Engineering - profession in which a knowledge of math and natural science is applied to develop ways to utilize the materials and forces of nature for the benefit of all human beings.
Abutment - outermost end supports on a bridge, which carry the load from the deck.
Aggregate - sand, gravel etc mixed with cement to form concrete.
Aluminum - lightweight chemical element (Al); the most abundant metallic element in the Earth's crust.
Anchorage - secure fixing, usually made of reinforced concrete to which the cables are fastened.
Apron - smooth (generally concrete) surface that is placed between culvert and channel to improve capacity and reduce erosion.
Aqueduct - a bridge or channel for conveying water, usually over long distances.
Arch Bridge - curved structure that converts the downward force of its own weight, and of any weight pressing down on top of it, into an outward force along its sides and base.
Arch Dam - dam with an arched shape that resists the force of water pressure; requires less material than a gravity dam for the same distance.
Archimedes Screw - type of pump that looks like an angled corkscrew.
Architect - a person who designs all kinds of structures; must also have the ability to conceptualize and communicate ideas effectively both in words and on paper to clients, engineers, government officials, and construction crews.
Articulated Rock Truck - four-wheel drive dump truck with heavy duty tapered box and pivoting connection between cab and box.
Axial Flow - pump that acts like an outboard motor in a casing.
Backhoe - rubber tired vehicle with loader bucket in front and small excavator bucket at back.
Backwater - place a culvert or use a weir such that there will always be some depth of water within the culvert.
Bar Scalping/Skimming - remove a thin layer (1-5’), from the top of gravel bars.
Batch Plant - local facility for preparation and distribution of concrete.
Beam - rigid, usually horizontal, structural element.
Beam Bridge - simple type of bridge composed of horizontal beams supported by vertical posts.
Bedding - fine gravel or crushed rock placed around culverts to evenly distribute load.
Bedrock - solid rock layer beneath sand or silt.
Benchmark - elevation reference point.
Bend - curve; bending occurs when a straight material becomes curved; one side squeezes together in compression, and the other side stretches apart in tension.
Bends - see caisson disease.
Blast Mat - large heavy mat made from rubber tires used to confine debris during rock blasting.
Blowout - rupture of concrete forms.
Bobcat - trade name for a four wheeled skid steer loader.
Bottomless - culvert consisting of an arch with an open bottom such that shows native streambed is exposed.
Box Culvert - culvert of a rectangular cross section is commonly of precast concrete.
Brace - structural support; to strengthen and stiffen a structure to resist loads.
Breaker - hydraulic jackhammer, often mounted on an excavator.
Brittle - material that fails without warning; brittle materials do not stretch or shorten before failing.
Buckle - bend under compression.
Bull Dozer - tracked vehicle with front mounted blade.
Buttress - support that transmits a force from a roof or wall to another supporting structure.
Buttress Dam - gravity dam reinforced by structural supports.
Cable - structural element formed from steel wire bound in strands; the suspending element in a bridge; the supporting element in some dome roofs.
Cable-Stayed Bridge - bridge in which the roadway deck is suspended from cables anchored to one or more towers.
Caisson - watertight, dry chamber in which people can work underwater.
Caisson Disease - affliction developed by people moving in and out of caissons quickly; also called the bends and decompression sickness.
Cantilever - projecting structure supported only at one end, as a shelf bracket or a diving board.
Cast Iron - brittle alloy with high carbon content; iron that has been melted, then poured into a form and cooled; can be made into any shape desired.
Cast-In-Place - construction of forms and filling with concrete at final location.
Cement - binding material, or glue, that helps concrete harden.
Centrifugal - pump that 'flings' water outwards and into an exit pipe.
Chainage - linear distance.
Civil Engineer - engineer who plans, designs, and supervises the construction of facilities essential to modern life.
CMP - corrugated metal pipe, generally galvanized and/or tarred for corrosion resistance.
Coffer - sunken panel in a ceiling.
Cofferdam - temporary dam built to divert a river around a construction site so the dam can be built on dry ground.
Column - vertical, structural element, strong in compression.
Compressed-Air Chamber - space at the bottom of a caisson into which, air is introduced under pressure to exclude water so that excavation can take place.
Compression - pressing force that squeezes a material together.
