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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. That part of rain or other precipitation that runs off the surface of a drainage area and does not enter the soil or the sewer system as inflow.






2. British thermal units; the quantity of thermal energy required to raise one pound of water at its maximum density - 1 degree F. One BTU is equivalent to .293 watt hours - or 252 calories. One kilowatt hour is equivalent to 3412 BTU Back Pressure (wat






3. 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






4. The angle between a horizontal line andthe slope or surface of unsupported material such as gravel - sand -or loose soil. Also called the 'natural slope.'






5. The excess water running off from the surface of a drainage area during and immediately after a period of rain. See STORM RUNOFF.






6. A structure or chamber which is usually sunk or lowered by digging from the inside. Used to gain access to the bottom of a stream or other body of water.






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






8. A legal means of protecting beautiful views and associated aesthetic quality along a site by restricting change in existing features without government approval.






9. The change to an area's natural resources - including animal and plant life - resulting from use by man. Some projects may require conducting of an 'environmental impact study' before development can proceed.






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






11. An agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior charged with the planning and administration of all parks and monuments in the federal park system. The NPS is often referred to as the largest single employer of landscape architects in the United Sta






12. The legal grant of right-of-use to an area of designated private property.






13. 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.






14. 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.






15. An opening in pipes or sewers designed for rodding or working a snake into the pipe in either direction. Twoway cleanouts are most often found in building lateral pipes at or near a property line.






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






17. The movement or dislocation of underground soil or structure. Earth shift is usually caused by external forces such as surface loads - slides - stresses or nearby construction - water movements or seismic forces.






18. An opening or point of access in a building wastewater pipe system for rodding or snake operation.






19. Any designated use or activity on a piece of land.






20. A wastewater pumping station that lifts the wastewater to a higher elevation when continuing the sewer at reasonable slopes would involve excessive depths of trench. Also - an installation of pumps that raise wastewater from areas too low to drain in






21. The oxidation ditch is a modified form of the activated sludge process. The ditch consists of two channels placed side by side and connected at the ends to produce one continuous loop of wastewater flow and a brush rotator assembly placed across the






22. The conversion of large solid particles of sludge into very fine particles which either dissolve or remain suspended in wastewater.






23. A groundwater table that is changed by artificial means. Examples of activities that artificially raise the level of a groundwater table include agricultural irrigation - dams and excessive sewer line exfiltration. A groundwater table can be artifici






24. Regulations specifying the type of construction methods and materials that are allowable on a project.






25. A sewer designed to carry both sanitary wastewaters and storm or surface water runoff.






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






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






28. A site that might appear to be natural but has elements and features that were planned and specified by a landscape architect. Designed landscapes include Central Park in New York to the siting of buildings.






29. Material used for backfilling a trench or excavation which was not the original material removed during excavation. This is a common practice where tests on the original material show it to have poor compactability or load capacity. Also called BORRO






30. A small box-like structure that contains valves used to regulate flows.






31. A manhole in which the rate of the water entering is greater than the capacity of the outlet under gravity flow conditions. When the water in the manhole rises above the top of the outlet pipe - the manhole is said to be 'surcharged.'






32. Vertical member supporting the railing.






33. A manhole located at the upstream end of a sewer and having no inlet pipe. Also called a TERMINAL MANHOLE.






34. The natural elements with which landscape architects work - such as plant materials and the soil itself.






35. Shoring members placed across a trench to hold other horizontal and vertical shoring members in place.






36. 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).






37. A flat board or plate - deflector - guide or similar device constructed or placed in flowing water or slurry systems to cause more uniform flow velocities - to absorb energy - and to divert - guide - or agitate liquids (water - chemical solutions - s






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






39. 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.






40. Material used in backfilling of an excavation - selected for desirable compaction or other characteristics.






41. A holding basin in which variations in flow and composition of a liquid are averaged. Such basins are used to provide a flow of reasonably uniform volume and composition to a treatment unit. Also called a balancing reservoir.






42. The force that resists the separation of two bodies in contact.






43. 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.






44. Solid material settled from suspension in a liquid.






45. The lowest point of the channel inside a pipe - conduit - or canal.






46. A sewer that receives wastewater from many tributary branches or sewers and serves a large territory and contributing population.






47. A wall that resist horizontal forces applied in the plane of the wall.






48. The condition of water or soil which contains a sufficient amount of acid substances to lower the pH below 7.0.






49. Material used to fill in a trench or excavation






50. A tank used to store a chemical solution of known concentration for feed to a chemical feeder. A day tank usually stores sufficient chemical solution to properly treat the water being treated for at least one day. Also called an AGE TANK.