Civil engineering is a "people serving" profession. Meeting society's needs and providing service to mankind is one of engineering's most rewarding careers. In the next two decades, as world population increases, as environmental concerns mount, as the technological revolution continues to expand, as we pioneer space habitation, the Civil Engineer will continue to play an important part in society to plan and design, build and maintain the facilities essential to our civilization: bridges, dams, highways, transit systems, airports, tunnels, irrigation systems, water distribution and wastewater treatment facilities, launching facilities and space stations, as well as industrial and commercial buildings.

Early in history, engineering was chiefly concerned with the creation of facilities and devices for military use, such as roads and bridges and weapons. However, many of these projects also benefited the civilian component of society. The term "Civil Engineering" came into use in the eighteenth century to distinguish this field from the other field - "military Engineering" - which was principally concerned with the creation of works for military use. Beginning in the nineteenth century, other forms of engineering appeared - mechanical, electrical and chemical, all of which can trace their origin to Civil Engineering.

Civil engineering is that branch of technology most commonly associated with the environment - both the natural and the manmade. Reducing air and water pollution, renewing our old cities, planning and building whole new communities, providing water, power and high-speed ground transportation systems are the responsibility of the Civil Engineer. Providing these services for mankind involves construction of dams, buildings, bridges, tunnels, power plants, highways and harbors in harmony with the natural environment and man's needs. Efficiently developing an ever increasing array of such facilities presents a continual challenge to the Civil Engineer.

The range of activities in which the Civil Engineer is involved in quite broad. However, in simpler terms the civil Engineer may be defined as a planner, designer, and builder who takes the raw materials and resources of nature as well as the manufactured products of industry, and by use of his intelligence, creates facilities or devices that are beneficial to mankind.

The Civil Engineer may specialize in one or more of many technical areas of concentration - areas of concentration that are not independent but interact with each other, such as:

• Construction Engineering
• Environmental Engineering
• Geotechnical Engineering
• Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering
• Photogrammetry, Surveying & Mapping
• Structural Engineering
• Transportation Engineering
• Urban and Community Planning

With all of these areas of activity, Civil Engineering offers a virtually unlimited range of career opportunities to satisfy individual interests, aptitudes and goals.

The practice of Civil Engineering is a multi-step process which involves: data collection, planning, design, economic analysis, construction, and operation and maintenance. Most Civil Engineering projects begin by gathering information on site topography, soil or geological conditions, and hydrographic data, as well as societal statistics and population demands.

The planning process may require a long range planning study to identify the need for future works and facilities - essential facilities that must be planned far enough in advance so as to be available when needed - or the preliminary design of facilities to be constructed in the near future. The design process is the synthesis phase whereby the data from the planning studies, the site surveys and the owner's (or society's) requirements are utilized to design a structure or facility that will perform in an acceptable manner and which can be constructed within the owner's budget. Obviously, this is an interactive process whereby the design engineer works closely with the owner in defining occupancy needs, defining space requirements, selecting materials and equipment, in order to provide a structure which is safe, functionally appropriate and, in most cases, aesthetically pleasing.

When the plans are sufficiently defined, the Civil Engineer will estimate the cost of construction the project. If so warranted, appropriate adjustments to the design are made in order to keep the estimated project cost within the limits of the owner's budget. Construction plans and specifications are prepared and the project is put out for bid - either as a competitive bid or a negotiated bid.

During construction the Civil Engineer is charged with the responsibility of insuring that the facility is constructed according to plans and specifications and that the materials and equipment incorporated in the project are those which were called for in the original design. Many times the construction engineer will be called upon to provide innovative and cost effective solutions to construction problems associated with implementing the design.

Even when construction is completed and the facility is turned over to the owner, the duties of the Civil Engineer are not yet completed. Supervision of operations and maintenance is yet another activity in which the Civil Engineer is involved.

The career opportunities for Civil Engineers will continue to be strong well into the next century. I believe that the demand for Civil Engineers will be the greatest in three major areas: infrastructure rehabilitation, hazardous waste disposal methods and facilities, and water supply systems.

The rehabilitation of this country's infrastructure - all of the facilities that make up the fabric of society, such as roads, bridges, other transportation facilities, water supply and waste disposal systems, governmental service facilities, public buildings - has been variously estimated at costing up to one trillion dollars. No matter what the cost, the work must be done, for we have postponed and neglected our investment in infrastructure for far too long.

In today's complex society we generate significant quantities of hazardous wastes - wastes which cannot be disposed of by utilizing historical methods which subscribe to the old axiom "out of sight, out of mind." Environmentally sound disposal methods must be developed if we are to successfully defuse this time bomb which is threatening the very existence of society.

Although the Midwest is blessed with an ample and reliable supply of water, other parts of the country, particularly those regions which have experienced the greatest growth in the past decade, are now facing the prospect of curtailment of continued growth due to a lack of water or the existence of an unreliable water supply system. To quench this thirst, the "Sun Belt," as well as parts of the "old northeast," must construct (or renovate and reconstruct) major water supply systems.

The Civil Engineer will certainly be the profession which will provide the leadership and the solutions to deal successfully with these problems. Although some people believe that the "glory days" of Civil Engineering - the time when the Civil Engineer was "building" this country - are behind us, I believe that today Civil Engineering stands on the threshold of an era of service to mankind which has been unprecedented in history - an era which will be both exciting and rewarding for the Civil Engineer.