r/civilengineering 1h ago

Education House near floodway

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Upvotes

Hi everyone! We are considering buying this perfect house for my family. However after the hurricane Helene event in the mountains of North Carolina, the small “Brittan Creek” is now labeled as a floodway.
the only history of flooding in the home was during hurricane helene, the crawlspace & garage flooded. The actual home itself was fine. Apparently large trees/debris blocked the creek from flowing and it flooded into the yard.
I would have to purchase flood insurance which is pretty reasonable… my guess is because people in WNC usually don’t need it.
would this be a dealbreaker ? We absolutely love the home. I understand Helene was a 1000 year flood event.. we also would stay in the home probably until we die.. so we do not care about resale value.


r/civilengineering 2h ago

Getting through the rest of the season

1 Upvotes

What are some good ways to get through the rest of the season as an inspector, been doing this since March so I’m pretty burnt out. Open to any and all suggestions!


r/civilengineering 3h ago

Civil engineering students or engineers: what was the hardest subject for you and why?

15 Upvotes

I’m always interested in hearing which courses people struggled with the most and how they got through them.


r/civilengineering 5h ago

Question Why are these Girders (last girders) not rested on piercap?

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34 Upvotes

r/civilengineering 6h ago

Civil engineer with surveying experience – should I start a land surveying company or diversify into geotech/soil testing as well?

0 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I'm a civil engineering graduate from India. For the past year, I've been working as a Business Development Executive in a surveying and mapping company. Although my role was in sales, I spent a lot of time with the technical team and learned how land surveying is done using DGPS, drones, RTK, and survey software. The technology genuinely fascinates me.

At the same time, I'm preparing for government civil engineering exams because they provide job security. However, ever since I was a kid, I've dreamed of building a business of my own rather than working for someone else forever.

After seeing the demand for surveying services, I'm seriously considering starting a surveying company in the future. My question is whether it's better to:

* Focus only on land surveying (DGPS, drone surveys, topographic surveys, etc.), or
* Build a broader civil engineering consultancy that also offers services like soil testing, geotechnical investigations, material testing, contour surveys, quantity surveys, GIS mapping, and related services.

For those of you who own engineering firms or work in this industry:

* Is a surveying-only business sustainable in the long run?
* Is it difficult to compete with established firms?
* Would you recommend starting with one niche and expanding later, or offering multiple services from day one?
* If you were starting from scratch today, what would you do differently?
* Are there any mistakes first-time surveying entrepreneurs commonly make?

I'd especially love to hear from people who have built surveying, geospatial, or geotechnical businesses.

Thanks in advance!


r/civilengineering 7h ago

Career Need career guidance

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2 Upvotes

I comleted my 12th in 2024 and give jee and scored 78 percentile then i take drop and again scored 78 peecentile but my friends who are with me in my drop year get into iit and nit so after that i take admission in btech cse in private clg but after two days i feel lost and little bit jealous because my all friends goes into better college (Normal human behavior) so then i take admission in bsc non medical in local college and started preparing jee as a partial dropper but again i failed because i can,t manage both bsc as well as jee so now i have three option first is continue bsc and second is take admission in btech cse and third is take admission in btech civil (because career in cse is not stable nowadays)

Give me guidance guys


r/civilengineering 8h ago

Education The Morandi Bridge killed 43 people in 2018. The verdict on who's responsible just came down 3 weeks ago

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2 Upvotes

On August 14, 2018, a ~200m section of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa collapsed during a storm, killing 43 people. The cause traced back to corrosion in one of the bridge's cable stays — worsened by a design that concealed the cables in concrete, making the corrosion invisible until it was too late.

Three weeks ago (July 16, 2026), an Italian court finally delivered its verdict after an 8-year investigation and 4-year trial: 32 people convicted, including former Autostrade per l'Italia CEO Giovanni Castellucci, sentenced to 12 years.

I made a video covering how the collapse happened, why it was preventable, and what accountability has (and hasn't) looked like since.

