Mar 28, 2024  
2021-2022 UMaine Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2021-2022 UMaine Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Civil Engineering


Return to {$returnto_text} Return to: Colleges and Programs

OVERVIEW OF DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

Minimum number of credits required to graduate: 129

Minimum Cumulative GPA required to graduate: 2.0

Minimum Grade requirements for courses to count toward major: None.

Other GPA requirements to graduate: A minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 in CIE courses.

Required Course(s) for fulfilling Capstone Experience: CIE 411, 413

Contact Information: Shaleen Jain, Professor and Chair, 5711 Boardman Hall, Room 105, Tel: (207) 581-2170, email:  shaleen.jain@maine.edu


Civil and environmental engineers are primarily responsible for planning, designing, and constructing facilities to serve society, all providing for the health and safety of its citizens. These facilities include highways and railroads, bridges and tunnels, airports and harbors, hydroelectric dams and power plants, irrigation and flood control projects, and the foundations and frames of buildings. Environmental engineers plan and design water purification plants, pollution control facilities, and other environmental protection projects. An engineer may specialize in one of these areas and may further specialize in a particular function such as design, management, or construction. Our programs educational objectives prepare graduates to:

  1. Practice the disciplines of transportation, environmental, structural, water resources, and geotechnical engineering, and/or related fields.
  2. Engage in advanced education, research, and development.
  3. Pursue continuing education and professional licensure.
  4. Promote and advance public health and safety, and enhance quality of life.
  5. Act in a responsible, professional, and ethical manner.

More information about the department and the program can be found on our web site.

Program Description
The multifaceted nature of this society-serving profession dictates that civil engineers have proficiency in five areas: structural, geotechnical, environmental, water resources, and transportation engineering. To achieve that objective, students need to be proficient in mathematics through differential equations; probability and statistics; calculus-based physics; and general chemistry. The ability to conduct laboratory experiments and to critically analyze and interpret data in more than one of the four above-mentioned major areas is emphasized throughout the program. Design is integrated throughout the professional component of the curriculum by means of design experiences and by functioning on multidisciplinary teams.

Since civil and environmental engineering is a societal profession, our engineers may also be faced with economic, ethical, political, social, and legal issues. Moreover, civil engineers must be able to communicate effectively both orally and in writing. Therefore, societal issues and communication skills are emphasized in our civil and environmental engineering courses. Moreover, the curriculum provides for Human Values and Social Context courses, including ethics, writing and public speaking. A two-course senior capstone course sequence, taken in the senior year, provides students the opportunity to apply their education to a realistic civil engineering project, while gaining understanding of professional practice issues.

Degrees are awarded upon satisfactory completion of 129 credits at an accumulative grade point average of not less than 2.0 in Civil Engineering courses.

The program in Civil Engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org. The program currently grants 50-60 BS degrees per year, and our present undergraduate enrollment is about 270 students. Annual student enrollment data can be found at https://umaine.edu/oir/majors-report/, and information on degrees granted is posted at https://umaine.edu/oir/degrees-conferred/.

Cooperative Work Experience Program Option
Students who are engaged in engineering related summer jobs under the direction of the department’s co-op coordinator can earn three credits of technical elective through the cooperative education program of the department.

Employment Opportunities
Civil and environmental engineers work in consulting firms, construction, manufacturing industries such as paper, chemical, and ship building in the engineering offices of cities and towns, for government agencies and in private practice.

Scholarships
The department offers PaCEsetter Scholarships for outstanding first-year students majoring in civil and environmental engineering. In addition, students can apply for college and departmental scholarships through the College of Engineering and departmental scholarships through the department.

Required Courses in Suggested Sequence for the B.S. in Civil Engineering


The recommended sequence of the four-year curriculum is outlined below. Copies can also be obtained in the Civil and Environmental Engineering office with detailed explanation of the requirements. This program can be adapted to a student’s special scheduling needs in consultation with an academic advisor.

First Year - Second Semester


Second Year - Second Semester


Third Year - First Semester


Third Year - Second Semester


Fourth Year - First Semester


  • Credits: 3
  • (footnote 2,6)

  • Credits: 2
  • (footnote 6)

  • Civil Engineering Elective Credits: 3 (footnotes 3 and 4)
  • Civil Engineering Elective Credits: 3 (footnotes 3 and 4)
  • Human Values and Social Context Elective Credits: 3 (footnote 1)
  • Civil Engineering or Technical Elective Credits: 3 (footnote 3 and 4)

Fourth Year - Second Semester


  • Credits: 3
  • Civil Engineering Elective Credits: 3 (footnotes 3 and 4)
  • Civil Engineering or Technical Elective Credits: 3 (footnotes 3 and 1)
  • Human Values and Social Context Elective Credits: 3 (footnote 1)

Concentrations


Concentrations may be completed in Environmental Engineering, Water Resources Engineering, Structural Engineering, and Transportation Engineering.  Students desiring a concentration must declare it with the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department before the start of their final semester.  To earn a concentration, a student must complete three 400-level electives with a grade of C or better in the concentration area as defined below.

