Civil Engineering

Civil Engineering

"When we think of famous civil engineers from the past, we think of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Joseph Bazalgette, the great engineer of the Victorian age who saved London from cholera by constructing new sewers. Nowadays, we associate civil engineering with the world's most jaw-dropping structures, such as Sydney Opera House, the Shard and China's Jiaozhou Bay bridge. But civil engineering is also about maintaining and adapting the infrastructure that we depend on every day – our roads, railways and bridges; energy and water supply; waste networks and flood defences. Civil engineers have to keep this infrastructure running effectively and adapt it to meet challenges, such as population growth, climate change and natural disasters. They must also find ways to deliver the infrastructure needed when there's little money in the pot to pay for it. Put simply, civil engineers have to come up with solutions to complex problems and implement them; they literally shape the world we live in. There are many different specialisms within civil engineering, including environmental, structural, municipal, transport and geotechnical. There are two types of civil engineering roles within the various specialisms: consultants who focus on design work and generally spend more time in the office or working with clients, and contractors who are more involved with keeping an eye on the physical construction and are usually based on-site. Both challenging environments, and all civil engineers are required to be innovative and logical individuals. Other essential attributes civil engineers need include: creativity, versatility, a problem-solving mind, and the ability to understand the bigger picture and to collaborate with a number of other professionals"