues formed the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers.  In 1818 the Institution of Civil Engineers was formed in Great Britain essentially formally recognizing civil engineering as a profession (but, I’ve seen some information about the formation of a professional body in France somewhat earlier).

Evidence of the modern practice of civil engineering

Modern practice in civil engineering and its specialties can be seen today in the development of Dartmouth Crossing outside Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

A natural environment has been turned into a built environment almost overnight. A built environment that includes:

• Engineered single and multistory retail, residential (hotel), and service buildings,
• Roads,
• Small dams,
• Small bridges,
• Structural fills of soil and rock,
• Deep rock cuts,
• Storm water and domestic sewage collection and treatment systems,
• Water supply and distribution systems, and,
• Electrical power distribution systems.

Civil engineering takes place today on all levels of society. In the private sector, from individual home owners to international companies. In the public sector, from municipal governments to national governments.

Where did the different engineering disciplines come from?

Today there is a long list of specialized areas in civil engineering to serve and provide for the built environment.  They can all be called on in forensic engineering investigation to determine the cause of a failure in the built environment.

Where did these specialized engineering fields come from?  They developed as the needs of society developed.

Computer engineering, an easy example to understand, developed and came to be recognized as a field of study as computers developed in the last 50 to 60 years.

Another, fairly easy example, is structural engineering – for certain, developed if not named 1,000s of years ago, because structures had to be held up somehow.  Structural engineering provides for the support of structures.  There are no sky hooks.

There was technology before today’s technology-saturated age. Think industrial revolution, a time when technological development would have been as intense for the time as technological development is today.

It’s easy to understand mechanical engineering and electrical engineering splitting off from civil engineering during the industrial revolution and named as such.  Chemical engineering might not have been too far behind applying the principles of chemistry as this science developed.

Geotechnical engineering grew out of the science of soil mechanics, developed during the 1930s.  It was recognized then that everything in the built environment is supported on the ground, and that soil, rock and groundwater are construction materials that must be engineered properly.

Take a look at the following list of engineering specialties available to society and the forensic engineer to gain some appreciation of where we are today:

Some areas of civil engineering

1. Structural engineering
2. Foundation
3. Geotechnical
4. Construction
5. Forensic
6. Materials
7. Mechanical
8. Electrical
9. Industrial
10. Chemical
11. Municipal
12. Transportation
13. Surveying
14. Environmental
15. Hydraulic
16. Aeronautical
17. Computer

References

1. Encyclopedia Britannica
2. Pears Cyclopaedia, 107 ed., 1998
3. Blake, L. S., ed, Civil engineer’s reference book, 3rd ed, Buttherworks, 1975
4. Chen, W. F., ed, The civil engineering handbook, CRC Press, 1995
5. Wikipedia