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Civil Engineering Vocab

Subject : engineering
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
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  • 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 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.






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






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






4. 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.






5. A manhole in which the rate of the water entering is greater than the capacity of the outlet under gravity flow conditions. When the water in the manhole rises above the top of the outlet pipe - the manhole is said to be 'surcharged.'






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






7. 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.






8. Acronym for 'Computer Aided (i.e. - Assisted) Design and Drafting -' a digital design process in which landscape architects use computers to help produce precise drawings and details for the construction of a project.






9. 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.






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






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






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






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






14. 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.






15. Load applied along or parallel to and concentric with the primary axis






16. 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.






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






18. 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






19. 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.






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






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






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. Material used to provide a bedding or foundation for pipes or other underground structures. This material is of specified quality for desirable bedding or other characteristics and is often imported from a different location.






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






25. 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






26. A system of major sewers serving as transporting lines and not as local or lateral sewers.






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






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






29. 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.






30. 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.






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. 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.






33. Landscape architecture - (civil) engineering - urban planning and architecture. Agronomy is also often included in this group.






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






35. 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






36. British thermal units; the quantity of thermal energy required to raise one pound of water at its maximum density - 1 degree F. One BTU is equivalent to .293 watt hours - or 252 calories. One kilowatt hour is equivalent to 3412 BTU Back Pressure (wat






37. 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.






38. 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.






39. Clarifier - Settling Tank. A tank or basin in which wastewater is held for a period of time during which the heavier solids settle to the bottom and the lighter materials float to the water surface.






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






41. 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






42. 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






43. 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.






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






45. The oxidation ditch is a modified form of the activated sludge process. The ditch consists of two channels placed side by side and connected at the ends to produce one continuous loop of wastewater flow and a brush rotator assembly placed across the






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






47. Not easily penetrated. The property of a material or soil that does not allow - or allows only with great difficulty - the movement or passage of water.






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






49. A wall or plate placed in an open channel and used to measure the flow of water. The depth of the flow over the weir can be used to calculate the flow rate - or a chart or conversion table may be used to convert depth to flow. A wall or obstruction u






50. 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.