What Are The Things Civil Engineers Know While Others Don't - Quora PDF

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Rakshita Nagayach, Civil Engineer at Municipal Corporation Indore,

SGSITS Batch 2015
Answered Dec 26, 2014 · Upvoted by Attman Kar, M.Sc. Civil Engineering, Delft University
of Technology (2017)
The few ones I suppose are:
1. Technically diamond is more elastic than rubber as Elastic modulus of Diamond

is in the range 1000-1200 GPa whereas that of rubber is approximately 0.1 GPa. This
means on application of large loading, diamond may be in the elastic limit but rubber
might go beyond it.
2. While widening road pavements on Horizontal Curves , apart from providing

mechanical widening based on calculations, psychological widening is also provided
to provide extra space and comfort while steering at high speeds.
3. The rails on a railway track generally shift by about 7.5 to 15 cm per month (known
as creep) on an average in one of the opposite directions.
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4. On curves, the level of outer rail is raised above the inner rail by a certain amount
depending on the centrifugal forces’s effects, known as Cant (road/rail) .
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10/14/2017 What are the things Civil Engineers know while others don't? - Quora
5. The runway orientation on an airport is done in the direction of prevailing winds

which is decided by studying Wind rose diagrams and not in any random way.
6. For buildings with height above 30 meters, the minimum open space (left inside
and around a building to meet the lighting and ventilation requirements) of 10 m
required for heights of 30 m, shall be increased at a rate of 1 m for every additional
height of 5 meters, to a maximum of 16 m.
7. The minimum distance for construction of any building from center line of any
street shall not be less than 7.5 m. for future widening of the road.
8. There are about 18 types of contracts for undertaking a tender of construction of

any building.
9. Failure of steel reinforcement before the failure of concrete is safer as steel failure
occurs with signs whereas concrete failure occurs without giving any previous hints.
Thus the structures are designed as under-reinforcement following the Limit state
design .
10. While designing RCC Structures, the design strength of the structure is taken 1.5
times less than the Characteristic strength" (fck) of concrete while the design load is
taken 1.5 times of the expected load. The value 1.5 is the factor of Safety of concrete.
11. Fish ladder s are provided in weirs as it is essential to make the provision of some
space in the construction of a weir for the uninterrupted migration of fishes from
upstream to downstream in search of relatively warm water in the beginning of
winter season.
12. Sometimes land plots are left as it is after laying the foundation. This is generally
done to allow natural Consolidation of the soil. In a year or two, a significant
amount of pore water in the soils dissipates and the soil settles down. After this
settlement, construction is started again.
13. The sewer pipes are designed to carry the maximum hourly sewage flow quantity,
which is thrice the average daily sewage flow quantity while the sewage is flown
according to the minimum hourly sewage flow quantity to maintain the minimum
sewage velocity.
Thanks for the A2A Sushmit Mitra Mustafi and Akash Padhi!
26k Views · 535 Upvotes · Answer requested by Suraj Verma, Akash Padhi, and 1 more
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Ashish Loya
Perfect! You have summarized all the prominent topics from Civil Engineering subjec…
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Prathyaksh Shetty, MTech from IIT Madras

Updated Oct 2, 2016
1. Concrete is the second most consumed material on the planet by humans. On an
average, three metric tonnes per person is produced annually. (btw, first is water)
2. Concrete is an erratic material. Most of the time, we don't know why it behaves the
way it does. But, you don't know that we don't know, so we pretend to know. (Sorry for
bursting the bubble my civil engineering comrades. :p)
3. Soil is fine. Water is fine. Soil+Water is...well, f***!
4. Steel loses most of its strength during fire even with a temperature well below its
melting point. This is one of the main reasons why the World Trade Center collapsed
on 9/11. The 9/11 conspiracy theorists ignore this simple fact and just babble about the
jet fuel fire not being hot enough to have melted the steel and ignorantly deduce that
the collapse was a result of controlled demolition.
5. The lines you see on concrete roads are actually cracks created along a straight line
by us purposefully so that the concrete doesn't crack on its own elsewhere and look
shabby.
6. There are moments at intersections when all the signals are red. This usually lasts
for 2 seconds after every green cycle to facilitate clearing of vehicles from the
junction. In other words, during this all-red phase, you can actually jump the red light
without risking a collision, provided, of course, you are the only one doing it.
(Disclaimers: 1. Please do not experiment this, it's very dangerous, not to mention an
offence; 2. This all-red phase may not be functional at all signals)
7. While negotiating a curve or an intersection in your car, there is only a short length
of roadway that is visually accessible to you. However, we have designed that length
so that it's adequate to avoid a collision based on your body's reaction time. However,
this distance is not sufficient if you are listening to music because it increases your
reaction time, meaning you are more likely to crash into that oncoming vehicle or a
tree if you are enjoying your favorite music. Happy Journey!
8. Indians not following lane-discipline is actually a good thing. It increases the

capacity of the road because of more efficient movement of mixed traffic and hence
causes less traffic jams than if they were disciplined.**
9. Flyovers don't solve congestion, they only relocate it to somewhere downstream.
10. High speeds don't cause accidents, different speeds do.
To illustrate, a highway with only cars, all moving at 160+ speeds is less prone to
accidents as compared to the one with cars, trucks and other vehicles with variable
speeds even if the speed does not exceed 100.
11. We would be able to save a lot of tax payers money in the construction and
maintenance of public sewer systems if people took shit at different times during the
day instead of everyone doing it in the morning. The sewer pipes are currently
designed for three times the average flow of sewage to accommodate just that few
peak hours of the morning rendering the system redundant at other times.
12. We can literally treat the sewage to an extent that it becomes as good as a bottled
mineral water. Here's Bill Gates drinking some fine treated sewage:
13. And finally, any building can collapse. Any time. We don't design buildings to not
collapse. We just make them less probable. The ceiling that you stare at while laying
on bed, may come crumbling down while you are asleep. Good Night!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
**Edit 1: Some people are finding it hard to appreciate point no. 8 about undisciplined
lane manners being a good thing. I respect your opinion. I feel it's a wishful thinking
though. We expect something to be true just because it's nice. But physical laws do not
share our prejudice. It is what it is. Having said that let me elaborate on that point.
I am not implying that breaking traffic laws is good. I'm just t... (more)
Upvote 3.2k Downvote
Abhinav Vadrevu
I believe flyovers actually solve the problem and reduce congestion in certain scenari…
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Kasee Sreenivas, B.Tech Civil Engineering, Graduated (2012)

Updated Jul 24, 2016 · Upvoted by Anish Mannam, B.E. + M.Sc. Civil Engineering &
Chemistry, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (2015)
You might have seen transit mixers in the traffic right?
In case the transit mixer gets stuck up in traffic for too long, drivers
sometimes add soft drink to the concrete mix so that the concrete inside the
vehicle do not set. (sugar acts as a retarder and delays the setting time of
concrete)
Image Source: [1 ]
For more details on this, go through the below link :
Kasee Sreenivas' answer to What happens if sugar is put in concrete?
Cement Mortar and Concrete are two different things.
Sand is measured in Cubic feet or Cubic meters while in transit and in Kgs or
Tons while feeding it in the batching plant to produce concrete.
Cement and steel have grades too. (Cement grades : 43 grade, 53 grade etc,
Steel grades: FE 415, FE 500 etc)
Different types of cement are used for different purposes.
Go through this link below if you wish to know. (It is short and simple)
Kasee Sreenivas' answer to Which cement is used to make good concrete for
buildings?
Some light weight structures can be built even without using a single brick.
This is a rapid wall structure. Not even a single brick is used.
This building is made from panels like these (from industrial wastes).
Cement bags are stored in dry places on a raised platform about 200 mm
above floor level and 300 mm away from walls. Something like this.
Not directly on the ground
Image Source: [1 ]
Thrust your hand into the cement bag or a heap of fresh dry cement. It will
give you a cool feeling. Related Questions
Roads can be made using plastic waste. There are some roads in India which
What are some things that aeronautical engineers
are made out of plastic waste. know and others don't?
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salts. electronics engineers know, but most people don't?
Bricks do have alignment and we call them bonds. (Example: English bond, What is something electrical engineers know that
others don't?
Flemish bond etc)
What are practical things one should know being a
civil engineering student?
What are the facts a civil engineer must know?
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people don't?
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know?
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during jobs and interviews?
 Ask New Question
Image Source: [1 ]
There is a concept called Green Buildings wherein the building utilizes the
solar (heat) energy from sun to produce electricity required for the house and
can conserve the energy using smart devices.
Source: [1 ]
For some better understanding, go through this link:
Being a layman, what should I know about green building ?
There’s a material called translucent concrete.
-Images Source: Google Images
Thanks for A2A.
27.1k Views · 223 Upvotes · Answer requested by S Jagannatha
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Jinal Doshi, Structural engineer and founder of structural madness

