Civil Engineering (BS)

Structural Engineering

Structural engineers analyze and design buildings, bridges, towers, tunnels, and more. They identify loads on a structure and then design steel, concrete, timber, or masonry structures that can safely resist those loads. They also maintain and rehabilitate existing infrastructure.

Water Resources

Water resource engineers assess water supply in lakes, rivers, streams and underground in order to provide for human use while minimizing impact to ecological systems. In this career track, engineers design water infrastructure such as dams, levees, and canals.

Geotechnical Engineering

Geotechnical engineers are responsible for using experimental and computational methods to assess the complex nature of soils and rocks that underlie a construction site. They are responsible for the overall foundation design of structures like buildings, bridges, tunnels, and more.

Construction Engineering

Construction engineers possess the skils to bring digital designs into the physical world. Construction engineers master scheduling, management and logistics to complete projects on time and under budget. They are experts in navigating the fast-paced and unpredictable world of construction projects.

Engineering Surveying

Land surveying makes use of electronic distance measurement technology and GPS to establish the boundaries of a site and trace linear infrastructure routes such as roads and railways.

Environmental Engineering

Environmental engineers balance human needs – such as clean drinking water and energy production – with environmental and ecological stewardship. These engineers are experts in air, water, and soil, and protect these resources from the effects of industry.

The curriculum requires 135 semester credit hours, which breaks down as follows: 41 credit hours of mathematics and basic sciences, 52 credit hours of engineering topics, and 42 credit hours of general education requirements, such as economics, design, and the humanities.

For the first 3 weeks of summer after the sophomore year, students take an intensive 3-week course called Field Session. In this course, students perform engineering surveying in the field and then recreate and manipulate that data in the digital environment. This signature experience is unique to Mines.

Over the course of the 4-year curriculum, students have the opportunity to be exposed to a number of Civil Engineering subfields, such as structural engineering, water resources (hydrologic) engineering, geotechnical engineering, engineering surveying, construction engineering, and environmental engineering. The curriculum culminates in a 2-semester capstone design course in which students apply their technical knowledge and skills to a real-world design project.

The curriculum requirements may be viewed in detail in the Undergraduate Catalog. The advising flowcharts below provide a quick snapshot of the coursework in the curriculum.

Students: please be sure to follow the curricular requirements associated with your semester of admission. It is possible to change catalogs while enrolled – see the undergraduate program manager for details. Please note that the catalog contains the official curricular requirements. The flowcharts are provided for convenience, but they are not the official documents.

• 2024-25 Civil Engineering Curricular Flowchart
• 2023-24 Civil Engineering Curricular Flowchart
• 2022-23 Civil Engineering Curricular Flowchart
• 2021-22 Civil Engineering Curricular Flowchart
• 2019-20 Civil Engineering Curricular Flowchart
• 2017-18 Civil Engineering Curricular Flowchart
• 2016-17 Civil Engineering Curricular Flowchart
• 2015-16 Civil Engineering Curricular Flowchart
• 2014-15 Civil Engineering Curricular Flowchart
• 2013-14 Civil Engineering Curricular Flowchart

Please visit the CEE minors site.

Students can earn the Master of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering with as little as one additional year of study after their undergraduate degree at Mines.

The Civil & Environmental Engineering Combined undergraduate/graduate program allows courses at the 400 level and above, for the Mines degree programs listed below, to be used for double counting.  Students with uninterrupted registration from the time a Mines undergraduate degree is earned to the time a Mines graduate degree begins are eligible.  For eligible students whose courses meet these criteria, have been passed with a “B-” or better, and meet all other University, Department, Division, and Program requirements for graduate credit, up to 6 credit hours can be double counted, per the Mines Graduate Catalog.  Undergraduate Degree programs:

Civil Engineering
Environmental Engineering
Chemical & Biological Engineering
Chemistry
Geological Engineering
Geophysics
Mechanical Engineering
Petroleum Engineering
Mining Engineering

Students from other Mines undergraduate degree programs should contact the CEE department to discuss course options for double counting.

For further information on this opportunity, contact Department Manager Kimberly Brock at kbrock@mines.edu

Prospective students are encouraged to attend Preview Mines (Fall Semester) and Discover Mines (Spring Semester). To register for a Mines’ information session and campus tour (and/or housing tour), please contact admissions@mines.edu. Additional information can be found on their website https://apply.mines.edu/portal/campus-visit.

Current Mines students interested in the Civil Engineering program are welcome to set up an appointment with Dana Morrison at danamorrison@mines.edu.

The Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation commission of ABET, https://www.abet.org/, under the commission’s General Criteria and Program Criteria for Civil and Similarly Named Engineering Programs. 

The Program Educational Objectives are:

1. Graduates will uphold the standards of Mines as critical and creative innovators, motivators, collaborators, communicators, and leaders.
2. Graduates will be successfully employed in engineering, science, or other impactful careers.
3. Graduates will engage in continual learning by pursuing additional educational opportunities such as advanced degrees, professional licensure, conferences, training, networking, and society membership.
4. Graduates will be ambassadors of their field, contributing to collective knowledge in industry, research, and society.
5. Graduates will demonstrate ethical and responsible behavior in their professional endeavors, adhering to established codes of conduct and promoting the well-being of society and the environment.
6. Graduates will address emerging world challenges by adapting to rapidly evolving technology and industry trends and remaining current and relevant in their respective fields.

The Student Outcomes are:

1. an ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics.
2. an ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.
3. an ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.
4. an ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.
5. an ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives.
6. an ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgement to draw conclusions.
7. an ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.

The enrollment and graduation data for the Civil Engineering program and other Mines programs can be found on the homepage of the Office of Institutional Research.