The Department of Civil Engineering was established in 1974 and has an excellent reputation at both national and international levels.  The B.Sc. Civil Engineering Honours Degree Programme has produced high quality students, and continues to receive the approval of external examiners from the region and overseas.  Professional accreditation of the B.Sc. Programme is carried out by the Zimbabwe Institution of Engineers, and links are maintained with the UK Institution of Civil Engineers and other professional bodies, through active staff membership.

The Department has four conventional civil engineering sections which are: water and wastewater engineering, structural engineering, soils and geotechnical engineering, and transportation systems and structures.  Its adequately equipped hydraulics, water quality, bitumen, and soils laboratories, as well as the Timber Research Centre offer excellent research facilities and opportunities for undertaking research for BSc, MSc, M.Phil and D.Phil degrees.

The Department is a founding member of the new WaterNet Master’s Degree Programme in Integrated Water Resources Management.  WaterNet is a network of institutions in Southern and Eastern Africa as well as Unesco-IHE of the Netherlands whose brief is research, training and education in water.  At present the membership is around 58 institutions.

The Department of Civil Engineering offers two distinct programmes-of-study:

A full-time undergraduate programme leading to the Bachelor of Science (BSc) Honours Degree in Civil Engineering.  It is a four level programme and normally takes four years to complete.

A Postgraduate programme leading to Master’s Degree (MSc.) in Integrated Water Resources Management being offered in collaboration with the University of Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania, University of Malawi, University of Western Cape, University of Botswana and the Polytechnic of Namibia. Other cooperating partners include Unesco-IHE of the Netherlands and the Institute of Water and Sanitation and Development (IWSD) of Harare, Zimbabwe. Students take core modules at the University of Zimbabwe and the University of Dar es Salaam and then pursue a preferred specialization at any one of the 5 collaborating institutions as well as at the University of Zimbabwe. The thesis study is often carried out in the home country of the student and coordinated by the core institution at which the student is enrolled i.e. University of Dar es Salaam or University of Zimbabwe.  The programme is fully sponsored by WaterNet, which currently is funded by the Dutch and Swedish Governments.  The duration of the programme is one and a half years.  It consists of a taught part (one year for full-time students) followed by a dissertation (half a year for full-time students). Students are drawn from SADC and East Africa.  Please visit the following website:  www.waternetonline.org.