Engineering Schools By State

Civil Engineering Job

About Civil Engineering Job

Most people know that civil engineering job descriptions entail helping to plan and design modern conveniences like roadways, airport runways, bridges, tunnels, and overpasses, but some many not realize that civil engineering job specialties also exist. For any civil engineering job, the man or woman must hold a four-year college degree. During the college education, students can take specialized classes that provide additional training for a specific branch of a civil engineering job. These main divisions include construction management, geotechnical, structural engineering, transportation, waste treatment, and water management.

Construction management entails planning the materials needed in any building project, making sure the materials are strong enough to support the entire structure, and oversee the actual construction to make sure builders are following the blueprints correctly. Construction management civil engineers also help with necessary changes as they arise. Very similarly, structural engineers are usually the second step in any building project. Therefore, they work closely with the man or woman working in the construction management civil engineering job. Structural engineers look at the blueprints provided by an architect and ensure that the framing materials and beam placements will properly hold the full weight of the building at completion when vehicles, furnishings, or people are added to the structure.

With any geotechnical civil engineering job, the skilled workers are trained to analyze the bedrock below the ground and determine if the bedrock is strong enough to support the road, bridge, or other structure being erected on top of it. They also determine the safest way to remove bedrock that might be in the way of the building project.

Transportation civil engineering job workers plan and design the nation's transportation modes. These skilled workers design highway systems, parking lots, parking garages, overpasses, airport runways, rail systems, and bridges. Transportation engineers must take stop sign or traffic light placement into consideration during their design work to keep traffic flowing smoothly.

Waste treatment civil engineering job workers are responsible for developing the placement and design of sewer or septic systems. Closely related, water management engineers plan the placement and location of water supplies. Those holding this civil engineering job must ensure that the piping is in out of the way areas, not along areas where the earth might shift and cause pipe breaks, and other important factors.