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17-2051.00 - Civil Engineers


Perform engineering duties in planning, designing, and overseeing construction and maintenance of building structures and facilities, such as roads, railroads, airports, bridges, harbors, channels, dams, irrigation projects, pipelines, power plants, and water and sewage systems.


Key Facts
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Bright Outlook
1
Career Details
Green Job
Career Details
Current Employment
281,400
Estimate
Forecasted Employment
305,000
Estimate
Change in Employment
+23,600
Estimate
Change in Employment %
+8.4%
Estimate
Tasks
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Tasks
The tasks listed below can be performed to prepare you for a career in this field.
Core
  • Compute load and grade requirements, water flow rates, or material stress factors to determine design specifications.
  • Inspect project sites to monitor progress and ensure conformance to design specifications and safety or sanitation standards.
  • Direct or participate in surveying to lay out installations or establish reference points, grades, or elevations to guide construction.
  • Estimate quantities and cost of materials, equipment, or labor to determine project feasibility.
  • Prepare or present public reports on topics such as bid proposals, deeds, environmental impact statements, or property and right-of-way descriptions.
  • Design energy-efficient or environmentally sound civil structures.
  • Direct engineering activities, ensuring compliance with environmental, safety, or other governmental regulations.
  • Provide technical advice to industrial or managerial personnel regarding design, construction, program modifications, or structural repairs.
  • Manage and direct the construction, operations, or maintenance activities at project site.
  • Plan and design transportation or hydraulic systems or structures, using computer-assisted design or drawing tools.
  • Analyze survey reports, maps, drawings, blueprints, aerial photography, or other topographical or geologic data.
Supplemental
  • Test soils or materials to determine the adequacy and strength of foundations, concrete, asphalt, or steel.
  • Conduct studies of traffic patterns or environmental conditions to identify engineering problems and assess potential project impact.
  • Analyze manufacturing processes or byproducts to identify engineering solutions to minimize the output of carbon or other pollutants.
  • Design or engineer systems to efficiently dispose of chemical, biological, or other toxic wastes.
  • Develop or implement engineering solutions to clean up industrial accidents or other contaminated sites.
  • Identify environmental risks and develop risk management strategies for civil engineering projects.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Knowledge
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Knowledge

