Page:Engineering as a vocation (IA cu31924004245605).pdf/43

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ENGINEERING AS A VOCATION
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water to the city limits he calls in the hydraulic civil engineer. If large pumping stations are required he employs the hydraulic mechanical engineer. For the ordinary work required in the average town and city the local municipal engineer is usually competent, if his training has been broad and of the approved kind. One defect in many cities is the employment of imperfectly trained men of limited experience because they work for low pay. The position of the average town and city engineer is not enviable, for his office is the prey of politics.

On a railway the civil engineer surveys the routes, makes estimates of cost and constructs the lines. Ile designs all buildings and terminal yards and on many roads designs all the bridges, while on other roads he merely prepares specifications for the design of bridges and supervises their erection. Maintenance-of-way engineers have charge of the upkeep of the railway, look after repairs and in general have charge of all renewals and reconstruction. The engineering department is almost wholly connected with the surveying and construction of new lines, the maintenance-of-way department being separate. Some old railways have no chief engineer, the maintenance-of-way department doing all the civil engineering work, for these roads make no important extensions. The mechanical engineer on a railway has charge of the purchase and repair of rolling stock and all