Test your basic knowledge |

Civil Engineering Vocab

Subject : engineering
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. A community's used water and water carried solids (including used water from industrial processes) that flow to a treatment plant. Storm water - surface water - and groundwater infiltration also may be included in the wastewater that enters a wastewa






2. A conservation group that maintains a revolving fund for quickly buying land that is in danger of being developed inappropriately or without regard to proper environmental considerations.






3. A sewer line that receives wastewater from many tributary branches and sewer lines and serves as an outlet for a large territory or is used to feed an intercepting sewer.






4. The formation of separate layers (of temperature - plant - or animal life) in a lake or reservoir. Each layer has similar characteristics such as all water in the layer has the same temperature. Also see THERMAL STRATIFICATION.






5. A separate pipe - conduit or open channel (sewer) that carries runoff from storms - surface drainage - and street wash - but does not include domestic and industrial wastes. Storm sewers are often the recipients of hazardous or toxic substances due t






6. The precipitation that cannot be absorbed by the soil and flows across the surface by gravity. The water that reaches a stream by traveling over the soil surface or falls directly into the stream channels - including not only the large permanent stre






7. A network of pipes - manholes - cleanouts - traps - siphons - lift stations and other structures used to collect all wastewater and wastewatercarried wastes of an area and transport them to a treatment plant or disposal system. The collection system






8. The man-made creation of or alterations to a specific area - including its natural resources. This is in contrast to the 'natural environment.'






9. In landscape architecture - an essential sheet showing site boundaries and significant site features - used as a basis for subsequent plan development.






10. Downward movement of the soil or of a structure which it supports






11. A sewer that discharges into a branch or other sewer and has no other common sewer tributary to it. Sometimes called a 'street sewer' because it collects wastewater from individual homes.






12. A device that admits surface waters to the storm water drainage system. Also see CURB INLET and CATCH BASIN.






13. Record of an area's natural and man-made resources - including vegetation - animal life - geological characteristics and mankind's presence in such forms as housing - highways and even hazardous wastes.






14. A chamber or well built at the curbline of a street to admit gutter flow to the storm water drainage system. Also see STORM WATER INLET and CATCH BASIN.






15. A water treatment process in which solid particles settle out of the water being treated in a large clarifier or sedimentation basin.






16. A manhole which fills and allows raw wastewater to flow out onto the street or ground.






17. The amount of liquid which a solid material can absorb. Sand - as an example - can hold approximately onethird of its volume in water - or three cubic feet of dry sand can contain one cubic foot of water. A denser soil - such as clay - can hold much






18. Soil that cannot absorb any more liquid. The interstices or void spaces in the soil are filled with water to the point at which runoff occurs.






19. The taking in or soaking up of one substance into the body of another by molecular or chemical action (as tree roots absorb dissolved nutrients in the soil).






20. The upper surface of the zone of saturation of groundwater in an unconfined aquifer.






21. Water that does not contain objectionable pollution - contamination - minerals - or infective agents and is considered satisfactory for drinking.






22. Railing support at landings or other breaks in the stairs. If an angle post projects beyond the bottom of the strings - the ornamental detail formed at the bottom of the post is called the drop.






23. A layer - usually of concrete or mortar - for providing continuous support to such items as bricks - slabs - pipes.






24. A popular social concern of the late nineteenth and early 20th centuries aimed at improving the appearance of urban areas through better planning and the addition of formal - romanticized public spaces and gardens.






25. Precipitation which has been rendered (made) acidic by airborne pollutants.






26. American Society for Testing and Materials






27. A reactor or basin in which baffles or other devices create a series of compartments. The environment and the resulting microbial population within each compartment can be controlled to some extent by the operator. The environmental conditions (food






28. A dimensioned drawing indicating the form of an existing area and the physical objects existing in it and those to be built or installed upon it.






29. Tamping or rolling of a material to achieve a surface or density that is able to support predicted loads.






30. Any attempt to restore to beneficial use land that has lost its fertility and stability; most often applies to mining reclamation - such as the restoration of strip mines and quarries.






31. Not easily penetrated. The property of a material or soil that does not allow - or allows only with great difficulty - the movement or passage of water.






32. In landscape architecture - a study of the potential cost of site purchase - demolition and improvement in comparison to the income or other benefit to be derived from site development.






33. Branch or lateral sewers that collect wastewater from building sewers and service lines.






34. Downstream opening or discharge end of a pipe - culvert - or canal.






35. A railing composed of balusters capped by a handrail.






36. Sand - silt - gravel and rocks carried or washed into a collection system by infiltration water flows.






37. A downspout or pipe installed to drain a roof gutter to a storm drain or other means of disposal.






38. A U.S. government agency charged with administering vast areas of public land.






39. A multinational organization of landscape architects whose purpose is the promotion of landscape design and planning.






40. The creative illustration - planning and specification of space for the greatest possible amount of harmony - utility - value and beauty.






41. Most plumbing codes require a vent pipe connection of adequate size and located downstream of a trap in a building wastewater system. This vent prevents the accumulation of gases or odors and is usually piped through the roof and out of doors.






42. A reservoir for the storage of filtered water of sufficient capacity to prevent the need to vary the filtration rate with variations in demand. Also used to provide chlorine contact time for disinfection.






43. Subsurface water in the saturation zone from which wells and springs are fed. In a strict sense the term applies only to water below the water table. Also called 'phreatic water' and 'plerotic water.'






44. A road laid through a garden or park-like landscape - usually with median and roadside plantings.






45. A sewer installed to connect two separate sewers. If one sewer becomes blocked - wastewater can back up and flow through the interconnector to the other sewer.






46. A pipe or conduit that carries wastewater or drainage water. The term 'collection line' is often used also.






47. A strip of unspoiled - often treed - agricultural or other outlying land used to separate or ring urban areas.






48. The slope of a plot of land. Grading is the mechanical process of moving earth changing the degree of rise or descent of the land in order to establish good drainage and otherwise suit the intent of a landscape design.






49. A special valve with a hinged disc or flap that opens in the direction of normal flow and is forced shut when flows attempt to go in the reverse or opposite direction of normal flows.






50. A large pipe to which a series of smaller pipes are connected. Also called a HEADER.






Can you answer 50 questions in 15 minutes?



Let me suggest you:

Browse all subjects

Browse all tests

Most popular tests



Major Subjects

Tests & Exams


AP
CLEP
DSST
GRE
SAT
GMAT

Browse all subjects

Browse all tests

Most popular tests