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






2. 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.






3. 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.






4. Narrowly defined - the amount of countryside and/or city that can be taken in at a glance. Also - an area of land or water taken in the aggregate.






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






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






7. Narrowly defined - an extended view or prospect from a site which - many times - is as important as or more important than the site itself.






8. A receptacle designed to collect and retain grease and fatty substances usually found in kitchens or from similar wastes. It is installed in the drainage system between the kitchen or other point of production of the waste and the building wastewater






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






10. Solid material settled from suspension in a liquid.






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






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






13. The height to which something is elevated - such as the height above sea level.






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






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






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






17. 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






18. A relatively clear or forested area left untouched in or near a city. It may be active open space - such as a baseball field - or passive open space - such as an area of natural woodland.






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






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






21. 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






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






23. 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.'






24. A chamber or well built at the curbline of a street to admit gutter flow to the storm water drainage system. Also see STORM WATER INLET and CATCH BASIN.






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. A road laid through a garden or park-like landscape - usually with median and roadside plantings.






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






28. 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.






29. 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.






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






31. 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.






32. 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






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






34. In landscape architecture - a study of the potential cost of site purchase - demolition and improvement in comparison to the income or other benefit to be derived from site development.






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






36. 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.






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






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






39. 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






40. 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






41. 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.






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






43. The amount of runoff that reaches the point of measurement within a relatively short period of time after the occurrence of a storm or other form of precipitation. Also called 'direct runoff.'






44. 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.






45. Vertical member supporting the railing.






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






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






48. 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.






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






50. 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.