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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. A 19th- and 20th-century planned community traditionally featuring careful mixes of housing - open space - commercial activity and recreation. Examples include Reston - Va. - and Columbia - Md. - in the United States - and Harlow and Stevenage in Gre






2. The prepared and compacted base on which a manhole is constructed.






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






4. Broken stones - boulders - or other materials placed compactly or irregularly on levees or dikes for the protection of earth surfaces against the erosive action of waves.






5. Solid material settled from suspension in a liquid.






6. A break in a lateral pipe somewhere between the sewer main and the building connection.






7. A septic tank or other holding tank which serves as a temporary wastewater storage reservoir for a Septic Tank Effluent Pump (STEP) system. See SEPTIC TANK.






8. The science and management of land - especially rural - agricultural land.






9. Landscape architecture - (civil) engineering - urban planning and architecture. Agronomy is also often included in this group.






10. The illustration and description of problem-statements and large-scale design solutions that affect extensive areas of land; the anticipation of problems that will be encountered as human use and development of land continues.






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






12. A system of gutters - catch basins - yard drains - culverts and pipes for the purpose of conducting storm waters from an area - but intended to exclude domestic and industrial wastes.






13. The property of a material or soil that permits considerable movement of water through it when it is saturated.






14. A plan for conserving or protecting various natural or manufactured resources. Such a plan is used as a management tool in making decisions regarding soil - water - vegetation - manufactured objects and other resources at a particular site.






15. 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.






16. A branch of biology dealing with the relationship between living things and their environment.






17. The form of the land. Contour lines are map lines connecting points of the same ground elevation and are used to depict and measure slope and drainage. Spot elevations are points of a specific elevation.






18. A device made of pipe fittings used to prevent sewer gases escaping from the branch or lateral sewer from entering a building sewer.






19. 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






20. 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.






21. A U.S. government agency responsible for developing and enforcing regulations that guide the use of land and natural resources.






22. A groundwater table that has seasonal changes in depth or elevation.






23. An authorization issued by a government agency allowing construction of a project according to approved plans and specifications.






24. A material - other than aggregate - cementitious material or water - added in small quantities to the mix in order to produce some (desired) modifications - either to the properties of the mix or of the hardened product.






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






26. That part of the precipitation falling on a drainage area which does not escape as surface stream flow during a given period. It is the difference between total precipitation and total runoff during the period - and represents evaporation - transpira






27. The movement of water through very small spaces due to molecular forces.






28. 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.






29. 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.






30. A type of easement granting permission to a constructor or developer to build over a street or structure.






31. An unstable condition of a solution (water) in which the solution contains a substance at a concentration greater than the saturation concentration for the substance.






32. Horizontal shoring members - usually square - rough cut timber - that are used to hold solid sheeting - braces or vertical shoring members in place. Also called STRINGERS.






33. 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






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






35. The science and art of design - planning - management and stewardship of the land. Landscape architecture involves natural and built elements - cultural and scientific knowledge - and concern for resource conservation to the end that the resulting en






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 structure made of concrete or other durable material to protect bare soil from erosion by splashing or falling water.






38. Installation of pumps to lift wastewater to a higher elevation in places where flat land would require excessively deep sewer trenches. Also used to raise wastewater from areas too low to drain into available collection lines. These stations may be e






39. A line from which heights and depths are calculated or measured. Also called a datum plane or a datum level.






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






41. A legal form of land-use control and building regulations usually exercised by a municipal authority; usually involves setting aside of distinct land areas for specific purposes - such as commercial - educational or residential development.






42. In landscape architecture - the organization of areas of land for specific aesthetic or functional purposes. This can range from creating small backyard patios to huge urban plazas.






43. 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.'






44. 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.






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






46. The pipes - conduits - structures - equipment - and processes required to collect - convey - and treat domestic and industrial wastes - and dispose of the effluent and sludge.






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






48. 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






49. A collection pipe to which building laterals are connected.






50. A water service shutoff valve located in a water service pipe near the curb and between the water main and the building. This valve is usually operated by a wrench or valve key and is used to start or stop flows in the water service line to a buildin