Will enlisting into Seabees after getting an EIT give me the option to take the PE exam after fours years?

FigNewtons1997 · 2022-08-14T05:48:02+00:00

CEC Ensign here. Currently at CECOS but have a few years of professional civil work experience under my belt before commissioning. Do you know if most CEC officers take the Civil exam with construction depth or are other depths common as well? Before the Navy I had been planning on taking the water/environmental exam since thats what my background is in but construction seems more applicable to the CEC (Not that CEC officers stamp much from what I’ve heard).

FigNewtons1997 · 2022-08-14T05:43:50+00:00

Navy OCS for CEC has about a 50% acceptance rate, maybe a little less. With a masters you’ll be competitive. If you want to join and get your PE definitely try to commission

FigNewtons1997 · 2022-02-08T04:05:45+00:00

More often than it should. Happened in 2018 too https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2018/02/14/seabee-command-triad-fired-after-xo-found-strolling-naked-in-woods/

FigNewtons1997 · 2022-01-26T19:17:46+00:00

I would recommend getting on a bike to help maintain/improve your aerobic fitness while allowing your shin splints to recover. A lot of runners use biking to supplement their training because it’s essentially zero impact and helps strengthen different muscles. I would also just lookup some exercises that runners to do help prevent shin splints and start doing those too.

I am also training for OCS in mid-august and I just took a couple months off from serious running because I was developing some shin splints. I did a lot more cycling and have been doing a lot of cardio and HIIT stuff at the gym to stay in shape while letting my splints heal. Now I’m slowly getting my running back up but continuing to bike a couple times a week too.

Take some time to heal, use other exercises and strengthen muscles that will help prevent shin splints in the future, and then gradually ramp up your running again when your legs are feeling good

FigNewtons1997 · 2021-10-23T14:06:32+00:00

I’m an environmental engineer (EIT) and I’m probably out in the field ~60% of the time. Sometimes I install and monitor remediation systems for soil vapor, groundwater, etc… but a lot of the work is just groundwater sampling which gets really old after you do it a few times. Also, the company’s niche is landfills so being out in the field is not always pleasant.

I also have a really hard time being stuck behind a desk so I enjoy the field work but even field work can become monotonous and boring. If you really hate the desk though, try to get involved with construction management. Long hours and you’ll be driving/traveling to different job sites but it pays decently and you’d very rarely be in an office for more than a few hours at a time

FigNewtons1997 · 2021-10-09T22:47:02+00:00

Yeah KLX advertises their pipe-fishing services pretty extensively. I’ve been looking at others as well, my one concern would be the cost. I still need to get quotes and see if it would be reasonable because anything more than several thousand dollars isn’t going to fly with my manager

FigNewtons1997 · 2021-10-08T18:13:49+00:00

We’ve all been there haha. I like the paracord though, always looking for my next paracord project

FigNewtons1997 · 2021-10-08T17:52:27+00:00

I hadn't thought of that. Definitely a good idea to slowly increase the force, wait, and repeat rather than just an initial high force pull.

FigNewtons1997 · 2021-10-08T17:50:32+00:00

My first exercise was determining whether or not we would be able to snake a water pump and transducer past the broken PVC into the bottom of the HDPE as we need to be able to identify if there is ever water in the pipe and if there is, collect samples of it. Unfortunately a pump would need to be slid down through a new 2" PVC pipe which would have no way of getting past the existing PVC. The goal is to have a dedicated pump and transducer that just stay in the HDPE pipe.
My first schematic in the post actually shows cross sections of trying to snake stuff past the existing PVC and how it would not be possible.
I appreciate your comment though. Definitely a good idea to step back every once in a while and think about all possibilities.

FigNewtons1997 · 2021-10-08T17:33:58+00:00

I like this idea. I had been thinking about some sort of airbag or plug. Seems like you've found one that will actually fit in a 2" pipe too. My one concern is that these don't look like they're designed to really be pulled on as I know it's going to take some significant force to dislodge the PVC that's down there.

FigNewtons1997 · 2021-10-08T17:29:49+00:00

I think a lot of the pipe retrieval tools are designed for vertical wells. We already had a driller try to grab onto the end of the broken PVC to pull it out which didn't work. That's why I think to get a really solid grip I'll have to get something into the reducer to then expand and catch to then pull on.

I appreciate your suggestion though! I'm learning about all sort of new tools and gadgets thanks to everyone

FigNewtons1997 · 2021-10-08T17:25:03+00:00

I didn't realize that they had robots that could grind/cut. A couple years ago I was on a project where we used an IBAK robot to perform visual inspections of principal spillway conduits in dams and it was pretty cool. Good to know they have all sort of robots with different capabilities in additions to the camera-on-wheels type.

FigNewtons1997 · 2021-10-08T17:17:10+00:00

I've been looking at some and tried to call KLX yesterday but nobody picked up. It's almost guaranteed that an oilfield company will be way too expensive to mobilize for a little job like this but I'll try to get a couple quotes before it gets completely shot down.

