Design choice

A design choice describes the planned way to satisfy an engineering development requirement in a way that could be satisfied differently. Often, there are multiple ways to satisfy a requirement which necessitates making choices to select from possible design options. Selection is often based on financial considerations; often resulting in the least expensive option.

In civil engineering, design choices typically derive from basic principles of materials science and structural design. A suspension bridge, for example, uses the fact that steel is extremely efficient in tension, while a prestressed concrete bridge takes advantage of concrete's relatively low cost by weight and its ability to sustain high compressive loading (see compression).