Concrete - embedded steel bars or cables are stretched into tension before the concrete hardens; in post-tensioned concrete, the embedded steel bars or cables are stretched into tension after the concrete hardens. A mixture of Portland cement, aggregate and water to form a stiff slurry that will chemically react and harden.
Construction Manager - person who coordinates the entire construction process -- from initial planning and foundation work through the structure's completion.
Continuous Span Beam Bridge - simple bridge made by linking one beam bridge to another; some of the longest bridges in the world are continuous span beam bridges.
Contour - imaginary line linking points of equal elevation.
Core - central region of a skyscraper; usually houses elevator and stairwell.
Critical - flow condition at which point the water velocity equals the wave speed.
Cut and Cover - method of tunnel construction that involves digging a trench, building a tunnel, and then covering it with fill.
Cut-off Wall - collar (metal, concrete etc) placed around a culvert to prevent piping.
Deck - supported roadway on a bridge.
Deform - change shape.
Depth of Cover - depth of fill placed atop a culvert.
Directional Drilling - drilling sideways under structures, roadways, streams etc to place pipes, utility lines without excavation and generally limited to less than 30cm diameter.
Discharge - volume of water pumped at a specific head.
Diversion Channel - bypass created to divert water around a dam so that construction can take place.
Dome - curved roof enclosing a circular space; a three-dimensional arch.
Downstream Face - side of the dam that is not against the water.
Drainage Maintenance - tree move sediments and vegetation from ditches/ canals etc in order to improve conveyance.
Dry /Wet Pit Mining - isolate gravel extraction to a confined hole in bar and wet/dry refers to whether it goes below the water table at the time of extraction.
Dynamic Head - total equivalent head drop due to the static head and all friction losses.
Dynamite - blasting explosive, based on nitroglycerin, but much safer to handle than nitroglycerin alone.
Electrical Engineer - engineer concerned with electrical devices and systems and with the use of electrical energy.
Embankment Dam - dam composed of a mound of earth and rock; the simplest type of gravity dam.
Environmental Engineer - engineer who designs and operates systems to provide safe drinking water and to prevent and control pollution in water.
Excavator - generally tracked vehicle with rotating body and front mounted digging arm.
Exposed Aggregate - decorative technique for driveways, walks etc that involves washing half set concrete so as to expose gravel aggregate.
Flag - piece of survey ribbon.
Flap Gate - passive 'trap door' device placed on culvert outlets to prevent inflow. The hinge can be on the top or side of the culvert.
Float Switch - float that can be set to turn pump on or off at set water level.
Force - any action that tends to maintain or alter the position of a structure.
Forebay - inlet structure for a pump and often holds the trash rack.
Form - wood or metal structure that concrete is poured into.
Free Board - vertical distance from water surface to top of channel, dike etc.
Geodesic Dome - dome composed of short, straight pieces joined to form triangles; invented by Buckminster Fuller.
Geotechnical Engineer - engineer who evaluates and stabilizes foundations for buildings, roads, and other structures.
GPS - Global Positioning System - a series of satellites and ground based hardware that allow precision location anywhere on the surface of the globe.
Grader - rubber tired vehicle with blade mounted between front and rear axles
Gravity Dam - dam constructed so that its great weight resists the force of water pressure.
Grout - concrete mixture that is made with fine aggregate to achieve a smooth surface or easily pumped mixture.
Gunpowder - any of several low-explosive mixtures used as a blasting agent in mining and tunneling; the first such explosive was black powder, which consists of a mixture of potassium nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal.
Headwall - wall built at top and sides of a culvert end to secure adjacent soil.
Hiab - Flatbed truck with hydraulic crane for loading and unloading freight.
Hydraulic Jump - abrupt transition from super to sub critical – also known as a standing wave. Often used to disapait energy.
I/P - abbreviation - iron pin (normally used to mark corners of property lots.)
Impeller - rotational element that actually contacts and moves the water.
Inlet Limited - condition in which the maximum flow capacity of a culvert is determined by the hydraulic conditions of the inlet. Small changes to the inside of the culvert or outlet structure will have no effect on maximum capacity.
Inlet Structure - arrangements of wing walls and apron that smoothes the hydraulic transition from open channel to culvert flow and increases maximum capacity. It may also be the mounting point for a trash rack.
