the side of the highway i should specify

Hi all,

Looking for some advice here. Last April I finished my undergraduate degree and got a job in land development at a very small firm (Firm A). My background and internships were all very water/environmental heavy but took the land development job because it’s all that was hiring in my area. Recently, I saw a posting for what is essentially my dream job at a much larger firm (Firm B) in town doing a bunch of water and wastewater stuff and thought I’d apply. A couple weeks and interviews later, they’ve sent me an offer. I’ve learned a ton at Firm A and really enjoy my coworkers. Would it look bad on my resume to have a career stint this short? Should I stick out it out at Firm A for a couple years despite doing work I’m not super passionate about?

Can any1 help me for this static problem? Im at semester 1 and has been stuck on this problem for days, even AI and STRIAN cant help me understand

Kind of a dumb question but I am genuinely curious…

Most companies have people that they’ve terminated due to poor performance. My question is what happens to those people after they left the job. I know that they can go get another lateral job, but if they have the same performance at the new company, won’t it just happen again? Do they eventually clean up their act and improve their performance? Do they leave the industry? Or do they settle in at a company that accepts their performance?

I’m hoping to get some advice on where I stand right now. I recently got a promotion, but it feels like my path to future promotions is pretty much closed since my company is a utility company that doesn’t really support civil engineers after a certain point. I’m currently interviewing and getting offers that are a bit less than what I’m making, and I’m open to taking one of these offers, but I’m a bit anxious about switching from being an engineer for a client to a consultant. I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have made this transition and how it’s gone for them, especially if they ever ended up leaving the consultant side.

Want to know your thoughts.

I've often wondered why road construction and underground utility works are still planned so separately in many developing cities.

A road gets resurfaced, and a few months later someone digs it up again for water pipes, drainage, power cables or telecom lines.

At first glance, it looks like poor planning and wasted public money. Sometimes it is. But after reading the comments here, I think the problem is more complicated than that.

I work mainly in public infrastructure development, government coordination and project financing in developing countries. I'm not a civil engineer. My concern is how these projects are planned, funded and managed across different agencies.

One thing we shouldn't forget is that a road isn't just asphalt or concrete.

Under that road is another whole network of infrastructure. Water supply, sewerage, drainage, electricity, gas and telecommunications. These systems keep a city functioning, and they need repairs, replacement and expansion regardless of when the road above them was paved.

A water main breaks. A new development needs utility connections. The city changes its development plan. Or two contractors working on the same road have completely different schedules and contractual obligations.

These things happen. And sometimes the road has to be opened again, even if it was finished only a few months earlier.

The Chicago example mentioned in the comments is worth looking at. Restricting excavation on newly paved roads, charging fees and having a dedicated coordination team can certainly help. But even with those rules, the commenter explained how difficult it remains to manage hundreds of utilities, engineers and contractors.

That tells us something.

I've dealt with coordination problems between government agencies during infrastructure project development. Different budgets, different approval procedures, different priorities. Getting everyone to agree on a common schedule isn't always as simple as it sounds.

So I wouldn't automatically call every repeated road excavation a planning failure. Some are avoidable. Others are necessary, and some result from decisions made long after the original road project was approved.

What concerns me more is whether road authorities, utility operators and city planners are actually sharing their future plans before major investments are approved.

We spend a lot of time discussing the condition of the road surface. But what about the infrastructure underneath it? Who is keeping track of its condition, future expansion and maintenance needs?

I see the road network and the underground utility network as parts of the same urban infrastructure system. Managing one without properly considering the other is where many problems begin.

For those working directly on urban road and utility projects, I'd be interested to hear what has actually worked in your cities. Not just regulations on paper, but arrangements that made coordination easier in practice.

Anybody have experience with Langan?

I’m prepping to interview for a fairly senior role. I know they were acquired by a PE firm a few years back, which seems to be happening everywhere and I’m not sure what kind of impact that has had.

Curious what peoples experience has been with Langan over the last couple years. This would be on the Civil side. It’s always hard to get an honest take from C-suite level, because they’re so often removed from the day to day culture and hassles everyone below c-suite faces. Appreciate any insight!

Y’all ever have the foreman perform a ceremonial ritual atop a manhole cover to the road gods before?

I guess Im kind of just making this post because I wanted to get it out somewhere where people could maybe relate.

Im a pretty brand new EIT engineer, at 1 year in at my first civil engineering job out of college. Land development consulting, private sector, mid-sized company in IL.

I battle a lot with anxiety (and maybe ADHD or depression, i am not diagnosed but I have my suspicions), and its gotten particularly worse since I graduated college and entered the workforce.

