Civil Engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works such as bridges, roads, canals, dams and buildings.



It is traditionally broken into several sub-disciplines including environmental engineering, geotechnical engineering, structural engineering, transportation engineering, water resources engineering, materials engineering, coastal engineering, surveying, and construction engineering. Civil engineering takes place on all levels: in the public sector from municipal through to federal levels, and in the private sector from individual homeowners through to international companies.



Until modern times there was no clear distinction between civil engineering and architecture, and the term engineer and architect were mainly geographical variations referring to the same person, often used interchangeably. General civil engineering is also referred to as site engineering, a branch of civil engineering that primarily focuses on converting a tract of land from one usage to another. Civil engineers typically apply the principles of geotechnical engineering, structural engineering, environmental engineering, transportation engineering and
construction engineering to residential, commercial, and industrial and public works projects of all sizes and levels of construction



WHO IS A STRUCTURAL ENGINEER

Structural Engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems. Their work takes account mainly of technical, economic and environmental concerns, but they may also consider aesthetic and social factors. Structural engineering is usually considered a specialty discipline within civil engineering, but it can also be studied in its own right.

Structural engineers ensure that buildings and bridges are built to be strong enough and stable enough to resist all appropriate structural loads (e.g., gravity, wind, snow, rain, seismic (earthquake), earth pressure, temperature, and traffic). They also design structures to be stiff enough to not deflector vibrate beyond acceptable limits. Fatigue may be an important consideration for bridges and for aircraft design, or for other structures which experience a large number of stress cycles over their lifetime. Consideration is also given to durability of materials against possible deterioration which may impair performance over the design lifetime.



STRUCTURAL DESIGN

In structural engineering, structural design is an iterative process of applying engineering mechanics and past experience to create a functional, economic, and, most importantly, safe structure for the public to inhabit or to use. Using structural analysis techniques and conforming to design specifications and the local design codes, the structural design engineer works to create a solution that is to everyone’s benefit. Several latest Finite Element software packages like ORION,ETABS, SAP 2000, SAFE, STAAD Pro, S-Concrete, STDesign, Grasp, GEAR, PLS Tower, ATADS, FEM-Design, Esteem, Prokon, LUSAS etc. are widely used to do the repetitive, lengthy and complicated calculations and structural analysis needed to obtain a safe and economic design for a structure.
Structural design as a process has evolved to its modern refinement through hard lessons learned from various structural failures. Structures are divided into two major categories, REINFORCED CONCRETE STRUCTURES, AND STEEL FRAME STRUCTURES. Reinforced concrete can be designed by many methods but two of them are important.
Structural design is an expression of an understanding of the flow of forces. The distribution of forces is initially understood diagrammatically and mathematically. Based on this scientific understanding, sketches of members and connections are developed. Structural design which is highly expressive of the flow of forces is also associated with modern architectural design.
Structural design includes accommodation for the practicalities of construction, including on site assembly, shop assembled components, accessibility, and maintenance.



WORK AS A STRUCTURAL DESIGN ENGINEER

Structural Design Engineers are normally working with a consulting engineering firm. Structural Design Engineer appointed by the client to carry out a total engineering details including the stability, integrity, safety instead of design economically for the client.

Task for structural Engineer starts after the contract signed between Client & Consultant Engineer OR Consultant Engineer – PMC (Project Management Company). PMC can be Architects, Quantity Surveyor, M&E, C&S Consultant itself or Main Contractor Based on the type of contract to be implemented or Direct Appointment by the Client.

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