Civil Engineering History, Types of Engineering.

Civil engineering is a broad field of engineering dealing with the planning, design, construction, maintenance and management of physical infrastructure networks. This includes fixed structures, or public works, as they are related to earth, water, or civilization and their processes. Most civil engineering today deals with power plants, bridges, roads, railways, structures, water supply, irrigation, the natural environment, sewer, flood control, transportation and traffic.

Engineering has developed from observations of the ways natural and constructed systems react and from the development of empirical equations that provide bases for design. Civil engineering is the broadest of the engineering fields, partly because it is the oldest of all engineering fields. In fact, engineering was once divided into only two fields - military and civil. Civil engineering was defined to distinguish it from military engineering. Within the US, some federal government funding and organization is still part of the United States Army as the Corps of Engineers. Civil engineering is still an umbrella term, comprised of many related specialties.

Engineering is the design, analysis, and/or construction of works for practical purposes. The Engineers' Council for Professional Development, also known as ECPD, defines Engineering as: "The creative application of scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions; all as respects an intended function, economics of operation and safety to life and property." One who practices engineering is called an engineer, and those licensed to do so have formal designations such as Professional Engineer , Chartered Engineer or Incorporated Engineer. The broad discipline of engineering encompasses a range of specialized subdisciplines that focus on the issues associated with developing a specific kind of product, or using a specific type of technology.