Free «Civil Engineering» Essay Paper

Civil engineering is the oldest discipline among all the types of engineering, which is responsible for planning, construction and support of the environment. It includes different engineering disciplines that result in the production of useful facilities for human beings. Thus, these amenities embrace dams, roads, waste disposal, bridges as well as other facilities used in daily life. Civil engineering is a major, which comprises different sub-engineering disciplines. The latter encompass structural, water resource engineering, environmental and geotechnical engineering among others. Civil engineers are able to see the result of their work at the end of the day thereby making civil engineering an exciting profession. Therefore, civil engineering is of great importance that results in lower unemployment rates in this domain though there still exist some challenges and effects of weather that make certain professionals change their engineering major.

Importance of Civil Engineering

Civil engineering positively influences human life by creating favorable external conditions. Hence, civil engineering provides the professionals who play an essential part in safeguarding the lives of people as well as handling any clean-up of the post-disaster project (Yan et al. 17). After the occurrence of a natural disaster, civil engineers assess the damage then they use their knowledge and creativity to see the impacts that the loss has on the affected area and anything else that may surround that territory. For instance, civil engineers amend damaged structures as well as devise the way to avoid further destruction.

Additionally, civil engineering plays significant role in human life. Civil engineers as representatives of civil engineering profession serve one of the most essential roles in the world. Applying their technical skills and creativity, they prepare a plan, design it, construct and lastly operate any modern civilization infrastructure (Yan et al. 18). Moreover, civil engineers enhance the development of buildings, roads, bridges and other structures. The latter ensure that people experience comfort and security. The structures also contribute towards greater beautifying of the environment.

Another crucial feature of civil engineering is that it prepares qualified civil engineers who are excellent problem solvers (Yan et al. 19). In case of pollution challenges, in times of need of safe drinking water and energy, in a situation of congested traffic or in the event of necessity for community planning and development of urban centers, the work of civil engineers is highly appreciated. Hence, these engineers apply their knowledge and skills and at the end of the day provide solutions to these problems (Yan et al. 20). Currently, civil engineers are responsible for managing the systems of fire control as well as the installation of quick points of fire exit in all the buildings they design. Therefore, they assist in minimizing life loss in fire accidents.

Lastly, civil engineering profession enables people to leave their mark on the entire world. Civil engineers contribute to the creation of structures that remain attached to their names forever. Furthermore, these structures become the momentum for the engineers and show that they were once in the place (Cao et al. 1583). Civil engineers work hard and dedicate themselves to their projects. As a result, they get a reward of establishing tangible things that can prove their efforts and are recognized by the community.

Reasons for the 1.5 Unemployment Rates

The unemployment rate in the field of civil engineering is predetermined by various reasons. Firstly, 1.5% of unemployment in civil engineering is a small percentage since 98.5% are not jobless (Rainieri and Giovanni 143). Thus, this rate of unemployment is low due to the following reasons. Firstly, civil engineering deals with the activities that have an association with essential events of daily life of the modern society. Civil engineering specialization is equivalent to the activities, which are crucial for the health and welfare of people (Rainieri and Giovanni 143). For instance, it is not possible for a civil engineer who is responsible for obtaining and distribution of water supplies in any large city of the US to become suddenly unemployed due to a minor issue of economic recession (Watkins et al. 36). Other public activities performed by civil engineers such as treating wastewater among others exclude these engineers from the list of the unemployed because of the economic depression.

Moreover, civil engineering has a low rate of unemployment since this field provides job opportunities around the world (Cladera et al. 281). Unlike other kinds of engineering the activities of which are in direct relationship with the industrial societies, civil engineering may secure jobs in developing countries, which involve work on public projects aimed at improving the living conditions of citizens in those nations. Sometimes market fluctuations hinder the output of the industry thereby causing unemployment of the engineers who specialize in manufacturing and production. On the other hand, despite the fluctuation, civil engineers find steady employment as their work deals with long-term goals to increase living conditions, water supply development and power among other activities in such a project.

Notwithstanding the shortage of civil engineers, there is currently 1.5% of jobless engineers owing to the lack of appropriate proficiency. Insufficient knowledge of project identification and the best way to spend the amount of money allocated is the main reason for the unemployment of civil engineers (Li et al. 3053). It is evident in the lack of processes, structures as well as systems in the government to enhance management of infrastructure. With the shortage of the sustainable project works, companies, therefore, have no other option apart from releasing the engineers to return to the labor market. Further, some of these engineers have to explore international opportunities while others remain reluctant in their search for an alternative type of employment.