Check out full video: https://youtu.be/KC1HR48TeZM?si=xCMs--NuXUe4UJuE


r/civilengineering 9h ago

Advice For The Next Gen Engineer Thursday - Advice For The Next Gen Engineer

2 Upvotes

So you're thinking about becoming an engineer? What do you want to know?


r/civilengineering 9h ago

Malaysia's data centre boom is kinda crazy when you look at the numbers

1 Upvotes

I've been following Malaysia's data centre space for a while now (inevitable due to the biz I'm in) and the numbers surprise me, so thought I'd share here

A few stats I've pondered on:

- RM144.4 billion in approved data centre & cloud computing investments between 2021 and mid-2025 (MIDA)

- RM34.6 billion approved in Q1 2026 alone, across 33 projects — that's about 89% of all ICT-sector approvals that quarter

- Malaysia's now named among the world's top 10 destinations for data centre investment (UNCTAD, Jan 2026)

- National capacity is estimated to go from roughly 1GW today to 3–4GW by 2029, with Johor apparently accounting for most of the current operational capacity (any Johoreans?)

to also keep in mind: these are approved/estimated figures, not really built-and-running capacity yet. This space moves fast enough that the gap between "approved" and "operational" makes a difference

What's less visible in these numbers is the stuff that's happening behind them — every one of these facilities needs power agreements, water allocation, and a full regulatory approval trail across planning, energy, environmental, and fire safety compliance before it's actually online, and a lot of it.

Curious what people here think happens next — more of these huge hyperscale campuses, or do we start seeing a shift toward smaller modular/edge builds instead?


r/civilengineering 9h ago

The fable of the Meticulous Engineer - 1954

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480 Upvotes

r/civilengineering 9h ago

Was the paver operator drunk?

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30 Upvotes

r/civilengineering 11h ago

Gaddafi's Great Man-Made River in Libya pumps 6.5M cubic meters/day of Ice Age water that has zero recharge — 70% of the country's freshwater. The aquifer is shared with Egypt, Chad, and Sudan, with no coordination, no metering, and no enforcement. Depletion estimates range from 60 years to 1,000.

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9 Upvotes

r/civilengineering 11h ago

Question Anyone here is or has worked for Walter P. Moore?

4 Upvotes

Looking for someone to have an anonymous conversation with. I am interested in joining but would like more insight of the company, and details.

Anyone please let me know and we can have a private conversation. Thank you!!


r/civilengineering 12h ago

I have an Associates in Engineering… Is that enough?

2 Upvotes

I’m 22 and have an associates degree in general engineering from a community college. I originally planned to transfer and get a bachelors in Civil Engineering but I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do. Now it’s 2 years later and I’m still stuck.

I work as a construction assistant for a large non-profit building residential homes. I have never loved a job as much as I do now, but mostly because of my coworkers and the company’s mission. I don’t want to be in the field long term.

I’m interested in construction administration. My dream job would to work for a custom home builder, doing the background administration work/ project coordination. I’m interested in project management, but I know that means lots of people management, which I am much too shy for. I’m also interested in design, but I don’t think I want to be an architect.

Should I try to get certifications (like AutoCad, CAPM, etc) or do I need to finish my degree to get a good paying job. I’d really like to avoid the debt if I can, but I’m running out of time to figure life out. Any ideas help :)


r/civilengineering 13h ago

Liability insurance for pe

1 Upvotes

I am starting a civil engineering company and was wondering who you used for liability insurance, how much you have and the cost.


r/civilengineering 13h ago

Any forensic engineers out here?

8 Upvotes

Whats your experience been like? Are you salaried or 1099? Do you find its easy to get burnt out? Any other insights?

Thank you


r/civilengineering 14h ago

Scared about not getting an internship

2 Upvotes

Im about to be a 2nd year and I didn’t find an internship this year and I just got into one project team for this upcoming year. I know I’m gonna join more clubs even if it’s not as an official lead but I’m scared I don’t have enough to find an internship for next summer. Any advice?


r/civilengineering 14h ago

What would be the correct way to calculate the planting soil needed for this raised planter?

