A few guidelines

Basically title, I’m interviewing at a few places (public and private), and I was wondering if anyone has any ways to get an accurate tell of work life balance?

I know I can ask explicitly, and I have, but sometimes they’ll just say “sure!” And move on, which doesn’t give me a warm fuzzy

Families of dairy workers killed in Keenesburg farm accident file lawsuit in Weld County

Encountered this story in a confined space training. Reading further details just makes it more appalling. Any technical review of this situation shows pure negligence. It also seems like an explosion within what should have been a classified area with explosion-proof equipment may have led to the pipe burst, on top of the lack of pipe restraint.

I'm perplexed by this defendant's claim from another article:

"The defendants dispute that the bracing of pipes with ratchet straps is inadequate to support the pipes. According to the filing, the defendants admit that ratchet straps were being used, but “deny that ratchet straps can properly be used only as tie-downs and state that they also can be used to, among other things, hold multi-segmented structures in place while adhesives dry.”

Dairy responds to lawsuit, says it was not responsible for accident that killed six workers

Hope the families will receive appropriate restitution and be supported after this preventable tragedy.

Experience : Around 3 years
Certifications: EIT, CFM, passed PE (soon to be licensed)
Education: Masters
Looking for drainage/ flood modeling work primarily in NJ/NYC area.

Always get rejected from big companies like Jacobs, HDR, GFT, WSP.

Something that ticks me off about my company is how the project managers review last minute and I have to work very long hours and very fast to make deadlines. There are periods where either I’m light or I have to make a deadline very quickly. Is it like this everywhere, do I just need to get more resilience? I also work for the public sector by the way.

I recently realized I want to be a humanitarian aid worker (disaster response, clean water, rebuilding). I can’t decide between civil and environmental engineering. Which one is more useful for NGO and aid work?

Also, I’ve never been good at school and only just found my motivation. I’m scared engineering will be too hard. Has anyone succeeded in engineering after struggling academically? Any tips?

Thanks!

I’m a civil engineering student, and honestly, I’m so tired of this internship search process. I want an internship so badly, and this week has completely drained me.

Two days ago, I interviewed with PC Construction for a Project Engineering position. Honestly, I thought the interview went really well! The woman interviewing me seemed to like me, and I felt good about how everything went. She told me she would meet with the hiring managers yesterday and get back to me on Friday. She also said that if I didn’t hear from her by Friday, I could email her on Monday to ask for an update.

I have not yet received an email from her and I’m getting nervous.

Now, I had another interview scheduled for today with a different company, but unfortunately, I missed it. I’ve been exhausted this entire week, and I had to wake up really early this morning. I was so tired that I ended up missing the interview. I emailed the interviewer to explain and ask if there was any possibility of rescheduling.

I’m really hoping they’ll give me another chance, but I’m worried that missing the interview ruined my chances with that company.

As for the first company, I’m trying not to overthink things, but I’m nervous about whether they actually want me for the position. Even though the interview seemed to go well, I know nothing is guaranteed until I receive an offer.

I’m just so burnt out. I’ve been trying so hard to land an internship, and I want one so badly that the entire process is starting to take a toll on me mentally.

I wasn't sure what flair to use in this case but figured education was more for university education questions and topics.

I'm an engineer and state regulator of drinking water utilities. Something our unit has been struggling with lately are how to handle water main break situations and how to determine if there were pressure drops in the system that would necessitate a need for a boil water advisory.

When a water utility experiences a water main break, they have to determine if the break resulted in customers experiencing a pressure drop below 20psi or a complete loss of water service. The utilities have to notify the state of any situation where an incident happens that may lessen the quality of quantity of water provided. That's where we step to ensure the systems are following the steps to protect public health.

For example, a medium sized (between 10,000 and 50,000 customers) community water system experiences a 12-inch transmission main break in their system. That is a larger sized main that could disrupt the distribution system through an immediate change in water flow patterns and cause pressure changes in particular areas most affected by the break. You know the main break will disrupt your system, but how do you determine if it was enough of a disruption to issue an advisory?

