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






2. 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.






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






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






5. A large - public park - often highly scenic and isolated belonging to and operated by the federal government.






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






7. 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.






8. Masonry composed of irregularly shaped stones laid without regularity of coursing - but well bonded.






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






10. A system used where wastewater collection systems and treatment plants are not available. The system is a settling tank in which settled sludge is in intimate contact with the wastewater flowing through the tank and the organic solids are decomposed






11. 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






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






13. 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.






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






15. Rain and snow water accumulated in the earth's porous rock.






16. Pertaining to groundwater - a well - or underground basin where the water is under a pressure greater than atmospheric and will rise above the level of its upper confining surface if given an opportunity to do so.






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






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






19. An agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture - primarily responsible for planning and overseeing the use of national forest lands by private - commercial and government users.






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






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






22. 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.






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






24. American Society for Testing and Materials






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






26. A capped opening in a building lateral -usually located on the property line - through which the pipelines can be cleaned.






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 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






29. 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.






30. Water that may contain objectionable pollution - contamination - minerals - or infective agents and is considered unsafe and/or unpalatable for drinking.






31. 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






32. A record of each person involved in the handling and possession of a sample from the person who collected the sample to the person who analyzed the sample in the laboratory and to the person who witnessed disposal of the sample.






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






34. 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






35. The used household water and watercarried solids that flow in sewers to a wastewater treatment plant. The preferred term is WASTEWATER.






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. Material used to provide a bedding or foundation for pipes or other underground structures. This material is of specified quality for desirable bedding or other characteristics and is often imported from a different location.






38. 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.'






39. The pipe system for collecting and carrying water and watercarried wastes from domestic and industrial sources to a wastewater treatment plant.






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






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






42. 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.






43. A chamber or well used with storm or combined sewers as a means of removing grit which might otherwise enter and be deposited in sewers. Also see STORM WATER INLET and CURB INLET.






44. 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.






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






46. 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.






47. 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.






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






49. This landscape architecture specialization has evolved to encompass maintenance of a site in its present condition; conservation of a site as part of a larger area of historic importance; restoration of a site to a given date or quality; renovation o






50. 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.