Civil engineering is a field of professional engineering that specializes in the design, construction, and maintenance of a physical and natural environment, which includes public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, airports, sanitation systems, plumbing, building components, and trains.
Civil Engineering Terms List – A to Z
Following is a glossary of basic civil engineering terms with definitions every civil engineer should know:
| Word | Meaning |
| absorption | The process by which a liquid is drawn into and tends to fill permeable pores in a porous body |
| abutment | A concrete support wall constructed at both ends of a bridge or an arch, in order to resist the horizontal force from the bridge or the arch |
| acquisition | The process of obtaining Right-of-Way. |
| active earth pressure | The horizontal push from earth onto a wall. The active earth force from sand on to a free retaining wall. |
| addendum or addenda | Written instruments or documents issued prior to the execution of a contract to modify or revise the bidding documents. |
| adhesion or bond | The sticking together of structural parts by mechanical or chemical bonding using a cement or glue. |
| admixture | A material other than water. Aggregates and hydraulic cement, used as an ingredient of concrete or mortar |
| asphalt | A natural or artificial mixture in which bitumen is associated with inert mineral matter. |
| alignment | The fixing of points on the ground in the correct lines for setting out a road, railway, wall, transmission line, canal, etc. |
| ballast | Stone or gravel mixture of irregular unscrewed sizes which may also contain smaller material. |
| backfill | To fill the earth, any remaining space after placing concrete, Brickwork, Timber, pipes etc. in excavation. |
| bagging | A masonry process in which thin mortar is applied to the face of the work with some coarse material. |
| basin | A receptacle for runoff (Storm) water. |
| batter | A small inclination from the vertical |
| bead | A molding, generally of small size in cross section. |
| beam | A structural member usually made of still RCC, timber etc. used generally in the horizontal position to carry load. |
| berm | An artificial horizontal ledge in an earth bank or cutting to ensure the stability of a steep side slopes of road bed. Also berms are built to hold water on land that is to be flood irrigated. |
| bearing | The supporting section of a beam length or area. The compressive stress between a beam and its support (bearing pressure), particularly on foundations. |
| boring | A drilling into the earth to bring up samples of the soil. |
| cement | A mixture of silicates and aluminates of calcium that when mixed with water it binds a stone-sand mixture into a strong concrete within a few days. |
| cement mortar | Mortar usually composed of four parts sand to one of cement, with a suitable amount of water. |
| course | A layer of bricks including bed mortar. |
| compound | A homogeneous substance composed of two or more elements that can be decomposed by chemical changes only. |
| concrete | A mixture of water, sand, stone, and a binder (Usually port land cement) which hardens to a stone like mass. There are four types of port land cement: |
| detour | A temporary route for traffic around a closed portion of a road. |
| deviation | Difference between the value and the average of a set. |
| dowel | A wood or metal pin used to strengthen a joint by its insertion partly into each of the joined pieces. |
| drain | A line of pipes including all fittings and equipment such as manholes, inspection chambers, Traps gullies and floor traps |
| duct | A protective tube or a brick or concrete trench or corridor along which pipes or cables pass through the ground. |
| dwarf wall | A brick wall from footing level or underside of floor framing. |
| encroachment | The use of the highway right-of-way for nonhighway structures or other purposes. |
| eaves | The lower edge of the inclined roof. |
| extrusion | Forming rods, tubes, or sections of specified shape by pushing hot or cold metal or plastics through a shaped die to the required section. |
| fine aggregate | Aggregates most of which passes 4.75mm IS sieve and containing only so much coarse material as is permitted for various grading zones in the specification. |
| flaking | Peeling off of the coating. |
| flashing | A strip of impervious material used to prevent the ingress of water between two surfaces. |
| freeway | A divided arterial highway with full control of access. |
| frictional soil | A clean silt, sand or gravel that is a soil whose shearing strength is mainly decided by the friction between particles. |
| gable roof | A roof shape consisting of two sloping surfaces. |
| giblet | a small gable. |
| girder | A large beam, usually of steel or concrete. |
| grooving | The process of producing grooves in a concrete pavement surface to improve frictional characteristics |
| grout or slurry | neat cement mixed with water to honey like consistency, it may include pigments if used for grouting joints of tiled floor. |
| joint sealent | A material used as a filler in concrete pavement joints to prevent infiltration of water, soil and other fine particles. |
| Joist | A beam directly supporting floor, ceiling or roof of a structure. |
| lime putty | A wet plastic paste consisting of hydrated lime and free water. |
| load bearing wall | A wall designed to carry an imposed vertical load in addition to its own weight. |
| long column | A column which fails when overloaded, by buckling rather than by crushing. |
| parapet | Any protective railing, low wall or barrier at the edge of a bridge, roof, balcony or the like. |
| pavement structure | The combination of subbase, base course, and surface course placed on a subgrade to support the traffic load and distribute it to the subgrade. |
| pier shaft | The part of a pier structure which is supported by the pier foundation. |
| Pile | A long slender timber, concrete, or steel structural element, driven, jetted, or otherwise embedded on end in the ground for the purpose of supporting a load or compacting the soil. |
| plastering | The term plastering shall cover all types of rough or fair finished plastering, rendering, floating and setting coats, screed etc. in mud, lime, cement lime, cement sand, lime , fly ash or cement fly ash. |
| scaffolding | A temporary structure for gaining access to higher levels of the permanent structure during construction. |
| Slurry | A thin, watery mixture of neat cement or cement and sand. |
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