A few guidelines

I'm a 3 year EIT in Roadway, working mostly on Multi use paths, road reconstruction, and corridor redesign. 90% of my tasks are kind of funneled to me through my PM and even when I run into tasks that require coordination with other departments, PM swoops in, does the coordination on his end and gives me the rundown. I also rarely get CC'd on emails, I just get a teams from him on where markups are saved.

I'm finding this a bit odd as In my previous job's (2 years ago) I was involved in most coordination meetings. Its also a bit weird since I'm getting my PE in a year and I feel like I'm treated as an intern.

Does this reflect on my PM's need to have control over a lot of coordination or is it an effort to keep me on design for longer? Hard to gauge how other teams operate since we're in a small satellite office.

I'm in meetings maybe 45 minutes a week with 95% of my time spent in CADD.

How do I bring this up ?

Hello, everyone, I'm a civil engineering student interested in geotechnical and land development. I'm considering enrolling in a class or two focused on GIS next semester, however I was warned by my advisor that I won't need GIS and should instead focus on learning AutoCAD (I already have AutoCAD-focused classes that are required for me to graduate).

I just wanted to hear some persepctive from engineers actually working in those sectors. Do you guys think learning GIS would be something to strive for? And if so, would you recommend waiting until entering the workforce to learn or trying to gain as much experience (even if not substantial) as possible?

I’m a student using SAP2000 for a project, and I have never heard the music play during a modal animation. It’s terrible! Maybe I’m just not cool and down with the frequencies. What kind of feature is this? If I edit the structure do the instruments realign? I’m laughing at how on edge the song made me feel about the tower in general now.

a small suggestion for revision handoffs: separate 'no change found' from 'not checked.'

for a hypothetical revised site plan, a handoff could say:

'compared access geometry on C2, revisions B and C. no change found in that area. drainage details and schedules were not checked.'

that's more useful than 'looks the same' because the next person can see what still needs attention. it doesn't say the whole issue is unchanged or approved.

i'd include the two file names and the area reviewed, even if the handoff is just an email. no new software required, just a sentence that doesn't accidentally claim a bigger review than happened.

Hello,

If there was vandalism to components of the project that were reported completed, how best do you reflect this (negative progress) on the project records? Do you escalate it so that the client makes the repairs via a mini-tender thus leaving initial records as they were, or do you reflect the negative performance with the explanation of the cause?

What is the right way to report for the purposes of coherent historical records? (say in the FIDIC red book and Yellow book projects)

Hello all,

I am an EIT with 2.5 YOE in MCOL area looking to transition out of land development. I went to school for environmental engineering and enjoyed learning all things water resources/waste water engineering but have only ever been able to find land development jobs, mainly just grinding AutoCAD/C3D. I do not enjoy this type of work and I have left the field entirely, twice, since graduating in 2015 (hence only having 2.5 YOE). Does anyone have any experience or advice in transitioning away from land development and into a more water focused career, preferably into a public role? What programs are best to learn (HEC-RAS, WaterCAD, etc?) I would like to take another stab at this career and hopefully try something I am actually interested in before looking into other options. Thanks in advance.

Hi,
I'm currently working on my PhD thesis in civil engineering on composite bridges. As a next step, I'd like to compare the design codes of different countries, specifically the requirements for minimum reinforcement and the reinforcement needed for crack width control.
Unfortunately, I don't have direct access to these codes through our university library.
I would really appreciate it if you could send me the relevant code(s) for composite bridges used in your country, or point me to where I could access them.
Best regards

Hello, I have been discussing with my coworkers how to install fiber conduits on an existing bridge. Our client has stated that parapet-mounted conduits are not allowed. We have approach slabs on both sides of the bridge.

We came across an example where the conduit was installed at a 45-degree angle and routed toward the median, which is similar to the situation on our project. Does anyone know what construction method or tools may have been used to install this 45-degree angled conduit? Any information or experience with similar installations would be appreciated.

I am a site design EIT working at a small civil design firm under a huge architectural firm and have been here for about 1.5 years. My office consists of me and my manager, which has been incredible because I have learned a lot from him and we make a great team. He is also a very respectable man that has been a great mentor for me, I can walk into his office anytime with any question. Overall, I don't have any significant complaints; the firm environment is very laxed, never really have to stay past 5:30, I have half-day Friday's, my birthday is given as PTO. So I am in a very fortunate position and had no intentions on leaving anytime soon.

That being said, I came across a job listing this weekend that was published by a notable PE in the area. This PE started his own firm about 3 years ago and is looking for his first hire. I have known for a couple years that starting my own firm is something I am patiently working towards and think that I could benefit tremendously from joining a firm like this where I can learn how to operate a small design firm straight from the source. However, I understand that although I am in a very conformable position now, taking a new role with a new mentor is high risk and that the grass is not always greener. Its also a risk of how many projects a one/two-person firm will acquire, so I am worried about the stability of said position. I am meeting this PE soon to talk about the position in-person and if we would be a good match, so nothing guaranteed yet.

I would love any insight from individuals who share similar experiences or any advice on how to determine what the best next step for me and my personal/career growth.

