Education programmes of job
Nature of work
Bridge engineer is a profession in civil engineering field. The tasks assigned to the bridge engineer may be classified as follows:►In the professional field:
- Studying the pedestrian passages, bridge and railway bridges, analyzing the traffic studies, performing future prediction.
- Studying the different routes and the suitable alternatives of the bridge, choosing the best route and preparing the required preliminary designs to construct the bridge.
- Preparing bid conditions and specifications for the bridge construction projects.
- Supervising the construction of the structural works according to the specifications, supervising the work of taking specimens and conducting the required experiment on it in the laboratory.
- Preparing of specific bid conditions for the bridge projects, and forwarding them to embrace the agreements to provide the equipments and the materials required for implementing the project.
- Preparing the specific technical reports for implementing the quality.
- Evaluating the employee performance, especially the new engineers and assistant engineers.
Teaching in universities and in technical institutes specifically in the bridge field and transportation in general.
Environment of work
- The bridge engineer works about 8 hours daily during the working days, except (or even during) the weekend, and he/she may have to work additional hours when necessary to complete the project in a short period.
- The work place should be at office, if the work is studying projects, whereas the work place should be at the field, if his task is the implementation the project.
- He/she can work as a bridge engineer in a group of engineers (especially in the office), where he /she has a boss at the work, and may have assistant engineers to help him/her in monitoring and in the implementation of the project according to the required specifications.
- He/she needs field car for his transportation if the work is at the field, whereas he needs computer and engineering software if the work is at the office (studies).
- He /she is committed to international standards specifications to implement the jobs or to a specified technical specification for the project and work to accomplish it to ensure the quality performance according to the required specifications.
Professional life
- The bridge engineer may work alone or in group work whether in private or public sector. Often, he is the person in charge of the working group that he works with (His monthly salary as a starter in the public sector is about 20000 S.P).
- He may work alone through constructing his own establishment as engineering office or studying firm or special contracting firm or work as an employee in private or public firm.
- He may travel in those tasks required for job necessities; such as concluding contracts, importing machines and materials, or providing technical and consultation experiences.
- The professional pathway for the bridge engineer develops when he /she attains the practical and management experiences through functional progresses by steps as a manager of the project then to the bigger sections or fields in managing the firm or the establishment or even the ministry, that include planning tasks and putting the development programs, and cooperating with local or regional or international institutions or agencies.
- He /she may travel out or give expertise in his /her field or to attend related conferences or symposiums.
Sectors of careers
Bridge engineer can perform his tasks within the following professional sectors:- Companies in constructions of bridges, roads, railways maintenance.
- Technical services directorates and municipal councils.
- Bridge engineer may communicate with (or contribute in) the following academic fields:
- Civil engineering fields in general, and specialization in transportation engineering in specific.
Getting the job
Approaching this profession can be through the following:- Obtaining the BSc. degree in civil engineering (general civil) or may be a BSc. graduate in transportation section if there is a special department for the transportation in the faculty of civil engineering, or might have obtained a graduate studies degree specializing in transportation.
- He /she should have knowledge in the following subjects (using computer software, programs such as MS office, AutoCAD and some special computer software programs that related to the bridge projects such as SAP, STAAD, ETABS, and also conversant with the usage of the international standards in designing the bridges such as AASHTO and the European system, good knowledge in the GIS and data management systems.
- Join the engineering syndicate and advance in steps such as trainee, innate, professional, consultant, since most agencies of the study or verification in most bridge projects stipulate to the engineer to have a consultant degree in the engineering syndicate as a prerequisite.
Skills
- Working efficiently in a multi specialty team and should be familiar with different work environment.
- Having good knowledge in English
- Showing effective personal skills in the work environment through the ability to create the solutions and give invention ideas.
- Self learning and be updated with rapid and technical progress especially those related to the computer software programs, material and new technology in the bridge field, and the ability to transfer the knowledge and the skills in the field of specialty.
- The ability to achieve the required work on time, and managing the time with high competence, and work according to the priorities.
- Management of the tasks and the resources efficiently and effectively and possibility of development.
- The ability cooperates effectively with costumers, other designers and contractors.
- Ability to prepare the bids and tenders documents to draw the bids and contracts
- Experience in land surveying would be a positive feature.
Sources and references
- Interior roster of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the University of Aleppo-2012.
- Arab classification standards of profession-Arab Work Organization-2008.
- National Academic Reference Standards-Ministry of Higher Education-2012.
- Internet, Website - Job description format.
Summary
Bridge engineer is a profession in civil engineering field; he/she is the one who performs the studies related to the bridge projects and determines the needed traffic for the bridge and chooses the best route of the bridge.This profession can be achieved by studying for five years in the civil engineering faculty during this period, he/she is trained to study the projects and prepare plans and perform the quality experiments in the labs and prepare the time plan to implement the projects