Did you always have an interest building buildings, roads and bridges? Nothing else fascinates you than designing and creating structures. Sometimes, you would dream of building a world-renowned building that will make you famous. If this is truly your passion, you should take up civil engineering. Civil engineering is a world of creating beautiful and needed structures in today’s modern world.
Civil Engineering
In the vast field of engineering, civil engineering is one of the oldest engineering disciplines. Even during the building of pyramids in Egypt, civil engineers were already working to create these marvelous structures. Civil engineers are also responsible for building the Great Wall of China and the Coloseum in Italy. These wonders of the world dates back thousands of years ago. It is evident that the field of civil engineering is very important in the world.
Today, civil engineers have the ability to create structures that defies logic and gravity but still, these structures are based on scientific laws and principles. Aside from that, civil engineers are needed to create structures that modern society need today. This includes roads, bridges, dams, highways, transport systems and other structures.
How To Become A Civil Engineer
To become a civil engineer, you will need a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. A degree in civil engineering will give you a solid background on science, math and construction. Most initial courses of engineering degrees are the same. The aim is to build a strong foundation of mathematics, scientific and engineering concepts among students.
In the 4-year bachelor’s degree program, students will take up subjects like geology, physics, chemistry, statistics, calculus, vector geometry, fluid mechanics and soil mechanics. In the last year of your undergraduate degree, you will be asked to complete internship hours. Some schools require students to make a real-world project as part of the completion of the degree program.
After completing a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, you should get an Engineer In Training license. You will need to work for a couple of years to qualify for a Professional Engineer license. You must pass the licensing exam to obtain this certification.
Sub-Fields In Civil Engineering
There are several specialty fields in civil engineering you may want to specialize. If you are passionate about structural elements like buildings bridges or buildings, you should go for structural engineering. If you want to study the rock and soil components where the structure will be built on, you can go for geotechnical engineering.
Public works engineering concentrates on the planning, management, administration, safety and cost of creating public work infrastructure. If you want to work on publicly used structures, there is the civil engineering discipline for you. Construction engineering is the sub-discipline that best suits civil engineers who always want to work in construction sites. They design, study materials and manage the operations.
Transportation engineering involves the designing and performance of transportation systems. It also involves the construction and management of the transportation systems. Examples of transportation engineering works are routing of highway systems, rapid transit systems and airport runways. Water resources engineering deals with fluid mechanics and this includes floods, water supply, sediment transport, ground water resources and wave forces.
Due to the continuous increase in engineering knowledge, specializing in one of these fields is necessary. Each sub-discipline has its own set of training. All sub-disciplines of civil engineering require dedicated, creative and talented individuals to create successful projects.
Online Civil Engineering Degrees
Is it possible to earn your civil engineering degree online? If you are currently working but want to make a career change, you can enroll in online civil engineering degrees. Such degree programs offers you flexible study schedule. However, not all sub-disciplines may be offered by online engineering schools. Nonetheless, it will not be hard to find bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in civil engineering online. Take note that during your search, you must only look for accredited engineering schools and civil engineering programs.
Employment Outlook And Salary
There is good news to all civil engineering students and those who want to enter this profession. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics reports that employment opportunities in the field of civil engineering will be expected to grow by 19.4% until the year 2020. This means there will be 51,000 jobs that will need filling.
Civil engineering is a growing field and this will not stop. Mankind always strives to create bigger and better buildings to utilize living and working space better. Thus, civil engineers always face new challenges in designing and creating structures. They have to consider how the structure can hold up to natural disasters. The daily challenge to improve structures increases the demand for civil engineers.
Civil engineers have a median salary of $77,560. The highest paid 10% of civil engineers earn $119,320 a year while the lowest 10% earned $50,560 a year.
Job Prospects For Civil Engineers
Civil engineers are diverse engineers this means that they can work in different industries and take on a wide array of jobs. Civil engineers can be designers, operators and constructors. When you study a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, it will prepare you for jobs that will improve the quality of life. One of which is becoming a designing engineer. You can stick to being a designer of bridges, buildings, airports, dams, roadways, bike paths and even golf courses.
You can become a construction site manager if you really love working in the field. A construction site manager oversees the project, works with contractors and makes bids for the schedules. Basically, you will manage all the operations involved in the construction site.
Civil engineers can also become government employees. They will work on public transportation, public water supply, landfills and waste-water plants. Moreover, civil engineers can work for federal agencies where they will be tasks to design and make structures for the Department of Transportation, US Geological Survey, US Forest Service and others.
Being a civil engineer sure is a fun and exciting career. There will never be a boring day as you are always given challenges. Aim high when you become a civil engineer, you will never know if your work becomes a landmark someday.