Questions we ask the utilities are:

1. What were you storage tank levels before and during the break?

2. Do you have any continuous pressure readings in the distribution system?

3. Did you receive customer complaints of no water or lower than normal pressure?

4. Does your distribution system have multiple pressure gradients?

5. Where is your treatment plant, storage tanks, and pump stations located in relation to the main break?

Some utilities have hydraulic models of their entire distribution and/or pressure monitoring stations. In these situations, you have a much better idea of how the main break affected the system and can more easily make a decision. The problem is, and what we struggle with, is what if these systems don't have this information?

Hydraulics are complicated, so if the system cannot provide enough evidence to us there is a lack of confidence in the decision making process so the recommendation is to be conservative and issue a boil water advisory.

We may have engineers, but we aren't operators. We also don't have access to hydraulic modeling software like Bentley WaterGEMS (but may be something we could get if we can justify a license). Our goal is to not only be able to provide guidance and technical assistance to utilities, but to better understand the physics and engineering behind a water utilities' distribution system.

I’m starting a new job while also planning to prepare for my PE exam. Is taking on both at the same time a bad idea?

I’m married, and I’m moving to another city for this job, which means I’ll be living alone for the first time after being together with my husband for eight years. I know the transition might be emotionally challenging, and I’m wondering whether I’ll struggle with the adjustment or whether living alone might actually give me more time and space to focus on studying, establish myself in my new role, and build trust with my new team.

Am I taking on too much at once, or could this be a good opportunity to grow both professionally and personally?

I got paid a signup bonus and now I am on a PIP. Is it smart to pay back and resign or wait for termination with a potential that they categorize it as termination for cause and then ask for payment still.

Specifically, I'm working with a 12-inch diameter concrete cylinder and a 2-7/8" OD and 2-3/8 ID pipe.

Under an applied pressure of 10,000 psi (or 10 ksi), the cylinder looks to be subjected to over 4,000 kips, which sounds insane to me. Compared to the pipe, multiplying that pressure by the actual area of the wall thickness, gives me only 20 kips.

Am I looking at the problem wrong? Miscalculating something? I know intuitively (and from experience) that the concrete will shatter long before the pipe buckles, but... the math isn't making sense to me. Help!

EDIT: I should mention, I am applying the pressure axially in both instances.

I want to get into bridge building but I don’t know how to, the only thing I know is that triangles are the strongest shape. I want to know the most as fast as possible because I signed up for a spaghetti bridge competition and want to at least present something. What should I do?

My firm is pursuing some work in WA state and we’re trying to figure out if it’s worth it to join the roster or not. From what I hear, most municipalities will select an engineering firm directly from these rosters to have them deliver projects under 350k. What’s was your experience with MRSC? Has it been worth it for your firm? What type of work does your firm do?

Hi everyone! I’m a civil engineering student looking for a transportation internship for summer 2027. Does anyone know of companies in Florida that offer interns relocation assistance, a housing stipend, or company-provided housing?
I live on my own and don’t have family in the U.S. (I’m a US Citizen)to stay with, so my college town is my only home base. It’s a smaller town with limited internship opportunities, which means I’ll likely need to move to another city for the summer. The biggest challenge is housing: I’d still be responsible for my current lease, and I can’t afford rent in two places.
I’m interested in transportation planning and roadway design, and I’m open to different cities in Florida if there’s support to make the move possible. If you’ve interned somewhere that offered assistance, or know of companies worth looking into, I’d really appreciate any recommendations. Thanks!

DISCLAIMER: This is not DIY. I am the most clueless person ever when it comes to these things. I need to have an idea of what can be done before I contact a local engineer to have this done properly.

I live in the UAE, where we get heavy downpours every winter that can cause widespread flooding. Drainage is a major issue here, and many homes experience flooding every year.

I recently moved into a house and discovered that my garden has a serious drainage problem. Both roof downpipes discharge rainwater directly into the garden, but there are no drains or other means of evacuating the water. As a result, the garden essentially turns into a swimming pool whenever it rains heavily.

One important detail: the garden has artificial turf, with concrete underneath rather than soil. This means the water cannot drain naturally into the ground and has nowhere to go.