The items listed below are organized into sections that contain knowledge useful for pursuing a career in this field. Each section also contains a "Percentage of Importance" statistic that shows how relevant an item is to the occupation.
 Design
  • 94%
    Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
 Engineering and Technology
  • 93%
    Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
 Building and Construction
  • 91%
    Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
 Mathematics
  • 90%
    Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
 English Language
  • 80%
    Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
 Physics
  • 74%
    Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub- atomic structures and processes.
 Administration and Management
  • 72%
    Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
 Customer and Personal Service
  • 69%
    Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
 Law and Government
  • 65%
    Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
 Public Safety and Security
  • 65%
    Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
 Computers and Electronics
  • 63%
    Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
 Transportation
  • 61%
    Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
 Sales and Marketing
  • 57%
    Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
 Economics and Accounting
  • 56%
    Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
 Clerical
  • 54%
    Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
 Geography
  • 51%
    Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
 Personnel and Human Resources
  • 51%
    Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
 Mechanical
  • 50%
    Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Tools
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Tools
The tools listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Meteorological instruments
  • Anemometers
 Duplicating machines
  • Blueprint copiers
 Drafting supplies
  • Compasses
  • Dividers
  • Drafting scales
  • Drafting triangles
  • Protractors
  • Rolling scales
 Computers
  • Desktop computers
  • Laptop computers
 Cameras
  • Digital cameras
 Length and thickness and distance measuring instruments
  • Electronic distance measuring devices
  • Rhodes arcs
  • Steel rules
  • Surveying wheels
  • Thickness gauges
 Audio and visual equipment
  • Global positioning system GPS receivers
 Measuring and layout tools
  • Laser levels
  • Measuring tapes
  • Precision levels
 Microfilm equipment and supplies
  • Microfilm readers
 Geography and map skills resources and accessories
  • Planimeters
 Indicating and recording instruments
  • Radar guns
  • Traffic counters
  • Transit levels
 Land surveying instruments
  • Surveying rods
  • Theodolites
  • Total stations
 Personal communication devices
  • Two way radios
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Technology
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Technology
The technologies listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Content management software
  • Adobe Systems Adobe AcrobatHOT
  • Apache Subversion SVNHOT
 Content authoring and editing software
  • Adobe Systems Adobe Fireworks
  • Bentley GeoPak Bridge
  • Graphics software
  • Microsoft ExcelHOT
  • Microsoft PowerPointHOT
  • Microsoft WordHOT
  • Scheduling software
  • SmugMug FlickrHOT
  • Spreadsheet software
  • Trimble SketchUp ProHOT
 Industry specific software
  • Autodesk AutoCADHOT
  • Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3DHOT
  • Autodesk Land DesktopHOT
  • Autodesk RevitHOT
  • Bentley Haestad Methods CivilStormHOT
  • Bentley InRoads SiteHOT
  • Bentley MicroStationHOT
  • Bridge design softwareHOT
  • Computer aided design and drafting software CADDHOT
  • Dassasult Systemes Abaqus
  • Dassault Systemes CATIAHOT
  • Dassault Systemes SOLIDWORKSHOT
  • Eagle Point Site DesignHOT
  • Finite element analysis FEA software
  • GT STRUDLHOT
  • HEC-1
  • HEC-HMS
  • Hydraulic analysis software
  • Hydraulic modeling software
  • HydroCAD Software Solutions HydroCAD Stormwater Modeling SystemHOT
  • Mathsoft MathcadHOT
  • MAYA Nastran
  • MinitabHOT
  • PTC Creo ParametricHOT
  • Research Engineers International STAAD.ProHOT
  • Road design softwareHOT
  • Stormwater hydrology softwareHOT
  • Supervisory control and data acquisition SCADA softwareHOT
  • The MathWorks MATLABHOT
  • Trimble Geomatics Office
  • Trimble TerramodelHOT
  • WinTR-55
 Development software
  • C
  • Extensible markup language XMLHOT
  • Formula translation/translator FORTRAN
  • Microsoft ActiveX
  • Microsoft Visual BasicHOT
  • National Instruments LabVIEWHOT
  • Verilog
 Information exchange software
  • Cartography software
  • Email software
  • ESRI ArcGIS softwareHOT
  • ESRI ArcInfo
  • ESRI ArcView
  • Geographic information system GIS softwareHOT
  • Intergraph MGE
  • Microsoft ExchangeHOT
  • Microsoft OutlookHOT
 Business function specific software
  • Corel WordPerfect
  • Cost estimating software
  • Microsoft OfficeHOT
  • Microsoft ProjectHOT
  • Oracle Primavera Enterprise Project Portfolio ManagementHOT
  • The Gordian Group PROGEN Online
 Data management and query software
  • Data entry softwareHOT
  • Microsoft AccessHOT
  • Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise EditionHOT
 Finance accounting and enterprise resource planning ERP software
  • Microsoft DynamicsHOT
  • Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOneHOT
  • SAPHOT
 Network applications software
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer
  • Web browser software
 Operating environment software
  • Shell scriptHOT
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Certifications
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Certifications
The certifications listed below are useful to pursue if you are interested in a career in this field.
 Specialty
 Advanced
 Core
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Licensing
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Licensing
The licensing information below is organized into sections and is useful for pursuing if you are interested in a career in this field.
No specific licensing information is listed for this occupation in the area you have selected.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Related Programs
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Online Programs related to this career, offered by participating institution(s), are listed below.

Clicking on the Degree programs in the list below will take you away from the Careers page.
INSTITUTION
PROGRAMS
Rappahannock Community College
 Programs
Wytheville Community College
 Programs