Civil Engineering, NAU-PLA
Civil engineering, the profession of designing and executing structural works that serve the general public. The term was first used in the 18th century to distinguish the newly recognized profession from military engineering, until then preeminent.
Civil Engineering Encyclopedia Articles By Title
naumachia
naumachia, in ancient Rome, a mimic sea battle and the specially constructed basin in which such a battle sometimes......
naval architecture
naval architecture, the art and science of designing boats and ships to perform the missions and to meet the requirements......
- Introduction
- Weight, Buoyancy, Stability
- Metacentric Stability, Buoyancy, Stability
- Design, Hull, Shipbuilding
- Resistance, Propulsion, Design
- Separation, Resistance, Hydrodynamics
- Propulsion, Hydrodynamics, Design
- Cavitation, Hydrodynamics, Design
- Maneuverability, Design, Performance
- Rudders, Planes, Control
- Ship Design, Waves, Stability
- Ship Design, Proportions, Shape
- Buoyancy, Weight, Ship
- Ship Strength, Design, Stability
- Materials, Design, Construction
- Safety Laws, Regulations
- Design, Construction, Stability
Nave
Nave, central and principal part of a Christian church, extending from the entrance (the narthex) to the transepts......
necrobotics
necrobotics, use of dead organisms as robots to perform tasks. Spiders are repurposed for necrobotics because of......
Nervi, Pier Luigi
Pier Luigi Nervi was an Italian engineer and architect, internationally renowned for his technical ingenuity and......
Netsch, Walter
...
New York Central Railroad Company
New York Central Railroad Company, one of the major American railroads that connected the East Coast with the interior.......
New York State Canal System
New York State Canal System, system of state-owned, state-operated waterways, 524 miles (843 km) in length, linking......
New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Company
New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Company, American railroad that began operations between Buffalo, N.Y.,......
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company, American railroad operating in southern New England and New......
Newcomen, Thomas
Thomas Newcomen was a British engineer and inventor of the atmospheric steam engine, a precursor of James Wattâs......
Newel
Newel, upright post rising at the foot of a stairway, at its landings, or at its top. These posts usually serve......
Nhue Giang River
Nhue Giang River, irrigation canal in northern Vietnam. The Nhue Giang River flows north-south for about 113 km......
Niche
Niche, in architecture, decorative recess set into a wall for the purpose of displaying a statue, vase, font, or......
Nicollet, Joseph Nicolas
Joseph Nicolas Nicollet was a French mathematician and explorer. Nicollet showed promise in mathematics and astronomy......
Niger Dams Project
Niger Dams Project, series of three dams and reservoirs built in the second half of the 20th century in Kwara,......
Nipkow, Paul Gottlieb
Paul Gottlieb Nipkow was a German engineer who discovered televisionâs scanning principle, in which the light intensities......
Nobel, Alfred
Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, and industrialist who invented dynamite and other more powerful explosives......
Norfolk and Western Railway Company
Norfolk and Western Railway Company was an American railroad that originated as an eight-mile single-track line......
North Indian temple architecture
North Indian temple architecture, style of architecture produced throughout northern India and as far south as......
North Sea Canal
North Sea Canal, waterway in the Netherlands that extends in an east-west direction between Amsterdam and IJmuiden......
Northern Pacific Railway Company
Northern Pacific Railway Company, one of the northern transcontinental railroads of the United States, operating......
Nouvel, Jean
Jean Nouvel is a French architect who designed his buildings to âcreate a visual landscapeâ that fit their contextâsometimes......
Noyce, Robert
Robert Noyce was an American engineer and co-inventor of the integrated circuit, a system of interconnected transistors......
nuclear engineering
nuclear engineering, the field of engineering that deals with the science and application of nuclear and radiation......
Nurek Dam
Nurek Dam, one of the worldâs highest dams, located on the Vakhsh River in Tajikistan near the border with Afghanistan.......
Obelisk
Obelisk, tapered monolithic pillar, originally erected in pairs at the entrances of ancient Egyptian temples. The......
Ocean fertilization
Ocean fertilization, untested geoengineering technique designed to increase the uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2)......
Ochoa, Ellen
Ellen Ochoa is an American administrator and former astronaut who was the first Hispanic woman to travel into space......
OCR
OCR, scanning and comparison technique intended to identify printed text or numerical data. It avoids the need......
