Civil Engineering in Canada

Civil engineering is a broad field of ENGINEERING concerned with the planning,

design, construction and operation of much of the infrastructure of civilization, such as
buildings, transportation systems and sanitation systems, etc; soil mechanics and water
resources; city planning; and SURVEYINGand mapping. Civil engineers played a
leading role in creating Canada as we know it today - an expansive nation linked by
railways, bridges, highways and canals, rendered arable by drainage and irrigation
projects and habitable because of water and sewer systems.
Before the multiplication of engineering disciplines in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries, engineers were either military or civilian. Civilian engineers built nonmilitary
structures; those in the military concentrated on FORTIFICATIONS. The early engineers
in what is now Canada were almost exclusively military. In New France, military
engineers were responsible for surveying, road building and fortification, and their work
was taken over and further developed by British army sappers and miners (engineers)
after the conquest. Civilian engineers became involved before the turn of the 19th
century.

For example, while CANAL building began as a military specialty, the first lock on the
Sault Ste Marie canal was built in 1797-98 by the North West Company. Civil engineers
were involved in such projects as the development of steamboats and railways and the
construction of roads, public buildings, harbours, etc.

Achievements

Since 1983 the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering has recognized historic
landmarks, including the ALASKA HIGHWAY, the QUEEN ELIZABETH WAY
(Canada's first controlled-access superhighway), the St. Clair Railway Tunnel (one of
North America's first subaqueous TUNNELS, connecting Sarnia, Ont and Port Huron,
Mich under the St Clair River), and Nova Scotia's CHIGNECTO Marine Transport
Railway (an ambitious but never-completed project intended to carry boats between the
Bay of Fundy and Baie Verte). Also recognized is the infamous Québec Bridge, which
collapsed twice into the St Lawrence River, killing more than 85 workers before it
opened in 1919 as the world's longest steel cantilever bridge (seeQUÉBEC BRIDGE
DISASTERS and IRON RING).

Development of Training Programs

Early engineers received their training as apprentices to established professionals such as

Samuel KEEFER, his brother, Thomas KEEFER, leading hydraulic engineer of his time,
or Sir Casimir GZOWSKI, engineer of the international bridge over the Niagara River. As
the extent of Canada's mineral and other resource wealth became apparent, and as the
railway boom developed, it became necessary to establish formal training programs to
provide engineering expertise.
The first such courses were offered at King's College (now University of New
Brunswick) in 1854; however, the real expansion in training began in the 1870s, when,
within the course of 5 years, programs were established at McGill, École Polytechnique
de Montréal; School of Practical Sciences, Toronto; and ROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE,
Kingston. The profession has continued to expand since that time.

The Modern Profession

Today, the civil engineer's work tends to be highly specialized, covering every
conceivable aspect of public and private construction.

Surveying
Surveying is the delineation of the position and form of natural or man-made features on
a tract of land. Land must be surveyed before building can begin in order to determine
legal boundaries, slopes, potential hazards, etc.

Soil Mechanics or Geotechnical Engineering

This is the branch of civil engineering that deals with characteristics of the substrate (soil
or rock) that influence the suitability of a site for a given form of construction (eg, shear
stress on slopes, plasticity of soil, soil seepage) and the peripheral structures needed to
make a site safe for a specific structure (eg, foundations, drainage structures). Soil
mechanics is important not only to the safe and economical exploitation of familiar
environments, but also to successful use of fragile or hostile environments (eg,
PERMAFROST).

Structural Engineering
Structural engineering, closely allied with architecture, deals with the design of buildings.
Structural engineers translate architectural designs into precise instructions on building
methods, materials, structural configurations (eg, column and beam designs), etc.
Innovative buildings, such as Toronto's CN TOWER, are lasting monuments to the
structural engineer's skill.

Materials Engineering
Practitioners of this branch set specifications for materials used in the construction
industry (eg, asphalt used in road pavements, structural steels) and conduct research in
order to improve such materials (see METALLURGY).

Transportation Engineering
Transportation engineering involves the planning, design and construction of
transportation facilities, including roads, railways, airports and harbours, bus terminals,
rapid transit and parking structures.

