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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 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






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






3. The amount of runoff that reaches the point of measurement within a relatively short period of time after the occurrence of a storm or other form of precipitation. Also called 'direct runoff.'






4. 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.






5. 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.






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






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






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






10. 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






11. A type of wastewater or service connection pipe made of a low grade of cast iron. _ In plumbing - a pipe that carries the discharge of toilets or similar fixtures - with or without the discharges from other fixtures.






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






13. 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






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






15. A professional who designs - plans - and manages outdoor spaces ranging from entire ecosystems to residential sites and whose media include natural and built elements; also referred to as a designer - planner - consultant. Not to be confused with lan






16. 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.






17. A strip of unspoiled - often treed - agricultural or other outlying land used to separate or ring urban areas.






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






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






20. The taking in or soaking up of one substance into the body of another by molecular or chemical action (as tree roots absorb dissolved nutrients in the soil).






21. 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.






22. 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.






23. 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.






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






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






26. The protection - improvement and use of natural resources according to principles that will assure the highest economic or social benefits for people and the environment now and in the future.






27. Sand - silt - gravel and rocks carried or washed into a collection system by infiltration water flows.






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






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






30. Solid material settled from suspension in a liquid.






31. OE The pressure at a specific elevation exerted by a body of water at rest - or _ In the case of groundwater - the pressure at a specific elevation due to the weight of water at higher levels in the same zone of saturation.






32. American Society for Testing and Materials






33. Material used to fill in a trench or excavation






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






35. 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.






36. 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.






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






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






39. A system used where wastewater collection systems and treatment plants are not available. The system is a settling tank in which settled sludge is in intimate contact with the wastewater flowing through the tank and the organic solids are decomposed






40. 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.'






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. A system of major sewers serving as transporting lines and not as local or lateral sewers.






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






45. 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.






46. Opening in a sewer provided for the purpose of permitting operators or equipment to enter or leave a sewer. Sometimes called an 'access hole' or a 'maintenance hole.'






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






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






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






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