Soon after the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, The Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh was first published in 1973 (as Volume 1) to serve as a media for publishing original research works in the field of Engineering Science in a newly independent country. The Journal covered all aspects of engineering discipline and appeared in a quarterly frequency until April 1994 (Volume 22). However, since its establishment and with the passage of time, the fellows and corporate members of the Institution felt the necessity for having separate Journals for each disciplines of Engineering.

With this motivation, the 380th Council Meeting of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh held on 5th August 1995 took a resolution to found separate Journals and Editorial Boards for Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering disciplines. A special Journal was also established for addressing Multidisciplinary issues. In continuation of the 380th Council Meeting resolution, the 39th Annual General Meeting of the Institution held in Chittagong, Bangladesh on 11th January 1995 decided to amend the relevant Bye-Laws of the Institution to facilitate the establishment of these Journals and respective Editorial Boards. The Council of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh is responsible to form the Editorial Board of the Journal as per the relevant Bye-Laws of the Institution for a two year term. See Past Editorial Boards.

Following the decision of the 39th Annual General Meeting, the first issue of the Journal of Civil Engineering (JCE) appeared in December 1995. To maintain the continuity of the archival process of the Journals published by the Institution, the December 1995 issue was marked as Volume 23 Number 1. Since then, the JCE is appearing regularly in Print Media on a biyearly basis.

With the recent improvement and use of information technology in Bangladesh, the Editorial Board (2006-2007) took the initiative to make the Journal available Online through Internet to facilitate a wider exposure of the Journal and its archive to its audience and potential authors from home and abroad. The Official Website of the Journal of Civil Engineering, IEB was launched in October 2006 at www.jce-ieb.org.bd  and www.jce-ieb.org.