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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 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.






2. 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






3. 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.






4. 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.






5. A sewer installed to connect two separate sewers. If one sewer becomes blocked - wastewater can back up and flow through the interconnector to the other sewer.






6. 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.






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






8. 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.






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






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






11. 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.'






12. 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.






13. 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.






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






15. An agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior charged with the planning and administration of all parks and monuments in the federal park system. The NPS is often referred to as the largest single employer of landscape architects in the United Sta






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






17. 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.






18. 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






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






20. 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






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






22. 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






23. 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.'






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






25. American Society for Testing and Materials






26. 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






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






28. The lay of the land - particularly its slope and drainage patterns; the science of drawing maps and charts or otherwise representing the surface features of a region or site - including its natural and man-made features.






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






30. 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






31. Solid material settled from suspension in a liquid.






32. 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.






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






34. 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.






35. 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






36. 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.'






37. 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.






38. 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.






39. 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.






40. Harmonious use of the land for more than one purpose; not necessarily the combination of uses that will yield the highest economic return - e.g. - a mix of residential and commercial developments in the same area.






41. Any method of determining the weight a compacted material is able to support without damage or displacement. Usually stated in pounds per square foot.






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






43. 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.






44. 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.






45. The force that resists the separation of two bodies in contact.






46. 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.






47. An arrangement of pipes - equipment - devices - tanks and structures for treating wastewater and industrial wastes. A water pollution control plant.






48. 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.






49. A professional society that represents landscape architects in the United States and Canada and seeks to better the practice and understanding of landscape architecture through education - research - state registration and other programs.






50. Post at which the railing terminates at each floor level.