Book excerpt: Special issue of the Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, May/June 2003, Volume 15, Issue 3. This special issue contains 11 papers presentingØØthe latest developments in the practical application of nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques to civil engineering materials and structures. Modern civil engineering structures incorporate complicated multimaterial components that require special monitoring through sophisticated NDE, which must be drawn from a range of physical phenomena. With a focus on cutting-edge techniques, several papers deal with nondestructive void and corrosion detection of embedded post-tensioned cables on concrete elements. Other papers present research findings on NDE techniques for steel cables, early-age and mature reinforced-concrete elements, and fiber-composite sheets, where ultrasound, magnetism, infrared thermography, acoustic emission, and radar phenomena are applied.