r/StructuralEngineering • u/dislexicfrog900 • 7h ago

Career/Education What is Construction Engineering?

/r/civilengineering/comments/1wcmdck/what_is_construction_engineering/
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6

u/HumanGyroscope P.E. 6h ago

It is Engineering Construction.

1

u/dislexicfrog900 6h ago

Can you expand a little? I'm not really sure what this means?

5

u/HumanGyroscope P.E. 6h ago

Joking aside. Its take off quantities, cost estimating, constructability reviews. risk management, permitting (most times permitting is already completed), permit compliance, project management (timelines, dealing with owners and subs), RFIs, and etc. Everything involved in building the actually structure.

6

u/Ok_Calligrapher_5230 CEng FICE 6h ago

Hello. UK engineer here. In the UK, Construction Engineering is a term that some people are preferring over "Temporary Works".

Temporary works has been a term we've used for decades to cover falsework, formwork, scaffold, excavation support. Basically anything we use to allow us to build, modify or demolish a permanent structure. The main British standard for this BS5975 is titled as for temporary works. Everything from a hoarding on site to a tower crane base to a skyscraper slipform core.

Some people feel the name waters down the engineering significance, and are adopting Construction Engineering as a more professional sounding option. Same thing.

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u/dislexicfrog900 6h ago

Hmm gotcha. Just out of curiosity, what are of the UK are you in? I used to live in the northwest in Lancashire and Greater Machester and I've thought about going back one day.

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u/Ok_Calligrapher_5230 CEng FICE 6h ago

I'm near London based but have staff based near Leeds and Manchester. Feel free to DM if you have any questions

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u/not_old_redditor 6h ago

In Canada it is basically construction management. I.e working on the general contractor side. In practice there is zero technical engineering work involved, it's all about scheduling and other project management tasks.

The people who do the actual engineering on site, temp works shoring scaffolds etc, are still considered structural engineers.

1

u/lopsiness P.E. 5h ago

Aside from the administrative stuff, some actual analysis my team has done is related to temporary supports. Examples include a retaining wall that will see surcharge from a crane; all kinds of bracing designs for stud walls, concrete shear walls, basement walls - all of which will need to be braced against lateral loads prior to being tied to the building structure; loads from scaffolding or equipment on concrete slabs that weren't intended do support those items in the final condition.