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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 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






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






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






4. Any attempt to restore to beneficial use land that has lost its fertility and stability; most often applies to mining reclamation - such as the restoration of strip mines and quarries.






5. 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






6. Any designated use or activity on a piece of land.






7. The process of adding air to water. Air can be added to water by either passing air through water or passing water through air. In wastewater treatment - air is added to freshen wastewater and to keep solids in suspension. With mixtures of wastewater






8. Vertical member supporting the railing.






9. The amount of liquid which a solid material can absorb. Sand - as an example - can hold approximately onethird of its volume in water - or three cubic feet of dry sand can contain one cubic foot of water. A denser soil - such as clay - can hold much






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






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






12. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






19. A type of wastewater or service connection pipe made of a low grade of cast iron. _ In plumbing - a pipe that carries the discharge of toilets or similar fixtures - with or without the discharges from other fixtures.






20. 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






21. A preliminary plan showing proposed ultimate site development. Master plans often comprise site work that must be executed in phases over a long time and are thus subject to drastic modification.






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






23. 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






24. Material used to fill in a trench or excavation






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






26. 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.






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






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






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






30. A manhole which fills and allows raw wastewater to flow out onto the street or ground.






31. 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.'






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






33. 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.






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






35. 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.






36. 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.






37. 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.






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






39. Movement of soil from one place to another. Generally accompanies SILTING of a sewer system. Where infiltration is taking place and silt is carried into a sewer system - such silt or soil is removed from the ground around the sewer pipe and the resul






40. 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.






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






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






43. A rough guess of the amount of flow in a collection system. When greater accuracy is needed - flow could be computed using average or typical flow quantities. Even greater accuracy would result from metering or otherwise measuring the actual flow.






44. 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.






45. A trained builder or installer of landscapes - retained to implement the plans of landscape architects.






46. 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






47. 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.






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






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






50. 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