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There is a whole book on this as it relates to Missouri state and case law and I imagine it varies a lot state to state. I agree that the attorneys should be doing this research. But in MO (according to the City Attorney I worked with a couple years ago when I was a City stormwater engineer)...

Lots of hobbies/interests can lead to great community involvement. Lots depends on what YOUR values are as many have said/inferred. I've enjoyed a lot of both professional and personal development through my involvement in SWE and NSPE. For the last several years my SWE section has paricipated...

You never mention whether or not you have good infiltration in your soil. If you are in any kind of clays, pervious concrete may not really be a very feasible option. It then becomes a "filtration" BMP as opposed to a "infiltration" BMP. It is still an option, but not as good of one. In...

I answered so many of these types of questions as a public sector stormwater engineer and the answer for all localized drainage issues is most simply stated as "If you don't like where the water is going (or not going), give it somewhere else to go - it always flows downhill." You are already...

I think everyone has made choices in their life (professional and personal/good and bad) that looked so different in hindsight. I am a firm believer in the idea that we learn something from each situation we are placed in. Even my crappy jobs taught me something and made me partly the engineer...

The way I read the question (and even some of the subsequent answers), my thought is either: 1. Calculate the WQ volume based on all the flow coming to the BMP - or - 2. Divert the flow that you don't want/need to treat around the BMP I don't think you can just disregard the flow from an...

Just a side thought - ever thought of putting in a penalty clause with your contractor(s) for destruction of stakes? Or working on the timing of the staking to better coincide with when the work will be done? I once had an owner (working as his own general on a 40-lot subdivision) threaten...

For our MS4 permit, the state of Missouri (or at least one of their employees) defined an outfall as anywhere a concentrated flow leaves our City limits. Not sure this was right, but that is what I mapped. Yikes if it is really supposed to be the end of every pipe dumping into a waterway. I...

Just some thoughts for people looking for reasonable Continuing Ed: 1. Look at the regional chapters or local chapters of either something like NSPE or something more discipline specific. 2. If you work in an industry with a lot of government regulations, look at the state departments - some...

Interesting reading, but I do think there are a lot of variables. Willingness to move has been brought up and I know I make less living where I do and less options for employment. I do know that I made the least at the job I learned about the most at. Choice I made. Left that job a few...

It might sound a little crazy, but I say flip a coin. It isn't that I am telling you to leave it up to chance (50/50), but as the coin falls to the ground, in your heart you will probably hear a little "I hope it lands this way". And then you will know what your gut says about whether to jump...

After thinking about this, I'm guessing a lot of our failures have to do with the tight clay soils we have. First, you get a lot of swell during wet weather that can cause heaving leading to cracks in the surface where water can get in and further the problem. You also will get a lot of...

Just curious - why are you using cement? In my experience, this will fail (ie. crack, heave, etc) in the next 10 years. Our city has actually removed this as an option for stabilization in most conditions. I'm personally a big believer in vegetative methods, gabions, and turf reinforcement...

Just turned one in a couple weeks ago myself and after a little fretting on what I should include (and did Google for some ideas) I decided the high road was a better place and it was exactly as others have described here: two sentences. "The purpose of this letter is to notify you of my...

From my own personal experience working for a VERY small consulting firm fresh out of school, I learned A LOT and loved the people I worked with like family and was probably the happiest I have ever been in my 12 year career - made absolutely crappy money. Left 3 mo after my PE letter came in...

Geez, just wrote a long post and my Explorer crash during posting. Oops. Short version: quitting my current job over similar issues. Hoping I can take away a few lessons learned and have less problems when I get away from here. But am curious to see what people continue to say about "coping...

I think you have a couple of options to stay in touch with the engineering world in order to smooth your re-entry and most of them have been discussed here. But I have to admit that I purposely waited to have my children until after I got my P.E. for many of the reasons that you are probably...

FYI - the four weeks notice is per the personnel policy manual unless I want to give up getting paid for all my accrued vacation. Ugh! Unless they really want me to go enough that they will overlook that policy. I'll read the fine print better next time. Always a lesson learned.

My head is all jumbled up and I am hoping that posting this will, if nothing else, help me sort it all out. Brief about me: BSCE, PE, 11.5 years of experience (general civil, site, stormwater most recently - some other misc skills) Demoted after I stepped on the wrong toe - went from $61,700...

We had this problem in one area and found that semi-frequent flushing reduces the complaints, but we are hoping to more permanently fix the problem with a new lift station that will actually take that forcemain out of service. Not sure if that helps, but thought I would toss it out.