Civil engineers must understand the Earth's geological history and processes in order to manipulate land for development. The Earth underwent periods of heating and cooling which caused the crust to break into plates and form continents. Engineers study this information to understand the Earth's destructive power and design structures that can withstand natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, storms, and volcanic eruptions. They must also understand the properties and behavior of construction materials in various weather conditions to select the most suitable materials.
Civil engineers must understand the Earth's geological history and processes in order to manipulate land for development. The Earth underwent periods of heating and cooling which caused the crust to break into plates and form continents. Engineers study this information to understand the Earth's destructive power and design structures that can withstand natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, storms, and volcanic eruptions. They must also understand the properties and behavior of construction materials in various weather conditions to select the most suitable materials.
Civil engineers must understand the Earth's geological history and processes in order to manipulate land for development. The Earth underwent periods of heating and cooling which caused the crust to break into plates and form continents. Engineers study this information to understand the Earth's destructive power and design structures that can withstand natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, storms, and volcanic eruptions. They must also understand the properties and behavior of construction materials in various weather conditions to select the most suitable materials.
Civil engineers must understand the Earth's geological history and processes in order to manipulate land for development. The Earth underwent periods of heating and cooling which caused the crust to break into plates and form continents. Engineers study this information to understand the Earth's destructive power and design structures that can withstand natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, storms, and volcanic eruptions. They must also understand the properties and behavior of construction materials in various weather conditions to select the most suitable materials.
One great contributing factor to the role of a civil engineer is to be
knowledgeable of different formations of land and the processes of which the
earth undergoes to produce them. The engineer must understand how the earth works in order to manipulate it for the development of the human race. To carry out this process the engineer must be familiar with the origin and makeup of the Earths structure. By looking at the Earths history, it can be seen that climate change played a critical role to the development of the Earths surface. Earths mantle was cooled to form a crust by the introduction of water from salt bearing asteroids that plummeted to Earth. The Earth went from extremely hot to extremely cold, also referred to as snowball earth. This process of heating and cooling lead to the earths crust breaking into plates. The earths mantle caused the plates to push and pull to form continents. By looking at this information, engineers formulate ideas of what the earth is capable of and the destructive power it contains. In todays world, the hazardous ability of the earth is minor compared to millions of years ago. This information can still be useful when designing structures. In order to ensure longevity of these structures, they must be able to withstand natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, storms and volcanic eruptions. Over time, floods can be mapped and suitable structures such as dams, reservoirs and dykes can be put in place to manage them. With this knowledge, oceans and rivers can be controlled and manipulated to suit the engineers needs. Knowing the amount of rainfall and its frequency has a large impact on the use of materials. That is, moisture content of materials determines the properties of these said materials and how they behave. When dealing with materials in civil engineering, their structure and properties must be known in order to make proper use of them. Inspecting the behaviour of materials to the weathering elements of the earth can give an idea of the most suitable material for a particular job. Past natural disasters help determine areas suitable to erect structures as well as the strength needed for the structure to resist damage from these disasters. By having the knowledge of how a particular material behaves under temperature, pressure and moisture, the appropriate material can be chosen for the required strength. Rainfall can also contribute to erosion which generally weakens soil and causes landslides. By knowing the properties of the soil, a suitable fix can be applied in order to prevent erosion. Storms has plagued the earth for millions of years. Hurricanes and typhoons bring with them high intensity wind pressure. Buildings, especially skyscrapers, are prone to these strong winds. To counteract such disasters,
structures are designed to resist wind velocities of up to 100 km/h.
Earthquakes are another natural disaster that can have detrimental effects. To put a damper on this, an estimated frequency, strength and location of future earthquakes can be determined by studying previous events around the location of the proposed site. Given that most structures depend heavily on their foundation, the ground is assessed for response to earthquakes. The results of this can be used when choosing materials and applying fixes for this problem. Fixes can be determined by looking at the proposed structure response to anticipated tremors. By the movement of the earths crust under the sea, a tsunami can be formed. To be better prepared for this disaster, the study of the earths plates is a necessity. Knowing how the plates move and interact with each other over time is vital to better understanding this phenomenon. Volcanic eruptions which plays a part in these disasters also has a major role in the formation of rocks. Molten rock bursts through the earths crust and through the ocean and cools to form volcanic islands. Millions of years ago these volcanic islands clashed together to form continents. By knowing the volcanic veins leading from the earths mantle through the crust, engineers can determine the best sites for a structure given that volcanic eruptions are deadly and prevention seems impossible. Now, when building foundations especially for tall buildings, a sturdy ground is needed to support the structure. It is of a great deal that the internal structure of the earth be a part of the engineers knowledge. This is key when performing drilling or pile driving. Knowing the properties of the underlying soil helps determines the actions needed to create a stable environment for the proposed structure. Knowing the chemical makeup of these rocks is of vital importance. Stromatolites are layered bio-chemical sedimentary rocks which are formed in shallow waters. These bio-chemical rocks fills the ocean with oxygen which reacts with iron in the water to form rust deposits on the oceans floors and forms iron rich rocks. This mineral is widely used in the construction industry for the purpose of building ships, bridges, etc. In engineering, different types of materials are used to produce the desired product. Therefore the properties and chemical makeup of these materials are vital for a strong safe and long lasting structure to be produced.