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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. The pipeline extending from the water main to the building served or to the consumer's system.






2. Legal right to use the property of others for a specific purpose. For example - a utility company may have a fivefoot easement along the property line of a home. This gives the utility the legal right to install and maintain a sewer line within the e






3. Masonry composed of roughly shaped stones fitting approximately on level beds - well bonded and brought at vertical intervals to continuous level beds of courses.






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






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






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






7. 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.






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






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






10. 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.






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






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






13. 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.






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






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






16. 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.






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






18. 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.






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






20. The elements of supply inherent to an area that can be used to satisfy human needs - including air - soil - water - native vegetation - minerals and wildlife.






21. In zoning - a housing or commercial development composed of individual units that are regulated as a whole.






22. 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






23. American Society for Testing and Materials






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






25. 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.






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






27. The protection - improvement and use of natural resources according to principles that will assure the highest economic or social benefits for people and the environment now and in the future.






28. A coordinating agency formed in 1961 for state boards that administer licensing exams and maintain records for landscape architects to practice.






29. 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.






30. 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






31. 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.






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






33. 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.






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






35. The gathering of a gas - liquid - or dissolved substance on the surface or interface zone of another material. Advanced Waste Treatment (water) n Any process of water renovation that upgrades treated wastewater to meet specific reuse requirements. Ma






36. Vertical member supporting the railing.






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






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






39. 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.






40. 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.






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






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






43. 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.






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






45. 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.






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






47. 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






48. 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.






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






50. Elements added to a natural landscape - such as paving stones - gravel - walkways - irrigation systems - roads - retaining walls - sculpture - street amenities - fountains - and other mechanical features.