Do civil engineers design anything?

ClassicMom98
Sat, 25 May 2019 00:28:34 +0000

I’m sorry. Your title me laugh. No, we just go to an office and sit there and tap at a keyboard. That’s probably what my kids would say I do.

Civil Engineering is a very broad field. The major groupings are (roughly) structures (bridges/buildings), transportation, water/gas (pressure pipes), storm/sanitary sewer, soils (geotech), environmental, and site design. Larger private firms can be broken into areas/teams. So they might have a group that does bridges. Another group does site work. Another group does environmental. You probably could transfer between groups when starting out, but likely as you get more experience, you’ll become more specialized in one general area.

I have worked for a small municipal government for 22 years. For most of this time, I was the only design engineer, so I became the jack of all trades. I’ve done typical engineering stuff such as roads, our trail system, all kinds of parking lots, stormwater, & sanitary sewer. I’m the person they go to to decide whether or not we need a new traffic light or if a speed limit should be raised/lowered (though politics can override me). I am the one the ec dev office comes to when they have a client arriving tomorrow and want to see what their building would look like on a site and how much will it cost. I also have helped develop, build, and maintain our GIS system. I’ve done everything from collecting the data myself to administering contracts for larger/more intensive layers. (I adore GIS since I had to work before it existed. Life is so much easier now!)

But, the stuff I like to work on the most are projects that do not fall into the typical engineering realm. For several years, I helped the police convict criminals. How? I was the one who took the suspect’s cell phone location data and plotted it out on a map to see where they had been. Now, they have there own analyst (boo!) I also am the one who designed all of the large “you are here” maps/signs around town. I also do a lot more, but my H wants to watch a movie. but any other questions, just ask…