Test your basic knowledge |

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 relatively clear or forested area left untouched in or near a city. It may be active open space - such as a baseball field - or passive open space - such as an area of natural woodland.






2. 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






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






4. 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






5. 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.






6. 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






7. 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.






8. A dimensioned drawing indicating the form of an existing area and the physical objects existing in it and those to be built or installed upon it.






9. 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






10. A chamber or well used with storm or combined sewers as a means of removing grit which might otherwise enter and be deposited in sewers. Also see STORM WATER INLET and CURB INLET.






11. 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






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 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






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






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






16. A railing composed of balusters capped by a handrail.






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






18. The movement of water through very small spaces due to molecular forces.






19. 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.






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






21. The upper surface of the zone of saturation of groundwater in an unconfined aquifer.






22. 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






23. 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.






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






25. 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






26. 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.






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






28. 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.






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






30. A structure or chamber which is usually sunk or lowered by digging from the inside. Used to gain access to the bottom of a stream or other body of water.






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. Material used in backfilling of an excavation - selected for desirable compaction or other characteristics.






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






34. An arrangement of pipes - equipment - devices - tanks and structures for treating wastewater and industrial wastes. A water pollution control plant.






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






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






37. A coordinating agency formed in 1961 for state boards that administer licensing exams and maintain records for landscape architects to practice.






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






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






41. 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






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






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






44. A natural underground layer of porous - waterbearing materials (sand - gravel) usually capable of yielding a large amount or supply of water.






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






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






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






48. 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.






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






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