Good Book on Civil Engineering Drafting

[raydefan]

In my company, we use our entry level engineers as drafters. As you can imagine, their level of drafting knowledge is minimal at best. I spend more time redlining their drafting then teaching them engineering, but that is another topic for another day. My question is, does anyone have a good book on Civil Engineering Drafting that shows examples of how things like spot elevations, constructions notes, typical sections, details, etc. are suppose to look and possible rules to draft?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[dik]

I'm not aware of any texts specific to Civil Engineering but there are a couple of Architectural texts. You might want to start a tech policy paper... for your firm. You can set the standards/guides for them to follow. It doesn't have to be overly complicated. This can include lisp routines, standard details and standard drawings.

It can start with drawing templates and a drawing library. Layer colours, names, lineweight, scales, text and dimension styles and can be built on as time passes.

Dik

 

[Qshake]

We always use a set of older drawings, even inked, that everyone agrees best represents our products. This is true for structural or civil.

Regards,
Qshake

Eng-Tips Forums:Real Solutions for Real Problems Really Quick.

 

[dik]

Qshake... good idea to use old drawings as a guide... I was thinking CAD only and this can mimic old drawings, too. Thanks, Dik

 

[civilperson]

Truly a waste of talent to train engineers to draft. Why not hire qualified techs for these important positions? I was a "sub-professional" employee of engineering firms for twenty years and the over lap of knowledge between engineers and techs is minimal.

 

[BelspringKen]

I hate to see young engineers doing redlines. I have been in that position, and had to change firms to get into design and out of redlines.

Its good to know how to do it so you can do it as you design, but you can get good, talented graduates out of drafting/CAD programs from the community colleges to do drafting.

 

[DTGT2002]

In my company, we have built a standard line drawing template with the appropriate layers and title blocks as well as typical symbols and such. We usually refer our new hires to previous drawings for guidance while working under a more experienced employee.

Experience with AutoCAD is an important qualifier for my company. For the scale of our projects, have an engineer work through the CAD is often required to fully understand the scope of the project being degined/modeled.

I have an old dfafting manual at my other office, I will try to post the name of the book later - it is sort of a drafting textbook.

Good detailing should be a priority of everyone along the chain. It is much easier to explain what you want if you know what to do to make that way on your own.

Daniel

 

[dmrsch]

Send your young engineers to AutoCad Training!!!
As you have said they dont get the training in school, if you send them to training (as a responsible employer would) you would see faster results. If you dont agree with this then Hire Cad Techs,

 

[Sharrick]

Drafting standards are usually set by the Engineering Company. The quality and clarity of the standards that you set are seen to be a part of the ability to do the work and the quality of your work. I was a professional draftsman. An engineering company I once worked for reviewed their old drawings, drawings from other companies and drawings from an architectural company they often received work from for site developement. This process was ongoing for approx. one year. All engineers and draftsmen in the company had input in the standard, and slowly refined it to reflect what the company owners' felt reflected the quality of the work that the company was engaged in.

Unfortunately, some clients will want their own version of drafting standards used on their drawings. We required that those companies clearly spelled out their requirements in advance.

While that company did have engineer students doing design and drafting, the company always kept 2 or 3 draftsmen to do the bulk of the drafting and to refine the engineer students' drawings. They found that while it was good for the students to draft and learn the drafting concepts, most could not make themselves take the time to get really good at drafting.

 

[sams]

Refer to Drawing Requirements Manual published by Global Engineering Documents

http://www.globalspec.com/?

It covers all general drawing requirements

 

[rmadrid]

Most local agencies where you plan to submit these plans will give you a sample if you ask.

 

[edutech]

raydefan,

You are correct that civil drafting books are difficult to find, in fact, I know of only one that is worth anything. It is titled, Civil Drafting Technology, Fifth Edition. It is put out by Pearson Prentice Hall,ISBN: 0-13-049879-3. I am a Drafting Instructor and that is what I give the students as text for the Civil drafting portion of their training. I have attempted to find others to add to my library, but there's nothing remotely closs to this one.
Good Luck