As someone already mentioned, it would be quite challenging to have a significant role in ongoing projects.
What you probably need is to look for RFP on mega projects. For the type of project you looking for, your best bet would be federal governments, DOTs, and megacities.
Chris Chambers...
I would recommend both. First I would recommend to try an online course to get your feet wet. There are few good options:
www.lynda.com (huge amount of course, thus a bit overwhelming
www.infratechcivil.com/courses (mostly for civil engineers)
www.mycadsite.com/tutorials/ (strictly AutoCAD)...