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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 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.






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






3. 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.






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






5. 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.






6. 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






7. 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






8. 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.






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






10. A 19th- and 20th-century planned community traditionally featuring careful mixes of housing - open space - commercial activity and recreation. Examples include Reston - Va. - and Columbia - Md. - in the United States - and Harlow and Stevenage in Gre






11. 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.'






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






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






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






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






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






18. 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.






19. 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






20. 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






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






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






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






24. A popular social concern of the late nineteenth and early 20th centuries aimed at improving the appearance of urban areas through better planning and the addition of formal - romanticized public spaces and gardens.






25. 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






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






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






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






29. 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.






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. 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.






32. 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.






33. 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.






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






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






37. 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.






38. 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






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






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






42. A pipe or conduit (sewer) intended to carry wastewater or waterborne wastes from homes - businesses - and industries to the POTW (Publicly Owned Treatment Works). Storm water runoff or unpolluted water should be collected and transported in a separat






43. 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






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






45. 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






46. The elements of supply inherent to an area that can be used to satisfy human needs - including air - soil - water - native vegetation - minerals and wildlife.






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






48. 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.






49. 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






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