Let G be a directed graph such that for each vertex v in G, the successors of v are ordered Let C be any equivalence relation on the vertices of G. The congruence closure C* of C is the finest equivalence relation containing C and such that any two vertices having corresponding successors equivalent under C* are themselves equivalent under C* Efficient algorithms are described for computing congruence closures in the general case and in the following two special cases. 0) G under C* is acyclic, and (it) G is acychc and C identifies a single pair of vertices. The use of these algorithms to test expression eqmvalence (a problem central to program verification) and to test losslessness of joins in relational databases is described