Updated May 31, 2016
1. Narmada Canal
A water depth of 15 cm (6 inches) was released into the main canal of the Sardar
Sarovar project and it reached the end of the canal which is located at 460 kilometers
away from its origin. This is only possible when the loss due to friction is overcome by
gravity and canal is perfectly lined and prismatic.
2. If your house is not shaking during earthquake, run out of the house or else
you are most probably going to die.
In case of earthquakes, shock-waves pump a tremendous amount of energy

constantly during the whole event into the building through the foundation. This
pumped energy should be dissipated out of the building be moving which causes loss
of energy in terms of generating some inertial forces, along with some extent of
cracking so that it can go into that nonlinear zone and dissipate energy.
3. Wear and tear of roads in summer
This happens not just because of rain. Actually the damage in road starts during high
temperature during summer. Asphalt which has pretty low melting posing and its
viscosity changes drastically with increase in temperature, loses its grip with the
crushed stones and road starts weakening up. Now in monsoon as those stones are
already lose, water penetrates in and slowly these stones get stuck to moving vehicles
and the failure of road starts.
4. The tallest building possible to build is at least as tall as Mt. Everest
Actually taller than that even Mt. Everest. We know that the soil beneath our feet is
capable of talking the load of that giant and there is nothing which is taller than that
till date. So we can surly make a building as tall as mount Everest, provided that we
have that sum of money. We are just not limited to a mile high tower.
5. Earthquakes and Tsunamis
Earthquakes near Japan and eastern countries can create tsunamis as it is a normal
fault while earthquake near the coast of Chile and west coast of USA will not generally
generate Tsunami. So the Tsunami showed in San Andreas movie is an inaccurate
information. There are chances of Tsunami in Alaska but not in San Francisco and
that too not at this extent.
6. Change of tracks by trains
Trains and their switch between tracks is always taught to civil engineers in second
year. It is pretty simple and cool thing to learn. Instead of explaining I would share a
lovely video.
7. Post-tension slabs flow a similar concept to hanging clothes on ropes of your
balcony
To which extent the tendons should be stressed depends on the amount of loading
applied on the slab. So if you want your clothes to be hanged without sagging and
they are all jeans, make sure to tighten up the rope so that it does not "deflect"
8. Spillways
You know why we create a water jump at the end of the spillway? To extract all the
energy from the flowing water. If we do not do this, then it will erode all the soil in
downstream of the dam which will result in dangerous amount of loss of strength in
dam and it may fail causing many cities to submerge. Also this reduces the velocity of
water which then takes longer time to reach cities giving people slightly more time to
reach for higher grounds.
9. Even small amount of force can cause a giant to collapse
It is not necessary that if the structure is big it means that it can resist higher forces or
it is designed to do so. No. Even winds at 40 mph can cause the whole bridge to
wobble and collapse under the stresses. This was due to turbulence created by the
wind and the deck was not stiff enough to resist that turbulence.
10. Chimneys and suspension cables have rough edges so that they do not sway
violently in winds.
Something like this simple can reduce violent sway of chimney just because air loses
a lot of energy in forming small vortices around it. It is called vortex shedding
analysis.
11. Cement, Concrete and Mortar are three different things. If they would have
been same then we would not call it with three different names.
... (more)
Upvote 289 Downvote
Sumanth Reddy, Cement and concrete fanatic | Graduate student in

Structural engineering
Updated Oct 28, 2015
Thanks for the A2A Bharadwaj Nitw
Almost a wide range of specializations are considered in other answers. I'll share
particular stuff from materials and structural engineering perspective that might be
of interest.
Firstly, I'd like to share some things which people think we know but we do not.
- We DO NOT know how our buildings stay together - We know cement is the primary
binding agent (C-S-H actually) but which forces are responsible for this adhesion is
unknown to concrete scientists.
- We DO NOT know the basic structure of our primary binding agent (C-S-H). Whether
it is crystalline, amorphous - granular, continuous is unknown. (Disclaimer: Some
recent experiments have provided some results that provide some insight into it but
no consensus is reached)
- We DO NOT know what happens when cement comes in contact with water and how
the reaction proceeds and which steps govern the reaction.
That is an awful lot of stuff that we don't know so now moving to the stuff we know.
- The difference between displacement, deflection and deformation and the

importance of each.
- In the event of an earthquake, taller (flexible) buildings perform better than smaller
(rigid) buildings (although not always, depends on frequency of EQ. Thanks for
pointing it out Abhinav Vadrevu)
- The importance of ductility
- That every structure that is designed can take 50% more of such load. There is
something called factor of safety and it varies from 1.25 to 1.6 depending on our
control of materials.
- We encounter heterogeneity like no other engineers do and it is multi fold

(environment, materials, loading etc) and that is the reason why we do not have
highly reliable models (statistics is not a very good friend of ours)
- The pyramids were not built with stone but artificial stone viz. concrete !!!
- There is something called 'size effect' which factors in significant difference between
the tests we do at the laboratory and the performance we obtain on field and this is
why, full scale testing is often recommended for important structures
- We are not able to effectively model our fluids (wind for skyscrapers, water for dams,
spillways etc.) and model testing is the only way we can make sure our design is
adequate.
4.4k Views · 26 Upvotes · Answer requested by Bharadwaj Nitw
Upvote 26 Downvote
Abhinav Vadrevu
Taller buildings performing better in earthquakes is not true. That depends on the fre…
Vandana Sharma, Civil Engineer from VJTI, Mumbai.

Updated Nov 12, 2015 · Upvoted by Aamod Garg, B.Tech. Civil Engineering, Motilal Nehru
National Institute of Technology, Allahabad (2017) and Ganesh Kini, studying Master of
Engineering at IISc. Earned Bachelor of Engineering in 2015
1. This is Seismic Isolation, a means of protecting the structure against earthquake.
How?
It detaches the structure from the ground so that earthquake motions are not directly
transmitted.

2. This is an Expansion Joint -
Expansion joints are provided along the transverse direction to allow movement
(expansion/contraction) of the construction materials without inducing stresses due
to changes in temperature or other reasons.
Of course they weren't made to annoy you while driving!
3. The ratio of the length to width of a room is generally between 1.5 to 2.1 (India) so
that we don't feel like living in a box or tunnel!
4. This is called Mid-Landing -
This allows the stairs to change direction and the user to rest a little.
The minimum height of each step (rise) should be 15 cm and width (tread) 25 cm.
(India)
By the way, each stairway is a flight!
5. The outer edge of road at the horizontal curve is raised above the inner edge, this is
Super Elevation
It reduces the effect of centrifugal force on the running wheels. If this is not provided
the entire centripetal force is provided by the friction between the vehicle's tires and
the roadway, thus reducing speed.
6. And this is a Theodolite! :)
It is used to measure angles in horizontal and vertical planes.

85.7k Views · 3,850 Upvotes
Upvote 3.8k Downvote
Aurojyoti Prusty
Superelevation doesn't reduce the centrifugal force, rather it provides the necessary c…
3 more comments from Tushar Sharma, Naveen Pandey, Archana Kashikar
Suresh Godara, Civil Engineering, IITD

Answered Oct 29, 2015
Like 'Quick Sand' (दलदल ), we do have also , 'Quick Clay'.
Quick clay is a clay which turns liquid when disturbed.

This is due to a high sensitivity.
Quick Clay, demonstration (YouTube)
Most of us know the reason, for providing spacing between rails at certain distance.
Yes ! Its for 'Thermal expansion'.
But how do we account for those thermal stresses in a continuous pipeline ?