Oculus
Oculus, (Latin: âeyeâ), in architecture, any of several structural elements resembling an eye. A small window that......
OderâHavel Canal
OderâHavel Canal, German waterway northeast of Berlin, linking the Havel and Oder rivers. It is 52 mi (83 km) long,......
Oeil-de-boeuf window
Oeil-de-boeuf window, in architecture, a small circular or oval window, usually resembling a wheel, with glazing......
Ohain, Hans Joachim Pabst von
Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain was a German designer of the first operational jet engine. After obtaining his doctorate......
oil burner
oil burner, heating device in which fuel oil is mixed with air under controlled conditions. In most burners oil......
One World Trade Center
One World Trade Center (One WTC), skyscraper in New York, New York, that is the centerpiece of reconstruction at......
operations research
operations research, application of scientific methods to the management and administration of organized military,......
- Introduction
- Mathematical Modeling, WWII, Decision Making
- Problem-Solving, Modeling, Analysis
- Modeling, Solutions, Analysis
- Computers, Optimization, Modeling
- Resource Allocation, Optimization, Modeling
- Replacement, Maintenance, Optimization
- Network Routing, Optimization, Algorithms
- System Design, Optimization, Modeling
Opéra
Opéra, Parisian opera house designed by Charles Garnier. The building, considered one of the masterpieces of the......
Oratory
Oratory, in architecture, a small, private chapel...
Order
Order, any of several styles of classical or Neoclassical architecture that are defined by the particular type......
Ordnance Survey International
Ordnance Survey International, former surveying, mapping, and aerial photography agency (1946â2001) of the British......
Oriel
Oriel, in architecture, a bay window in an upper story, supported from below by projecting corbels, or brackets......
Orient-Express
Orient-Express, luxury train that ran from Paris to Constantinople (Istanbul) for more than 80 years (1883â1977).......
Orientation
Orientation, (from Latin oriens, orientum, âthe rising sunâ), in architecture, the position of a building in relation......
Ornament
Ornament, in architecture, any element added to an otherwise merely structural form, usually for purposes of decoration......
Oroville Dam
Oroville Dam, earth-fill dam on the Feather River, California, U.S. Completed by the state of California in 1968,......
Otto, Nikolaus
Nikolaus Otto was a German engineer who developed the four-stroke internal-combustion engine, which offered the......
Overweg, Adolf
Adolf Overweg was a German geologist, astronomer, and traveler who was the first European to circumnavigate and......
Oxley, John
John Oxley was a surveyor-general and explorer who played an important part in the exploration of eastern Australia......
Ozarks, Lake of the
Lake of the Ozarks, lake in south-central Missouri, U.S., in the scenic Ozark Mountains about 42 miles (68 km)......
OâGorman, Juan
Juan OâGorman was a Mexican architect and muralist, known for his mosaic designs that adorned the facades of buildings.......
Pacific Railway Acts
Pacific Railway Acts, (1862, 1864), two measures that provided federal subsidies in land and loans for the construction......
Pacific Scandal
Pacific Scandal, (1872â73), charges of corruption against Canadian prime minister Sir John A. Macdonald in awarding......
pagoda
pagoda, a towerlike, multistory, solid or hollow structure made of stone, brick, or wood, usually associated with......
Palace
Palace, royal residence, and sometimes a seat of government or religious centre. The word is derived from the Palatine......
Palladian window
Palladian window, in architecture, three-part window composed of a large, arched central section flanked by two......
Palmer, Timothy
Timothy Palmer was a U.S. pioneer builder of covered timber truss bridges. A millwright, he was also a self-taught......
Pan-American Highway
Pan-American Highway, network of highways connecting North America and South America. Originally conceived in 1923......
Panama Canal
Panama Canal, lock-type canal, owned and administered by the Republic of Panama, that connects the Atlantic and......
Panopticon
Panopticon, architectural form for a prison, the drawings for which were published by Jeremy Bentham in 1791. It......
Pantheon
Pantheon, building in Rome that was begun in 27 bc by the statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, probably as a building......
Panthéon
Panthéon, building in Paris that was begun about 1757 by the architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot as the Church of......
Parapet
Parapet, a dwarf wall or heavy railing around the edge of a roof, balcony, terrace, or stairway designed either......
