The History behind Civil Construction and Civil Engineering
Civil construction which primarily revolves around the management of natural environments, and as well as the building and maintenance of infrastructure and public works is a branch of civil engineering that society cannot do without. Civil engineers are in essence a body of professionals within the field of engineering that is associated with not just the design and building of infrastructure and public works, but also the maintenance of these constructed structures over time.
Common examples of projects that fall under the work of a civil contractor include roads, highways, tunnels, dams, bridges, ports, airports, canals, railway stations, sewage systems, pipelines, power stations and community halls. Based on the given examples, it becomes quite obvious that the civil engineering faction is generally a wide area and thus be broken into a variety of sub-disciplines. Civil engineering as it is; is the second-oldest discipline that follows closely behind military engineering and the modern world that we currently live in with all the convenience is owed to civil construction or civil engineering as it mainly involves any project that involves the public.
Looking at civil engineering as a discipline, the sphere integrates both physical concepts and scientific principles in order to develop solutions for issues faced by humans in a given geographical area mainly to enhance the convenience of the area which is directly linked to the economic health of a geographical area. In essence, civil construction is initiatives that enable a geographical region to be an economically viable area that attracts more people and commerce.
The crux of civil engineering or civil construction is mainly attached to the advances that have been made in physics and mathematics over hundreds of years and it is due to this reason that civil engineering is among the few disciplines that revolves around a wide area of work and requires understanding of building structures, ensuring the stability of structures, understanding the mechanisms behind natural environments, understanding various types of materials and even have in-depth knowledge of both geography and geology among others.
Going back through time, all the way back to medieval times when architectural design and the construction of public buildings or community related structures, these projects were generally managed by artisans. What is meant by ‘artisans; at this juncture includes carpenters, artists, stonemasons, brick makers, material experts and most of these individuals pursue this field towards establishing themselves as master builders.
The earliest records of civil engineering can be traced back to the 3rd century BC, and this knowledge was by Archimedes’ which is where the Archimedes’ principle comes from which provided humanity with a better understanding of buoyancy and even more importantly was his contribution of the ‘screw principle’ (Archimedes’ screw) which changed a lot of things within the realm of civil construction. To put it simply or to summarise within the context of; ‘how important is civil engineering?’ It could be said that without civil engineering which began more than 4000 years ago, the world would not be what it is today.