Obviously we cannot cut and provide spacing in between.
This difficult looking problem was taken care by just providing simple bends at regular
distance as shown in picture.
These bends known as 'expansion loops' are provided at specified distance mainly to
take care for extra stresses that could develop, due to temperature variations, which
could be due to surroundings or fluid flowing through pipelines.
4.1k Views · 69 Upvotes
Upvote 69 Downvote
Saket Kumar, Master/Bachelor in Structures

Updated Dec 25, 2014
1. Wall, in most of the Reinforced Buildings which you see around, doesn't take
any load from floor or roof.
2. Streamlined tall structures are more vulnerable to slower winds than faster
winds.
3. Earthquakes don't kill people but buildings do.
4. Most of the residential buildings are non-engineered, which means there is

no guarantee of safety in your own house! It's a jungle out there!
5. Civil Engineers are not usually concerned about aesthetics of a building,

architects are.
6. Putting too much reinforcement bars in a beam can make it brittle and more
prone to causing casualties.
7. If you dig a big trench just beside your neighbor's house it will soon get
foundered. Don't do that ever!
8. Concrete keeps on gaining its strength forever. Be concrete!
Upvote 102 Downvote
Tushar Sharma
Assembled perfectly, knew all the points except 2(Civil engineer here). And btw, many…
1 more comments from Pranjal Pareek
Varun Chowdary, Structural design engineer

Updated Oct 31, 2015
I guess these few things are:
1) How others imagine a civil engineer at site
but in reality (the one in the white safety helmet)
2) The typical mixer is not used for bulk concrete pours.
Instead concreting is done either by "Boom placer" or " Concrete pump".
3) The crazy rotating lorry, which is otherwise called as "Transit mixer".
Main purpose of transit mixer to collect concrete from batching plant from where
production of concrete takes place and to deliver it at the site. Concrete is then placed
above mentioned concrete laying equipments.
"Concrete batching plant"
Concrete mixers generally do not travel far from their plant, as the concrete begins to
set as soon as it is in the truck. A concrete transit mixer truck includes a control
system that automatically controls rotation of the mixer drum at a constant drum
speed when the mixer truck is travelling. When sensed speed of the truck exceeds a
threshold, the control system automatically causes a hydraulic system to rotate the
drum at a constant speed, regardless of the truck engine speed.
4) Cross Passage
Cross passages(CP) are connecting tunnels and are to be provided at regular intervals
to evacuate passengers in case of any emergency. In general, the cross-passages will
be provided at 250 m intervals. Before starting the cross passage excavations, it is
necessary to improve the soil characteristics around CPs. High pressure jet grouting
method will improve the soil stabilization and 28 days later, there will be a core test to
confirm the soil is strong and stable.The cross passage will be constructed using
NATM (New Austrain Tunnelling method) with suitable waterproofing measures
having a provision of sump at the deepest location of the tunnel.
Next time if any metro train stops inside the tunnels, don't panic. You will be guided to
one of these cross passages.
NATM Tunnel
5) Tower crane - Use to move heavy material or machinery from one place to another
easily and it is not a lift. There are two types of tower crane
i) Movable tower crane - The one which can move on a track specificially built for it.
ii) Fixed tower crane
6) Hydra - Use for the movement of material or machinery from one lace to another. It
is not just a crane.
Backhoe loader - Use for the excavation in smaller quantities.

... (more)
Upvote 112 Downvote
Ajeet Panigrahi
Pier refered as 'Pillar'...
Viknesh Manohar, Bitterness is a paralytic,Love is a much more vicious

motivator
Answered Jan 6, 2015
Originally Answered: What are some things that only civil engineers know, but most people don't?
SUPER ELEVATION
The outer edge of road at the horizontal curve is raised above the inner
edge this is super elevation. It is given throughout the length of horizontal curve to
reduce the effect of centrifugal force on the running wheels. It is also sometimes
termed as banking.
Super elevation may be defined as the raising of the outer edge of the road along a
curve in order to counteract the effect of centrifugal force acting on the vehicle.
This force is experienced by the wheels at right angle to the direction of motion.
The frictional resistance between the wheels and the road surface will act in the opposite
direction. If the value of the centrifugal force exceeds the frictional resistance, the
vehicle will be raised up from the road surface thereby causing instability to the vehicle.
In passing from a straight to a curved path a vehicle is under the influence of two
forces.
1. The weight of the vehicle
2. The centrifugal force
Both these forces are acting through its centre of gravity. The centrifugal force always
acts in the horizontal direction and it tries to push the vehicle off the track to balance
this, it is customary to make the road surface perpendicular to the resultant of the
above two forces i.e. the outer edge of the road is raised above the inner edge.It is
also expressed as the difference of height of two edges of carriage way to the width of
the carriage way. Thus safety is ensured.
Ever noticed the camber?

The road has convexity upward, with the highest point in the centre in the straight
portion of the road. The highest point on the surface is called crown.
The curved road surface has convexity upwards like the back of a tortoise; this
convexity can be seen in the cross section of a road surfacing and is usually called
camber of the roads.
The main object of providing the camber is to drain off rainwater from the surface
of the road as quickly as possible. Hence a hard smooth surface will require less
camber than a soft and rough surface.
The amount of cross fall or camber depends on the rainfall of threat particular
locality in which the road is to be constructed and the permeability of the road
surfacing material. The steeper the camber is, the more inconvenient it is for the
traffic. In roads having steeper camber, the control portion of the road surface will
deteriorate.
Credits: @Construction Engineering Blog

Upvote 13 Downvote
Anangsha Alammyan, Civil Engineer.

Answered Dec 27, 2014
Every structure you see around you - be it a residential building, a shopping mall, or
the tallest tower you've ever beheld - is slowly sinking into the ground below - little
by little, every day of the year. (Unless of course the structure is built on pure sand -
in which case, this phenomenon is absent)

That happens because of a process called Consolidation .
It basically means the time-dependent volume change of soil due to a constant load
applied on it.
When the load is initially applied (i.e, the structure is just constructed), an
immediate settlement occurs - this is due the distortion of the soil without
any volume change.
With the passage of time, the water trapped in between the voids in the soil
starts to escape, and this results in a decrease of the overall volume. It is not a
quick process because the voids in a clayey soil are not that well inter-
connected, so it takes a long time for the trapped water to find its way out.
So the next time you set foot anywhere, remember that your weight is adding some
extra load on the building, making it sink into the ground somewhat more than it
would have done without you. Scary thought, I know!
But not to worry too much. All structures are constructed in a way so as to limit the
maximum settlement to very small allowable limits - mostly of the order of a few
millimeters even after thousands of years of sustained loading.
Upvote 179 Downvote
Anjaneya Jha
A better answer would be, "Everything in this world is basically Rubber. Some harder …
Srinath Rao
Updated Feb 8, 2015
Something like this in daily life. I would just pick up an event.
I came across an article on Hindu, you can find the link here:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cit...
The article was clear, but somehow I couldn't visualize the barrage through the
picture presented in the article.
This was the sketch of barrage, as shown in the article, scheme of which was
proposed(as said in the newspaper) through consequent barrages. The project was
about cleaning River Ganga.
To my understanding, the drawing wasn't really presented well.
I think this is a better drawing to understand what the expert says-
Brief explanation:
Barrages are generally used to store some water(very less compared to a dam)
upstream and release a calculated amont downstream. When there is excess water
during floods(beyond its capacity to store), we can just open the gates and let it flow,
thereby reducing the flooding of river basin.
This looks like an innovative idea for three reasons-
1, In this context, the barrage gates open as soon as they discover a flow of high flood,
thereby not at all affecting the flooding of river basin as it remains the same as earlier.
It is really safe(just the barrage needs to be well-built) at no extra expansion of flood
plain.
2, Since the gates start from the Apron level(I didn't show this part well in my picture)
no separate and regular treatment for silt is required.
3, Most important of them all- idea is to build barrages just to dilute the concentration
of the pollutants. This means unlike the conventional ways of treating the water
before releasing into water bodies(which involves really high costs) like building
Sewage Treatment Plants(which was indeed done through GAP by the government),
this way just dilutes the concentration of the pollutants by adding extra(really huge
amounts) water to it.This also makes the water really easy to clean for drinking
purposes when it reaches the next city downstream, thereby decreasing the treatment
costs.
And that's how a civil engineer, by training, can understand the intricacies and I can
pick up much more interesting engineering around us, which civil engineer would see
differently.
Srinath Rao's answer to Can anyone kindly explain this planned project in detail?
Expert suggests silt-free barrages
Upvote 11 Downvote
Shakti Singh, Civil Engineer at IRCON International Ltd. (PSU)

Answered May 23
1. The speed of locomotive, in India ,on metre gauge is restricted between 96

and 120km/h.
2. Marble is an example of metamorphic rock.
3. The highest point on the road surface is called Crown.
4. Cement consist of
a. Lime
b. Silica
c. Alumina
d. Iron oxide
e. Magnesium oxide
f. Sulphur trioxide
g. Alkalies
5. Types of concrete
a. Plain cement concrete
b. Lime concrete
c. Reinforced cement concrete
d. Pre stressed cement concrete
e. Light weight concrete
f. Cellular or aerated concrete
g. Saw dust concrete
h. Vaccum concrete
6. A solid construction put across the river to raise its water level and to divert
the water into the canal is called weir.
7. The reaction time of driver decreases with the increase in speed.
8. The maximum permissible chlorine content for public supplies should be