Parliament Buildings
Parliament Buildings, structures in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that house the Canadian Parliament (the Senate and......
Parliament, Houses of
Houses of Parliament, in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the seat of the bicameral Parliament,......
Parsons, Sir Charles Algernon
Sir Charles Algernon Parsons was a British engineer whose invention of a multi-stage steam turbine revolutionized......
password
password, in computing, a sequence of characters used to authenticate a userâs identity and authorize access to......
patio
patio, in Spanish and Latin American architecture, a courtyard within a building, open to the sky. It is a Spanish......
pattern recognition
pattern recognition, in computer science, the imposition of identity on input data, such as speech, images, or......
pavement
pavement, in civil engineering, durable surfacing of a road, airstrip, or similar area. The primary function of......
Paxton, Sir Joseph
Sir Joseph Paxton was an English landscape gardener and designer of hothouses, who was the architect of the Crystal......
Pedestal
Pedestal, in Classical architecture, support or base for a column, statue, vase, or obelisk. Such a pedestal may......
Pediment
Pediment, in architecture, triangular gable forming the end of the roof slope over a portico (the area, with a......
Pei, I.M.
I.M. Pei was a Chinese-born American architect noted for his large, elegantly designed urban buildings and complexes.......
Pendentive
Pendentive, in architecture, a triangular segment of a spherical surface, filling in the upper corners of a room,......
Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue, major thoroughfare of Washington, D.C. It runs for 7 miles (11 km) in a northwesterly direction......
Pennsylvania Railroad Company
Pennsylvania Railroad Company, largest of the trunkline railroads that connected the East Coast of the United States......
Pennsylvania Turnpike
Pennsylvania Turnpike, one of the earliest major limited-access express highways in the United States, opened in......
Pentagon
Pentagon, large five-sided building in Arlington county, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., that serves as the headquarters......
Penthouse
Penthouse, enclosed area on top of a building. Such a structure may house the top of an elevator shaft, air-conditioning......
Peregrinus of Maricourt, Peter
Peter Peregrinus of Maricourt was a French crusader and scholar who wrote the first extant treatise describing......
Perronet, Jean
Jean Perronet was a French civil engineer renowned for his stone arch bridges, especially the Pont de la Concorde,......
Persian Royal Road
Persian Royal Road, ancient road running from Susa, the ancient capital of Persia, across Anatolia to Sardis and......
petroleum engineering
petroleum engineering, the branch of engineering that focuses on processes that allow the development and exploitation......
Petronas Twin Towers
Petronas Twin Towers, pair of skyscraper office buildings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that are among the worldâs......
photogrammetry
photogrammetry, technique that uses photographs for mapmaking and surveying. As early as 1851 the French inventor......
Piano nobile
Piano nobile, (Italian: ânoble floorâ), in architecture, main floor of a Renaissance building. In the typical palazzo,......
Piano, Renzo
Renzo Piano is an Italian architect best known for his high-tech public spaces, particularly his design (with Richard......
Piccard, Auguste
Auguste Piccard was a Swiss-born Belgian physicist notable for his exploration of both the upper stratosphere and......
Piccard, Jacques
Jacques Piccard was a Swiss oceanic engineer, economist, and physicist, who helped his father, Auguste Piccard,......
pier
pier, in building construction, vertical loadbearing member, such as an intermediate support for adjacent ends......
Pilaster
Pilaster, in Greco-Roman Classical architecture, shallow rectangular column that projects slightly beyond the wall......
pile
pile, in building construction, a postlike foundation member used from prehistoric times. In modern civil engineering,......
pillar
pillar, in architecture and building construction, any isolated, vertical structural member such as a pier, column,......
Piscina
Piscina, in Roman times, an artificial reservoir used for swimming or as a fish pond. During the Middle Ages a......
pixel
pixel, Smallest resolved unit of a video image that has specific luminescence and colour. Its proportions are determined......
plasma arc gasification
plasma arc gasification (PAG), waste-treatment technology that uses a combination of electricity and high temperatures......
Plaster
Plaster, a pasty composition (as of lime or gypsum, water, and sand) that hardens on drying and is used for coating......
plaster of paris
plaster of paris, quick-setting gypsum plaster consisting of a fine white powder (calcium sulfate hemihydrate),......
Playground
Playground, controlled setting for childrenâs play. This institutionalized environment consists of a planned, enclosed......