Engineering has been an aspect of
life since the beginnings of human existence. The earliest practice of civil
engineering may have commenced between 4000 and 2000 BC in Ancient Egypt
and Mesopotamia
(Ancient Iraq) when humans started to abandon a nomadic existence,
creating a need for the construction of shelter. During this time,
transportation became increasingly important leading to the development of the
wheel and sailing.
Until modern times there was no
clear distinction between civil engineering and architecture, and the term
engineer and architect were mainly geographical variations referring to the
same person, often used interchangeably. The construction of Pyramids
in Egypt (circa 2700–2500 BC) might be considered the first instances of large
structure constructions. Other ancient historic civil engineering constructions
include the Qanat
water management system (the oldest older than 3000 years and longer than
71 km,) the Parthenon by Iktinos in Ancient
Greece (447–438 BC), the Appian Way
by Roman engineers (c. 312 BC), the Great Wall of China by General Meng T'ien
under orders from Ch'in Emperor Shih Huang Ti
(c. 220 BC)[6]
and the stupas constructed in ancient Sri Lanka
like the Jetavanaramaya and the extensive irrigation
works in Anuradhapura. The Romans developed civil
structures throughout their empire, including especially aqueducts,
insulae,
harbors,
bridges, dams and roads.
In the 18th century, the term civil
engineering was coined to incorporate all things civilian as opposed to
military engineering. The first self-proclaimed civil engineer was John Smeaton
who constructed the Eddystone Lighthouse. In 1771 Smeaton and
some of his colleagues formed the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers, a
group of leaders of the profession who met informally over dinner. Though there
was evidence of some technical meetings, it was little more than a social
society.
In 1818 the Institution of Civil
Engineers was founded in London, and in 1820 the eminent engineer Thomas Telford
became its first president. The institution received a Royal Charter in 1828,
formally recognising civil engineering as a profession. Its charter defined
civil engineering as:
the art of directing the great sources of power in nature
for the use and convenience of man, as the means of production and of traffic
in states, both for external and internal trade, as applied in the construction
of roads, bridges, aqueducts, canals, river navigation and docks for internal
intercourse and exchange, and in the construction of ports, harbours, moles,
breakwaters and lighthouses, and in the art of navigation by artificial power
for the purposes of commerce, and in the construction and application of
machinery, and in the drainage of cities and towns.