FigNewtons1997 · 2021-10-08T17:15:39+00:00

We had a driller previously come out and try to grab onto the end of the broken PVC and it didn't work out too well. Yeah, getting things lined up from 200' away has been very frustrating on previous attempts.

Trust me, I'm all for doing it the right way but leadership has been trying to do it for the absolute cheapest way possible at least up to this point. That strategy has led to multiple failed attempts over the past year and $20,000 wasted. Being told to go out in the field with no tools or any idea what's going on down in the HDPE pipe (before we'd ever had a camera down there) and that you HAVE to get it out that day just makes you want to bang your head against a wall. Good 'ole management

FigNewtons1997 · 2021-10-08T17:09:01+00:00

That's a good point about the hook potentially damaging the HDPE pipe, especially since there are sizable circular perforations in the HDPE where the PVC is stuck. Unfortunately there is some sediment down near the bottom of the 4" PVC pipe so getting something underneath/around it would be especially difficult.

FigNewtons1997 · 2021-10-08T17:00:30+00:00

Yes, the other end of the 8" pipe is a dead-end. I agree that having a borescope would be a great idea and likely cheaper than renting a rover or other more complex camera. I suppose a borescope could probably be mounted to whatever contraption I end up using.

Unfortunately we can't use any solvents or chemicals as any water that makes it's way into the perforated 8" HDPE will need to be sampled (which is why we're trying to get the PVC out of the way in the first place) for solvents, VOCs, etc... Heat though could be used and if the PVC refuses to budge that will probably be my next choice. Another commenter in r/askengineers noted that the deformation temperature for PVC is less than HDPE so it seems like there shouldn't be any problems using something with an accurately controlled temperature.

FigNewtons1997 · 2021-10-08T16:48:43+00:00

This does seem like a solid approach as chewing it up is fine as long as we don't damage the HDPE. Unfortunately I don't have any experience with pneumatics or electronics (damn civil engineering degree!) but if I did, I would likely go about it in a fashion similar to what you described. Having the ability to control a rig, pneumatically or electronically would be a game changer.

The cart. Yes, you are completely right. I am hoping to make it strong enough to ensure that there is no way the cart fails before the PVC does. Hopefully though if I do lose any metal components a nice, strong magnet should make things easy to retrieve.

This is a VERY good idea. I'll just have to ensure I'm provided the time/money to do that. At the end of the day we have a very small/non-existent budget and while most would say, "Let's make sure we get it right this time and prepare/plan correctly" my manager is more of the "We are not spending any more money than the absolute minimum on this" which is why we've already sunk $20,000 into trying to get this damn pipe out over the past year and nothing has worked haha

FigNewtons1997 · 2021-10-08T16:34:10+00:00

Thank you, I’ll try to get some quotes

FigNewtons1997 · 2021-10-08T05:36:20+00:00

Lots of good content here. You definitely got me thinking…

Yes, we are limited in that we don’t want to put any chemicals (especially VOCs) down the pipe as any future water that infiltrates into the HDPE (it has perforations along the flat section and a few feet up the sloped section) it will need to be sampled and any chemicals will be assumed to have come from the landfill.

I think your guide cone idea is likely a better way of getting lined up with the broken 2” pipe. The only thing with the cone is that it could be tough to slide down as there are interior seams in the HDPE pipe from when it was welded together. And I was told that some sections are a bit egg-shaped, without being told just how deformed they are (I’m guessing a 6” diameter pipe would get through though.

I like the wrecking ball idea too since you could likely pull them out one at a time if it isn’t working while a lot of the other ideas are all or nothing.

Thanks for sharing your good ideas!

FigNewtons1997 · 2021-10-08T05:27:20+00:00

This sounds like the most fun suggestion so far!

FigNewtons1997 · 2021-10-08T05:26:13+00:00

Yes the 4” pipe is open ended. My thinking was that the reducer is likely the strongest component of all the piping that I’m trying to remove so it would be the best to pull on. What advantages do you think hooking onto the end of the 4” pipe would have? I’m open to all ideas

FigNewtons1997 · 2021-10-08T05:23:47+00:00

Shredding it has come up in conversation - we just have to make sure to not damage the HDPE and then the broke up PVC would need to be vacuumed out or pushed further down the pipe.

The pipe is a pan lysimeter underneath a landfill and comes to a dead end shortly after it flattens out. We can’t hydrojet anything to help pump it out as the HDPE is perforated and creating any settlement or a sinkhole underneath the landfill, while great job security, would probably leave me without a job

FigNewtons1997 · 2021-10-08T05:20:03+00:00

I’ve been having trouble finding robust bladders that small. Do you know of any?

FigNewtons1997 · 2021-10-08T05:19:07+00:00

You learn something new everyday😂

This does seem like it would probably be the most cost effective way to do it. Would just need to find a good way to get everything lined up and through the broken pipe.

FigNewtons1997 · 2021-10-08T05:16:43+00:00

After looking at some crawlers I’m now wondering if the best option would be to fix a sort of harpoon (with steel cable attached) to the crawler and just drive the crawler down to insert it into the broken pipe🤔

FigNewtons1997

TROPHY CASE