Civil Engineering Technician Careers In The Construction Industry

Civil engineering technicians are the ones who solve technical problems in the areas of construction, maintenance and inspection, as well as research and development. Civil engineering technicians work closely with civil engineers, and help them in planning and building various structures like highways, buildings, bridges, water treatment plants, dams and irrigation facilities, urban infrastructure development, as well as research related to these fields.

A civil engineering technician can work in one of the following fields in civil engineering-

. Construction- This includes residential, and commercial buildings, malls, stadiums and various other places of entertainment, factories etc.

. Transportation- Including roads, railways, bridges and flyovers, tunnels, underground transit network, airports, docks etc.

. Power- Including power stations, dams, and other facilities, pipelines, oil rigs etc.

. Hydraulics- Infrastructure for transporting various fluids like water, oil, and gas etc.

. Maritime- All maritime facilities like docks, ports, and harbours, ship building yards, dry docks etc.

. Public Health- Water treatment and supply network, sewage collection, treatment and safe disposal, etc.

. Irrigation- Building and maintaining infrastructure for irrigation facilities to farmlands so as to ensure that sufficient water is available all year round for crucial agricultural production.

. Environmental- Specializing in estimating, and finding ways of reducing the environmental impact due to human activities, and especially civil engineering projects.

A civil engineering technician may work in any one, or more of the above fields, as sometimes, and the roles may overlap, as is evident. In any field, a civil engineering technician helps the civil engineers with their scientific skills, and number crunching abilities to ensure smooth functioning.

Planning- This includes both, the engineering planning as to what all will be required for a particular project, in terms of labor, material, skills etc. It also includes project planning in terms of target dates, and deliveries required for each stage of construction, and the method of construction.

Surveying- Before starting on any project, various kinds of engineering, geological, as well as techno-feasible surveys need to be carried out. A civil engineering technician will help with these, as well help in analysing and interpreting the data collected. Various important decisions are taken at this stage based on the survey data, and any wrong analysis or interpretation can pose serious concerns at the later stage, or even after the project is completed, which will prove to be very costly to rectify.

Estimates- Before starting on a project, various estimates are calculated, as to the resources that will be required at a particular stage. This includes labor, machinery, skilled craftsmen, various tools and equipment, and money to get all these. A technician also helps to procure these resources in the best possible manner, which meets the project requirement on time and is also cost-effective.

Designing- A civil engineering technician helps the civil engineering designer as well as the architect based on the data received during the survey stage. Designs may be prepared by hand, or with the help of the various CAD and other software on the computer.