A few guidelines

Id like advice on how to handle my current situation. The way our annual review works is that they have a list of questions and we give ourselves a rating and then we write a brief summary of why we think we deserve that rating. Then the managers will review that, give their rating and white a summary as to why and then the presidents will decide what your raises will be. I just got back the comments made by my manager and I disagree with half of what he says. There is some truth in there that I agree with but there are several things that I just am like um ok did you mean to put that on someone else’s review??? So I’d like to somehow talk to him about it and hopefully get it adjusted, but some of the things I disagree with are they say I’m argumentative and overconfident in myself (I would say I’m stating my case or professional opinion as a PE and we are allowed to disagree) so I need a way to talk to them about my review without seeming to be overconfident and argumentative which I’m not sure is possible becuase by simply bringing it up I’m going to seem overconfident and argumentative.

Is this the only work that is available? I feel like I’ve been solely working on pedestrian ramp projects for the last 2 years straight.

https://www.reddit.com/r/civilengineering/comments/1wunbcd/got_placed_on_cap_corrective_action_plan_similiar/

Previous post up here.

For anyone that cares, since the last post got a decent amount of attention, I got laid off (NOT FIRED) last week on Friday. 2 weeks into my CAP. (Transportation consulting job)

They said it was a position elimination which I understand. There was a big DB interstate project that my company didnt win with their proposal (completely unrelated to me) and hurted their bottom line so deeply that they are laying off some junior level employees.

I think I was one of the first to go considering I was already on HR`s bad side with me being on a CAP so I guess they were trying to soften the blow with the position elimination. At least it wasnt performance related so I do get some benefits with this.

I guess I shouldve expected this, considering the vague language within my CAP. All my coworkers that I consider friends were shocked that the only person in the office on a Friday, was let go.

They were also even more shocked that I was on a CAP in the first place (dont need to keep secrets anymore I guess) and loved having me on their projects and working with me.

For me, the first few days afterwards I gorged myself on candy (thank god for halloween season) everyday and then I felt bad so also got me a gym membership. Too bad I overstrained myself on my first day back in the gym and now everything in my body also physically hurts lmao. Sometimes I wonder even if I should just leave engineering completely.

I usually cry myself to sleep everyday, but I will hopefully get over it. Taking this week completely off, and then back to studying for my PE exam next week.

Thanks everyone for the advice and tips on the previous post. Wishing you all nothing but the best.

Going through some historic documents for an existing local subdivision project. At the manholes circled in red they say F.T. which stands for Flush Tank. I have designed a handful of sewer systems for subdivisions and have never called out a "Flush Tank".

Now I get Sewer Mains need to be flushed from time to time and lines at the top of a subdivision may be laid flat and not a lot of flow to reach cleansing velocity.

From google (Picture 3) I have found one detail that has a water connection inside the Manhole to flush the line. But I don't think any modern Health Department would accept that. Today I see VAC/Water Trucks maintaining these systems.

Just curious if anyone has ever come across something similar or if anyone has any background on when these went out of favor.

Thank!

I had a great initial screening call for a civil engineering/construction management internship with a project engineering company last wednesday. The recruiter seemed super nice, we vibed, and at the end of the call, she told me she was meeting with project managers on Thursday and would get back to me by Friday. She literally told me, *If I don't get back to you by Friday, don't be afraid to email me no later than Monday.*

Friday came and went with zero word.
Monday comes, I send a polite follow-up email right on schedule. Nothing. Tuesday comes, still dead silence. So today, I decide to call her direct number to check in.

It rings and tells me **the line is disconnected**.
I also tried calling their main corporate office. Total radio silence, nobody picks up. Second time I call the person at the front desk says she’s out of office right now and that she can’t contact her.

Am I just being impatient or should I just give up on this company?

I have > 6 years of experience in W/WW and a PE. I made the move to my current firm about 1.5 years ago with the expectation that I would work on a variety of w/ww projects as a task lead, have opportunities for career development, receive support and mentorship, and have a consistent workload.

