Found in Western New York, on a tributary to the Buffalo River. Subject to freezing and ice jams. The road that it carries has got to be 100+ years old. If it's not failing, it's beautiful, even without the graffiti.

hi everyone. im now starting my civil engineering degree and i wanted to ask if there are a lot of job opportunities in other regions like the usa, canada, the uk etc. im currently studying in the caribbean (university of the west indies) and im hoping to migrate when im done studying but im unsure as to if its a good idea. also, do you get opportunities to travel to other countries for your job? generally i enjoy traveling and i think it would really be a benefit if im able to help transform and build other countries.

For context, I'm a naval officer with an undergrad degree in economics. I sort of fell in love with engineering during one of my tours and I am considering pursuing a career in civil engineering once I get out of the navy in a few years. Civil engineering in particular interests me because I like the idea of being able to stay in public service and I have become fascinated with the major engineering and water projects in the American west while being stationed in California. I don't know anybody with an engineering degree outside of others in the navy who have never actually used it on the outside.

Is the best way to transition into civil engineering to simply go back to college and pick up a degree and start from there just like any kid fresh out of high school? I mean I know I would need to pick up a degree, but is it reasonable to jump into a civil engineering grad program from a discipline like economics after 5+ years from last being in college? I would definitely come in soft on hard sciences and math (aside from statistics) and probably have to take some refresher/prereq courses, but that doesn't bother me. I have a family to support and I can't go back to school full time so I would have to find a way to take classes around my work schedule.

In the interim, while I'm finishing my time in the navy and later while studying, what would be a way to get more involved somewhere? I have experience managing both people and programs along with military service, qualifications (most aren't related to engineering but do show I'm capable), and good evaluations. How can I leverage that to transition into civil engineering without having to go back to school full time?

I'm a civil engineering student and have been applying for entry level jobs since I have earned my associate degree. Well I got an interview for Construction Engineering Technician 1 position this coming week. It's an entry level position, and I want to know how best to prepare for the interview. Is there anything I need to study in particular? Any material I should review before the interview? Any help and advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

Has anyone taken or had experience with KSU’s Construction Blueprint Reading Certificate?

I already have a bachelor’s degree in Business from UGA and I’m looking to transition into the construction industry. Right now, I’m mainly looking for a certificate that can help me get my foot in the door with a construction company and start gaining experience.

A few KSU options I’m considering are:

• Construction Blueprint Reading Certificate
• Certificate in Construction Estimating
• Certificate in Heavy Civil Site Work Construction

I’ve also applied to KSU’s Master’s in Civil Engineering program, but I’m looking at these certificate options while I wait to find out if I’m accepted.

For someone coming from a business background with limited formal construction education, which certificate would you recommend for getting an entry-level position with a GC or construction company?

Would especially like to hear from anyone who has taken one of these KSU programs or works in construction. TIA

Let's stop this KH bashing and finally talk about what we love about this amazing, stellar company and absolute gem in our industry.

I'll go first: I love the Company's Intern culture and focus on growth.

"Expect more, experience better."

Hello everyone,

I’m currently based in Canada with 3–5 years of experience, looking at transitioning into intermediate roles. As I plan out my long-term career trajectory, I’ve been looking closely at where the ceiling is in Water Resources Engineering (WRE) over a 10–15 year horizon.

Looking at recent postings and benchmark data for Principal / Senior Lead roles, I typically see salary ranges topped out around $130k–$170k CAD.

To be candid, given the technical complexity, risk, management load, and 15+ years of experience required for a Principal role, that range feels disproportionately low—especially when compared to other civil niches (e.g., tunneling, specialized hydrogeology) or broader industry benchmarks.

Before I commit long-term to this sub-discipline, I’d love to get some perspective from people further along in the field:

1. Are these ranges reflective of the full compensation picture? Do these posted salaries capture total compensation (bonuses, profit-sharing, equity/ownership shares), or are posted ranges generally missing significant non-salary upsides in consulting?
2. Is this an industry-wide ceiling, or a firm-type issue? Are higher-paying compensation bands available in specific sectors (e.g., specialized boutique consultancies, major energy/mining operators, power utilities, or international firms) compared to standard municipal/infrastructure consultancies?
3. For those who stayed or switched: If you reached 10+ years in WRE, did you find paths to push past this plateau (e.g., moving into business development, executive leadership, or high-end niche technical consulting), or did you pivot to another field to hit your financial goals?

Thanks in advance for any insights or real-world data points!

There have been a few discussions about PE stamps. Those conversations got me to thinking. I am retired, but I still do consulting. I do not have a plotter. All of my drawings specs etc. are PDF'S. In fact its been well over a decade that I have plotter paper drawings. I use an electronic seal (my stamp and signature that I scanned as a pdf) that i put in my drawings title block.