0.1 to 0.2ppm.
9. For metre Gauge Track, in Indian railways,the standard length of the Rail is
12.8m.
10. The slope of the line joining the crown and edge of the road surface is known
as camber or cross slope or cross fall.
11. The slope of the road pavement in the longitudnal direction is called grade
or gardient.
12. The size of ballast used in Indian railways for wooden sleeper is 50mm and
for steel sleeper it is 25mm.
13. The rail section is divided on the Basis of Gauge of the track.
14. Between two rails, a gap of 1.5mm to 3mm is provided for free expansion of
the Rails due to rise in the Temperature.
15. To reduce wearing of rails, the rails are placed at an inward slope of 1 in 20.
16. Wheels of rails are given a slope of 1 in 20.
17. Minimum Packing Space provided between two sleepers is 300 to 350mm.
18. The standard size of wooden sleepers is 2.74m X 25cm X 13cm.
19. The size of Ballast used on Indian railways under points and crossing is
25mm.
20. The height of platform above the rail surface for broad gauge tracks should
be 762 to 838mm.
21. The length of Platform should be more than the longest train which is
moving on that section.
22. The width of Platform under no circumstances,should be less than 4m.
23. The device used for changing the directions of engines is called turn tables.
24. The unit cost of transportation(Au) on a section of the highway may

roughly be calculated by Au=A/NL,L= length of the highway in KM.
25. The reason for providing curves on the highway is to provide access to the
particular locality,preservation of existing amenites.
26. A wall constructed to retain the earth from slippage on the hill side of the
roadway is called breast wall.
27. The design period of water supply project is taken as 20 to 30 years.
28. In India, water consumption per capita per day for domestic purpose is 135
litres.
29. The ph value of water for domestic supplies is limited from 6.5 to 8.
30. Bricks has different classification, First class,second class,third class, jhama
bricks.
31. Until modern times there was no clear distinction between civil engineering
and architecture, and the terms engineer and architect often referred to the
same person until the 18th century.
32. In the 18th century, the term “civil engineering” came into use to describe
engineering work that was performed by civilians for nonmilitary purposes.
33. The first self-proclaimed civil engineer was John Smeaton who
constructed the Eddystone Lighthouse.
34. Civil engineers frequently work on complex projects which involve many
technical, economic, social and environmental factors.
35. Civil engineering takes place on all levels: in the public sector from
municipal through to national governments, and in the private sector from
individual homeowners through to international companies.
36. Civil engineers also help to preserve the environment by assisting in the
cleaning up of existing pollution and planning ways to reduce future
pollution of air, land and water.
37. The first private college to teach Civil Engineering in the United States was
Norwich University, Vermont, founded in 1819 by Captain Alden Partridge.
38. The first degree in Civil Engineering in the United States was awarded by
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1835.
39. The first civil engineering degree to be awarded to a woman was...

(more)
Upvote 39 Downvote
Snehal Deb, Engineer
Answered Mar 21, 2016
All the world maps that we see and study are wrong (Misleading). The maps of
even large countries like US, India and Russia are wrong too.
This is something that civil, surveying engineers, GIS experts and cartographers will
know in depth.
Reason: Distortions.
Here is the world map that we see often:
Let me explain how is it wrong: Look GREENLAND closely. It is covered in white on

top. Now look at INDIA. See the point?
Area of India= 3.28 Million km^2
Area of Greenland= 2.166 Million km^2
But on the map Greenland seems to be bigger than India and roughly equal to Africa.
In reality, Africa is 14 times bigger than Greenland.
Again, look at Canada
Its shape on the world map looks like this:
But in reality, CANADA is much smaller and like this:
See the distortion in the top?
The reason is that our earth is a 3 D structure of spherical shape called oblate
spheroid and we are trying to put that into our 2 D page or image. This is simply
impossible without distortions in shape, size or directions etc.
There are various projection techniques to put the 3D Earth into a 2D map. One of
them is Mercaptor projection technique created by Flemish cartographer Gerardus
Mercator in 1569. It's been widely used for centuries, including today in various forms
by Google Maps and many other online services. This map preserves directional
bearing, presenting rhumbs (imaginary lines that cut all meridians at the same angle)
as straight lines, thus making it a useful tool for navigation.
The world map shown at the beginning is the most popular and accepted by
navigators worldwide. It is made by mercpator projection technique.
There are other projection techniques like - Gall peters projection, Lambert
cylindrical etc
One alternative world map made by Gall peters projection is this:
It has better relative areas but many parts are stretched in it.
Now, the question is despite so much distortions in the areas (Sizes) of countries
in the map, why are we still following?
Because NO projection can perfectly show all the important parameters like shape,
size, direction etc. If we perfect one, there will be distortions in the other. Since map is
a navigational tool made to felicitate trade, shipping etc mercaptor projection
preserves shape and direction better than others and is widely accepted. however,
there are other local country specific standards based on other projections which
show their country features perfectly.
If size/ area is our priority then we can get a map from another projection which
perfectly shows areas but distorts shapes etc.
Many organizations and schools have accepted another projection based map called
Winkel- Triple projection map. Here it is:
It is one of the maps with least distortions. :)
Here are list of projections:
List of map projections
Winkel tripel projection
The Most Popular Map Of The World Is Highly Misleading
Upvote 13 Downvote
Mandar Joshi, Civil Engineer into making

Updated Dec 6, 2016
What happens when concrete is subjected to high temperature?
During the fire, temperature may reach up to 1100◦C in buildings and even up to
1350◦C in tunnels, leading to severe damage in a concrete structure. The behaviour of
a structural member exposed to fire is dependent, in part, on the thermal and
mechanical properties of the material of which the member is composed.
Fortunately, concrete remains intact with minor damages only due to its low
Thermal conductivity at high temperature and also limits the depth of
penetration of fire damage. The real reason behind the manifestation of
distress in concrete is the cracking and spalling of the concrete surface.
The modulus of elasticity decreases with increase in temperature in excess

of 121◦C. The decrease is attributed to disintegration of hydrated
cement(Cement hydration ) products and breakage of bonds in the
microstructure of cement paste.
The aggregates, unlike the cement paste, has a positive coefficient of

Thermal expansion at all temperatures and this effect dominates the
expansion of concrete, which expands with an increase in temperature up to
high values.
Time-dependent deformations in concrete such as Creep (deformation)

and transient strains get highly enhanced.
The increase in temperature results in evaporation of water, dehydration of

C-S-H (Calcium silicate hydrate ) gel, decomposition of calcium hydroxide
and calcium aluminates etc.
Spalling: Concrete surface scales and falls off from the concrete along with
explosion at high temperatures. During heating, water is transported into
cooler zones resulting in the formation of a fully saturated layer of concrete.
This zone is called moisture clog and it is characterized by low permeability
and act as an impermeable barrier for gases. In parallel, the temperature rise
changes the water into steam, which cannot escape due to water clog
presence. Thus internal pore pressure triggers the crack.
Sources:
Properties of Concrete at Elevated Temperatures by Venkatesh Kodur,

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan State
University.
An overview of high performance concrete at elevated temperature by

K.S.Kulkarni, S.C.Yargal, K.S.Babu Narayan.
Behaviour of cement concrete at high temperature by I. HAGER. Institute of

Building Materials and Structures, Cracow University of Technology.
Shetty, M.S.,“Concrete Technology” Theory and Practice.

Upvote 17 Downvote
Amaresh Marripudi, probably the oldest form of engineering and which

serves the most basic needs of humanity !! and the best p...
There are a few things that any one can know but only we bother to know about them.
So , I am going to state them but will not provide the answers here , because a simple
Google search will let you know them.
1. How is the height of Mount Everest measured?

Any civil engineer worth his salt knows how important surveying is and this helped
to know the height of the highest place on earth with no modern technology available.
2. How trains are made sure that they remain on track or rails and what is the noise
you hear constantly ?
( For Indian and general trains but not for bullet or metro , subs )
3.Why airports require a crazy set of lights of different colors , power and sizes ?
4. Super Elevation is common to most people but how negative super elevation comes
into play while laying railway lines ?
5. Finally , for Indians specifically , FOOTPATHS are for PEDESTRIANS but not for
throwing garbage , parking bikes or putting up shops. Most people know but behave
as they dont.
Upvote 5 Downvote
Yathav Priyan, Studied civil engineering

Updated Feb 13, 2016
Facts that civil engineers know :

We know (structural engineer) there is one part of the building which could
possibly trigger collapse of whole building when that was destroyed . the
point is critical point.
Any building in India is designed to150% of the proposed weight. For

example a bridge which need to transport 100 tones of weight , in practice it
will actually hold 150 tones of weight . this is what we call factor of safety. It's
mandate as per Indian codes
When you are constructing building with a company , out of total expenses
60 is actual and 40 goes to profit$
When you see curved roads especially sharp curves , the road might be
elevated like this
This is super elevation . while you travelling on such sharp curves with good
speed our car eventually thrown out of road due to centripetal force . to
contradict that road was elevated to give vehicle enough counter force.
This might makes other stream students jealous- most of the civil engineering
lab practicals ( surveying, theodolite... Etc) need at least two person to
complete. It will be fun even you haven't prepared anything. Unlike other
branches.
Upvote 10 Downvote
Sumit Agrawal
40% is not the profit margin of building construction....
Anusha Arvapalli, Proud structural Engineer!

