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?

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, 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’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.

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.

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.

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)

Will make the first paragraph a summary:

I'm 18 and I've had a fairly unorthodox life having lived in 3 different countries. I'm looking to become a civil engineer but lack clarity on how I'm going to get there. My current best route seems to be to get a job this gap year and apply for degree apprenticeships in the autumn of 2027 since it seems I'm not a competitive candidate for this current cycle. What sort of role should I prepare and apply for that will set me up going forward in my career? Junior CAD Tech? Junior admin in construction? Labourer? If you didn't go through uni immediately, what was your first role?

Details:

I've spent 6 years living in england but none in the last 5. I'm a british citizen and finishing the last modules of my A-Levels this month (international version) and results will be A*AA or 3 As in January. In my GCSEs, I got 8s and 9s (A*s) so I'm well equipped to go to uni but having spent so much time abroad, it looks like it'll be a challenge to get home status and loans at least for a Sep 2027 start. Fair enough, degree apprenticeships are the other major route but I'm a bit disadvantaged there too having been self-taught/homeschooled for the last 4 years, I haven't prepared well and dont have the work experience, projects or insight days/weeks to be competitive in 2026. Can't say I'm happy about how I've been raised but I know personally I could've done better. My only strengths really are my grades and communication. I've done a decent amount of volunteering in the past two years. My software proficiency needs work.

Plan is finish A levels this month. Return home in late Nov. Can use all of November to do virtual work experiences, reach out to local smaller companies (North or West London) to shadow engineers, prepare Ucas uni application, learn AutoCAD basics with a trial, work on Excel. From there apply to roles looking to start in December.

What more should I do? Get a CSCS card? Is my plan a bit naive and poorly thought out? How so?

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'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!

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.

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.

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

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

Floodwater has gone down and the pavement looks normal. From the engineering side, what can still keep a road closed?

I'm trying to understand the gap between 'looks normal again' and 'ready to reopen.' What would a quick glance miss, and how can that change the time needed to reopen?

A general example or public case study would help. I'm interested in how the assessment and reopening decisions are made.