Hi everyone! I’m studying for the PE Civil Water Resources and Environmental exam and looking for older versions of the NCEES practice exams, especially from before the current format.

Does anyone have copies they’d be willing to share or sell, or know where I could find them? Links to older sample exams or other helpful practice materials would also be appreciated.

Thanks so much, and good luck to everyone studying!

I passed the exam but haven’t completed the application yet.

I'm a Civil engineer in Canada who recently completed my FE Civil exam. I would very much like to wear the honor cord at my upcoming convocation, however they are not distributed to Canadian students.

Would anyone who has a cord be willing to sell it to me and ship it? I'd also be OK to wear the honor cord then ship it back. Please let me know!

So Caltrans is doing some highway work. Could someone educate me on the name and purpose of the metal trapezoids and the thicker, longitudinal bars?

Ty in advance

I have to design a 2”rsc with fiber going across a prefabricated stainless steel ped bridge. My question is the transition from the end of the bridge to the pulling vaults I’m placing at each end of the bridge do you just have the rsc swoop out into the ground then the vault or add junction boxes? I would prefer no junction boxes because we will be sleeving the rsc probably. I have to worry about bend radius for the fiber so wanted to ask what others have done. It’s a 200’ bridge roughly.

Curious what other people are doing in practice.

Once you’ve got 20+ active projects going through different jurisdictions, I feel like the hard part isn’t making a schedule — it’s actually keeping track of everything that’s moving.

Submittals, municipal reviews, outside agencies, resubmittals, hearings, permits, client decisions, things that can run concurrently, things that can’t…

We’ve used project management software, but I still find there’s a gap between what generic PM software wants you to track and how land development actually works.

So what are you actually using day to day?

Excel? MS Project? Wrike? Monday? Deltek? A notebook? Some horrifying combination of all of them?

And if you’ve found a system that genuinely works, what makes it work?

Edit: I should probably clarify the 20+ projects comment, I definitely didn’t mean one PM actively managing 20+ projects by themselves. I was thinking more about a small firm with maybe 2–3 PMs and 20+ active projects across the team.

Some of those might be actively in design, some sitting in municipal review, some waiting on a client or outside agency, some approaching a resubmittal, etc.

What I’m really interested in is how people maintain that team-level view of where everything stands and what needs attention next, while still having the detailed schedule/process for each individual project.

I always enjoyed studying engineering, I was top of my class in a very competitive college, I have 3 years of experience post grad overall, first year post grad I was a researcher for the same university, water resources related. I enjoyed it very much but the pay was criminally low. Then I spent the following 2 years as a site engineer because I really needed the money and research wasn’t paying that much

I cannot put into words how much I dislike my current job, I don’t feel like I’m an engineer anymore, there’s nothing intellectually stimulating about my current job, basically my day consists of walking around and making sure the formwork is aligned correctly and check the reinforcement against shop drawing, or make sure things like painting and tiling are done properly, just the most boring and mindless tasks imaginable ( I don’t know if it’s common in other countries, but in my country civil engineers are also expected to watch over the finishing and fitting out)

I feel stuck, I don’t want to live like this anymore. the money isn’t that good either. I don’t think I can get any job that isn’t civil engineering related because I don’t have much skills outside of engineering. Is going back to academia a good idea at this point? What about water or geotechnical engineering, are they more technical?

Climbing up the ladder in construction doesn’t seem appealing because all of my seniors are mainly dealing with construction management issues like logistics and how to save money by getting the cheapest possible subcontractor etc, I’m looking for something more technically inclined

I want to pursue masters and through my knowledge these two are the best. I want to know what masters or clg should I pursue. I am not inclined towards going abroad for masters but am open for job or MBA. Please give me thoughtful information.

I’m a Master of Landscape Architecture Student who is not interested in design, but interested in grading and stormwater management.

How can I tailor my application, whether resumé, or portfolio to begin a career in civil engineering? Can I “intern” at an AEC firm after I get my degree? I don’t have much practical experience with CAD professionally, but I will be continuing a year long part-time internship at a design studio. I won’t have the CAD experience on the position, so should I work on conceptual CAD documents to bolster my portfolio? Should I get certifications related to CAD, Civil3D, and/or Revit?

I really seriously want to make the transition, even if I have to take some community classes for instance.

It’s a HCOL. Any guidance on where I should negotiate?

Is 135k good for my qualifications?

So, I’m in Canada and I was doing a general engineering program with plans of going into civil engineering after my first year, but I failed out after 2 attempts and I got kicked from the engineering program at my university. I blame it mostly on myself not having study habits and enough commitment, I also have severe ADHD and didn’t want to part with my free time.

So after this happened I ended up deciding to switch to a civil engineering technology program at a local college and I’m considering doing a civil engineering degree eventually at lakehead university with their transfer program so I could still get the degree in 5yrs with the 3+2 transition.

Would it be worth it to get the full engineering degree? Could I still get a good job position once I finish my diploma in Canada as a Technologist?
(And yes before anyone says it I know I won’t be able to legally call myself an “engineer” without the full degree)