The functions of civil engineers fall into three categories:

1. before construction (feasibility studies, site investigations, and design) 2. during construction (dealing with clients, consulting engineers, and contractors) 3. after construction ( maintenance)

Any major civil engineering project starts with a feasibility study to access both financial and engineering aspects. uring the feasibility study a preliminary site investigation is carried out. !nce a scheme has been approved, a more e"tensive investigation is usually necessary to evaluate the load-bearing #ualities and stability of the ground. $his field is called soil mechanics. $he design of engineering wor%s may re#uire the application of principles of hydraulics, thermodynamics and nuclear physics. uring the construction phase, a consulting engineer is often employed to be responsible for design of the wor%s, supplying specifications, drawings and legal documents to get competitive tender prices. &n a turnkey or pac%age contract the building contractor underta%es to finance, design, specify, construct, and commission the whole project. Maintenance is normally carried out by the contractor as part of the agreement' if there are maintenance problems, it is the responsibility of the contractor to pay for any necessary wor%.

Match the following words and phrases with their definitions

1. feasibility study

a. building or installation, which is built, supplied, or installed complete and ready to operate. 10

2. site investigation

b. activities carried out after the project to ensure problems are solved. 3

3. maintenance !. soil mechanics . specifications

c. detailed plan of proposed structures. d. dimensions and measurements " e. e"tensive investigation to evaluate the load(bearing #ualities and stability of the ground.2

". technical drawings

f. investigation to assess both financial and engineering aspects of a project 1

#. commission a project ). costing system

g. offer of a bid for an engineering contract $ h. procedure to monitor the costs of a project so that management can get information on development %

$. tender 10. turn%ey project

i. study of the proposed location to assess geology of the area ! &. to order a plan to be carried out #

'oad (uilding

$he simplest type of a road is that made by scraping and pushing the earth with a grader until it has a rounded surface. $he materials for such a road should contain 12(1) percent slit and *+(*, percent sand, some stone and grit. &f the natural soil does not contain these proportions, it should be corrected by adding the material which is short. $his material is spread over the road and wor%ed into the surface with a harrow or a grader. &t is then compacted by traffic or by a road roller. $his techni#ue is %nown as soil stabili-ation. .oil stabili-ation is applied when it is necessary to correct the shortage in the natural soil under the road so as in strengthen it. Another type of a road is water(bound macadam. &t consists of a layer of stones from 2 to + cm in si-e cemented by earth and sand. $hese joining materials are wor%ed into the layer of stones by watering. /hen roads are e"pected to carry heavy traffic, the total thic%ness of the road may reach 0+ cm. epending on the wearing surfaces, roads and runways are called either fle"ible pavements( surfaced with bitumen, tar, etc.) or rigid pavements( surfaced with concrete). A rigid pavement always has a thic%er surface than a fle"ible one ( about 1, cm. A fle"ible pavement has a wearing surface of only + cm or less, simply a layer of tar sprayed over a stabili-ed soil road. 1elow the wearing surface is a layer of stone of gravel called the base, and below that there may be another layer of bigger stones called the subbase, laid directly on the foundation bed.

&n wet regions the soil beneath the road. 2ust be drained. 3ree-ing of soils containing e"cess of water is li%ely to swell them, lifting the road and brea%ing its surface. $his is called frost heave. &t can be avoided by laying subsoil drains across the road.

)ocabulary to scrape ( raschiare, grattare grader ( grit (grana harrow (erpice road roller ( rullo stradale slit ( fessura, fenditura, fendere tar ( catrame rigid pavement ( pavimentazione rigida frost heave (