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. The used household water and watercarried solids that flow in sewers to a wastewater treatment plant. The preferred term is WASTEWATER.






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






3. 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.






4. A holding basin in which variations in flow and composition of a liquid are averaged. Such basins are used to provide a flow of reasonably uniform volume and composition to a treatment unit. Also called a balancing reservoir.






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






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






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






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






9. A professional society that represents landscape architects in the United States and Canada and seeks to better the practice and understanding of landscape architecture through education - research - state registration and other programs.






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






11. 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.






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






13. 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.






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






15. Water or wastewater flowing from a higher elevation to a lower elevation due to the force of gravity. The water does not flow due to energy provided by a pump. Wherever possible - wastewater collection systems are designed to use the force of gravity






16. 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.






17. In zoning - a housing or commercial development composed of individual units that are regulated as a whole.






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






19. 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






20. 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






21. 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.






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






23. 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.






24. A legal form of land-use control and building regulations usually exercised by a municipal authority; usually involves setting aside of distinct land areas for specific purposes - such as commercial - educational or residential development.






25. 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.






26. 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.






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






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






29. A flat board or plate - deflector - guide or similar device constructed or placed in flowing water or slurry systems to cause more uniform flow velocities - to absorb energy - and to divert - guide - or agitate liquids (water - chemical solutions - s






30. 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.






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






32. Legal right to use the property of others for a specific purpose. For example - a utility company may have a fivefoot easement along the property line of a home. This gives the utility the legal right to install and maintain a sewer line within the e






33. 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






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






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






36. 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






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






38. The oxidation ditch is a modified form of the activated sludge process. The ditch consists of two channels placed side by side and connected at the ends to produce one continuous loop of wastewater flow and a brush rotator assembly placed across the






39. 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.






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






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






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






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






44. The elements of supply inherent to an area that can be used to satisfy human needs - including air - soil - water - native vegetation - minerals and wildlife.






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






46. 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






47. A mixture of storm or surface runoff and other wastewater such as domestic or industrial wastewater.






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






49. 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.






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