Civil Engineering: What is Civil Engineering?

Civil engineering originated as a field involved with civil works - the planning, design, construction and operation of facilities that serve the public. Today the field is still largely centered in the public arena, and is dedicated to the needs and progress of humanity. 

Civil engineers design things that have been around for millennia – such as highways or bridges – and also very modern structures – such as space stations and airplane wings. Civil engineers are involved with things you take for granted every day – from drinking water, to the more exotic – such as the newest roller coaster, or the new London Eye—don’t call it a Ferris wheel! Civil Engineers design things we never see – such as underground storm water pipes, and also very prominent structures, such as the Eiffel Tower, or the tallest building in the world, the Burj Dubai (Arabic: برج دبي‎ "Dubai Tower"), a supertall skyscraper under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Civil engineers perform economic feasibility studies, plan, design, construct, and/or operate facilities and systems that we use every day - roadways, drinking water treatment plants, tunnels, subways, buildings, solid waste landfills, bridges, wastewater treatment plants, hazardous waste cleanup efforts, canals and waterways, water supply pipe networks, dams and reservoirs, ski lifts, and railroads, just to name a few. While the design, construction and implementation of facilities such as these require considerable overlap cooperation, civil engineering is often categorized by different sub-disciplines:
structural engineering, geotechnical engineering, transportation engineering, environmental engineering and hydraulics and water resource engineering.