Study Civil Engineering in the United Kingdom

Civil engineering is an exciting profession; it always has been, it is now and will be in the new millennium. It is a profession of great breadth involving many activities that maintain our environment and meet the ever changing needs of our society.

Civil engineering is all about creating, improving and protecting the environment in which we live. It provides facilities for day-to-day life, for transport and for industry to go about its work. 

The civil engineering profession is innovative, creative, and takes its members to all parts of the world. It is not just a job for men - women are very successful as well and occupy senior positions within the profession. Civil engineers produce many things taken for granted within society. Every morning we might switch on a light, boil a kettle, use the bathroom, walk along a road, cross a bridge or take a train. Without civil engineering we would not be able to do any of this. We can all think of examples of well-known engineering projects in UK and abroad; the Channel Tunnel, the Black Country Spine Road, the Cardiff Bay Development and Coastal Protection Schemes, the reclamation of open cast mines and waste tips, the Millennium Dome, the new Airport in Hong Kong, to name but a few!

The world of a civil engineer usually begins with a particular need - perhaps a bridge for better access, a new bypass for traffic relief, a water supply for a remote village, or the regeneration of a community. 

As a working civil engineer, you could be responsible for managing whole projects. In doing this your role could include:

• negotiating and agreeing the work with

• the client and the rest of the project team

• investigating possible sites, assessing the environmental effects, consulting local authorities and those who may be affected

• designing the works that will be constructed

• planning how the project will be carried out; organising the supply of materials 

• managing project progress, cost and quality 

• assuring safety, controlling the risk and assessing the legal and environmental implications 

• carrying out feasibility studies for new developments 

• solving technical and organisational problems in the design office and on site 

• advising on the maintenance and refurbishment of existing structures 

• demolishing infrastructure that has reached the end of its useful life.

Civil engineers are in a unique position to see a project through from start to finish - all parts of it, not just the technical as- pects. Their training and ability to provide solutions equips them to work in many different areas in construction - with consulting engineers, contractors, local authorities, or agencies in developing countries. And not just in the construction industry - civil engineers have reached high levels in a wide variety, of other industries - oil and gas, finance and government.

Our purpose, at the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), is to support those in the profession from the time they become students, throughout their careers and after they retire. ICE student membership has many benefits - the use of facilities at the headquarters, the Library, advice, attendance at Institution open meetings and participation in ICE Local Association activities throughout the UK and internationally. The institution also has a number of awards and scholarships available annually to help develop a member's career.

Further information can be obtained form the Fact File, produced by  the Civil Engineering Careers Service and available free form ICE, and also through the ICE Internet site http://www.ice.org.uk Come and join the civil engineering profession -look forward to a warm welcome as student members and enjoy a lifelong circle of friends!

Great George Street

Westminster

London

SW1P 3AA

Tel: 020 7 665 2150

Email:

communications@ice.org.uk

Website:

http://www.ice.org.uk  

Great George Street

Westminster

London

SW1P 3AA

Tel: 020 7 665 2150

Email:

communications@ice.org.uk

Website:

http://www.ice.org.uk