What does a civil/structural engineer do?
Civil/Structural Engineers are engineers who specialize in designing structures. They usually design buildings, bridges, tunnels, or any other infrastructure. They ensure that these buildings are structurally sound, and their design maintains physical integrity. Civil/Structural Engineers have an in-depth knowledge of physics and building structures, and they use this knowledge in designing, planning, and building strong infrastructures.
Civil/structural engineer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real civil/structural engineer resumes:
- Authore substantiation documents in compliance with FAA regulations and customer requirements to achieve type certifications and supplemental type certifications.
- Design, plot, and simulate reinforce concrete structural projects in accordance of ACI and ASCE codes.
- Design the masonry & concrete retaining and perimeter walls of the project in accordance with ACI and IBC.
- Analyze soil reports prepare by geotechnical engineers and implement their findings in civil and structural design drawings.
- Ensure that calculations conform to WEC procedures and validate calculation methodology and FEA model setup.
- Supervise Geotechnical laboratory tests on samples to evaluate the physical and engineering properties of the strata encounter.
- Formulate conceptual design of aeronautical, aerospace products or systems to meet customer requirements and communicate feed back to design engineers.
- Project manage the overall reorganizing and restructuring of the telecommunication department.
Civil/structural engineer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Civil/Structural Engineers are proficient in Structural Engineering, Civil Engineering, and ACI. They’re also known for soft skills such as Leadership skills, Math skills, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Civil/Structural Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Structural Engineering, 10%
Provided structural engineering designs for substation engineering, facilities management, and project engineering groups.
- Civil Engineering, 8%
Plan, inter-discipline coordination, and estimate engineering hours for facilities structural and civil engineering products.
- ACI, 6%
Generate calculation templates to design base plate and anchorage per ACI 318-08 and ACI 318-11.
- Autocad, 5%
Provided site investigations of structural foundations, produced AutoCAD drawings, and made structural recommendations regarding number of piers needed.
- Structural Analysis, 5%
Performed wall stability and structural analysis based on AASHTO LRFD specifications.
- ASCE, 4%
Computed seismic design using Equivalent Lateral Force Analysis in ASCE 7-05 for the large steel frame ethanol process structures.
"structural engineering," "civil engineering," and "aci" are among the most common skills that civil/structural engineers use at work. You can find even more civil/structural engineer responsibilities below, including:
Math skills. Another essential skill to perform civil/structural engineer duties is math skills. Civil/structural engineers responsibilities require that "civil engineers use calculus, trigonometry, and other mathematics for analysis, design, and troubleshooting." Civil/structural engineers also use math skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "utilized engineering software such as staad, mathcad and learned autocad. "
Organizational skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of civil/structural engineers is organizational skills. This skill is critical to many everyday civil/structural engineer duties, as "civil engineers often oversee several projects at the same time and must be able to allocate resources effectively." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "enabled organizational growth and increased project approval by training engineers in project management. "
Problem-solving skills. civil/structural engineer responsibilities often require "problem-solving skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "civil engineers may encounter problems during each stage of their work." This resume example shows what civil/structural engineers do with problem-solving skills on a typical day: "ordered materials, parts and components creating drawings using autocad for solutions to plant problem. "
The three companies that hire the most civil/structural engineers are:
- System One23 civil/structural engineers jobs
- Parsons20 civil/structural engineers jobs
- Burns & McDonnell17 civil/structural engineers jobs
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Compare different civil/structural engineers
Civil/structural engineer vs. Representative projects
Engineers are highly trained professionals who determine the feasibility of various projects, usually related to the construction industry. They are considered experts in mathematics and science, two disciplines that they need to use in designing and coming up with plans for projects. They should also be well-versed in different construction or industrial materials, and they ensure that appropriate materials are used for the project. They also ensure that the projects meet the requirements of the groups that hired them. They create spaces that would both address the needs of the end-users and the industry standards. They also ensure that the projects they make would stand the test of time.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, civil/structural engineer responsibilities require skills like "structural engineering," "civil engineering," "aci," and "structural analysis." Meanwhile a typical representative projects has skills in areas such as "construction management," "infrastructure," "construction observation," and "inspection reports." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Representative projects really shine in the technology industry with an average salary of $64,096. Comparatively, civil/structural engineers tend to make the most money in the energy industry with an average salary of $80,624.The education levels that representative projects earn slightly differ from civil/structural engineers. In particular, representative projects are 9.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a civil/structural engineer. Additionally, they're 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Civil/structural engineer vs. Engineer
A Civil Designer plans, scales, and drafts drawings and maps for roads, bridges, and other construction projects. They work with engineers and project managers in determining material, labor, and other costs of the assigned projects.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that civil/structural engineer responsibilities requires skills like "structural engineering," "civil engineering," "aci," and "autocad." But an engineer might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "python," "cloud," "c++," and "c #."
Engineers earn a higher average salary than civil/structural engineers. But engineers earn the highest pay in the automotive industry, with an average salary of $97,672. Additionally, civil/structural engineers earn the highest salaries in the energy with average pay of $80,624 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Engineers tend to reach lower levels of education than civil/structural engineers. In fact, they're 6.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for civil/structural engineers in the next 3-5 years?
Karen Panetta Ph.D.
Dean of Graduate Education, School of Engineering, Tufts University
The pandemic has also renewed our sense of need for internet security, privacy, and access to service. When all our social and educational interactions had to move to virtual platforms, we became aware of just how small and ill-prepared the world was and how inequitable the availability of these services was to parts of the world.
Civil/structural engineer vs. Civil designer
A professional engineer specializes in designing and developing systems and structures through different principles. Although their duties will vary upon their industry of employment, it typically includes performing site assessments and examinations, studying the purpose and goals of the project, developing plans and guidelines, monitoring the progress of operations, and resolving issues and concerns promptly and efficiently. They may work together with architects and senior engineers, liaise with clients or contractors, and perform regular site inspections. Furthermore, a professional engineer must implement safety protocols and regulations to maintain a safe and efficient work environment.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, civil/structural engineers are more likely to have skills like "structural engineering," "aci," "structural analysis," and "asce." But a civil designer is more likely to have skills like "civil 3d," "civil design," "site design," and "gis."
Civil designers make a very good living in the construction industry with an average annual salary of $74,665. On the other hand, civil/structural engineers are paid the highest salary in the energy industry, with average annual pay of $80,624.Most civil designers achieve a lower degree level compared to civil/structural engineers. For example, they're 16.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Civil/structural engineer vs. Professional engineer
Even though a few skill sets overlap between civil/structural engineers and professional engineers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a civil/structural engineer might have more use for skills like "structural engineering," "aci," "autocad," and "asce." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of professional engineers require skills like "pe," "revit," "civil 3d," and "stormwater. "
Professional engineers enjoy the best pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $96,275. For comparison, civil/structural engineers earn the highest salary in the energy industry.professional engineers reach lower levels of education compared to civil/structural engineers, in general. The difference is that they're 6.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of civil/structural engineer
Updated January 8, 2025