Hydrotechnical or Water Resource Engineering

This deals with irrigation, drainage, the control of water hazards (eg, floods), harbour and
river development for transportation, the improvement of water availability and the
protection of structures from attack by water (eg, ocean waves, normal river flow).

Environmental Engineering
Environmental engineering is concerned with minimizing the environmental impacts of
proposed engineering schemes. It usually includes sanitary engineering, an important part
of URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING, and deals with the design of water
distribution and waste disposal systems to ensure that people have clean, healthy water to
drink and that sewage does not become a pollution hazard.

Before the turn of the century, a civil engineer would have designed many different
structures; for example, Thomas Keefer began the survey of the Kingston to Toronto
railway connection, and designed the waterworks for Hamilton, Ont (1859) and Ottawa
(1874) and many other public works.

Today, civil engineers must co-operate with specialists from many nonengineering
disciplines and engineering subfields to complete a single project. For example, engineers
who specialize in urban planning and transportation engineering assist architects and
planners in the initial design of a shopping centre.

Once the location and size of the centre is determined, a more detailed design is
produced. Traffic engineers design entrances and exits and lay out parking lots; structural
engineers work with the architect to design the buildings; other engineers design the
heating and ventilation, plumbing and electrical systems and join in the design process to
produce a set of engineering drawings and specifications. These are the documents from
which the construction engineer estimates the cost of erecting the centre. These drawings
and specifications form part of a contract, specifying the rights and duties of the
contractor, the engineer and the owner, drawn up with the aid of lawyers specializing in
engineering law.

Training

Students studying to be civil engineers must complete a 4-5-year university program.

Civil engineering programs are periodically reviewed and accredited by the Canadian
Engineering Accreditation Board of the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers.
After graduation the student may be required to write an exam on professional practice to
be accepted into a provincial professional engineers association as an engineer in training.
After 2 to 4 years of work experience (depending on the provincial association), the
trainee may apply for full membership and, based on the recommendations of employers,
will be accepted as a professional engineer.

Engineering Institute of Canada

The Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) (French: l'Institut canadien des
ingénieurs; ICI) is a federation of twelve engineering societies based in Canada,[1]
covering a broad range of engineering branches, and with a history going back to 1887.[2]
[3][4][5]
First known as the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, it became the first national
professional engineering society in Canada.[

History
The organisation was founded in 1887 under the name Canadian Society of Civil
Engineers (not to be confused with the more recent Canadian Society for Civil
Engineering). Co-founder Thomas C. Keefer was elected as the first president. Walter
Shanly, who helped with the incorporation, became one of the first vice-presidents,
together with Casimir Gzowski and John Kennedy. And Henry T. Bovey was the first
secretary and treasurer. In 1918 the society was renamed Engineering Institute of
Canada with the goal to represent all engineering branches. Later the organisation
converted into a federation of more independent member societies, starting with the
Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering in 1970.

Member societies
The twelve member societies of the Engineering Institute of Canada are:[1]

 IEEE Canada.[7] The Canadian section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE) and a member society of the EIC "for the technical fields of
electrical, electronics, and computer engineering".[8]
 Canadian Dam Association[9]
 Canadian Geotechnical Society (CGS).[10] Founded in January 1972 as a member
society of the EIC but with a history going back to 1946 when the "Associate
Committee on Soil and Snow Mechanics" was created by the National Research
Council of Canada.[5][11]
 Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society (CMBES)[12]
 Canadian Nuclear Society (CNS)[13]
 Canadian Society for Bioengineering[14]
 Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE). The CSCE, founded in 1887 and
renamed in 1918, was re-established in June 1972 as a member society of the EIC
under a slightly different name.[5]
 Canadian Society of Senior Engineers (CSSE)[15]
 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering[16]
 Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering (CSME).[17] Founded in January
1970 as first member society of the EIC.[5]
 Canadian Society for Engineering Management[18]
 IISE Canadian Region[19]

Fellows
Starting in 1963, the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) has yearly elected some
members to the level of Fellow, to recognize "their excellence in engineering" and "their
services to the profession and to society".[20] Initially, Fellows were members of the EIC
with the annual number elected varying between one (1967) and seventy-eight (1980).
More recently,[when?] they are members of their nominating EIC member society with a
maximum of twenty elected annually.[20]