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 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.






2. Material used to fill in a trench or excavation






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






4. 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.






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






6. 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.






7. The pipes - conduits - structures - equipment - and processes required to collect - convey - and treat domestic and industrial wastes - and dispose of the effluent and sludge.






8. A small tank (usually covered) or a storage facility used to store water for a home or farm. Often used to store rainwater.






9. 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






10. 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.






11. 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.






12. 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.






13. 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.






14. 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






15. 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.






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






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






18. 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.






19. A water treatment process in which solid particles settle out of the water being treated in a large clarifier or sedimentation basin.






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






21. 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






22. Tamping or rolling of a material to achieve a surface or density that is able to support predicted loads.






23. 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.






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






25. 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.






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






27. A material - other than aggregate - cementitious material or water - added in small quantities to the mix in order to produce some (desired) modifications - either to the properties of the mix or of the hardened product.






28. A structure made of concrete or other durable material to protect bare soil from erosion by splashing or falling water.






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






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






31. 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.






32. 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.






33. 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.






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






35. 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.






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






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






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






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






40. A groundwater table that has seasonal changes in depth or elevation.






41. Movement of soil from one place to another. Generally accompanies SILTING of a sewer system. Where infiltration is taking place and silt is carried into a sewer system - such silt or soil is removed from the ground around the sewer pipe and the resul






42. 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






43. 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.






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






45. A multinational organization of landscape architects whose purpose is the promotion of landscape design and planning.






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






47. A wall that resist horizontal forces applied in the plane of the wall.






48. 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.






49. A plan for conserving or protecting various natural or manufactured resources. Such a plan is used as a management tool in making decisions regarding soil - water - vegetation - manufactured objects and other resources at a particular site.






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