Civil Engineering Environmental Issues

Of course!

With the world being so aware of environmental issues nowadays, modern Civil Engineering degrees include modules to specifically get the students to consider the effects of the projects they’re building.

We are consistently striving to lessen our impact on the world in every stage of a new project.

In most countries, a new mining project is not allowed to go ahead unless there is a full and detailed remediation plan to be undertaken once the mine is closed. That is, once we have all the minerals out of the deposit, the mining company must remediate the land and replant any vegetation.

Below is an open pit mine in West Virginia that has been remediated:

Tunnel projects are also getting better and better at limiting their impact on the environment. Often, we can create an entire tunnel underground with only around 3cm of surface settlement - leaving the above ground structures and habitats essentially unaffected.

Further, we’re trying to put as much infrastructure underground as possible. Modern cities are now aiming to put unsightly things such as utilities and car parks underground and out of sight.