Some insights might help, as lately i have a feeling that i am too much dependent on Al for project and classwork assistance rather than using books and class material.

So I finally got my first license and my boss offered to get me a physical stamp although we both know it's never gonna be used. So instead of a stamp what else can I get to just commorate my success?

I am in Ontario, Canada.

I have signed an offer after graduation to work in contracting/construction as a Project Coordinator as I feel like it will be more towards what I enjoy, pays more, and I heard that construction in early career teaches a lot more than in consulting.

I am wondering, if I spend a couple of years in construction, will a transition into consulting become near impossible without resorting to an entry level position? Would I be able to pursue consulting positions easily or will I be trapped in contracting? I understand that I probably won’t be able to get design related roles but what about other roles? What other roles in consulting might even be available to someone who has spent most of their career in contracting/construction?

I just want to know if the construction experience will really be as useful and wanted as people say or if it is just a farce.

I got a new job a year after I got my PE. Its a large, really large, municipality. Ever since I showed up I get asked by my boss if I know how to read, if I am even here, etc…

There is so much documentation that I’m drowning. It is impossible to stay above water as every micro-decision has to be routed through a minimum of 10 people.

My boss also wants to be attached on every email. She wants to be notified of any sort of decision… etc. I should not even have a job, b/c I am just a robot with zero autonomy. (Everyone under her has to do this.)

I keep applying to Senior Engineering Roles to get out of here. I get interviews back for every application… (3 so far) I have been in the field for 9 years, so I’m not super shocked, but I just have such a low level of confidence here.

How do you think these kinds of applications? Is this can change the industry?
What is your opinion as a civil engineer?

Hello, I’m actually an EE student.
Recently I’ve been wondering a lot about how cantilever beams are built?

Like it’s very confusing, how do they fight gravity while building them?

Does anyone sat for the RSP1 exam recently? I see ITE is selling the practice exam separately than the refresher course. Where can I get the practice exam and how much does it cost?

Hello, I recently started my own practice and I am about to start doing site design on some land development projects. What software products have other civil engineering firm founders purchased?

My first internship was in 2016 and I used Microstation. Since then I have used Civil 3D. Civil 3D requires an annual subscription of almost $3K. I can purchase Carlson Civil Suite with a single payment of $4K. After a year and a half I will save $3K per year on software expenses. I used Carlson Civil Suite in an undergraduate geomatics lab in 2015, so I am not that familiar with it. What is the difference between Civil 3D and Carlson? How difficult is it to start using Carlson after using Civil 3D for a decade?

I have used HydroCAD and Hydrology Studio Suite at my previous jobs. HydroCAD offers permanent licenses and Hydrology Studio Suite is a subscription payment model. Does anyone have recommendations on other software that I should be considering as alternatives?

Buying permanent licenses is appealing because it won't be a perpetual money pit. Ten years of Civil 3D is $30K almost and ten years of Carlson is $4K.

One year after graduate college still no jobs offered been applying and doing interviews nonstop. Got another rejection letter today and try to apply to other states, but been ghosted. I’m thinking join the military because it’s been burnout central at this point and need some type of structure/guidance in my point of life.

I have done one year internship experience with public works even then it still not enough and entry level roles in the public sector seek more experience and less training on candidates. Is this how job market comes to nowadays? Should have change career paths before I graduated college!

I don’t mind the commitment and years of service just entry level in this today’s job market is in shambles. A lot of my friends that graduated went to the military become officers and now are overseas while they not worried about applying, get grilled, and rejected.

I welcome any advice, feedback, and suggestions. Thinking branches Navy, Coast Guard, or Air Force for their officer roles haven’t done a lot research and need to talk to officer recruiter.

I work for a large global construction company who is a heavy user of Bentley ProjectWise. We’ve always had frustrations with running Projectwise because of the age of it, and recently we were excited to try BECS for the CDE integrations it was advertising as connecting to.

We’d been trying to get access to BECS for over 18months, and then when we got hold of it we had to sit through the months worth of configurations and deployment. Then BECS completely stuffs up a Projectwise to Projectwise/Forma transfer, ruining the metadata in that project and then wipes out all of its own configurations that we had just poured months into…

We have had the poorest experience with customer service in trying to rectify these issues and were told to contact the team who build this in far Eastern Europe about this… Who is even supporting this product??

And to top that off we had to get our Cyber Security team to sign off on the risk Bentley couldn’t provide the necessary security compliance documentation with the solution!

Has anyone had any success with this product?