Answered Feb 12, 2016
Others think women are the most complicated ones whereas civil engineers know
concrete is equally complicated :P
Both are not completely understood till now! :D
(am not objectifying women here _/\_)
Quora is collapsing my answer. So, to add
1. No one knows how they both behave!
2. Mood swings in women, bad workabilities in concrete.
3. They both have to be taken care properly.Otherwise, leads to anger in women,

segregation and bleeding in concrete.
4. Love letters for a girl, mix designs for concrete. ( takes a lot of trials to get them
properly)
5. Love and care for women, water and admixtures for concrete.
6. Men for women, Steel for concrete ( Support system and tension relievers)
7. Bond and friendship between girl and a boy, bond strength between steel and
concrete.
8. A family depends on the mental and physical strength of the mother (women),
building condition depends on the strength of the concrete
My creativity ends here, I will add some more if anything else strikes me! :D
Edit-1 :
9. Married Women, set concrete! (credits: Kasee Sreenivas )
10. Beauty of woman, Durability of concrete (Diminishes with time)
Upvote 162 Downvote
Asha Duraiswamy, student

Updated May 8
1. CAMBER
While traveling in road, you must have thought that road is even, but it's not. There is
a slope in every road, which you may have not experienced. Camber is the sloping
provided with respect to centre of road. The main purpose of the camber is to drain
the water from the surface.
2. TRAFFIC SIGN
Take a deep look at the following image
Did you notice any shape, color difference between the various traffic sign?
There is a reason behind this, traffic signs are classified into 3 types. They are
Warning signs, Regulatory signs, Informative signs.
Each type has its own shape, dimensions, color and they are designed as per Design
recommendations( In India we design as per India Road Congress IRC)
3. TRANSIT MIXER
Have you noticed a truck which carries concrete is constantly rotating?? The reason
behind this rotation is during transportation, to avoid the setting of concrete, it is
slowly rotated. In case of large distance transportation some admixtures are added to
delay the setting of concrete.
4. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BRIDGE AND FLYOVER.
There is a difference between bridge and flyover. Bridge is constructed in between two
inaccessible points.
Flyover is constructed to reduce the traffic congestion.
5. WEEP HOLES
Weeps holes are constructed in walls to reduce the hydrostatic pressure in the walls,
inorder to avoid the wall from failure.
6. BAllAST
The crushed stones in the railway track is called as ballast. The main purpose of the
ballast is to transfer the load and for drainge of water.
Upvote 21 Downvote
Kiran Sagar, Aerospace engineer by qualification

Updated Sep 22
Full disclosure: I am not a civil engineer. I am an Aerospace Engineer by

qualification. However, I learned about the below stated fact from my grandfather,
who has worked as a civil engineer for Indian Railways.
Use of Pre-stressed Concrete:
Civil Engineers (and any structural engineer) know very well that a bending load on a
beam produces both tension and compression in beam. The figure below depicts the a
beam under bending load. Red colour indicating tension and grey indicating
compression.
Image Credit: http://www.doitpoms.ac.uk/tlplib...
Concrete, however, is not good at handling tension as it is under compression. Hence,

in many large structures, the pre-stressed concrete is used. Pre-stressed concrete is
same as reinforced concrete, but while concrete is poured, the reinforcement (rebar)
is tensioned. After the concrete cures, the tension is released and the rebars tend to
compress back to their original state. The static friction b/w the tendons and the
concrete causes the concrete to contract. Hence, the concrete is under compressive
loads even though it is not loaded externally.
This improves the concrete's ability to withstand bending loads as the tension created
by bending is nullified by the inherent compression. If you are thinking that this will
increase the compression load on the other portion of the beam, you are right!!!! But
that is not a problem as concrete is versatile in handling compression.
Upvote 10 Downvote
Abbas Bohra, B tech Civil Engineering, Institute Of Technology, Nirma

University (2018)
Updated Jan 23
well, have you ever wondered why trains sway ?
Let's take a look at its wheels.Train wheels are not flat but the surface of the wheel are
made in cone shape at an inclination of 1:20(1 in 20). And the tracks are also inclined
at the same angle to minimize damage to rail tracks. Something like this
(its quite exaggerated in the picture but ..yeah ..you must have got the idea. )
So why is it provided?
well, trains are not really good at changing directions(at curves). Mainly because at
curves both the wheels will have to travel different distances. The inner wheel will
travel a slightly less distance then the outer wheel. In normal vehicles differential
gear is provided to solve this problem. In trains the wheels are coned. This is how it
helps:
source::Coning of Wheels in Railways : Theory and Purpose | CivilDigital |
Naturally inner wheel will travel less distance due to smaller diameter of wheel in
contact with rails.
So this self adjusting of wheel diameter in contact with rails is the reason why
trains sway.
675 Views · 3 Upvotes
Upvote 3 Downvote
Kishore Kumar, M.S Construction Management, Indian Institute of

Technology Tirupati
We know that,
More people from the world trade center could have been saved on 9/11 attacks if
WTC had been made of reinforced concrete and not steel. The main reason why the
building collapsed was due to fire induced structural failure.
The building stood 53 mins after impact as the towers made in 1960 were made to
withstand the impact of the largest jet at that time (boeing 707) and it would have
stood longer if the engineers had taken into account of the spreading fires from the jet
fuel.
Reinforced concrete offers outstanding resistance to explosion and/or impact.It can

endure very high temperatures from fire for a long time without loss of structural
integrity.Also
concrete requires no additional fireproofing treatments to meet stringent fire codes,
and performs well during both natural and manmade disasters. Because of concrete’s
heaviness, mass, and strength, buildings constructed with reinforced concrete can
resist winds of more than 200 miles per hour and perform well even under the impact
of flying debris.
1k Views · 7 Upvotes
Upvote 7 Downvote
Gokul Nair, studied at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Thiruvananthapuram

1. Liquefaction.( Cars Sinking Into the Road.)
These images may look unreal at first sight but its real. It's a phenomenon called
liquefaction.
Basically during earth quakes due to the massive vibrations soil(asphalt in this case)
looses all its strength and becomes a liquid , thus cars parked on top sink into them
like they sink in water.
But when the earthquake stops they become solid again thus freezing them in place
as shown in picture. So don't stay in a vehicle during an earthquake.
This is the same principle of Quick Sand
23.5k Views · 705 Upvotes · Answer requested by Anangsha Alammyan
Upvote 705 Downvote
Sachin Nanda
This is a Geological phenomenon. So how come only civil engineers know, but mos…
Yallaling Sk, B.E Civil Engineering, KLS Gogte Institute of Technology,

Belgaum (2015)
Answered May 22
1. Different types of cement
Portland cement, high alumina cement, white cement. As a civil engineer, we have a
pretty good idea of what goes into different cement how they work, and what we
could add to make them perform better.
2. Gaps in the road on bridges
Civil engineer knows that there need to be expansion joint in road ways to allow the
metal to expand and contract with temperature. If these aren't built into
infrastructure, then the roads can fail or bow.
3. Where Pipes Lead to and Where Our Water Comes from
As a civil engineer, you probably have caught yourself once or twice figuring out
where exactly the water from your house flows to. Civil engineers are trained to
design infrastructure that never gets seen, so we have a keen sense for where all of our
utilities are routed.
4. Technical Names of the Curves on Roads
Us civil engineers know that there are four types of road curves: simple, compound,
reverse, and deviation. We know how to use the right equations to design a road with
each one of these curves. Not only that, but we know how to calculate what slope the
road needs to be in the curve to keep cars from sliding off the road.
5. Concrete is Never Dry
As a civil engineer, I probably love concrete a little too much. It is gray and mushy,
then it soon turns to strong rock. If that’s not what love looks like, then I don’t know
what is. In all seriousness though, we know how dry concrete is at certain points in its
curing cycle. We also understand that concrete technically continues to dry and
strengthen over its entire lifespan.
605 Views · 3 Upvotes · Answer requested by I Don't Have a Name
Upvote 3 Downvote
Pranav Pandya, Bachelor's Degree Civil Engineering & Engineering, Birla

