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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. Federal agency responsible for producing and managing many federally-funded public service programs - especially those affecting housing and public spaces.






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






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






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






5. 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.






6. 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






7. 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






8. A capped opening in a building lateral -usually located on the property line - through which the pipelines can be cleaned.






9. 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.






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






11. Vertical member supporting the railing.






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






13. Railing support at landings or other breaks in the stairs. If an angle post projects beyond the bottom of the strings - the ornamental detail formed at the bottom of the post is called the drop.






14. Water that may contain objectionable pollution - contamination - minerals - or infective agents and is considered unsafe and/or unpalatable for drinking.






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






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






17. The science and art of design - planning - management and stewardship of the land. Landscape architecture involves natural and built elements - cultural and scientific knowledge - and concern for resource conservation to the end that the resulting en






18. 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






19. 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.






20. 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






21. A tank used to store a chemical solution of known concentration for feed to a chemical feeder. A day tank usually stores sufficient chemical solution to properly treat the water being treated for at least one day. Also called an AGE TANK.






22. 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






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






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






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






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






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






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






29. 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.






30. 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.






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






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






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






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






35. The man-made creation of or alterations to a specific area - including its natural resources. This is in contrast to the 'natural environment.'






36. 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.






37. 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






38. 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).






39. 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.






40. 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.






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






42. A mixture of storm or surface runoff and other wastewater such as domestic or industrial wastewater.






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






44. 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






45. 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






46. 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.






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






48. 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.






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






50. 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