The design, construction, and maintenance of infrastructure like bridges, roads, tunnels, and pipelines. Civil engineers use math and physics to solve complex problems related to city layouts, construct highways, and more. It's the oldest branch of engineering and is vital to meet the needs of cities and people.
Median annual salary
$0
People employed U.S.
0
Job growth score (out of 100)
0
What would you do?
Design plans for city layouts and roads
Analyze environmental properties like soil, rock strength and more
Construct highways and power lines
Maintain deteriorating infrastructure
Test models against natural disasters
Relationship toclimate change
Better city planning and construction techniques will reduce pollution and emissions.
To fight climate change, civil engineers…
Design efficient cities
• Create compact road and city layouts to reduce transportation emissions
• Build parks and gardens to reduce heat and make air quality better
• Implement public transportation like subways, trains, etc.
Make construction sustainable
• Use renewable resources like net-zero concrete
• Construct infrastructure using as little energy and resources as possible
• Renew old parts of roads and bridges instead of replacing the system entirely
Create sustainable buildings
• Optimize building insulation and natural light to conserve energy
• Construct buildings in parts that are easy to disassemble and reuse
Save water
• Design roads to capture and reuse rainwater
• Build levees to protect from sea-level rise
Use civil engineering for these climate change solutions…
Civil Engineering is a great fit if you are interested in architecture, construction, and designing, especially for structures like bridges, buildings, or towers. Explore classes and project ideas to get started:
Recommended classes
High school:
Physics (H)
AP Physics 1/2
AP Physics C
AP Seminar
AP Research
Intro to Engineering
Trigonometry
AP Precalc
AP Calculus
Statistics
College:
Civil Engineering and Architecture
Principles of Engineering
Thermodynamics of Materials
Electronic Properties of Materials
Phase Transformations
Composite Materials
Project ideas
Help your local government design cities sustainably
Test how recycled materials can replace conventional materials
Build model structures and iterate to make them stronger
Experiment with tools like MATLAB or CAD softwares to simulate bridges and dams
Learn more from interviewing experts