Explanation of Requirements - footnotes


1. Students are assisted by faculty advisors in developing an elective program to meet their individual needs within the University’s general education requirements. While most of the general education requirements are automatically met with a civil engineering degree, a student is required to select an additional 15 credit hours of electives to help meet the 18 credit hour “Human Values and Social Context” requirement (the required CMJ 103 satisfies the other three credit hours). Courses used for credit as an Approved Science Elective or Technical Elective and ENG 320 cannot be used for credit in the Human Values and Social Contexts area, but can be used to fulfill HVSC sub-categories such as Population and the Environment.
2. General education requirements mandate two writing intensive courses. CIE 412 is designated as writing intensive course within the CIE major, while ENG 320 meets the outside the major writing intensive course.
3. Civil Engineering and technical electives must be a minimum of 21 credit hours with no more than two technical elective courses (6 credits maximum). Civil engineering electives are advanced (400 or 500 level) civil engineering courses. The technical elective is an advanced Civil Engineering course or CIE 394 Civil Engineering Practice or other advanced level engineering, science, or mathematics course relevant to Civil Engineering. A list of technical electives is available in the department and undergraduate student guide.
4. An additional requirement of the CIE Electives is that students take a CIE elective course in three of the five civil engineering subdisciplines: Transportation (CIE 42X), Environmental (CIE 43X), Structural (CIE44X), Water Resources (CIE 45X), and Geotechnical (CIE 46X).
5. Three credits of approved engineering science electives, usually in mechanical or electrical engineering, are required. Civil Engineering courses cannot be used for these three specific credit hours. Typical courses taken are MEE 230 Thermodynamics I, MEE 270 Dynamics, ECE 209 Fundamentals of Electric Circuits.
6. CIE 413 must be taken in the Fall semester immediately preceding CIE 411.
7. Courses that will satisfy the Approved Science Elective are: BIO 100 Basic Biology, BIO 122/BIO 123 Biology: The Living Science, ERS 101 Introduction to Geology, ERS 102 Environmental Geology of Maine, SMS 302/303 Oceanography, and EES 140/141 Soil Science.

SPECIAL NOTE:

Sixteen credit hours of engineering design courses are required. Eleven hours are earned in the required courses. At least five additional design credits must be included in the electives selected by the student.  The College of Engineering only allows seniors whose “advancement in the field will permit their taking a graduate level course among graduate students without disadvantage to themselves” to take 500-level courses.The design content of CIE electives are as follows:

Engineering Science and Design Content of Departmental Electives

Course      Engineering Design    Engineering Science    Subject Area

CIE 394              1-3                           0                                    —-

CIE 424              2                              1                             Transportation

CIE 425              1                              2                             Transportation

CIE 426              3                              0                             Transportation

CIE 428              3                              0                             Transportation

CIE 430              3                              1                             Environmental

CIE 431              3                              0                             Environmental

CIE 434              4                              0                             Environmental

CIE 439              0                              3                             Environmental

CIE 440              0                              4                             Structures

CIE 442              4                              0                             Structures

CIE 443              4                              0                             Structures

CIE 450              1                              2                             Water Resources

CIE 455              1                              2                             Water Resources

CIE 456              1                              2                             Water Resources

CIE 460              3                              0                             Geotechnical

CIE 480                                              3

CIE 533              0                              3                             Environmental

CIE 534              0                              3                             Environmental

CIE 537              0                              3                             Environmental

CIE 540              0                              3                             Structures

CIE 543              2                              1                             Structures

CIE 544              4                              0                             Structures

CIE 545              0                              3                             Structures

CIE 548              3                              0                             Structures

CIE 549              0                              3                             Structures

CIE 556              1                              2                             Water Resources

CIE 562              3                              0                             Geotechnical

CIE 563              1                              1                             Geotechnical

CIE 564              3                              0                             Geotechnical

CIE 565              3                              0                             Geotechnical

CIE 566              3                              0                             Geotechnical

CIE 567              3                              0                             Geotechnical

Return to {$returnto_text} Return to: Colleges and Programs