The history of Civil Engineering Department coincides with that of YILDIZ TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY (YTU) and it is the second oldest civil engineering department in Turkey. YTU started education in 1911 under the name of "Konduktor Mekteb-i Alisi", the establishment continued as "Nafia Fen Mektebi" after 1923, and its name was changed to Istanbul Technical School in 1937, to Istanbul State Academy of Engineering and Architecture in 1969, to YILDIZ UNIVERSITY in 1982 and finally to YILDIZ TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY in 1992. 1450 undergraduate and 270 graduate students are currently enrolled in the Department.

The Civil Engineering Department has seven divisions: Structural Engineering, Hydraulics, Transportation, Geotechnics, Engineering Mechanics, Construction Management, and structural Materials. Undergraduate studies are carried out in two separate programs, the first between 8.00 a.m.-3.50 p.m., the second between 4.00 p.m. and 9.50 p.m. on weekdays, and 9.00 a.m. - 12.50 a.m. on saturdays. The department conducts M.Sc and Ph.D programs within the Institute of Science and Technology (School of Graduate Studies) in the areas of Structural Engineering, Hydraulics, Coastal and Harbor Engineering, Geotechnics, Transportation and Engineering Mechanics.

YILDIZ TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY offers students the opportunity to have education in a historical campus located at the heart of Istanbul, Besiktas, on the hill top of Yildiz, offering exraordinary and unique view of the Bosphorus. There are total of 33 student clubs for students with different interest groups which the students could participate the activities. At the main campus where the Civil Engineerin Department is located, there are five cantinas with open and closed seatings, two restaurants, a mess hall, a post office and coiffeur serving students and the personnel and a book store serves studends and academics.

There are six laboratories, supporting, teaching activities for undergraduate students and are used for conducting experimental works of the M.Sc. and Ph.D. students on their research activities. 

• Soil Mechanics Laboratory,
• Hydraulics and Coastal Engineering Laboratory,
• Structural Engineering Laboratory,
• Structural Materials Laboratory,
• Transportation Laboratory,
• Geology Laboratory.

Foreign Affairs:

Erasmus partners;

• The University of Portsmouth, UK.
• Universite De La Rochelle, France.
• Universidade Technica De Lisboa, Portugal.
• Czech Teknical University, Czech Republic.
• Halmstad University, Sweden.
• Vilnius Gediminas Teknical University, Lithuania.
• Technishe Universitat Braunchweig , Germain.

Spinnaker Group;

Spinnaker (Scientific Programs of an International Network according to the Knowledge of Engineer education and Research) Group; was formed after the conference held between dates 15-20 July 2006 at the Portsmount University of England, to enhance the academic relations and partnership between participant universities listed below.

• The University of Granada, Spain.
• The University of Coruna, Spain.
• The Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic.
• The King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia.
• The Kingdom University of Bahrain, Bahrain.
• The Yildiz Teknical University, Turkey.
• The Prydniporov'ska State Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Ukrain.
• The University of Al-Fateh,Tripoli, Libya.
• The Fachhochschule of Trier, Germain.
• The University of Luneburg, Germany.
• The University of Portsmouth, UK.