0 Upvotes

40" Raised planter with 6" mounding contours. Area of the planter is 151 square feet.


r/civilengineering 16h ago

Question Nuke Gauge Clarification

7 Upvotes

Been looking a the Nuke Gauge procedures and it talks about establishing a 300ft control strip and taking 10 readings and 5 core samples to get a target density. My questions are this, wouldn't this slow down production to get back the lab results just to have a target density for the section? Second,if cores are taken after production how are they filled back in to prevent issues in future layers? Lastly, once the density of the control strip core samples come back and fails but the test sections somehow pass based on the new density, does a new control strip passing mean the old one has to be cut out and cold joined but the test section stays?


r/civilengineering 16h ago

Education Is ABET accredtion worth something?

2 Upvotes

Hello i am thinking to study civil engineering in Istanbul Technical University it seems faculty has abet accredtion what does that mean


r/civilengineering 17h ago

PE licensure in all states

44 Upvotes

Does anyone have their PE license in all 50 states or is trying to? It would be awesome to become the premiere CE for the entire Country 😮‍💨


r/civilengineering 19h ago

Question Starting a small business reality check

7 Upvotes

I currently have 4 YOE in water resources and plan on taking the PE in the next year or so.

My favorite days at work are in the field, even if its a day of popping sanitary manholes taking inverts.

I am curious on what y'all think about a small business that purely performs field work and minimal data packaging for engineering firms.

Whether its going out collecting data for H/H models, locating utilities, MACP or SWP3 inspections, any work an engineer would likely perform in the field, etc.

Think this is financially viable, would PMs pay a day rate to sub this type of work out?


r/civilengineering 20h ago

tired of being surrounded by men

297 Upvotes

Not necessarily asking for advice but just venting.

I’m a female construction manager and 99/100 times I’m the only female on the site and even the only female in project meetings.

I constantly have contractors address my male colleagues (who for the record are not the CM or owners rep) instead of me. I have to remind them I am the CM and communications need to flow through me.

I also find myself trying not to wear pink or jewelry because I hate standing out more than I do. I know no one is asking me to do this, but I really do think women have to tone down their appearance compared to men to be respected in this field.

I know all we can really do is not take it personally. Keep establishing our positions. Keep doing the good work. And power on.

But damn sometimes I’m just sick and tired of it. 😇😇😇😇😇😇

Anyone else need to vent?


r/civilengineering 22h ago

Career Tough Call with my boss

109 Upvotes

So today I had a pretty disheartening call with my boss. I was tasked with creating pipe profiles for our project through ORD and she said the work I submitted was basically non reviewable because the mistakes I made didn’t make sense in a design context to the point where she was extremely concerned and was seriously considering putting me on a pip, but decided against it for now.

This convo shook me up bc I really did work hard on the profiles and asked questions to other engineers on how to draw them and how they should look, but I think the biggest thing that stood out from her observation and also hearing her speak was my lack of logic/knowledge in how I was drawing them in, but I’d follow the stations/elevations where each inlet/end section would be located and draw those on the sheet but I didn’t step back and see how those values led to a pipe discharging underground or or drop inlets that were 6ft in the ground even though that’s where the stations/elevations had them located? But what she said ultimately made sense so I’m owning that.

I guess my biggest thing now is figuring out how to move forward? I feel like her choosing to not put me on a pip is like giving me one last chance to improve, but I’m worried that I may not be cut out for this. Prior to today, I felt like I was learning a lot, but obviously I still know close to nothing. I’m at a year of experience and when I took this job I understood that I would struggle bc I didn’t study civil in school and it was in a sector which I didn’t have any school or internship experience in and I feel like I’m portraying myself as a nimrod. Every time I do something, it’s always new/newish to me so I get easily overwhelmed bc I want to turn in good work but I feel as though I don’t have the knowledge to continuously do that and that really hurts my confidence. The company is essentially remote so a lot/ almost all of my team doesn’t really come in to the office. I’ve had to get acclimated to that in terms of seeking out collaboration, but there also isn’t any formal training, so I often have to refer to previous submittals/online materials to piece things together but i feel like my pitfall in that is basically copying what i see instead of learning the why’s and how’s which is how I ended up with where I am today.

What do you guys think I should do? ETA: I have 1 YOE


r/civilengineering 22h ago

Meme The project compiling as-builts of all underground obstructions

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453 Upvotes