The Learning Grid

Where would the Eiffel Tower be without civil engineering? Still in the mind of Gustav Eiffel probably, because civil engineers create the structure we see all around us – roads, bridges, tunnel, airports and railway.

Working as part of a large team, civil engineers plan, design and construct all of these things and more – reservoirs, dams and oil platforms, for a start. They provide the infrastructure for most of our transport systems, give us the pipelines we need to carry water gas or oil around the country and come with new solutions to old problems; the Channel Tunnel had been a dream for decades before some civil engineers came up with a practical plan to make it work.

Physics, maths and design and technology come together in civil engineering to produce some very creative ideas, which everyone can see and use every day. If you’ve heard of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who created the Great Western Railway from London to Bristol (he even did some digging on the tracks himself and designed the lampposts as Paddington station), then you already know about civil engineering.

To find out more, contact the Institution of Civil Engineers.