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For someone unfamiliar with civil engineering or construction, there might be too many positions that do not make sense. This post breaks down those positions in detail. The following is the short answer to the difference between a project engineer and a civil engineer:
A project engineer is an onsite position that manages daily construction operations such as building slabs, columns or retaining walls and ensuring that the project is executed on time and within budget without mistakes. A civil engineer is a broad engineering title for many careers. A project engineer is only one of the career paths in construction management, which is one of the civil engineering subfields.
Civil engineering is an engineering major that includes several sub-disciplines and career paths, such as structural engineering, geotechnical engineering, project management and project engineering.
For those looking for more details, the long answer is below:
What Is A Project Engineer?
The project engineer is the head of the technical team onsite. The project engineer’s objective is to ensure that the project is executed according to the drawings within the intended schedule and budget.
Project engineers manage the project onsite and troubleshoot problems that arise on construction sites, such as inconsistency with design drawings and unforeseen issues during construction, by making judgement calls on technical issues during construction.
They are also involved in safety procedures to ensure that work is executed in a safe manner with no impact on workers’ lives and minimal environmental impact.
Essentially the project engineer ensures that construction sites are run efficiently and on the highest level of quality. They work closely with site supervisors, site engineers, and project managers.
This is, in general, the key responsibility of the project engineer. If you are interested in learning more, check: What Is Project Engineer? Role, Duties, Salary & More.
What Is A Civil Engineer?
When you call someone a civil engineer, they can be any of the following:
- Structural Engineer
- Construction Engineer
- Project Engineer
- Site Engineer
- Environmental Engineer
- Hydraulic Engineer
- Wind Engineer
- Mining Engineer
- Geotechnical Engineer
- Architectural Engineer
- Transport Engineer
- Bridge Engineer
- Seismic Engineer
- Geological Engineer
- Surveying Engineer
- Material Engineer
- Marine Engineer
A project engineer is only a career path in construction management which is one of the civil engineering subfields.
What Is Civil Engineering?
Civil engineering is one of the 5 major engineering fields. Civil engineering major includes everything that has to do with the construction of buildings, bridges, airports, highways, tunnels, railways, dams, mines, sewerage systems, renewable energy plants such as wind turbines, hydraulic power generation plants and wastewater treatment plants. Essentially everything physical you see around you has been designed and built by a civil engineer.
Civil engineering is the oldest known engineering major that deals with designing, building and maintaining physical structures.
The above is a quick summary of civil engineering. For more, the following are two of our best resources to teach you everything you need to know about civil engineering in 10 minutes or less:
- How Hard Is Civil Engineering? 8 Insider Facts U Must Know.
- 15 Civil Engineering Career Options. Insights, Salary & More.
Is Project Engineer The Same As Civil Engineer?
A project engineer is a career path of civil engineering major. Civil engineers can be designers, project managers or planners, while project engineers are managers of construction sites. You can call a project engineer a civil engineer because that is their engineering background, as civil engineering is a term that includes many disciplines and career paths.
