In 1914, the civil engineering discipline of Tongji University was first established. German mode was initially adopted in terms of discipline development and student training.

In 1930, the Department of Civil Engineering was established under the Faculty of Engineering in the renamed “National Tongji University”.

In 1932, the Department of Advanced Surveying Engineering was established.

During the national restructuring of institutions of higher education from 1951 to 1952, the disciplines of civil engineering, architecture, survey engineering, etc. of 15 universities merged into Tongji University. Then the Department of Structural Engineering was established.

In 1958, the Department of Hydraulic Engineering was established. In 1959, it was renamed as the Department of Surveying, Geotechnics, and Foundation Engineering. In 1958, The Department of Railway, Road, and Bridge Engineering were established.

In 1960, the Research Institute of Engineering Structures was established.

In 1978, the Research Institute of Structural Theory was established.

In 1985, the Department of Geotechnical Engineering was established.

In 1987, the College of Structural Engineering was established, consisting of Department of Structural Engineering, Department of Bridge Engineering, and Research Institute of Engineering Structures.

In 1988, the State Key Laboratory of Disaster Reduction in Civil Engineering was established.

In 1997, the College of Structural Engineering was re-organized as the College of Civil Engineering, consisting of Department of Structural Engineering, Department of Geotechnical Engineering, Department of Bridge Engineering, Research Institute of Structural Engineering and Disaster Reduction, and Department of Hydraulic Engineering. The State Key Laboratory of Disaster Reduction in Civil Engineering is affiliated to the College.

In 2011, the College of Civil Engineering was selected by the Ministry of Education as one of the 17 pioneering schools around the country.

In 2018, Research Institute of Structural Engineering and Disaster Reduction was renamed as Department of Disaster Mitigation for Structures.