New Project 5

[Moonstone]

I finally have the opportunity to be the Resident Engineer on a small scale project. I have 3 years of experience in field/office. On this project, I am the only person incharge from the CM side... which means I will be the only onsite representative - will do everything - documentation, project mgmt, inspection, etc all on my own.

The contract has been awarded and work will start in a months time. I have started to feel a little nervous about this deal. Any tips on how I can start off smoothly and successfully?

 

[zdas04]

One thing I often find missing in young engineers is the concept of "Good Enough". I guess most come out of school thinking that "the world is either perfect, or perfectly wrong". Actually it is just chock-full of shades of grey.

I had a young engineer tell a foreman to cut out a 20-inch valve setting that was plumb and level, but looked odd because of the tilt of the ground it was on. Luckily the foreman called me and I had a chance to "counsel" the young engineer before he put my schedule in jeopardy. I explained to him in memorable terms that the gas really didn't care what the pipe looked like, he really didn't want the above-ground valve-setting to follow the terrain, and to weigh risks vs. benefits vs. safety concerns before he opened his mouth. Maybe it worked because he eventually turned into a pretty decent engineer.

David