Many of the things that we take for granted but which play a vital part in our everyday lives are the products of civil engineering. It covers the construction of power stations that provide the electricity we use every time we turn on a washing machine or watch television; the plant to purify our drinking water and to treat wastewater; the roads we drive along and the airports from which we travel abroad.

Every bridge, dam, oilrig, pipeline, reservoir, tunnel and waterway is a civil engineering project, as are many other smaller structures. Within civil engineering there are several main fields. These are structures and foundation, transportation, and environmental and water resources engineering. There are within these areas that touch upon every aspect of life.