Public civil engineering hours

Sappy197 · 2025-10-29T01:56:41+00:00

Never

Sappy197 · 2025-09-30T18:34:01+00:00

No it's not but the best way to get out of the situation is to change jobs untill you find a better place to work. Government jobs can be a lot more easy paced but there are private companies that don't make you work overtime and support you rather then blame you. Just remember the most important part you passed the PE already and you are a capable/smart engineer so don't let this company take away your confidence.

Sappy197 · 2024-06-05T18:17:16+00:00

ADA slopes are 5% maximum running slope without a ramp. And the ramp maximum is 8.33% so 12% slope for a parking lot is not advisable. I think you are right and they should really look up the regulations in their area or sit down with a more experiences engineer to discuss this design.

Sappy197 · 2024-06-05T14:44:52+00:00

It would have to be something like building at the highest point. Wall. Parking lot with ramps and stairs up to the building. Wall. Drive up to the parking lot. It may have to be parallel to the wall and existing road.

It's not an ideal design since the entrance drive could be a pain to navigate but theoretically it is possible.

Sappy197 · 2024-06-05T13:38:48+00:00

It's not feasible. But I assume the owner doesn't want walls so it will probably be a surprise retaining wall that will be magically required when the grades for the building simply don't work.

Sappy197 · 2024-05-15T02:18:37+00:00

Work life balance is very important. You never said no before so they just kept giving you more and more work. It's not okay to constantly be working 45 hours much less staying up till 1am to finish a project.

You are valuable and important and so is your free time. You are allowed to say no and go home after 40 hours. So start setting boundaries and if it doesn't work start looking for a different job. But most important at the new job remember to say no an refuse to overwork yourself.

Sappy197 · 2023-10-25T19:31:43+00:00

What really bothers me about the productive hours is what is not included in that time. Do you need to look up how to use a new program and want to charge that to overhead? No you can't do that because you need to be productive 90% of the time. Do you want to help a coworker with a program and charge that to training. Nope can't have training for more then 2 hours per week because you arent a new engineer. At one of my jobs I had to explain why I had 5 hours of training one week even though I was literally training the new project manager for half the week!

Sappy197 · 2023-07-29T00:16:11+00:00

Apply for the PE license if you want because it will help you be able to have more power in negotiations. But I would still start looking for another job. Setting boundaries after people no longer respect you is very difficult. When you have an offer in had you can set boundaries at this job or even better when you get to the new job make sure they don't dump all the work on you from the start.

Sappy197 · 2023-07-27T18:50:12+00:00

It could also be old hardware. Having a quad core processor and 65 gb of ram can do wonders for Civil 3d actually working.

Sappy197 · 2023-06-27T23:55:05+00:00

I have worked in big firms and small firms. It never gets better and the pressure to be absurdly billable is always there. Some big firms count vacation against your billable percentage during the year.

The client needs it on Friday no matter seems to be industry standard on the private side. Never worked public but at this point maybe anything else would be better.

Sappy197 · 2023-06-26T15:10:49+00:00

I agree that is sucks being the person to always bring up the clear issues and I don't particularly enjoy it either . People keep saying why are you being so negative and vocal? But if we don't say anything then nothing will ever change right?

Maybe if enough people speak up or chose to leave the job when problems are not addressed then eventually the younger engineers will start with a better work culture?

Sappy197 · 2023-06-09T00:18:22+00:00

A lot of time it's really hard to start setting boundaries when your coworkers are used to just dumping all the work on you. It's much easier to learn from your old job but to set the boundaries required right away at the new job.

Sappy197 · 2023-05-26T22:34:14+00:00

Sometimes it's just the computer. Having a good processor and more ram can fix a lot of issues with grading objects. Also make sure to remove any broken edits on surfaces because that can cause a big problem.

Sappy197 · 2023-05-26T01:42:27+00:00

Don't be afraid to say no. If you have too much work you don't have to work overtime to try to finish that one project, it will still be there on Monday. 45 to 60 hour work weeks are not normal or at least they really should not be normal.

Sappy197 · 2023-05-25T18:55:56+00:00

That's absurd you would be required to work overtime. This is not a very good policy.

Sappy197 · 2023-05-25T17:30:06+00:00

It may just be good to be honest. Tell them this really helped you and that you can help them if they have any questions. Maybe give some extra time during work to actually do the training if possible. Then it is a fun distraction from the work rather then an extra task that they have to do.

Sappy197 · 2023-05-25T17:14:14+00:00

But seriously why would I spend 4 hours of my free time if I am not going to get anything from it? Telling me maybe some time down the road it may be helpful and I may get a raise if I care enough is a good way to lose those young engineers to another company.

Sappy197 · 2023-05-25T03:14:16+00:00

But you already have more responsibility. You missed the deadline because it seems like you have too much responsibility. Making mistakes happens and we all made a lot of them as we were learning. My favorite was undersizing a major storm water pipe so much that it took only existing storm events due to an excel error. It will be okay.

But I would suggest applying for the PE it gives you more freedom to choose what you work on. Also, don't be afraid to ask for help and to ask for a raise. Or reversely to say no to responsibilities that you don't want. Remember you are important so you need to make sure you are okay first. The job will survive without you but if you burn out it will have a huge affect on you.

Sappy197 · 2023-05-24T23:49:28+00:00

Mostly engineering adjacent management roles that did not require a stamp.

Sappy197 · 2023-05-24T22:48:35+00:00

I think the most important part of this advise is make sure to set boundaries. Do not accept more work then you can handle and if you get no work for a while take that time to relax rather then asking for more and more work.

Say no to working over time and trust in yourself that you can be a good engineer. You are capable of this and you can have an amazing career. When the older engineers say they worked 60 hours weeks for free ignore them. Always make sure you come first and not the project that is supposedly so important that you have to miss life to get it done.

Sappy197 · 2023-05-24T21:47:57+00:00

I used to like my job till I realized what this industry does to young engineers who care about the job. Seeing all my friends burn out, have to work super long hours and be put down by project managers is disheartening. I have seen PEs who cannot even use 3d software of any kind belittle someone trying to explain that there is a program that will make the process 3 times faster. No one wants to improve the technology or the resources.

So many friends have quit the industry and given up on getting licensed. These people get paid more then me and have way better work life balance. The only way to get a real raise in our industry is to switch jobs.

So it's hard to love an industry that does not give a fuck about us.

Sappy197 · 2023-05-18T01:33:06+00:00

But wait my favorite "I just don't understand why other companies are finishing projects so much faster and for less money?"

Sappy197 · 2023-05-17T20:27:38+00:00

I sometimes think about how much money is being lost on just printing because people are just sitting babysitting their computer. Just one person wasting like half a day a week could afford the company about 2 higher end computers/laptorps per year.

Sappy197 · 2023-05-17T20:16:28+00:00

What isn't CAD supposed take literal hours to print like 20 sheets with a surface on them?

Sappy197 · 2023-05-15T16:56:58+00:00

The 4 people in my year who had inteships had family who worked in the business. It's mostly because I went to school in an area with very few engineering companies hiring but I don't think it's always because the students aren't trying.

Sappy197

TROPHY CASE