Program Description

Civil engineering today is concerned with the deterioration of the nation’s roads, bridges, water and power distribution systems, storm and sanitary sewers and other public infrastructure. The aim of the Civil Infrastructure Engineering Program is to graduate civil engineers responsible for the life-cycle of the system he creates and must be capable of optimizing the total system performance of large-scale public works projects, including their social and environmental impacts, in a way that addresses critical issues of infrastructure behaviour, deterioration science, and structural rehabilitation. On top of these fields comes surveying engineering, sanitary environment, transportation engineering, water-related engineering projects who can enrich the water resources and public works field.

Career Prospects

Graduates of this department has a variety of opportunities to work, for example:

• Government authorities.
• Consulting firms in civil engineering and construction.
• Civil engineering contractors and project managers.
• Water and sanitation utility companies.
• Environmental engineering organizations.
• Coastal engineers developing coastal environment systems.
• Water resources management authority.

Program Concentrations

The program provides the undergraduate student with a thorough foundation and technologies in the basic tenets of civil engineering and technologies. The program provides three different fields in which the students in this program can specialize. These three fields are:

1. Transportation Engineering
2. Geomatics and Environmental Engineering
3. Water Engineering

Transportation engineering is concerned with moving people and goods efficiently, safely, and in a manner conducive to a vibrant community. This involves specifying, designing, constructing, and maintaining transportation infrastructure which includes streets, canals, highways, rail systems, airports, ports, and mass transit. It includes areas such as transportation design, transportation planning, traffic engineering, some aspects of urban engineering, queueing theory, pavement engineering, Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), and infrastructure management.

Geomatics and Environmental Engineering is the process by which a surveyor measures certain dimensions that occur on or near the surface of the Earth. Surveying equipment, such as levels and theodolites, are used for accurate measurement of angular deviation, horizontal, vertical and slope distances. With computerization, electronic distance measurement (EDM), total stations, GPS surveying and laser scanning have to a large extent supplanted traditional instrument. Data collected by survey measurement is converted into a graphical representation of the Earth’s surface in the form of a map. This information is then used by civil engineers, contractors and realtors to design from, build on, and trade, respectively. Elements of a structure must be sized and positioned in relation to each other and to site boundaries and adjacent structures. Although surveying is a distinct profession with separate qualifications and licensing arrangements, civil engineers are trained in the basics of surveying and mapping, as well as geographic information systems. Surveyors also lay out the routes of railways, tramway tracks, highways, roads, pipelines and streets as well as position other infrastructure, such as harbours, before construction. Environmental engineering, emphasis is based both on the design of systems for water supply, water treatment, soil treatment, wastewater treatment, and waste management, as well as on the design of physical, chemical and biological unit operations and processes encountered in these systems.

Water Engineering is concerned with the collection and management of water (as a natural resource). As a discipline it therefore combines elements of hydrology, environmental science, meteorology, conservation, and resource management. This area of civil engineering relates to the prediction and management of both the quality and the quantity of water in both underground (aquifers) and above ground (lakes, rivers, and streams) resources. Water resource engineers analyse and model very small to very large areas of the earth to predict the amount and content of water as it flows into, through, or out of a facility. Although the actual design of the facility may be left to other engineers. Also concerned with design of pipelines, water supply network, drainage facilities (including bridges, dams, channels, culverts, levees, storm sewers), and canals. Hydraulic engineers design these facilities using the concepts of fluid pressure, fluid statics, fluid dynamics, and hydraulics, among others.

Agreements with another University

The program is not yet partnered with another university.

Program Competences

In addition to the competences for all Engineering Programs (A-Level), the Civil Infrastructure Engineering Program graduate must be able to (D-Level):

• D1: Select appropriate and sustainable technologies for construction of buildings, infrastructures and water structures; using either numerical techniques or physical measurements and/or testing by applying a full range of civil engineering concepts and techniques of: Structural Analysis and Mechanics, Properties and Strength of Materials, Surveying, Soil Mechanics and Fluid Mechanics.
• D2: Achieve an optimum design of Reinforced Concrete and Steel Structures, Foundations and Earth Retaining Structures, Transportation and Traffic, Roadways and Airports, Railways, Sanitary Works, Irrigation, Water Resources and Harbours; or any other emerging field relevant to the discipline. 
• D3: Plan and manage construction processes; address construction defects, instability and quality issues; and maintain safety measures in construction and materials.
• D4: Deal with biddings, contracts and financial issues including project insurance and guarantees; and assess environmental impacts of civil engineering projects.
• D5: Use the principles of engineering, soil science, biology, and chemistry to develop solutions to environmental problems. They work to improve recycling, waste disposal, public health, and water and air pollution control. They also address global issues, such as unsafe drinking water, climate change, and environmental sustainability.
• D6: Demonstrate additional abilities related to the field of the concentration within Civil Infrastructure Engineering as listed below.

Required Courses

In order to get a Bachelor of Science Degree in this program, and to satisfy the Program Competences, the following set of courses need to be completed.

Table 37 List of Civil Infrastructure Engineering Program Requirements courses.