I feel like I’ve been consistently underutilized since joining. For the past three months, I’ve barely had any billable work and I feel like I’m wasting valuable time that I should be spending developing my technical skills and gaining project experience. Also, several contracts at the firm still haven’t been executed by the clients. I’ve been told that work could pick up by April of next year and that I shouldn’t be concerned about job security. However, the anticipated ntp dates keep getting pushed back and this has been happening for much of the time I’ve been here.

I’ve tried to make the most of the downtime by attending professional development conferences and getting more involved in my local professional chaptera but I’m becoming increasingly frustrated because I feel like this is a critical point in my career when I should be building on my experience, taking on more responsibility, and progressing toward project management.

I’ve also noticed that even engineers with more experience than I have aren’t necessarily getting opportunities to manage projects. It seems like most PM responsibilities and major decisions stay with the office directors, leaving limited opportunities for others to take the lead.

I’ve discussed my concerns with my manager, but they don’t seem particularly worried about the situation.

At this point, I’m seriously considering returning to my previous firm, where I have an established track record and have consistently been told there is plenty of work available if I want to come back.

For those who have been in a similar situation, would you stick it out longer in hopes that the workload improves, or would you move on? How much would you weigh the potential for career growth and project ownership against the uncertainty of waiting for work to materialize?

I’m a EIT working in water resources with 3.5 years of experience, and lately I’ve been feeling pretty burnt out and unmotivated.

When I first started, I was so excited to learn. I’ve always been someone who enjoys taking on challenges, figuring things out, and developing new skills. However, since starting full time, I’ve felt like I’ve been thrown into the deep end with little to no training or mentorship. I’ve literally had to teach myself almost eveyrhting, with rare guidance from more experienced engineers.

Despite that, I’ve consistently taken on heavy workloads, worked late nights to meet deadlines, taken calls with clients, helped train interns and other junior engineers, and taken on responsibilities that I feel go beyond my experience level. I’ve never really complained because I genuinely enjoyed the work and wanted to grow.

What really pushed me over the edge recently was finding out that several of my peers received promotions while I was overlooked. I don’t want to make this sound like I’m bitter about other people’s success, because I’m genuinely happy for them. But it made me reflect on how much effort I’ve put in and how little recognition or professional development I’ve received in return. Especially with clients being happy with the quality of work I produce.

I can’t help but feel like cheap labor that’s needed to get the job done, and not someone worth being invested in. Seeing my other colleagues who I have more experience than get promoted hurts, and I’m not sure what im doing wrong. Saddest part is that I feel myself losing my love of learning.

I’m starting to wonder whether this is just a normal part of being a young engineer, whether I’m expecting too much from my employer, or whether it’s time to start looking elsewhere.

Just wondering if others have been through this and if so, how’d you handle it?

Hey everyone,

Just curious if anyone here has gone through the hiring process at KH (Kimley-Horn) for a Practice Builder position or a similar senior-level role.

How long did the process take from the initial recruiter contact to the final offer? Does KH generally move pretty slowly with hiring for these positions, with weeks or even months between interview stages?

Is it common for the entire process to take 6+ months, or would that be considered unusually long?

Would appreciate hearing about anyone’s experience, especially with PB or other senior-level positions. Thanks!

Asking in terns of Career progression and just general experience

Hi, I was wondering which N value does Meyerhof's relationship for the skin friction factor of cohesionless soils (tau = 0.1-0.32N (metric ton/m2)) use? I have not gotten a clear answer from the sources I've read online.
For clarification my choices are:
N from the field value,
N60 corrected for the standard hammer,
(N1)60 corrected for overburden effects, and
(N1)60CORR corrected for dilatancy and excess pore pressure

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 assuming the answer is no/probably not, but for context I have a bit of a strange background: I'm 25 years old, I graduated with my BA in English at 20, then graduated with a UX design certificate at 21, then did retail/cashiering for 1.5 years (ages 22-23), then graduated from a short pre-apprenticeship for the trades (age 23), and now work in sales/marketing for my dad's small furniture manufacturing business (ages 24-25). Next year I am planning to enroll in a welding certificate at my local community college so I can start to help with the manufacturing side of things as well.