Another reason is the issue related to the quality of certain civil engineers. As usual, employers intend to hire high quality personnel who are capable of applying their knowledge to the real problems of the industry (Watkins et al. 37). Hence, the civil engineers who appear in the category of less qualified find themselves jobless. Lack of exposure to the industry is one more reason. Civil engineering students rarely cooperate with firms during their learning period or vacations. Nevertheless, one can only understand the basics and functioning of any industry after direct involvement in such an industry (Cech 42). Industry exposure is a significant part of any profession especially in civil engineering where the present system fails to offer adequate interfaces. Therefore, it is critical for any civil engineer to undergo internship during their study to gain practical experience in the sector of specialization before seeking employment.

Reasons for Changing the Engineering Major

Civil engineers may change their engineering major due to the following reasons. Firstly, a degree in mechanical engineering involves numerous jobs that do not necessarily require a computer-aided design (CAD). In comparison with civil engineering, this major is better, as it allows engagement in management, finance and consulting among others (Cao et al. 1584). Obtaining a degree in engineering becomes quite tricky in these related fields since it is a mechanical engineering major. Secondly, civil engineering does not pay much respect to more general business functions that are to be performed by chemical, electrical, mechanical and petroleum engineers.

Additional reason is better payment associated with other majors such as mechanical engineering that outweighs civil engineering. Mechanical engineers receive a lump sum amount of money regarding their salaries on average unlike civil engineers (Li et al. 3054). Moreover, there is the availability of diverse kinds of work in contrast to civil engineering. Furthermore, civil engineers just use the architect's design to construct what is required, but mechanical engineers are responsible for devising and manufacturing of products. Therefore, people may be interested in designing as well as building by use of math and physics.

Effects of Weather

The work of civil engineers as discussed above is mostly the construction of projects. The weather, however, has various impacts on these construction projects. Firstly, in cold weather, concrete mixtures that engineers use in infrastructure building are negatively affected, as they cannot be utilized below a specific temperature (Faragher 52). As a result, the activities involving the process of cement drying are hindered. Hence, these activities include the foundation of concrete and slabs as well as the brickwork. Civil engineers must wait for the temperature to rise to continue their performance (Ramos et al. 216). Any delay in concrete frame formation detains the critical path thereby negatively influencing the date of project completion.

Additionally, when the weather is wet, civil engineers face other issues. For example, when humidity is so high that the ground becomes sodden at the same times leading to a slight rise of the water table, then such a weather condition causes problems in basement excavating (Cladera et al. 282). It also poses obstacles in the provision of the dry environment to enhance continuation of work. Under these circumstances, the engineers install large sump pumps to dispose of the water as soon as possible and to enable the progression of labor.

Major Issues in Civil Engineering

The field of civil engineering incorporates different issues encountered by the engineers. The main one is the pressure that an individual experiences in this profession. Civil engineers manage the projects that are crucial to the society (Cech 46). Dealing with public goods brings some benefits, and it represents a type of professional pressure specific to this domain of work. For example, these engineers must design as well as oversee the construction of various infrastructures, in particular buildings, tunnels, highways, airports and the systems that supply water (Ramos et al. 217). Here, civil engineers are held accountable for multiple elements including costs, concern for the safety of the users, durability and the way of integrating into such projects in the day-to-day life of citizens. Moreover, the planning by civil engineers faces a challenge regarding the factors of the environment and terrorism. Projects run by civil engineers comprise the issues of technical complexities to enable successful completion of the projects. Any error in designing or even execution usually has considerable financial as well as human costs.

Conclusion

In summary, civil engineering has proven to be a critical part of the day-to-day life of every individual without which the survival of humans will be at risk. The significance of civil engineers cannot be neglected by separate countries and the entire world. Therefore, it may be concluded that despite the challenges faced by any state, civil engineers have never had high unemployment rate. Few jobless civil engineers are unemployed because of failing to show their professionalism. The problems that these engineers encounter include the effects of weather since unfavorable weather conditions delay their projects causing time wastage. Most importantly, civil engineers who courageously meet all the challenges benefit at the end, as they become proud of their projects when they are finished.