Civil Engineer in Atlanta, GA

A civil engineer is a person that is licensed by the state to practice civil engineering. Atlanta Engineering Services, Inc.. is a civil engineering firm that offers civil engineering consulting services in Atlanta as well as throughout Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Elvin Aycock, PE is a civil engineer in Atlanta, GA and is licensed in seven states. Jared McKinnon, PE is also a civil engineer in Atlanta, GA and is licensed in five states.

 

The field of civil engineering is fairly broad and can be categorized into six specialized fields: construction, environmental, geotechnical, structural, transportation and water resources.

 

Construction engineering applies science and engineering principles to site planning and design, construction operations, estimating quantities and cost, material quality control, scheduling, safety, and regulations.

 

Environmental engineering applies engineering sciences to improve and protect natural resources such as air, land, and water.  It requires knowledge of air quality, chemistry, groundwater, hydrology, land fields, wastewater treatment, water quality, water treatment, safety and regulations.

 

Geotechnical engineering is a field of engineering dealing with subsurface exploration / sampling, engineering properties of soils and other materials, earthquake engineering, earth retaining structures (i.e. retaining walls), foundations, groundwater, structures, and construction operations.

 

Structural engineering relates engineering principles to the design and analysis of structures.  This requires a solid understanding of topics such as statics, dynamics, mechanics of materials, soil mechanics, building codes and regulations.

 

Transportation engineering encompasses the geometric design of roadways, planning, traffic analysis, traffic safety, construction operations, hydrology, material properties, soil mechanics and design regulations.

 

Water resources engineering involves hydraulics of open and closed channels for stormwater conveyance, pipe networks, erosion control, flood plains, ground water, hydrology, storm characterization, wastewater treatment systems, water treatment, water quality, construction and design regulations.

Requirements for Engineering Licensure

A civil engineer is only allowed to practice engineering in the state in which he is licensed. If a engineer in Atlanta, GA with a Georgia engineering license wants to practice in multiple states he must obtain an engineering license in those states.  The requirements to be licensed as an engineer in Georgia are as follows:

 

• Graduated from an approved engineering curriculum of not less than four years
• Four years of acceptable engineering experience
• Applied to the Georgia Board of Professional Engineers and paid all fees
• Applied to NCEES to schedule exams and paid all examination fees
• Passed the 8 hour Engineer-in-Training exam
• Passed the 8 hour Professional Engineering exam

 

The civil engineering exam is only offered twice a year and usually takes place in April and October.  It takes about nine years to get licensed even though it takes about 8 years to meet the educational and work experience requirements.  This is because there is some lag time before obtaining the professional engineering license due to when the application deadline is compared to when the engineer-in-training meets the requirements to apply for licensure. There is also some time spent waiting to sit for the exam and waiting to receive test results.

 

Upon licensure, a civil engineer must continue to increase his knowledge and understanding of the engineering principles by taking approximately 15 continuing education hours per year.  This is in effort to protect the health, safety, property, and welfare of the public.