My main goal right now is to help grow my dad's business and standardize and document its processes so that we can sell it and my dad can retire. I'm not exactly sure how long this is going to take, but I'm guessing it will take me to at least my 30s. At that point, I really want to go back to school for civil engineering.

Will my odd, all-over-the-place, not-STEM-related educational background/work history be detrimental, or will employers not mind?

I know I probably don't seem like someone who would be interested in civil, but I absolutely am, and (I could be wrong but) I don't think the desire to pursue this is going to go away in the next few years.

I know one year and graduate programs don't go to well together, but here's the scenario: I'm an NCAA D1 athlete and have one more year of eligibility. This could help pay for a good majority of my school, so it's either do sports for one more year and get a degree or wait 10+ years for an employer to pay for it. Before I commit to a school, what are some good options to go to school for to boost my resume/look better for employers? Open to all opinions, whether in leadership/project management or design/theory.

5 years experience, 3.5 in Aus, now in UK (with a 2 year career break). Currently in a design consultancy in water/hydraulics.

Sitting below senior, only just starting the chartership journey. Current salary is less than my grad salary in Australia - though I’m not expecting parity and understand the market pays less here, it’s a fairly grim reality to deal with in London.

Day to day I dread work, and don’t feel like I’m good at my job at all. Alongside that I can’t see or map out a pathway forward that will get me any progression, or a meaningful salary bump.

I feel like I need to get out of engineering in general as it doesn’t particularly interest me and move towards something else. Struggling with this at the moment as the headspace isn’t exactly allowing for positive thinking and seeing opportunity.

Does anyone have any tips or advice?

I'm a civil/structural engineer with 3.5 years of experience in the energy sector with the same employer and got offered a new role in the same industry.

Current role:

- Great technical experience development, but concerned the work may become repetitive after the next 6 months.

- Mostly focused on design, with limited wider responsibilities.

- 40 hours/week, 2 days WFH.

New role:

- More responsibility, technical decision-making and stakeholder engagement, but potentially less hands-on design and calculations.

- lead title in a big consultancy

- 35 hours/week, 3 days WFH.

- Around 25% higher salary, better pension, but in a slightly more expensive city.

My main concern is sacrificing valuable technical development too early in my career for broader responsibility.

For those who've made a similar move, did you wish you'd spent longer developing your technical skills, or did taking on greater responsibility earlier benefit your career?

I'm a civil engineering project manager that has gotten bored with my work. I'm thinking of trying to pursue a PM job in another field and am curious if anyone reading this has attempted the same shift. Did it work out, and if so, how well do you feel your skills transferred?

Easier to write the code than take a good photo nowadays!

Hello,

I am looking for more guidance on structural design of energy dissipator for a culvert. The desired type of the dissipator is Contra Costa. Objective is to determine the thickness of the slab, adequate reinforcement, and the baffle block to slab joint.

I have referenced HEC-14 and Design of Small Canals. While HEC-14 provides hydraulics design examples, it does not mention any reinforcement. Design of Small Canals does not include this type of a dissipator.

Any help on additional references or examples would be welcome!

I’m researching how people use Trimble Business Center for a class. It would be helpful to understand how you use it, when is it used, and the benefits of students learning in school. Thanks!

Hey guys,
I’ve had an interview at Kiewitt about 2 weeks ago for a field engineer internship, and I wanted to ask how long do I have to wait to get a response back? I’ve been waiting for 2 weeks, well one more day then it will officially be 14 business days. Please let me know what I should do, or any other opinions.