Professional Concepts Portal

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Frameworks for professions series: for understanding engineering processes and the environments in which engineering professions practice.

An aspirational vision of Civil Engineering (CE) for 2025

Not unexpectedly, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) dominates the field in defining the future vision of civil engineering. In ASCE's vision, outcomes paired with explanations provide "a desirable deliverable for stakeholders ... with each outcome supported by a descriptive and illustrative explanation." [1] As ASCE itself acknowledges, these outcomes will evolve over time as stakeholders provide input and market changes drive the profession to adapt to future challenges. [2]

Semantics of Civil Engineering

Semantics is the study of meaning, focusing on the relationship between words and how they are used. As used on this website, civil-engineering semantics is the study of meaning that is used for understanding the practice of civil engineering through language and models.

The general approach is to formalize the meanings of civil-engineering terms and models by constructing engineering objects, processes, workflows and schemas by denotation – i.e., referring to something literal, rather than using metaphor.

The practical necessity for this study is the terminology issues in civil-engineering practice where terms are used interchangeably – or worse, inconsistently. These issues need to be sorted out before specific knowledge concepts can be advanced. For convenience, each article on civil-engineering practice and knowledge identifies semantic issues with a link back to a page in this section that addresses the problem in meaning and provides recommendations.

Civil Engineering Models

(Under construction.)

Civil Engineering Processes

Organizational process assets are the plans, processes, policies, procedures, and knowledge bases specific to – and used by – the performing organization. They include any artifact, practice, or knowledge from any or all of the organizations involved in the project that can be used to perform or govern the project.

These process assets include formal and informal plans, processes, policies, procedures, and knowledge bases. They also include the organization’s knowledge bases such as lessons learned and historical information. Organizational process assets may include completed schedules, risk data, and earned-value data. They are inputs to most planning processes; throughout the project, project-team members may update and add to them as necessary. Organizational process assets are often grouped into two categories:

  1. Processes and procedures
  2. Corporate knowledge bases [3]

Civil Engineering Environments

PMI notes in the PMBOK:

"Projects and project management take place in an environment that is broader than that of the project itself. Understanding this broader context helps ensure that work is carried out in alignment with the organization’s goals and managed in accordance with the organization’s established practices." [3]

Civil Engineering Projects

Although ASCE does not formally define "project", the concept is deeply embedded in ASCE's vision of civil engineering. The term appears many times in the Vision 2025 document, which notes that civil engineers provide the "essential underpinnings of design and project oversight." [4] Civil engineering will continue to be focused on "the definition, selection, and implementation of projects." [5] These projects can range from simple subdivisions or road projects to immense public works.

The primary focus of RiskWiki is complex civil-engineering projects.

Civil Engineering Programs

Although ASCE does not define "program", the concept is also deeply embedded in ASCE's Vision 2025. The term appears even more frequently than "project," but mostly in relation to educational programs (ABET programs, baccalaureate degree programs, civil-engineering education programs, professional development programs, etc.), not in the context of physical project execution and delivery as practiced by, for example, the US Army Corps of Engineers, EPA, or DOE.

Civil engineers play a pivotal role in such programs, but they are not fully visible in that vision.

A secondary focus of RiskWiki is civil-engineering programs.

Civil Engineering Knowledge and Meta-Knowledge Models

Classic taxonomic model of Civil Engineering Knowledge

As currently envisioned in the ASCE Body of Knowledge (2nd edition), the model is discipline-specific and makes no explicit distinction between civil-engineering knowledge and meta-knowledge.

Foundational Outcomes

Technical Outcomes

Professional (or Experiential) Outcomes

The key pathway to this set of outcomes is a graduate-level course such as "Introduction to professional practice in Civil Engineering."

See draft syllabus: Introduction to professional practice in Civil Engineering.

Ontological models of Civil Engineering Knowledge and Meta-knowledge

Alternatively, civil-engineering outcomes can be structured on an ontological basis:

  • First around civil-engineering design products (foundational and technical),
  • Then around integrating these designs into executed projects and programs.

Discipline Specific Foundational Outcomes

Discipline Specific Technical Outcomes

Project Foundational Outcomes

Project Specific Technical Outcomes

Project Execution Outcomes

The key pathway to this project-execution set of outcomes is a graduate-level course such as "A Civil Engineering platform for project management":

See draft syllabus: A Civil Engineering platform for project management.

Program Execution Outcomes

(See also: Program Development, Program Definition, Program Life Cycle and Phase Models, Program Delivery Methods.)

Professional (or Experiential) Outcomes (again)

The key pathway to this project-execution set of outcomes is a graduate-level course in "Introduction to professional practice in Civil Engineering" (see syllabus link above).

Notes

  1. ↑ ASCE, The Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025, 2006, p. 19, ISBN 978-0-7844-7886-8.
  2. ↑ American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for the 21st Century, 2nd ed., 2008, Appendix J, p. 113.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), 5th ed., 2013, Sec. 2, p. 19.
  4. ↑ ASCE, The Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025, 2006, p. 3.
  5. ↑ ASCE, The Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025, 2006, p. 59.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Internal test note from original RiskWiki draft.

See Also

Wikipedia articles and projects:

References

  • ASCE, The Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025, 2006.
  • American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for the 21st Century, 2nd ed., 2008.
  • Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), 5th ed., 2013.
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