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 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. 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.






3. 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






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






5. 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.






6. The elevation of the invert (or bottom) of a pipeline - canal - culvert - or similar conduit. _ The inclination or slope of a pipeline - conduit - stream channel - or natural ground surface; usually expressed in terms of the ratio or percentage of nu






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






8. Pertaining to groundwater - a well - or underground basin where the water is under a pressure greater than atmospheric and will rise above the level of its upper confining surface if given an opportunity to do so.






9. 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.






10. 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






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






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






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






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






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






16. Any designated use or activity on a piece of land.






17. A device that admits surface waters to the storm water drainage system. Also see CURB INLET and CATCH BASIN.






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






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






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






21. The linear or a real dimension over which a higher component transmits load to a lower component






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






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






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






25. 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






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






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






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






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






30. 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






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






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






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






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






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






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






37. Precipitation which has been rendered (made) acidic by airborne pollutants.






38. 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.'






39. A reservoir for the storage of filtered water of sufficient capacity to prevent the need to vary the filtration rate with variations in demand. Also used to provide chlorine contact time for disinfection.






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






41. The angle between a horizontal line andthe slope or surface of unsupported material such as gravel - sand -or loose soil. Also called the 'natural slope.'






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






43. 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






44. 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.






45. 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.






46. An opening in pipes or sewers designed for rodding or working a snake into the pipe in either direction. Twoway cleanouts are most often found in building lateral pipes at or near a property line.






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






48. A large pipe to which a series of smaller pipes are connected. Also called a HEADER.






49. 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






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