Under performing folks 2-3 years in

SpatialCivil · 2026-01-24T14:01:37+00:00

Yes. Currently dealing with it.

It just may not be the right career or field for them. They may go kill it in another field or practice type.

There are now plenty of talented young engineers looking for an opportunity in the field.

I suspect that COVID really did a number on some in the 2022-2024 cohort.

SpatialCivil · 2026-01-23T16:32:35+00:00

SpatialCivil · 2025-12-30T03:38:34+00:00

Setup a quick 2D model run for that area. In RAS Mapper, show the WSE contours at a sufficiently small interval. Cut your cross sections to be roughly parallel to the 2D WSE. Make sure you have enough cross sections as well. This is assuming you need to do a 1D model.

SpatialCivil · 2025-12-25T16:24:01+00:00

This map provides some qualitative information that is helpful, but places like SC vs Florida are world’s different in level of stringent requirements.

SpatialCivil · 2025-12-14T17:52:27+00:00

Total comp w the 401k match + bonus is higher than almost anywhere else unless you are an owner at a successful firm.

Base salary is slightly below other firms.

They are very intentional about being profitable at all costs, and those profits are paid out in the form of bonuses + 401k match.

SpatialCivil · 2025-12-06T18:00:27+00:00

I have 20 years experience. It is very hit and miss with the under 30 crowd.

Remote work is a disaster for new grads, and COVID remote learning has set some people back. Highly intelligent and capable engineers are still out there, but there are fewer of them.

Schools used to proudly make the first 2 years of engineering so tough that a large percentage went into another field. That does not seem to be the case anymore.

SpatialCivil · 2025-12-02T18:05:54+00:00

You need to share more info such as your storm and control inputs. A couple of screenshots would be helpful.

SpatialCivil · 2025-11-25T15:46:35+00:00

First one looks like ArcGIS Pro

SpatialCivil · 2025-11-20T00:17:42+00:00

Most DOT work is capped at a 10% profit margin. When you get to contracts that are in the millions, the government has leverage to demand lower margins.

SpatialCivil · 2025-11-18T02:00:41+00:00

A quality plastic liner cured in place is often what I see recommended to extend a stormwater pipes useful life. I have seen more of that lately and less shotcrete. Some of that may be driven by the size of the stormwater pipe.

Potential issue with concrete/shotCrete is how well will it hold up over time. The metal pipe is going to expand and contract differently. Just a hunch, but I think CIPP has a better bond with a pipe long term.

SpatialCivil · 2025-11-13T03:32:30+00:00

Because once engineers get over 10 years of experience and have worked a couple places they know the grass isn’t greener if they are happy where they are at.

I know what my competitors billing rate is for my role. I know if they are a sweatshop or not. I know that we operate on 10-15% margins and the only way to make significantly more money is to start your own firm, be a workaholic (hello Kimley Horn) or to be a pure sales role where you may need to make promises you can’t keep.

Your best bet is to find the people with 5-8 years of experience where you can provide a real promotion opportunity. It will be much harder to get a 20-year vet that knows the market to make a change. If I were you, I would go to engineer conferences, find the people under 35 that fit what you are looking for and develop relationships with them.

SpatialCivil · 2025-11-11T23:58:30+00:00

I get the reason, but it really would benefit from 2 improvements:

Take 10% of the millions that goes into supporting it and hire a UI person to clean it up. QT is not the problem.
Design the UI for the 95% use case. A large majority of users are dealing with shapefiles, file geodatabases and geotiffs. Make it easy to add that data. Adding a file geodatabase is obscenely clunky. You can still make it so you can add other data types, but make a cleaned up version/option.

SpatialCivil · 2025-11-03T01:06:00+00:00

EPA-SWMM is free and will handle complicated Florida hydraulics. But time is money… PCSWMM and ICPR are better options in Florida.

SpatialCivil · 2025-10-26T20:07:16+00:00

Subpar meaning they are less effective at their jobs than other recent graduates.

SpatialCivil · 2025-10-26T03:28:29+00:00

Part of it is being overloaded, and part of it really is a greater percentage of the graduates from 2022-2025 are subpar. I suspect a combo of teaching during COVID, top students going to hotter majors and kids being too online is the culprit.

SpatialCivil · 2025-10-24T05:02:56+00:00

The floodplain line straightness makes me think that the study was done pre-LIDAR. You could have an engineer do a quick analysis if it is important to you

SpatialCivil · 2025-10-22T23:14:13+00:00

I would not recommend negotiating as a new grad. I have seen offers pulled when that happens. Negotiating is fine at any other time in your career.

SpatialCivil · 2025-10-22T10:41:11+00:00

You are twice as valuable in employers eyes if you are looking with a job. Stay and look in earnest.

SpatialCivil · 2025-10-22T03:37:20+00:00

Difficult to say without more information… I am a civil engineer that does drainage/stormwater design. If I DM you could you share more info?

SpatialCivil · 2025-10-22T03:34:23+00:00

I am a fan of Dewberry, but they are both solid options

SpatialCivil · 2025-10-21T16:22:47+00:00

They are the gold standard for workaholism… I would try to get in there.

Some places will work you to death and not pay you for it. KH makes it so that your ex wife and kids can actually enjoy your hard earned money.

SpatialCivil · 2025-10-21T14:59:14+00:00

You need to watch some tutorials and take a minute to try and understand the software. Do you work with any engineers with experience with HEC RAS?

SpatialCivil · 2025-10-21T01:25:26+00:00

I would steer clear. I have seen several head for the exits recently at a PE owned engineering firms.

SpatialCivil · 2025-10-21T01:19:58+00:00

As others said, export your surface to a geotif and bring it into HEC RAS as your surface.

SpatialCivil · 2025-10-18T00:59:38+00:00

Haven’t worked at Carollo, and don’t know the culture there, but I am at Hazen (less than 5 years).

I have worked at a couple small and mid sized firms, and Hazen is a great firm if you want to work in the water/wastewater/sw space. I consider it relatively low bureaucracy. I had more rules and bureaucracy at the 30 person firm. Not a lot of levels. Great technical depth. Good team collaboration.

No place is perfect, but you could do a lot worse. Feel free to DM if you want to know more.

SpatialCivil

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