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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 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






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






3. Downstream opening or discharge end of a pipe - culvert - or canal.






4. The conversion of large solid particles of sludge into very fine particles which either dissolve or remain suspended in wastewater.






5. 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






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






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






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






9. 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.






10. The excess water running off from the surface of a drainage area during and immediately after a period of rain. See STORM RUNOFF.






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






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






13. 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






14. 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.






15. The science and management of land - especially rural - agricultural land.






16. 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






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






18. 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.






19. A large - public park - often highly scenic and isolated belonging to and operated by the federal government.






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






21. 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.






22. A U.S. government agency responsible for developing and enforcing regulations that guide the use of land and natural resources.






23. 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.






24. 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.






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






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






27. Solid material settled from suspension in a liquid.






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






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






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






31. Elements added to a natural landscape - such as paving stones - gravel - walkways - irrigation systems - roads - retaining walls - sculpture - street amenities - fountains - and other mechanical features.






32. 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.






33. 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






34. A sewer line that receives wastewater from many tributary branches and sewer lines and serves as an outlet for a large territory or is used to feed an intercepting sewer.






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






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






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






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






39. A U.S. government agency charged with administering vast areas of public land.






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






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






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






43. Any method of determining the weight a compacted material is able to support without damage or displacement. Usually stated in pounds per square foot.






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






45. 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.'






46. 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.






47. 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






48. 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.






49. 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.






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