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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 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.






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






3. Shoring members placed across a trench to hold other horizontal and vertical shoring members in place.






4. That part of the precipitation falling on a drainage area which does not escape as surface stream flow during a given period. It is the difference between total precipitation and total runoff during the period - and represents evaporation - transpira






5. 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






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






7. 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.






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






9. The natural elements with which landscape architects work - such as plant materials and the soil itself.






10. Sedimentation basin overflow weir. A plate with Vnotches along the top to ensure a uniform flow rate and avoid shortcircuiting.






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






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






13. 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






14. 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.






15. 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






16. 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.






17. 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.






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






19. 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.






20. The pipe system for collecting and carrying water and watercarried wastes from domestic and industrial sources to a wastewater treatment plant.






21. 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.






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






23. 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






24. A sewer that receives wastewater from many tributary branches or sewers and serves a large territory and contributing population.






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






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






27. 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.






28. 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.






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






30. 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.






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






32. 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






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






34. 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.






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






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






37. 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.






38. Downward movement of the soil or of a structure which it supports






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






40. 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.'






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






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






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






44. Masonry composed of roughly shaped stones - well bonded and brought at irregular intervals vertically to discontinuous but approximately level beds or courses.






45. A pipe or conduit that carries wastewater or drainage water. The term 'collection line' is often used also.






46. 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.






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






48. 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






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






50. Rain and snow water accumulated in the earth's porous rock.