The Civil Engineering Department was established in September 1996 under the Building Technology (BT) Department to train professionals to take up the middle level supervisory role in civil engineering and its allied industries. Following accreditation in 1997, the Civil Engineering Department was separated from the BT Department. The department, since its establishment, has been offering Higher National Diploma (HND) programme in Civil Engineering and has trained many professionals in all the civil engineering disciplines.

The department was privileged to get NUFFIC funding in 2006 to introduce the Competency-Based Training (CBT) concept of learning in the Polytechnic – a concept that allows students to undertake six months industrial attachment with any reputable civil engineering establishment to enhance their knowhow, practical skills and knowledge, and to have a better understanding and appreciation of industry. The CBT concept is therefore an avenue to achieve a highly knowledgeable and skilled workforce for socio-economic development.

The department was further accredited in 2009 to run a two-year top-up part time programme leading to the award of Bachelor of Technology (BTech.) in Civil Engineering to upgrade the Higher National Diploma (HND) graduates and to address the progression gap created under the HND system. The top-up programme is to further strengthen and increase the competencies of middlelevel
construction staff to meet the demand for highly qualified personnel for the country’s growing socio-economic and manpower development challenges.

Vision

To be a Centre of Excellence for producing qualified and competent Civil Engineering Professionals to perform all tasks relating to the design, supervision, management and research in the construction industry in Ghana and the world at large.

Objectives

The core objective of the departments is to produce professional engineers who would be able to analyse, design, construct and maintain civil engineering works and systems, and be adequately prepared with the requisite skills to set up their own small and medium scale industries. Our graduates would therefore be able to:

• Design and supervise the construction and maintenance of highway and transportation structures;
• Design and supervise the construction and maintenance of steel and timber structures;
• Conduct geotechnical investigations;
• Design and supervise the construction and maintenance of water and sanitation systems;
• Manage civil engineering projects that are entrepreneurial in nature, and conduct research.