Vishvakarma Mahavidyalaya Engineering College (2019)
Answered Oct 2
Only civil engineers know the hard work placed for a construction of civil work.
We constantly need to check everything, and work as a team. Coordinate with a

contractor, the pain we have to go through is only known to us.
But, nah, that’s not pain, if you ask me! Because life of civil engineer is totally
communication. Sometimes, there’s way too much work, and sometimes you are free!
The pleasure of work and leisure of rest, both togeTher in a blend of life, that’s the life
of civil engineer for ya!
Upvote 7 Downvote
Rushil Sanghvi, A Civil Engineering Student!
Answered May 7
One of the most common term used in Civil Engineering (India)
“RCC”
What does it stand for?
Others know it as
“Reinforced Cement Concrete”
How do Civil Engineers know it as?
The term “concrete” above is a mixture of aggregates, sand, water, admixtures and
Cement
So, why the need for an extra cement in the abbreviation as concrete already contains
cement as one of its main constituents?
Well here it goes!
Cement as a material acts as binder that sets, hardens and adheres to other
substances. Along with imparting strength it plays a major role in binding sand and
aggregates.
Prior to using cement as a binder various other binders were used
1. Lime
2. Volcanic ash with Lime (pozzolana)
3. Hydraulic Lime
Modern day cement became famous for its various properties and thus its name was
included before “concrete” to indicate the type of binder used
This tradition was continued and thus its known “Reinforced Cement Concrete”
In some places this is revised and only the term “RC” as Reinforced Concrete is used.
The term “Reinforced” means a material that is added to the concrete to increase its
tension carrying capacity as concrete is good in compression but weak in tension
The most common reinforcing material used is steel as it shows extremely good
resistance to tension.
191 Views · 1 Upvote
Upvote 1 Downvote
Phanish Babu, Civil Engineer in the making.

Answered Jul 27, 2016
I know that quicksand, which is feared because nothing comes out of it alive, is not a
kind of sand but a hydraulic condition, usually observed in sands.
The lower parts of soil anywhere is usually saturated with ground water. Since the
voids between the soil grains are very small, some of this water rises up due to
capillary action. This water exerts an upward pressure. This upward pressure, if large
enough, can cancel out the resistance (load bearing capacity, in technical terms) of
soil. Which means, if you step on the soil it can't take the load. Effectively, it acts just
like water. So you sink. Which is what happens in quick sand.
Now the interesting part. Like I said, quick sand acts like water. Which means, since
your density is less than soil, you can float in it if you make small movements, similar
to swimming. Yes, you can swim in quicksand and not die. Most people and
animals struggle in panic, get tired and eventually sink. So if you go near a quick sand
(preferably not) or fall in one accidentally (hopefully not), remember not to panic. It
could save your life.
Now, about the nomenclature. It's quicksand because, like I said, this condition is
usually observed in sands. The other type of soils, the clays, have another property,
called cohesion. Cohesion is the attraction between the soil particles which holds the
particles strongly enough that quicksand condition cannot occur.
Hope this is as much interesting to someone as it is to me. Cheers.
Upvote 9 Downvote
Tariq Anwar Ansary, Civil Engineer Graduate/ Aspiring Estate Developer

Updated Jul 21, 2016
Palm Zumeira is not a “one of a kind project” by virtue of it being made on an artificial
island.
Land reclamation is quite trite actually.
Kansai International Airport in Japan, Hotel Burj Al Arab In Dubai and The Venetian
Casino in Macau are all examples of projects that were built on land reclaimed from
sea.
Kansai International Airport.
Burj Al Arab in Dubai.
The Venetian Casino in Macau.
Skyscrapers designed usually end up being slicker at the top. This is done to reduce
the interaction of winds with the top of the structure and to subsequently cut
moment which increases with height.
This is Shanghai World Financial Center along with Jin Mao Tower. See the
trapezoidal hole at top. That is done to cut the wind forces and the resultant moment
at top. Also, the structure gets tapered as the building climbs up in height. All of that
is done to reduce Wind Loads and to subsequently prevent the building from
collapsing.
The facade design is tested before it’s installed. The glass and aluminium panel is
tested simulating high force wind and rain to ensure ergonomic, safe and sound
design.
See this here, The Glass Panels are tested for resilience to high intensity rainfalls.
The trees planted on the middle of a two way lane is done to absorb the glare of
headlights of cars travelling on the other side of the road and to reduce accidents.
While designing roads, civil engineers try to avoid designing roads that are too
straight for too long. This is done considering the fact that a very straight road might
seem too monotonic to the driver and he might doze-off while driving. Hence, we
introduce curves every so-often even when they are unnecessary.
The lining on the highway that marks the division or a Zebra crossing consists of glass
too, pulverized and mixed with the paint, so that it shines and is optimally visible.
This is called a Rack Railway-
When the slope of the railway line is high enough in the case of mountains that the
tractive-effort of the engine cannot stop the railway from sliding backwards while
moving ahead, rack rails are used. You can see the rack and pinion arrangement. The
wheel assembly of the railway has three wheels, two on side and one in the middle. It
stops the railway from sliding backwards while in the case of mountains or slopes.
The ideal location for an airport is on top of a small hill. The air-pressure while taking
off is positive so as to lift the airplane easily. Landing is easy too. Also, the location is
remote so that it is sufficiently away from residential places and it doesn’t causes
noise disturbance to them.
This is the Courchevel Airport in France. It’s on the alps. The grade of the Alps here is
18.5%. It’s said that small planes can gather enough momentum rolling down with
engines off to safely glide off the edge.
Most people confuse an Apron for a Hangar. An Apron is the place where the plane
waits before it starts boarding. A hangar is a place where the maintenance work of the
aircraft is done.
This is an Apron-
This is a hangar-
Dams can cause earthquakes.
From Koynanagar earthquake to Sichuan Earthquakes, hundreds of cases have been
reported where construction of a dam has caused an earthquake. Off the many
theories offered for this, the most popular one is of RIS (Reservoir Induced Seismicity)
which says that the water pressure in a dam seems to lubricate the tectonic plates
whose slippage causes the earthquakes.
The Specific Gravity of concrete is greater than that of water. A property that is
utilized while casting in-situ piles over which the piers are attached to make bridges.
This is called Thirsty Concrete. The company that manufactures it claims that it can
avert flash flooding as it can absorb almost 880 gallons of water in a minute. Take a
look at this video-
The wire used in making Cable Stayed Bridges is called a Strand Wire.
It is made by helically winding wires over a thick cylindrical core.
J... (more)
Upvote 116 Downvote
Mayur Sadhu, 3 mistakes of my life: shear force, bending moment, axial

force. _/\_
Answered Nov 11, 2015
This is a basic one, but the most confusing one too:
Q: What is the difference between between cement, mortar and concrete?

A: Concrete is a mixture of cement, coarse aggregates(stone chips), fine

aggregates(sand), water and sometimes, an admixtures. Mortar is similar to concrete
but it has no coarse aggregates. When coarse aggregates are added, it's the mortar that
holds them together. And, finally, cement is just an ingredient of the above two.
So, cement is this:
where as mortar is:
and concrete is:
So, from now on, don't use these terms interchangeably.
Upvote 9 Downvote
Gideon Karthik, 4 years of Indian and Gulf experience

Answered May 28, 2015
Originally Answered: What are the things which only civil engineers know?
If we are graduating then we must see to that how our education is helpful towards
developing our nation and doing good to the people.
So, Especially civil engineers must know how
1. To protect the environment
2. To promote cleanliness
3. To promote safety
4. To save lives
5. To provide safe drinking water
6. To develop irrigational infrastructure in turn develops agriculture
7. To develop water distribution layout for a village or city
8. To build cheap houses for poor people
9. To understand the ground water level and soil strata
10. To do first aid
11. To build temporary structures like tent, houses for animals,igloo construction etc
12. To install and manufacture solar power and wind power
13. To suggest micro nutrients for farmers ie., which crop is suitable for which soil(
soil testing, observation of organic content)
14. Land reclamation
15.to use an Alternative to river sand
16. To respect trees( planning knowledge for planning of road alignment or any
without inducing cutting of trees)
Upvote 3 Downvote
Mohit Anand, Sales engineer at Thermax (2016-present)