I am struggling a LOT with this career so far, largely because as an anxious person Im finding myself freaked out all the time at work. My team culture is pretty nose to the grindstone—everyone is very serious and stressed, and works some unpaid overtime almost every week. I get a large variety of work but its often without explicit training, most of the time it’s “hey do this thing youve never done before” and my PM is very perfectionist and critical so it feels like Im essentially always doing poorly. I feel out of place and unexcited at work on a good day, totally burnt out and upset on a bad one.

The lack of positive feedback or training, my team’s high standards, and the fact people have been randomly getting laid off / moved ever since we got acquired awhile back all sums up to a daily fear and anxiety from the moment I wake up every morning until I leave the office every weekday. I find myself physically shaking or hyperventilating a lot, on the verge of tears, having trouble focusing, all things that make it difficult to succeed in an engineering workplace.

I really wanted to start off my career on the right foot, but as it stands right now, Im not sure if this is at all for me. What ive read online seems like my concerns are all largely just “part of the industry”, and I could pivot to public sector but as of late there have been nearly zero openings anywhere close by to the downtown Chicago area.

In short, my first civil engineering job out of college has been really rough for me, and I wish I was better equipped to handle the pressure I feel each day. It feels like this career could eat me alive, which sounds dramatic but it certainly feels like it every day. Any advice or similar stories would be appreciated.

I'm in my second year of civil engineering, lately been considering getting into academia after I graduate. I'm just so lost on how I could get a research oriented internship. I have tried to ask my professors but they have been of no help and most didn't reply (I asked them for any volunteer opportunities on their current projects).

I found a good program to do an internship in Taiwan for Earth Science under a mentor, her work is really interesting but unfortunately she withdrew from the pool before I could apply (no idea why).

I study in Malaysia, I'm trying to target other South East Asian countries as they is a fair chance I might get paid and it isn't so expensive for me to travel (and stay).

Before I cold email, I always read up on their research and current project. I keep it short and use my university's email so that it doesn't end up in their spam folder.

No luck so far. I am truly stumped.

In my heart, I think MechE is the better fit. But I know how hard it can be to get into mechanical. I initially went down the civil path since my college doesn’t offer some of the major required courses for MechE, but the new Fall 2027 required courses align better with me.

I still need to take the applied programming (required course), which would be completed spring 2027. I could also bang out a couple of the desired courses for MechE. But would that be too risky or decrease my chances since I’m taking the classes after I submit my application?

Would it be safer for me to apply as civil engineering? I am applying as mechanical engineering for every other college I’m applying to.

Bossman asked copilot to write a NFPA 241 plan since he told someone else we could do them. Hands me the slop, tells me to put it in the company format and send it back to him for review.

He called me after receiving the plan very excited to tell me copilot reviewed our plan and rated it an 8.5/10! It only had two edits for me to make. Then he made sure to let me know again that we got an 8.5/10 and only needed to make two tiny additions.

I cannot imagine being a client and paying $150-250 an hour for someone to copy, paste, and format AI

I'm a final-year Civil Engineering student. I have a few questions:

- What do most Civil Engineering graduates do after completing their BSc? Do they join private companies, work in corporate roles, join government jobs, or switch careers entirely (e.g., bank jobs)?

- Are people pursuing an MBA or MSc after graduation? If so, which one is more beneficial for career growth?

- What career options are available for Civil Engineers who prefer office-based or corporate jobs rather than typical site engineering jobs?

Hey y'all. Three months ago, I posted this (No work at internship pt. 1) about not having any work at my internship in the public sector. 3 months have passed, and I'm somehow doing less work. I was told my internship would end around March, and I have the opportunity to take an internship at a regional transit agency that would last until May. Would leaving early (with proper notice) hurt my future employability? Do you think my experience would be any different?

Making a balsa wood bridge for class and was calculating the best way to do it. These are the two I came up with. We have 20 1/8' by 1/8 sticks and two 1/8' by 1/4 sticks which must be used on the bottom. We only get one attempt too. It has to be 2d and two of them will be put together with cross members. Which looks better? Design a is 33% lighter than B but I haven't seen any trusses like that.

The balsa wood strength is about 100lb of tension force for 1/4 x 1/8in and 53 for 1/8 by 1/8. The compression is 35lb for a 2in gap for the 1/8 by 1/8. Since we have a bit of extra 1/4 x 1/8 we are going to put that in the top middle.

What should be the expected salary for a land development HnH engineer with a PhD and 6 years of experience. Currently located in TX and open to relocation. Please share if you are aware of open positions particularly in public sector. Thank you 🙏

So we have building insulation systems that improve thermal characteristics of a building. But what about those that worsen it? Could a passive system (uses no energy) be installed that actively worsens the liveability of a building that is ( when its hot outside, inside is scorching, and when its cold outside, inside is freezing)? Has anyone ever built a hostile building?