Civil Engineering, NOR-POS
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
Joseph Nicolas Nicollet was a French mathematician and explorer. Nicollet showed promise in mathematics and astronomy......
Paul Gottlieb Nipkow was a German engineer who discovered television’s scanning principle, in which the light intensities......
Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, and industrialist who invented dynamite and other more powerful explosives......
Norfolk and Western Railway Company, former American railroad that originated as an eight-mile single-track line......
North Indian temple architecture, style of architecture produced throughout northern India and as far south as......
North Sea Canal, waterway in the Netherlands that extends in an east-west direction between Amsterdam and IJmuiden......
Northern Pacific Railway Company, one of the northern transcontinental railroads of the United States, operating......
Jean Nouvel is a French architect who designed his buildings to “create a visual landscape” that fit their context—sometimes......
Robert Noyce was an American engineer and co-inventor of the integrated circuit, a system of interconnected transistors......
nuclear engineering, the field of engineering that deals with the science and application of nuclear and radiation......
Nurek Dam, one of the world’s highest dams, located on the Vakhsh River in Tajikistan near the border with Afghanistan.......
obelisk, tapered monolithic pillar, originally erected in pairs at the entrances of ancient Egyptian temples. The......
ocean fertilization, untested geoengineering technique designed to increase the uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2)......
Ellen Ochoa is an American administrator and former astronaut who was the first Hispanic woman to travel into space......
OCR, scanning and comparison technique intended to identify printed text or numerical data. It avoids the need......
oculus, (Latin: “eye”), in architecture, any of several structural elements resembling an eye. A small window that......
Oder–Havel Canal, German waterway northeast of Berlin, linking the Havel and Oder rivers. It is 52 mi (83 km) long,......
oeil-de-boeuf window, in architecture, a small circular or oval window, usually resembling a wheel, with glazing......
Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain was a German designer of the first operational jet engine. After obtaining his doctorate......
oil burner, heating device in which fuel oil is mixed with air under controlled conditions. In most burners oil......
One World Trade Center (One WTC), skyscraper in New York, New York, that is the centerpiece of reconstruction at......
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, Parisian opera house designed by Charles Garnier. The building, considered one of the masterpieces of the......
oratory, in architecture, a small, private chapel...
order, any of several styles of classical or Neoclassical architecture that are defined by the particular type......
Ordnance Survey International, former surveying, mapping, and aerial photography agency (1946–2001) of the British......
oriel, in architecture, a bay window in an upper story, supported from below by projecting corbels, or brackets......
Orient-Express, luxury train that ran from Paris to Constantinople (Istanbul) for more than 80 years (1883–1977).......
orientation, (from Latin oriens, orientum, “the rising sun”), in architecture, the position of a building in relation......
ornament, in architecture, any element added to an otherwise merely structural form, usually for purposes of decoration......
Oroville Dam, earth-fill dam on the Feather River, California, U.S. Completed by the state of California in 1968,......
Nikolaus Otto was a German engineer who developed the four-stroke internal-combustion engine, which offered the......
Adolf Overweg was a German geologist, astronomer, and traveler who was the first European to circumnavigate and......
John Oxley was a surveyor-general and explorer who played an important part in the exploration of eastern Australia......
Lake of the Ozarks, lake in south-central Missouri, U.S., in the scenic Ozark Mountains about 42 miles (68 km)......
Juan O’Gorman was a Mexican architect and muralist, known for his mosaic designs that adorned the facades of buildings.......
Pacific Railway Acts, (1862, 1864), two measures that provided federal subsidies in land and loans for the construction......
Pacific Scandal, (1872–73), charges of corruption against Canadian prime minister Sir John A. Macdonald in awarding......
pagoda, a towerlike, multistory, solid or hollow structure made of stone, brick, or wood, usually associated with......
palace, royal residence, and sometimes a seat of government or religious centre. The word is derived from the Palatine......
Palladian window, in architecture, three-part window composed of a large, arched central section flanked by two......
Timothy Palmer was a U.S. pioneer builder of covered timber truss bridges. A millwright, he was also a self-taught......
Pan-American Highway, network of highways connecting North America and South America. Originally conceived in 1923......
Panama Canal, lock-type canal, owned and administered by the Republic of Panama, that connects the Atlantic and......
panopticon, architectural form for a prison, the drawings for which were published by Jeremy Bentham in 1791. It......
Pantheon, building in Rome that was begun in 27 bc by the statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, probably as a building......
Panthéon, building in Paris that was begun about 1757 by the architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot as the Church of......
parapet, a dwarf wall or heavy railing around the edge of a roof, balcony, terrace, or stairway designed either......
Parliament Buildings, structures in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that house the Canadian Parliament (the Senate and......
Houses of Parliament, in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the seat of the bicameral Parliament,......