Invert - bottom of the culvert.
Iron - chemical element one of the cheapest and most used metals.
Joint - device connecting two or more adjacent parts of a structure; a roller joint allows adjacent parts to move controllably past one another; a rigid joint prevents adjacent parts from moving or rotating past one another.
Laminar - flow condition with no waves, eddies etc and rarely encountered in open channel flow.
Level - horizontal, or - an optical/mechanical device that allows determination of horizontal.
Light weight - addition of lightweight aggregates such as pumice.
Load - weight distribution throughout a structure; loads caused by wind, earthquakes, and gravity, for example, affect how weight is distributed throughout a structure.
Loader - wheeled or tracked vehicle with wide front mounted bucket to scrape and load trucks.
Low Bed - truck tractor and low semi-trailer used to transport large excavators, dozers etc.
Masonry - building material such as stone, clay, brick, or concrete.
Mechanical Engineer - engineer who applies the principles of mechanics and energy to the design of machines and devices.
Monolithic Dome - dome composed of a series of arches, joined together with a series of horizontal rings called parallels.
Movable Bridge - bridge in which the deck moves to clear a navigation channel; a swing bridge has a deck that rotates around a center point; a drawbridge has a deck that can be raised and lowered; a bascule bridge deck is raised with counterweights like a drawbridge; and the deck of a lift bridge is raised vertically like a massive elevator.
Multi-Plate - large culvert made up of segments bolted together on site.
Nitroglycerin - explosive compound made from a mixture of glycerol and concentrated nitric and sulfuric acids, and an important ingredient of most forms of dynamite.
O/S - abbreviation – offset (generally used when a survey stake cannot be placed on the exact point of interest).
Obvert - interior top of a culvert, equal to the invert plus the culvert diameter.
Outlet Structure - arrangement of apron, wing walls and sometimes energy absorption structure at the end of a culvert.
Pendentive - triangular shape that adapts the circular ring of a dome to fit onto a flat supporting wall.
Perimeter - distance around the outside of a shape.
Pier - vertical supporting structure, such as a pillar.
Pile - long, round pole of wood, concrete, or steel driven into the soil by pile drivers.
Pile Driver - noisy machine that repeatedly drops a heavy weight on top of a pile until the pile reaches solid soil or rock or cannot be pushed down any farther.
Pipe Arch - 'squished' CMP culvert that has greater invert width.
Pipe Jacking - process by which a culvert is pushed horizontally through the ground to allow placement of a culvert without excavation.
Piping - water flowing along the outside of a culvert and can lead to erosion and failure.
Plastic - synthetic material made from long chains of molecules; has the capability of being molded or shaped, usually by the application of heat and pressure.
Precast - concrete products cast at a site remote from the final installation.
Pressure - force applied or distributed over an area.
Pump - to use a pump to transport wet concrete from truck to form; or in the case of grout, to fill voids by pressure.
R/W - abbreviation (right of way.)
Re-bar - ribbed steel bars of various sizes used to give concrete strength in tension.
Reach - distance that an excavator arm can extend.
Reinforced Concrete - concrete with steel bars or mesh embedded in it for increased strength in tension; in pre-tensioned.
Richter Scale - used to measure the magnitude of an earthquake; introduced in 1935 by the seismologists, Beno Gutenberg and Charles Francis Richter.
Rigid - ability to resist deformation when subjected to a load; rigidity the measure of a structure's ability not to change shape when subjected to a load.
Rock Tunnel - passage constructed through solid rock.
Rod - measurement stick used with a level or the odolite.
Roughness - way of quantifying the degree of drag on flowing water by a surface. Most commonly expressed as a dimensionless Manning’s number.
Shear - force that causes parts of a material to slide past one another in opposite directions. Shear-Walls - solid concrete walls that resist shear forces; often used in buildings constructed in earthquake zones.
Silt - sediment particles ranging from 0.004 to 0.06 mm (0.00016 to 0.0024 inch) in diameter.
Slope - measurement of the change in elevation with distance.
Sluice Gate - manually or automatically operated sliding or rotating panel to restrict flow into or out of a culvert.
Slump - the 'sloppiness' of wet concrete, generally more slump equals less strength.
