Civil Engineering

Overview

Civil engineers are the principal designers, constructors, operators and caretakers of many of the constructed facilities and systems that contribute to the high quality of life enjoyed in the United States. The civil engineer has a major role in providing safe and sustainable infrastructure for resilient communities. Civil engineers design and maintain all forms of enclosed space used by humans, their transportation, water supply and treatment systems, and other human interactions with the physical environment. The emphasis in civil engineering on facilities and systems that form society’s infrastructure indicates that public service is a basic characteristic of the profession. Many civil engineers work for public agencies at all levels of government. Significant numbers also work in the private sector, but many of the private firms are consultants that are contractually involved with public infrastructure.

The Charles Edward Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering offers an educational program to provide a breadth of study in all the major areas of civil engineering practice. Students pursuing a BSCE degree will obtain the depth of study in one specialty area of civil engineering that they choose. .

Curriculum:

Review the Graduation Requirements (Checksheet) for your entering class year to see the required coursework.

Interest Areas and Related Degrees/Minors

The undergraduate CE program provides courses and experiences related to the following areas within civil engineering: construction; environmental; geotechnical; land development; materials; structures; transportation; water resources. A short description of each area and related degrees and minors are provided below to enhance your major exploration experience. Additional information can be located here.

Construction
The specialty area of construction offers opportunities through course work and faculty research interests for students to acquire expertise in all phases of the construction life cycle. Leading industry trends and technological innovations are hallmarks of this internationally prominent program.
Related Engineering Degrees: Construction Engineering and Management | Industrial and Systems Engineering
Related Degrees: Architecture | Building Construction | Landscape Architecture | Real Estate | Smart and Sustainable Cities | Sustainable Biomaterials | Theatre: Design and Technology | Urban Affairs and Planning
Related Minors: Geology | Mathematics | Philosophy, Politics, and Economics | Real Estate

Environmental
Environmental engineering draws heavily upon the applied sciences of biology for biological treatment processes, chemistry for chemical treatment and contaminant fate and transport, and physics for air pollution. Computer programming is a useful skill in many advanced courses, especially for students considering advanced degrees.
Related Engineering Degrees: Biological Systems Engineering | Mining Engineering
Related Degrees: | Crop and Soil Sciences | Environmental Policy and Planning | Environmental Resources Management | Environmental Science | Landscape Contracting | Natural Resources Conservation | Smart and Sustainable Cities | Sustainable Biomaterials | Water
Related Minors: Biology | Chemistry | Crop and Soil Sciences | Environmental Policy and Planning | Geology | Green Engineering | Mathematics | Philosophy, Politics, and Economics | Watershed Management

Geotechnical
Geotechnical engineering is the branch of civil engineering concerned with the design and construction of structures built on, in, or with the earth. Examples of projects where geotechnical engineering principles are applied include foundation systems, earth slopes, earth dams, retaining walls, embankments, tunnels, levees, wharves, landfills, land development, energy exploration, and resource recovery. Geotechnical engineering is also vital for the assessment and mitigation of natural hazards such as earthquakes, liquefaction, sinkholes, rock falls, and landslides.
Related Engineering Degrees: Construction Engineering and Management | Materials Science and Engineering | Mining Engineering
Related Degrees: Building Construction | Crop and Soil Sciences | Environmental Policy and Planning | Environmental Science | Geography | Landscape Architecture | Landscape Contracting | Meteorology | Natural Resources Conservation | Real Estate | Smart and Sustainable Cities | Sustainable Biomaterials
Related Minors: Crop and Soil Sciences | Environmental Policy and Planning | Geology | Green Engineering | Mathematics | Philosophy, Politics, and Economics | Real Estate | Watershed Management

Land Development
In the last decade, land development design (LDD) has emerged as a discipline of critical importance in civil engineering education. LDD encompasses a number of unique topics, many of which are not typically addressed in the traditional undergraduate curriculum. These topics can generally be categorized into feasibility, planning and policy, conceptual design, and site engineering.
Related Engineering Degrees: Biological Systems Engineering | Construction Engineering and Management | Mining Engineering
Related Degrees: Architecture | Building Construction | Crop and Soil Sciences | Environmental Policy and Planning | Environmental Science | Landscape Architecture | Landscape Contracting | Natural Resources Conservation | Real Estate | Smart and Sustainable Cities | Sustainable Biomaterials | Urban Affairs and Planning
Related Minors: Crop and Soil Sciences | Environmental Policy and Planning | Geology | Green Engineering | Landscape Architecture | Mathematics | Real Estate | Watershed Management

Materials
Materials engineering focuses on the natural and manufactured substances used to construct human infrastructure. Although engineers employ a wide range of materials, those of primary significance to civil engineering are steel, concrete, and asphalt pavements.
Related Engineering Degrees: Materials Science and Engineering
Related Degrees: Building Construction | Environmental Policy and Planning | Environmental Science | Smart and Sustainable Cities | Sustainable Biomaterials
Related Minors: Environmental Policy and Planning | Geology | Green Engineering | Mathematics | Real Estate

Structures
Structural engineering concerns the analysis and design of buildings, bridges, beams, columns, and other components of the structural environment employed in all aspects of human social development.
Related Engineering Degrees: Construction Engineering and Management
Related Degrees: Architecture / Building Construction | Environmental Policy and Planning | Smart and Sustainable Cities | Sustainable Biomaterials
Related Minors: Geology | Mathematics | Philosophy, Politics, and Economics

Transportation
Transportation course content provides students with the ability to recognize the primary role that civil engineers play in ensuring the continuing adequacy of the transportation infrastructure to meet human needs. Courses include all areas of systems engineering, assessment of transportation system operations, optimization of transportation systems, infrastructure engineering including assessment of existing conditions and performance, planning and design of transportation systems.
Related Engineering Degrees: Industrial and Systems Engineering
Related Degrees: Smart and Sustainable Cities | Urban Affairs and Planning
Related Minors: Geology | Mathematics | Philosophy, Politics, and Economics

Water Resources
Water resources engineering deals with the movement of water through the hydrologic cycle and the ways that humans intervene in those natural processes. These interventions include efforts to enhance contributions such as water supply and to control negative aspects such as flooding. Increasingly, these efforts encompass projects to rehabilitate natural aquatic environments impacted by human activities.
Related Engineering Degrees: Biological Systems Engineering | Mining Engineering
Related Degrees: Crop and Soil Sciences | Environmental Policy and Planning | Environmental Resources Management | Environmental Science | Landscape Architecture | Landscape Contracting | Natural Resources Conservation | Water
Related Minors: Biology | Chemistry | Crop and Soil Sciences | Environmental Policy and Planning | Geology | Mathematics | Philosophy, Politics, and Economics | Watershed Management

Getting Involved

Design Teams
Global Engagement
Professional Society – American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Undergraduate Research

Career Resources

Our Engineering Career Resource provides you with all of the most frequently used career information websites in one place for ease of access. This list includes links to VT First Destination Post Grad Report, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Department of Defense, and many more.