Civil engineers are a part of our everyday lives, the entire infrastructure of our environment has been influenced by them, from bridges and buildings to utilities and transport; there is no escaping our reliance on their knowledge and skills.
In this course you will gain a wide range of knowledge and skills as well as a concern for the environment and its resources and for public health and safety.
With an excellent reputation and strong links with industry, this course will put you in good stead to become a successful professional civil engineer.
Each year of this course contains six modules. Alongside five of these modules you will complete an integrated design exercise which blends the learning and skills from each module to the application of a client brief. One module in the final year is dedicated to your individual project.
You can opt to take an industrial placement year between the second and third year of your course. This has a number of benefits: you will improve your employment prospects after graduation, you get to see the engineering theory you have learned in action, they are often paid positions, and many of our industrial placement students ultimately improve their degree classification over their second year results to receive top class degrees. Successful completion of an industrial placement can lead to the award of an extra Diploma in Professional Studies.
Year 1
Engineering Mathematics
An understanding and ability to use mathematics are essential skills for success in engineering. This module will review and expand on the following subjects: algebra, trigonometry, functions, geometry, vectors, complex numbers and calculus, with emphasis on their applications to engineering.
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Civil Engineering Materials and Geology
Civil engineering employs the use of a wide range of materials, in this module you will develop your understanding of those materials and study their fundamental behaviour. Subjects include construction materials, geology, soil mechanics and laboratory testing.
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Structures
You will develop an ability to analyses statically determinate structures and design simple structural steel work elements in this module. The module content is split into analysis and design. Analysis includes the subjects rigid body statics, material properties and Euler theory. Design subjects include design of structural steelwork elements in simple construction, and fire and corrosion protection systems for structural steelwork.
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Civil Engineering Construction
There are a broad spectrum of elements involved with civil engineering construction. This module will develop your understanding of those elements from tunnels to contract law. Subjects include site safety, demolition works, sustainability, resource efficiency, consulting engineers and contractors, client's requirement and financial planning and control.
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Civil Engineering Surveying
In this module you will develop your understanding and ability to undertake a range of civil engineering surveying tasks, such as setting out, land surveying and quantity surveying. The main subject areas are land surveying techniques, setting out techniques, modern surveying techniques and quantity surveying. You will cover subjects and learn techniques such as setting up a level, theodolite and total station, construction lasers, GPS, EDM, co-ordinates, bearings and contract pricing.
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Civil Engineering Communication
As a successful civil engineer it is important to have a wide range of well developed communications skills allowing you to communicate effectively not only with other engineers but also clients, contractors and labourers. This module will develop your drawing, written reports, presentations and specification writing.
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Integrated Design Exercise
This module is a group design exercise which will address a challenging client brief. It will give you the opportunity to combine knowledge from a wide range of year 1 subjects, and develop interpersonal and management skills that will help to prepare you for a career in industry.
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Year 2
Engineering Mathematics
This module will build on the engineering mathematics module in year 1 and develop more advanced knowledge and skills in mathematical analysis, to enable you to tackle more advanced engineering problems. Subjects covered include partial differentiation, determinants and matrices, vector analysis, Laplace transforms and functions of a complex variable.
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Soil Mechanics
All structures are dependent on the ground they're built on, in this module you will be introduced to the principles of soil mechanics including the general behaviour of different soil types under loading and unloading conditions and how this behaviour may be predicted. Subjects include geotechnical investigation, soil strength and transient groundwater flow.
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Structures
This module builds on your knowledge from year 1 and will develop your ability to analyse statically indeterminate structures and design simple reinforced concrete and masonry, structural elements. Subjects include stability of struts and frames, virtual work for statically indeterminate frameworks, detailing of reinforced concrete connections and bar bending schedules and design of freestanding masonry walls and panels.
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Design and Construction Management
Project planning and execution are a vital part of the role of a civil engineer. In this module you practice these skills, culminating in a residential field course which will see you working in a team to construct structures from bridges to oil rigs.
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Highway Standards and Applications
Our highways are crucial to our lives, whether that be economic or recreational. In this module you will learn the principles which underlie current UK practice in highway design and construction and analysis, including the application of statistical techniques to transport engineering problems.
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Fluid Mechanics
You will develop an understanding of civil engineering hydraulics concentrating on flow in pipelines. The subjects covered include fluid properties, hydrostatics, fluid dynamics, flow in pipes, Reynolds experiments, pipe systems and networks, and water distribution systems.
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Integrated Design Exercise
This module is a group design exercise which will address a challenging client brief. It will give you the opportunity to combine knowledge from a wide range of year 2 subjects, and develop interpersonal and management skills that will help to prepare you for a career in industry.
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Year 3
Individual Project
One of the most important parts of your preparation for your future career, whether in industry or research, is the undertaking of an individual project. Projects are based on particular civil engineering themes of industrial relevance.
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Geotechnical Engineering
In this module you will learn to develop approaches to the design and analysis of soil slopes and foundations. The subjects include stability of embankments, stability of earth dams, stability of shallow foundations on fine and coarse grained soils, design based on in situ tests and stability of deep foundations in fine and coarse grained soils.
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Structures
This module will further develop your ability to analyse statically indeterminate structures and design complex structures. Subjects include moment distribution with sway, plastic section properties, Hillerborg strip methods, design of reinforced and prestressed concrete and design of steel portal frames and moment connections.
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Finite Element Analysis with Seismic Engineering
This module will introduce stiffness and finite element analysis as applied to civil engineering structures, and the fundamentals of seismic analysis and the effects of earthquake activity on the design of ground slopes, earth dams, foundations and structures
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Case Studies in Environmental Engineering
You will develop the ability to identify and deal with environmental issues relating to civil engineering, through a series of case studies. The subjects include environmental risks associated with ground engineering and water resources, transport and the environment, landscape, heritage, and biodiversity impacts, and engineering solutions.
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Water Resources
This module will develop your understanding of sediment transport, wave theory, pressure transients in closed systems and hydrological science. The subjects covered include surface water hydrology, open channel flow, steady non-uniform flow, hydraulic structures, water waves, and hydraulic models.
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Integrated Design Exercise
This module is a group design exercise which will address a challenging client brief. It will give you the opportunity to combine knowledge from a wide range of year 3 subjects, and develop interpersonal and management skills that will help to prepare you for a career in industry.
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