Soft-Ground Tunnels - passage constructed through loose, unstable, or wet ground, requiring supports to keep the walls from collapsing.
Span - distance a bridge extends between two supports; to traverse a specific distance.
Spider - specialized excavator with four legs that can negotiate steep slopes and rivers with minimal impact.
Spider - specialized excavator with four legs that can negotiate steep slopes and rivers with minimal impact.
Spillway - overflow channel that allows dam operators to release lake water when it gets high enough to threaten the safety of a dam.
Spire - architectural or decorative feature of a skyscraper; the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat includes spires but not antennae when calculating the official height of a skyscraper.
Stable - ability to resist collapse and deformation; stability characteristic of a structure that is able to carry a realistic load without collapsing or deforming significantly.
Stake - wood stake used to mark point of interest.
Static Head - vertical distance from inlet water elevation to discharge elevation.
Steel - alloy of iron and carbon that is hard, strong, and malleable.
Stiff - ability to resist deformation; stiffness the measure of a structure's capacity to resist deformation.
Stone Slinger - conveyor belt equipped dump truck than can precision place or 'throw' gravel.
Stone Slinger - conveyor belt equipped dump truck than can precision place or 'throw' gravel.
Story - floor of a skyscraper.
Strength - resistance of a cured core of concrete to crushing – expressed in Mpa.
Strong - ability to carry a realistic load; strength the measure of a structure's ability to carry a realistic load.
Structural Engineer - engineer who investigates the behavior and design of all kinds of structures, including dams, domes, tunnels, bridges, and skyscrapers, to make sure they are safe and sound for human use.
Sump - deep water filled hole that the pump inlet is placed into and constructed to increase water depth in order to reduce vortex formation and air entrainment.
Surcharge - condition in which the water elevation at the up-stream end of a culvert exceeds the culvert obvert.
Suspension Bridge - bridge in which the roadway deck is suspended from cables that pass over two towers; the cables are anchored in housings at either end of the bridge.
Swamp Pad - large wood pad used to distribute excavator weight in soft conditions.
Swamp Pad - large wood pad used to distribute excavator weight in soft conditions.
Swing - space required for an excavator to rotate.
Swing - the space required for an excavator to rotate.
Tailings Dam - dam, usually made of earth and rock, used to contain mining waste.
Tandem - tandem axle (rear) dump truck.
Tensegrity - tension cables and compression rods that supports a structure; invented by Buckminster Fuller student Kenneth Snellson.
Tension - stretching force that pulls on a material.
Tension Ring - support ring that resists the outward force pushing against the lower sides of a dome.
Theodolite - survey instrument with vertical and horizontal degree gradations.
Thumb - metal beam located opposite an excavator’s bucket, used to grip rocks etc.
Tilt-up - method of building construction whereby concrete walls are cast in horizontal forms on site and then tilted to the final vertical position.
Torsion - action that twists a material.
Tower - vertical structure in a suspension bridge or cable-stayed bridge from which cables are hung; also used loosely as a synonym for the term skyscraper.
Trash Rack - metal grate placed at the upstream end of a culvert to prevent woody debris, rocks etc from entering the culvert.
Traverse - survey circuit.
Tree Spade - specialized truck mounted device used to dig and transport large trees.
Truss - rigid frame composed of short, straight pieces joined to form a series of triangles or other stable shapes.
Tuned Mass Damper - mechanical counterweight designed to reduce the effects of motion, such as the swaying of a skyscraper in the wind or in an earthquake.
Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) - mechanical device that tunnels through the ground.
Tunnel Shield - cylinder pushed ahead of tunneling equipment to provide advance support for the tunnel roof; used when tunneling in soft or unstable ground.
Turbulent - flow condition with waves, eddies etc.
Un-Stable - characteristic of a structure that collapses or deforms under a realistic load.
Upstream Face - side of a dam that is against the water.
UTM - Universal Transverse Mercator (standard map projection.)
Velocity Profile - variation in water velocity vertically and horizontally due to roughness effects.
Vibrate - to use a mechanical device to vibrate wet concrete within forms to cause it to flow more easily and flow around re-bar etc.
Weir - structure that spans a channel and controls the local streambed elevation.
Wing Wall - flaring vertical wall on either side of a culvert.
Wrought Iron - common natural material strong in both compression and tension.
