Civil engineering students are taught various topics that one needs to cover in designing, constructing, and maintaining infrastructure projects. In the beginning, they emphasize the fundamental courses, such as mathematics, physics, and material science, which would help them in understanding the principle behind structures and systems.
These are core subjects in structural engineering, where students are taught the design and analysis of buildings, bridges, and other structures; geotechnical engineering, which deals with the properties of soil and rock and their interaction with structures; and transportation engineering, focusing on the design and management of transportation systems. In environmental engineering, students understand how infrastructure influences the environment. Water resources engineering is about managing water systems.
Surveying and construction management are also topics for which they learn to be able to design and manage the construction of buildings and other edifices properly. Project planning, structural dynamics, and reinforced concrete design make up the last topics students study in civil engineering in preparation for engineering in the real world.