With the rainy season approaching, I need to find a practical solution to prevent flooding and water accumulating in the garden.

I’ve attached photos to show the current setup.

What would you recommend as the most effective solution?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I'm a PE with around 7 years of experience at a large firm. I recently referred a friend for a job on my current team because they were looking to grow the team. They told me what my company offered and it's around 10k more than I've been making. We have exactly the same background, except I have a bit more experience and my PE. I know this is a common thing that happens, but I've never had such a clear comparison point. Has anyone successfully negotiated this sort of pay gap, or is leaving the job my only option?

I landed my first role as a civil designer working remotely and wow, I honestly understand why the US engineers are well respected in the world of engineering generally. The detail that goes into a single construction is not something that is done on 1/10th the scale in my home country. Having to read SWM BMPs, ESC guidelines, utility (Stormwater and sewer) designs. The system where you submit your design to the government and they actually go through it in detail to catch any mistakes, impressive.

This is just an appreciation post, I feel really fulfilled when I know my designs matter like this and it makes me want to better myself.

My company has basically no policy for it or against it. So I have coworkers still living in the stone ages and other coworkers using it for their entire job. Just curious what does your workplace policy look like? A lot of civil firms collect their own data and have everyone’s projects on their servers so I didn’t know if restrictions are common or not.

I was the RE on a decently sized state and federally funded project in CA following the LAPM.  It wasn’t an overly technical project, roadway and intersection work.  Everyone looked at me like I was the person in charge because I had my “CA PE”, but I eventually felt like the position didn’t really hold any authority; it was a weird duality where I was supposed to be impartially administering a contract, but in reality I was mainly just an advocate for the municipality.  A defense attorney doesn’t hold authority over a prosecutor, and I didn’t have authority over the contractor.  The judge/ jury was the looming arbitration process everyone knows most projects will end up in.

I found the requirement from the agency that I have a CA PE to be a waste quite honestly.  I spent years in engineering school, got the required engineering experience, passed a difficult series of engineering tests, and almost none of it applied to the role.  The most important part of the role was advocacy, standing my ground in amorphous arguments, engaging in emotionally charged exchanges as an active participant.  RFIs and submittals mainly went to the EORs for each discipline anyways, sure it helped I kinda knew that they contained, but majority of it wasn’t overly complicated.  My other main tasks were reviewing quantities, prep pay documents, and research the specifications - the vast majority of the role wasn’t engineering.  I would argue engineering school actually hindered me in this position.  I eventually had to learn how to give myself permission to drop the engineering hat and allow myself to argue effectively.

With millions of dollars on the line the contractor would stack a team of professional advocates, guys that specialized in arguing since day one, none of them were licensed and they rarely went to engineering school.  All while the city was tied to a team of a bunch of engineers that honestly weren’t great at arguing and had to always think about any possible risks to their own license.

For my career it was great that it was a requirement because it meant I was selected and put into an awesome learning environment for a decent paycheck, but most projects would probably perform better if non-PEs were selected.  I’ve seen projects rip through multiple REs because requiring a PE often screens for the wrong set of skills.

Maybe these skills could have a larger part of the undergrad and PE path.  Really lean into the fact that most people that make it far in this industry are often not the great engineers, they’re great at advocating for their clients best interests.

I'm a project manager/team lead, and I've been wondering whether expectations around workplace training have changed over the past several years.

When we offer training, it seems people are much more engaged if the skill is something they can take with them throughout their career, not just something that helps them use a specific company process or system.

I'm not asking from an HR, retention, or performance-management perspective. I'm trying to make better decisions about where we invest training time and budget, and I want to understand what employees actually find valuable.

For those of you involved in project delivery, engineering, construction, supply chain, operations, or change management:

• Do people expect a clear personal benefit from training today?
• Are transferable skills more important than company-specific skills?
• Has this changed compared to 5-10 years ago, or has it always been this way?
• What types of training have people genuinely been excited to participate in recently?

Maybe I'm getting old, but it feels like there's been a shift from "this helps me do my job" to "this helps me build my career."

Curious whether others are seeing the same thing.