Updated Jul 3
1. Brittle materials are weak in tension.
2. Its not only the strength of a material which is important . But the most
important criteria is themodulus of elasticity.
3. Clay soils take decades and even though keeps settling down. When reacted
with lime . It gives cementatious products increasing the soil strength and
stiffness.
4. The stiffness of the soil is an important criteria in deciding thepavement

thickness
5. To keep deflections in check for same load go for a fixed beam and slab
6. The reason why a tree preferred to be circular in crossection is it has same

moment of inertia in all directions. Thereby giving equal strength in all
directions to the action of wind forces.Thereby increasing its chance to
survive
7. Tree branches has a larger crossection at the origin of the branch because
there is more amount of bending force existing at that section
8. The pressure head at point in the pipeline can be reduced by simply reducing
the crossection
9. You can suck water 2 a height of 100meters by removing air from the straw
10. Concrete is a form of sedimentary rock
11. To treat water to drink it . In emergency cases. Add chlorine and somehow
ensure the ph of water is in acidic side to get more dis infectant properties
from chlorine
12. Concrete is alkaline in nature.. if you want to destroy it , saturate it with acid
solution… then brine solution… it will show signs of cracking.
13. Durability of concrete is the key. Concrete structures performing various

functions are under different kind of stresses ( sewage treatment plant ,
retaining wall , roof top gardening )and require protection.
14. Bamboo is an alternate material to steel for reinforcement
15. Waste like flyash , ggbs… is used in concrete mix to make it more durable,
effective waste management
16. Concrete, steel loses its strength and modulus of elasticity in the event of
fire .. so evacuate and check if the structure is strong enough to carry the
required loads.
17. An arch is a modified beam , which has reduced bending moment.
18. Concrete can be pumped just like water to great heights using chemical
admixtures.
19. If you want to add 2 extraw floors to a rcc frame structure.. you can do it by
restrengthening the columns in the bottom floors
20. Steel bars are having ridges to give a better bond to concrete. Otherwise
more length of steel would be required to prevent the steel from stressing
when the rcc beam or slab is under loads.
21. There is a limit for maximum amount of steel to be used in a structural

element. One simply cannot add more steel . Thinking the element will
become more stronger.
22. Fibre reinforced mortar has moreanti cracking properties similar to a

coating ccontaining fibres.
23. The bricks used in a rcc frame structure could be of very less strength in case
there is no opening for that particular wall
24. Calcium is the main element for strength in nature… it's available in our
bones , also in concrete in the form of calcium silicate hydrate and calcium
hydroxide.
25. The structural importance of beam and slab being cast together.
26. The amount of water content in a cement mixture determines its strength
27. Cement is the second largest industry to contribute to co2 emissions
28. Land use pattern … heat islands… effects the environment - wind flow and
the ecological system in that particular area.
29. Civil construction disturbs the ecological balance in the area where the
materials are been taken. To where the structure has been constructed
Upvote 2 Downvote
Ravi Teja, GATE AIR 300, 3+yrs exp in construction

Answered Sep 29, 2016
I really don’t know if someone has mentioned these in the below answers. Apologies
if there are any and here are some facts probably only civil engineers know :
1. A massive dam can cause earthquakes in the nearby regions, Don’ believe it?
A monstrous dam like the 3 Gorges dam has triggered as many as 3000
earthquakes and lanslides[1] This is because of the Huge water pressure that
has been created by the dam on the micro fissures present in the rocks
underneath.
2. Ever wondered what will happen when you go at higher speeds than the speed post
that is shown on the side of the Road? Well we know you pretty well and that is the
reason we design it for 25% more than we show.
3. Ever thought why the dividers between the roads are shaped that way rather than a
vertical short wall? Well the shape we give prevents the damage of the vehicle body in
case the driver comes too close to the dividers. It just hits the side of the tyres giving a
wake up call to the driver that he’s too close to the divider.
4. The plantation between the 2 way traffic roads are done for a particular reason, well
you might think its afforestation, decoration and adds aesthetic value and stuff but it
plays a very important role in preventing accidents. Yes, you heard me right!! The
plants/Trees prevents the high beams of the cars that are coming from the opposite
lane hence giving driver the proper visibility he needs.
P.S : Can’t remember everything right now ;) Will add as much as i can in due time.
Footnotes
[1] Chinese study reveals Three Gorges Dam triggered 3,000 earthquakes, numerous
landslides
Upvote 21 Downvote
Karan Panchal, MS Civil Engineering & Structural Engineering, University

Of Houston Main Campus (2018)
Updated Jan 8, 2015
Nice question
Civil engineering - One of the ancient branch of engineering(probably first branch of
engineering)
First
No other branch is as wide as civil engineering
We know how much risk a settlement of 25 mm can cause
Civil engineering is just the starting

You can pursue your career in structures
A difference that can occur with just

Couple of bars
And their diameter
Or
In Geo technical engineering
All about settlement of structure and making soil your best buddy
In transportation engineering
If you want sports car can run on full speed

Or
You can ruin the experience of riding luxurious car
All depends on your design.
Will write more
To be continued
Upvote 3 Downvote
Aashish Vyas, 22/Civil Engineer

This may sound very basic but believe me i have met many people who still think that
this is a TAR road but no The top most layer (Black Material) that we see on a road is
Actually ASPHALT/BITUMEN.
Its a common mistake to make since they both look so similar but their chemical and
functional properties and manufacturing process are different, Almost all the roads
that are being laid are coated with Bitumen and not Tar, And even the production of
tar is stopped.
Upvote 5 Downvote
Michael Wade, Future BS-EE, MS-Robotics, PhD BME

Answered Nov 11, 2015
Probably how buildings and bridges can fail structurally, and how much death and
injuries that this can cause. Without getting too technical for the merits of the
question, the study of fracture mechanics and dynamics or the science behind how
structures fail, crack, and warp, is a really fascinating specialty of CE. The
Minneapolis Bridge Collapse a few years ago, the tragic fall of WTC on 9/11, and the
genesis of fracture mechanics, the cracking of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.
Also many CE's know the science about what most people have wondered about but
never knew about in modern life, like why traffic backups on the freeway of a major
city can happen in the middle of a Sunday drive.
It is a great field of engineering to get into, and has a lot of practical applications for
people, if I wasn't pursuing Electrical and Robotics, I would love to get into Structural.
Upvote 2 Downvote
Michael Wade
Also wanted to add that according to FEMA and the Building Performance Study after…
Shivam Singh, BITSian,Civil Engineer,Vagabond

That we do not take Poisson under stress, we rather utilize it to divert the
strain produced in other directions.
That chain and tape mean much more to us than just tying up things.
That we are totally cool with a sextant. No vulgarity.
That slipping and skidding of a vehicle are quite different.
That as ridiculous as it may sound, we do design roads to be flexible.

Trying to recall more. Will add later.
Upvote 37 Downvote
Ken Carson, Civil/Geotechnical Engineer

Too many things to mention. A succinct answer might be that civil engineers possess
a lot of uncommon knowledge about very common things. A few examples:
- we know how to make potable (drinkable) water from raw surface and subsurface
water in massive quantities (millions of gallons per day)
- we know how to design and construct roadways
- we know how to efficiently design and construct buildings
- we are aware of trade-offs made in design, construction, sustainability and finance
of infrastructure
As a geotechnical engineer, I have gotten the most confused looks upon uttering the
phrase "earthen dam". I am not sure what most people take this to mean. I imagine
they think all dams are concrete dams resembling the Hoover Dam.
Most people don't know what a mine tailings dam is. Tailings are the "waste"
generated by the mines. The waste is rock removed from the mine which is not
retained after the minerals are extracted. The ore comprises a small percentage of
the rock and massive quantities are excavated to obtain even small quantities of
minerals. The waste may comprise 99% or more of the excavated rock. Processes
used to extract the mineral often involve the use of chemicals that render the tailings
into toxic soils . Therefore the mining processes require the safe storage of massive
volumes of toxic soil.
Upvote 5 Downvote
Shahid Shaikh, learning from 2003

Originally Answered: What is something that civil engineers know, but others don't?
1. We have more than 20 types of Cement depending on its use. Even we have a
green cement, colored cement also.
2. There in one type of concrete which can bend under loading like elastic called as
bendable concrete.
3. Concrete attains its strength as -

1 day - 16%
3 days - 40%
7 days - 65%
28 days - 99% and it take years to attain remaining 1%
4. When we say that you can ride on a road with 80 km/hr then its a safe speed on that
road. The road will be actually designed for 100 to 120 km\hr speed.
Will add more soon ...
Upvote 6 Downvote
Tan Pan, 20+ years in civil engineering. I have designed and managed
projects.
Answered Jun 16, 2016
I have noticed a couple of them in bridge world. People don't realise how often they
are on a bridge because it is a viaduct and not over water or not at a great height.
Foundations go very deep into the ground and not every decision is based on precise
information, it's “engineering judgement” :)
658 Views · 2 Upvotes · Answer requested by Ranpariya Jaymin
Upvote 2 Downvote
Abhishek Paitya, studied at Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya Agartala

Answered Feb 18, 2016
This.
It's not something that common people will be fascinated by, unlike the other
answers. But this is perhaps the most important and most used line in the history of
civil engineering.
''Concrete is strong in compression, but weak in tension.''
Upvote 7 Downvote
Umesh Balwani, Under Construction

