What does a civil engineer do on a daily basis?

Question

i was wondering because i am studying to become one.

Answer 1

Whichever specialty of civil engineering you end up choosing, you can count on a few things:

1) the majority of your daily work will be spent in front of a computer

2) you will do your fair share of technical writing

3) you will communicate and coordinate on nearly a daily basis with your team members and clients

As hinted in the previous answer, there are a lot of additional daily tasks that each specialty seems to adopt. For example, geotechnical engineers tend to spend a lot of time outdoors, while structural engineers tend to spend a lot of time in an office. Talk with some of your professors about the different specialties in engineering, and then select the one that aligns with your particular interests and passions.

Answer 2

It depends on your speciality.

If you are a structural engineer you might spend the day at the computer designing structures or you might be an a site field trip to oversee the construction of your design.

If you are a transportation specialist, you might be working at your computer plugging data into the particular algorithm that you developed for your special problem.

If your work is in the construction management area, you might be involved in finding new methods to complete a job, faster, cheaper, safer and better. Or, you might be inspecting the project to ensure that the other Engineers intentions have been fulfilled.

In any case the work is exciting, rewarding, and important.

After 45 years I still get a quickening of my pulse whenever I see a large project underway. I still rubber neck as I drive past a Highway construction project and watch in amazement as a crane hoists large items.

Answer 3

If you work for the Council, they inspect building sites & approve building permits. You can also do consulting or planning

Answer 4

The ones I work with like to put sewer and storm water drains right where I need to run my fire water mains!  

I don't think it's their jobs, I think it's more of a hobby for them.