Top 7 Senior Design Projects on Civil Engineering (with Videos)

“Civil Engineering”, one of the most underrated engineering branches right now along with the likes of Chemical engineering. Many people consider civil engineering as an outdated branch these days and undoubtedly it has been one of the underdogs in this past decade or so.

Civil engineering along with mechanical engineering is one of the core branches of engineering and irrespective of how the world is progressing, this field will be having evergreen opportunities! It is just the thinking of the people which has to change. So, in this article, apart from discussing on aspects such as what exactly is civil engineering and what role does a civil engineer perform, we also discuss about some of the good senior design projects for civil engineering students.

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1. GIS

2. Structural & Foundation Analysis

3. CPM & BIM

4. Tall Building Design

5. Construction Technology (Career Building Course)

6. Foundation Design

7. Construction Project Management

8. Building Information Modelling

9. Seismic Design

10. Quantity Surveying

11. ETABS Software

12. Project Management with Primavera

Here are some of the things that pop up into people’s mind once they hear the word Civil Engineering:

• The picture that first comes into the mind is that of a typical construction site worker who keeps mixing cement in equal proportions
• Another point that comes in is, a lot of fieldwork is required.
• We often relate them as the brains required behind the construction of any public or private structure like buildings, bridges, flyovers, canals and what not!
• We often think that is “was” a stream in demand in the past and it is an outdated stream as of now and has no future in this current world, which is moving towards the much more advanced machines and automated technology.

Although this might sound weird, many people misunderstand civil engineering with the above points (with the exception of point 3), which is well and truly correct!

Even if we enter any university and check the strength of all departments, it is likely that there are very few civil engineers as people think that there would be no job opportunities in this field, but if they think that whatever they are thinking is true, then hell no!!!!

Another aim of this article is to change the minds of people and make them believe that civil engineering is still the stream in demand and the go-to stream in this decade.

So, let’s start off our article!

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What exactly do civil engineers do?

To answer this question, first, we need to know what is civil engineering?

Well, Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with designing, construction and maintenance of all the physically and naturally built environment and structures which includes airports, parks, buildings, statues, bridges, flyovers, canals, dams, railways, roadways, etc (which has an endless list probably)

It is the second-oldest engineering discipline after military engineering. This field finds its application right from the municipal level of the government to its highest level and right from the individual house owners level in the private sector to international companies.

Some of the most famous companies which run on civil engineers are:

L&T, Atkins, Arup, Stantec, TISCO, Reliance, etc.

Given below are the few of the many important roles performed by a civil engineer:

• They can create a completely new environment by building structures and protecting the environment with a conservative approach.
• They are literally the brains behind every construction work that goes on!
• They plan, design and construct all the structures like roads, railways, airports, harbours, power plants and what not? (an endless list that goes on and on!)
• They undertake complex calculations such as the estimated force a particular structure can bear, the required dimensions of a particular pillar in order to resist the force and stand strong.
• They use various software for analysis and designing of structures. They ensure that all the resources are used efficiently and make the project construction as cost-effective as possible!
• They also study the location where they construct a particular structure. They check whether the land can withstand the load of the structure, if it can withstand, for how much weight can it withstand which can help them determine the magnitude of the construction, like the number of floors to be constructed.

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How to choose a senior design project topic?

So, here are some of the things you need to keep in mind while choosing a senior design project topic:

• Firstly, you should have a clear mindset about the topic you are choosing, you need to have an idea of what the topic is and need to be able to justify the reason as in why you choose that topic. It is recommended to take a topic on which you have an edge over the others and which interests or amuses you the most! It should never be a random choice!
• Also, do keep in mind that your selected topic needs to have a value addition such that it enhances its value so that it can be used in any business idea or by any company.
• Try to make your project topic a basis on which people can make a ground-breaking discovery or can act as a solution to a long-term problem and which can be advantageous to people.
• Finally, try to select a topic which can develop you as an individual as much as possible. Make sure that it involves as much explanation and presentation as possible such that it can improve your technical and Managerial skills and most importantly your presentation skills. Presentation is all that matters at the end of the day!

7 Best senior design projects for civil engineering students

Below mentioned civil projects are based on the latest trend and you can develop those projects as your senior design project during your academics.

1. Structural and foundation analysis: In this senior design project, you will learn how to perform analysis on various design structures so as to determine various factors like the extent of force which it can bear etc. you do this with the help of software like SAP2000, SAFE and ETABS. While working on this civil project, you will learn aspects like frame analysis, application of wind & seismic loads among other concepts. The link for the same is provided below:

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2. Construction Project Management: In this senior design project, you will learn how to manage a construction project using Primavera & Primavera Risk Analysis software. If you are an engineer who has got that management skills in you, then this is a perfect civil engineering project which consists of equal blends of both! You will also be learning various project budgeting techniques, how to manage resources effectively and efficiently! The link for the same is provided below:

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3. Seismic design civil project: In this senior design project, you will be designing houses which can resist seismic!!! Sounds amazing right?! You will be doing so by using SAPS2000, ETABS along with concepts like frame analysis and application of seismic loads. The link for the same is provided below:

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4. GIS: Ever wondered how google maps work. By working on this civil project, you will get to know. In this senior design project, you will learn practically about data manipulation concepts of GIS, data collection and data processing with the help of Q-GIS software. And will create a park map with the help of total station data.

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5. Tall building design: In this senior design civil project, you will understand the concepts of a tall building and design your very own tall building using industrial-grade software like ETABS and SAP2000. You will also perform various analysis of the designed structure.

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6. Quantity surveying: In this civil project, you will perform estimation on different construction projects like 1BHK and 2BHK residential buildings and single room buildings using centreline and longwall – short wall method. Also, you will perform quantity surveying operations using Primavera and ArchiCAD software.

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7. Building Information modelling: Most of the construction projects are failed to meet the deadline and end up in reworks. In this senior design project, you will find a solution to this problem with the help of Graphisoft ArchiCAD software. You use BIM tools to build a multi-storey building prior construction to prevent unwanted problems.

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For more exciting projects, refer to this link

So, my dear friends, I end this article by telling one thing to you all. If a doctor commits a mistake, one life may be lost, but if a civil engineer commits a mistake, many lives would be lost. So kindly realise the power of a civil engineer and change your mind!

Top 7 Senior Design Projects on Civil Engineering (with Videos)