Transforming the World with Civil Engineering
“There is no limit to what’s possible”. Civil engineers live by this motto. The world has changed from living in caves and jungles to a world that is made of Concrete, Steel, and Wood. It has rapidly transformed from herds to urban sprawls stretching over hundreds of miles. Skyscrapers cover the horizon of every city and bridges spawn the entirety of rivers. Dams hold the floods at bay and Airports have taken us to the skies. Rail and Roads have shrunk the world and Seaports have granted us dominion over the waters. Civil Engineering has made the unthinkable, a reality.
Every infrastructure since the emergence of civilizations was a result of intricate design, planning and construction. Civil Engineering has birthed wonders that one can do little more than gaze upon and marvel at their grandeur. From the Hanging Towers of Babylon to the Taj Mahal, from The Great Wall of China to the Pyramids at Giza- these were the wonders of ancient civil engineering. Each new construction added something more to the treasure trove of our knowledge and transformed the world forever.
Since the dawn of time, humans and their pursuit of innovation have been driven by just a single factor: need. The need for cleanliness resulted in the creation of sewage systems and waste disposal systems. The need for better health and education resulted in Hospitals and Schools. With an ever-growing population, the need for an affordable living has created towering apartment buildings. The need to get to the other side resulted in Suspension bridges. Each and every one of these Civil Engineering innovations have transformed the world.
In modern times, there is only one question faced by Civil Engineers- How to improve upon it?
The modern concrete jungles that we live in are the result of constant innovation going on in the fields of Civil Engineering. Going into the future civil engineers have added another important goal to their list of considerations: The environment. On one end of the spectrum, Civil engineers fight the natural phenomena of Earthquakes and Flooding. On the other end building a sustainable environment and reducing the stress on the natural resources of the world has become perhaps one of the most important factors. Modern irrigation systems and large wind farms to harness energy from the air are some examples of how civil engineering is changing the environment to become cleaner and better.
Civil engineering has laid the foundation for modern civilization and paved the way which leads to a brighter and better future. Transforming the world from cave dwellers to masters of the globe was a journey of constant improvement and innovation, made possible by the wonders of civil engineering. Perhaps no other field has had such an impact on the way we live as Civil Engineering.
Article By:
Irtiza Naveed