That in a typical building, bricks are just mere partitions. The actual load is
carried by beam-column frame and slabs (except load bearing structures of
course).
Cement and concrete are not one and the same thing. Cement is just one of
the components of concrete.
Upvote 7 Downvote
Srihari Ch, Civil engineer, NIT Warangal

Answered Jun 28, 2016
Have you ever felt why Civil engineering is called “Civil”. We are not only ones that
help civilian, or we are not only civilized branch.
I heard it from my professor on first day of my civil engineering. Unlike branches of

engineering we have today, once upon a time there were only two engineerings. Civil
engineering which contained all subjects related to civil welfare which includes
mechanical & electrical subjects. The other is Military engineering which deals with
war techniques.
All other engineering branches got separated later from Civil engineering. We still
have subjects that most other branches study.
1k Views · 18 Upvotes
Upvote 18 Downvote
Ankush Sharma, works at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

Answered Sep 18, 2016
The extra rail on a railway track on bridges and tunnels (also called a gaurd rail) is to
prevent the derailed cars from falling off the bridge and hence also reducing the
damage to the bridge.
.
Upvote 5 Downvote
Anonymous
1. Even straight roads are not built straight but provided with very little curve.
This is done to remove monotonicity in driving, It helps in making driver
more attentive.
2. Buildings are design on the principle of strong column and weak beams. It
restricts the failure to a local region. So, if earthquake comes you should
know where to stand!!
3. In Indian Railways, broad gauge 1676 mm is just an random number. Most of

the developed world is commuting on standard gauge.
4. Cement weakens the concrete.
5. Steel is more elastic than rubber.
6. Taj Mahal Minars are tilted outwards to prevent demolition of the monument
in case of earthquake.
7. Taj mahal foundation are strengthened by sub flow of Yamuna river.

Recently, there were sign of cracks in the foundation. These cracks are
caused by reduction in flow of river.
(Receding water levels of Yamuna puts Taj Mahal's foundation under threat,
says historian | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis )
8. Tune mass damper is provided in large buildings to make building

earthquake resistant example Taipei 10, Tuned mass damper .
Upvote 1 Downvote
Sanjeet Singh Tomar, former Junior Engr Civil at Border Roads

Organisation (1994-2016)
Answered Sep 24
California bearing ratio ( CBR )
CBR is a penetration test for evaluation of the mechanical strength of natural ground (
soil ) . CBR value is used for design of crust thickness of a road .
Angle of repose .
Steepest angle at which a sloping surface formed of loose material is stable . This
property of soil is used for study of land slide prone areas on highways and other
places .
Final settings time of cement .
Fresh concrete work should be protected from rainfall . FST of Ordinary Portland
cement is 10 hrs . It means there is no need to cover the concrete work after 10 hrs .
Cross ventilation in residence .
Cross ventilation is most suited for buildings that are narrow or on exposed sites but
less suitable where local air quality is poor .
Benkelman beam test .
This test is carried out for design of overlays for strengthening of any weak pavement
for highways .
Upvote 2 Downvote
Shubham Saroj, student, Civil Engineering

A civil engineer develops a good observation, as he has to analyse different

structures.So when a layman goes to PVR he only watches movie, whereas a civil
engineer can appreciate the aesthetic and structural beauty of a structure.This may
sound boring at once , but imagine just by seeing an object, if one could tell about its
dimensions, texture , curvature et cetera.Sometimes it can be FUN.
122 Views
Upvote Downvote
Alok Mishra, B.Tech Civil Engineering, Krishna Institute of Engineering

and Technology, Ghaziabad (2013)
Brighter side:
Structures
Concrete
Transportation and Highways
Designing
How to earn comissions even in worst scenarios.
Darker Part
Lot of Struggle
Less payments
huge working hours
Life with zero socialism.
Above Qualities are only found in Civil Engineers.

It's a true story as I was an Ex-Civil Engineer.
Upvote 6 Downvote
Michael Joyce
I would say what we KNOW that others don't is really quite trivial. It's how we apply
the knowledge we have gained from education and experience that is the really big
deal. But for a brief list:
We know how to interact with the natural world and make use of its resources.
We know how structures behave when loaded and subjected to actions (wind, ground
settlement etc.)
We know how to treat and distribute water
We know how to execute projects efficiently and how to manage costs etc. within the
realms of material selection and scheduling and general project execution - this is the
business end of what we need to know but by no means the limit!
We know how climate and environment affects our structures and infrastructure
(think more than roads and rail here!)
We know a little bit about all other types of engineering too. We are typically the
engineers who end up becoming the project managers so we need to understand what
it is they're doing.
But most of all, and this is the part that you need to read very carefully, we know
every-effing-thing that's worth knowing!
524 Views
Upvote Downvote
Abhishek Khade, Structural Engineer at Technip India

“A picture is worth a thousand words “
Source : www.google.com
Upvote 1 Downvote
Justin Reddington, BS Civil Engineering & Psychology, Northeastern

University (2017)
In urban areas prone to earthquakes, most buildings are designed to fail at the
elevator shaft. To be clear, buildings are always designed to stay standing, but in the
event of damage to the building, the engineer in charge of inspecting the building for
safety only has to check a handful of locations to make an educated decision as to
whether the building has sustained irreparable harm. If there is an earthquake,
definitely avoid taking the elevator down.
448 Views
Upvote Downvote
Dikshant Sharma, Business Analyst, Capital One Canada

Indian Context : "Civil me boom aa raha hai !" English : Civil is the new booming
branch.
Only Civil Engineers know the truth.
Upvote 11 Downvote
Jerome Zoeller, Ph.D from The University of Texas at Austin (1987)

Answered Jul 14
Civil engineers know about foundations, acoustics, how to move massive structures
without breaking them, how to snake probes into unimaginably small spaces, how to
keep walls of underground tunnels from collapsing, how to build roads that will
withstand the weight of tanks, how to look at contour maps and get the information
you want, and how to build custom weapons of warfare.
Upvote 1 Downvote
Abhishek Upadhyay, works at Civil Engineers

A CIVIL ENGINEER IS A DOCTOR OF BUILDING BECAUSE NO ONE KNOWS

BETTER THEN HIM ABOUT BUIDING AND CONSTRUCTION ….
the thing which make a civil engineer different from other is the perfection in his
work that things make us important because the contractor also built home but why
our needs there? because we are the one who knows the quality and quantity of
material better then them and we doing things with economically and durable work
we knows about many technical terms which makes us different from them and the
most important things is that we can tell the exact amount and exact quantity of
material and exact price of home and whatever a engineer knows better about the
problem comes in home like dampness ,and the projection of sun according to make a
perfect home that the aspect, prospect of a home not spoil and the people can enjoy
the nature gift a engineer also test the sol before starting the work ,surveying take
place that the elevation is ok or not there are many more things which only a civil
engineer know
Upvote 1 Downvote
Sourav Tripathy, undergraduate

Merely increasing the quantity of steel reinforcement while constructing a structure

will rather decrease the life of the structure rather than strengthening it..so rather
have less steel reinforcement than required.
The reason being that over reinforcement can make the ultimate stress in concrete
reach faster than steel and as steel can resist tension as well as compression does not
fail that easily. So as concrete is weak in tensile loads it fails abruptly without any
prior warning.
Upvote 1 Downvote
Peter Sun, Studied Civil Eng at Univ of Toronto

Building sway with wind, buildings are held up by friction between foundation and
sand/soil, and roads deflect and sink under pressure.
226 Views
Upvote Downvote
Aadil Nawaz, omlette du fromage

We actually ALLOW cracks to develop in concrete structures.
Small amount of rusting of reinforcements is actually BENEFICIAL.
Upvote 4 Downvote
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Rakshita Nagayach, Civil Engineer at Municipal Corporation Indore,

The few ones I suppose are:

1. Technically diamond is more elastic than rubber as Elastic modulus of Diamond

2. While widening road pavements on Horizontal Curves , apart from providing

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Prathyaksh Shetty, MTech from IIT Madras

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Kasee Sreenivas, B.Tech Civil Engineering, Graduated (2012)

You might have seen transit mixers in the traﬃc right?

For more details on this, go through the below link :

Kasee Sreenivas' answer to What happens if sugar is put in concrete?

Cement Mortar and Concrete are two diﬀerent things.

Diﬀerent types of cement are used for diﬀerent purposes.

This is a rapid wall structure. Not even a single brick is used.

Not directly on the ground

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For some better understanding, go through this link:

Being a layman, what should I know about green building ?

There’s a material called translucent concrete.

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Jinal Doshi, Structural engineer and founder of structural madness

In case of earthquakes, shock-waves pump a tremendous amount of energy

3. Wear and tear of roads in summer

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Vandana Sharma, Civil Engineer from VJTI, Mumbai.

1. This is Seismic Isolation, a means of protecting the structure against earthquake.

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