Sir Charles Algernon Parsons was a British engineer whose invention of a multi-stage steam turbine revolutionized......
password, in computing, a sequence of characters used to authenticate a user’s identity and authorize access to......
patio, in Spanish and Latin American architecture, a courtyard within a building, open to the sky. It is a Spanish......
pattern recognition, in computer science, the imposition of identity on input data, such as speech, images, or......
pavement, in civil engineering, durable surfacing of a road, airstrip, or similar area. The primary function of......
Sir Joseph Paxton was an English landscape gardener and designer of hothouses, who was the architect of the Crystal......
pedestal, in Classical architecture, support or base for a column, statue, vase, or obelisk. Such a pedestal may......
pediment, in architecture, triangular gable forming the end of the roof slope over a portico (the area, with a......
I.M. Pei was a Chinese-born American architect noted for his large, elegantly designed urban buildings and complexes.......
pendentive, in architecture, a triangular segment of a spherical surface, filling in the upper corners of a room,......
Pennsylvania Avenue, major thoroughfare of Washington, D.C. It runs for 7 miles (11 km) in a northwesterly direction......
Pennsylvania Railroad Company, largest of the trunkline railroads that connected the East Coast of the United States......
Pennsylvania Turnpike, one of the earliest major limited-access express highways in the United States, opened in......
Pentagon, large five-sided building in Arlington county, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., that serves as the headquarters......
penthouse, enclosed area on top of a building. Such a structure may house the top of an elevator shaft, air-conditioning......
Peter Peregrinus of Maricourt was a French crusader and scholar who wrote the first extant treatise describing......
Jean Perronet was a French civil engineer renowned for his stone arch bridges, especially the Pont de la Concorde,......
Persian Royal Road, ancient road running from Susa, the ancient capital of Persia, across Anatolia to Sardis and......
petroleum engineering, the branch of engineering that focuses on processes that allow the development and exploitation......
Petronas Twin Towers, pair of skyscraper office buildings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that are among the world’s......
photogrammetry, technique that uses photographs for mapmaking and surveying. As early as 1851 the French inventor......
piano nobile, (Italian: “noble floor”), in architecture, main floor of a Renaissance building. In the typical palazzo,......
Renzo Piano is an Italian architect best known for his high-tech public spaces, particularly his design (with Richard......
Auguste Piccard was a Swiss-born Belgian physicist notable for his exploration of both the upper stratosphere and......
Jacques Piccard was a Swiss oceanic engineer, economist, and physicist, who helped his father, Auguste Piccard,......
pier, in building construction, vertical loadbearing member, such as an intermediate support for adjacent ends......
pilaster, in Greco-Roman Classical architecture, shallow rectangular column that projects slightly beyond the wall......
pile, in building construction, a postlike foundation member used from prehistoric times. In modern civil engineering,......
pillar, in architecture and building construction, any isolated, vertical structural member such as a pier, column,......
piscina, in Roman times, an artificial reservoir used for swimming or as a fish pond. During the Middle Ages a......
pixel, Smallest resolved unit of a video image that has specific luminescence and colour. Its proportions are determined......
plasma arc gasification (PAG), waste-treatment technology that uses a combination of electricity and high temperatures......
plaster, a pasty composition (as of lime or gypsum, water, and sand) that hardens on drying and is used for coating......
plaster of paris, quick-setting gypsum plaster consisting of a fine white powder (calcium sulfate hemihydrate),......
playground, controlled setting for children’s play. This institutionalized environment consists of a planned, enclosed......
plinth, Lowest part, or foot, of a pedestal, podium, or architrave (molding around a door). It can also refer to......
plumbing, system of pipes and fixtures installed in a building for the distribution and use of potable (drinkable)......
pneumatic structure, Membrane structure that is stabilized by the pressure of compressed air. Air-supported structures......
podium, in architecture, any of various elements that form the “foot,” or base, of a structure, such as a raised......
pointing, in building maintenance, the technique of repairing mortar joints between bricks or other masonry elements.......
pole construction, Method of building that dates back to the Stone Age. Excavations in Europe show rings of stones......
Christopher Polhem was a Swedish mechanical and mining engineer. From 1693 to 1709 he devised water-powered machinery......
pollution control, in environmental engineering, any of a variety of means employed to limit damage done to the......
Pont Neuf, the oldest existing bridge across the Seine River via the Île de la Cité in Paris, built, with interruptions......
Ponte Sant’Angelo, ancient Roman bridge, probably the finest surviving in Rome itself, built over the Tiber River......
Ponte Vecchio, the first segmental arch bridge built in the West, which crosses over the Arno River at Florence......
Antonio da Ponte was an architect-engineer who built the Rialto Bridge in Venice. Though he was undoubtedly the......
pontoon bridge, floating bridge, used primarily but not invariably for military purposes. See also military bridge.......
porch, roofed structure, usually open at the sides, projecting from the face of a building and used to protect......
Ferdinand Porsche was an Austrian automotive engineer who designed the popular Volkswagen car. Porsche became general......
