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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 wall that supports any vertical load in addition to its own weight.






2. A natural underground layer of porous - waterbearing materials (sand - gravel) usually capable of yielding a large amount or supply of water.






3. 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.






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






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






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






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






8. A professional who designs - plans - and manages outdoor spaces ranging from entire ecosystems to residential sites and whose media include natural and built elements; also referred to as a designer - planner - consultant. Not to be confused with lan






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






10. Opening in a sewer provided for the purpose of permitting operators or equipment to enter or leave a sewer. Sometimes called an 'access hole' or a 'maintenance hole.'






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






12. 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.






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






14. 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






15. 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.






16. 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.






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






18. 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.






19. 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






20. 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).






21. 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.






22. Clarifier - Settling Tank. A tank or basin in which wastewater is held for a period of time during which the heavier solids settle to the bottom and the lighter materials float to the water surface.






23. A system of major sewers serving as transporting lines and not as local or lateral sewers.






24. Sewers are surcharged when the supply of water to be carried is greater than the capacity of the pipes to carry the flow. The surface of the wastewater in manholes rises above the top of the sewer pipe - and the sewer is under pressure or a head - ra






25. 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.






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






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






28. A wall or plate placed in an open channel and used to measure the flow of water. The depth of the flow over the weir can be used to calculate the flow rate - or a chart or conversion table may be used to convert depth to flow. A wall or obstruction u






29. 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






30. One or a series of oneinch diameter holes through a manhole lid for purposes of venting dangerous gases found in sewers.






31. The dropping or lowering of the ground surface as a result of removing excess water (overdraft or overpumping) from an aquifer. After excess water has been removed - the soil will settle - become compacted and the ground surface will drop and can cau






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






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






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






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






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






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






38. 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.






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






40. The running off of water from a land surface or subsurface - such as through sewers or natural means.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






49. 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






50. 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.