The rare, elusive, and experienced field engineer

At the end of 2019, after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and OSHA released their findings about the collapse of the FIU pedestrian bridge, I wrote a piece from a skilled trades perspective. It was a long piece, informative in nature as well as experiential in tone. Near the end, I commented on the rarity of a field experienced engineer – one who, by way of actual field experience, was able to relate to those actually performing the skilled work a job demanded – and how much of a pleasure it is to work with these elusive creatures. You can find the post below:

Five takeaways from the Florida International University Bridge Collapse (A Skilled Trades Perspective)

The catalyst for writing this particular post is simple, really: I met some from that rare breed: the humble and elusive engineer with actual field experience. Moreover, these engineers actually were field hands – now imagine that!

What do you do with that? I was taken aback by this discovery at first. The overwhelming majority of engineers I have met in over 20 years in the game have all been office personnel without fail. Sure, I have met some field engineers but to pin them in they are, by and large, new engineers who are cutting their teeth; paying their dues as it were. They are out of their element and can’t wait to get back to what they thought it was going to be: office work.

Field engineers like that are not really field engineers – the way those of us in the skilled trades define it, anyway. (And, before I forget, one summer as an intern doesn’t make one “field experienced,” either). Real field engineers are just as comfortable being in the field as they are in the office and in fact if you ask them they prefer the field. They don’t mind getting their hands dirty; they traverse the job sites with skilled tradesmen to explain, understand, diagnose, and conclude/decide things. And, not that this needs to be clarified but, if they don’t mind getting their hands dirty there is a certain level of humility on display. All of these qualities make them a rarity in the realm of engineers; they are almost akin to unicorns.

However, there are times when you meet those individuals and for me that happens to be on a certain job I wrapped up earlier in the year. When this job was in the scheduling phase, I had been in communication with a Project Manager concerning the upcoming work and he was an engineer. No big news honestly – many Project Managers I have met over the years have been engineers; nothing new to see here folks. Instead, as I met with the PM and the rest of his crew, I discovered through conversation they were ALL engineers. Their job: to inspect a structural gantry crane, write a report concerning the discrepancies, essentially providing direction for the next several years of repair. The catch? All of the inspection work, including having to repel in order to get to many of the places, is done by engineers – the same ones I had just met. This meant they were the ones who were not only going to write the report but they were going to do so based upon the information they discovered and noted through their field inspection.

This was a departure from the previous guidance report from five years ago. An engineering firm wrote that one also, but what that firm did was contract the actual inspection part out. They hired a different contractor to actually climb, repel, and do the physical inspection. They in turn took what they found and drafted a report for their client. In my experience this is how it is done; it’s really nothing new. 

The field engineers I have met this go around, though, have a one up on those from the report before: they are doing the inspection AND writing the report. There is no ambiguity between the two. With clarity they can write their report and augment specific things because their own eyes saw them. They took the measurements, saw flaws, needs, the need for paint, etc.; they laid eyes on it all. Simply put, a better report is going to be generated with much more detail included because it wasn’t lost in translation.

I’m not sure how I can emphasize this enough but suffice it to say I was a bit flabbergasted at this; it is such a rare thing to run into a humble and experienced field engineer but to encounter a whole crew of them? What’s next, man discovers unicorns? Big Foot is captured? We find the Loch Ness Monster? 

In all seriousness, I was and remain deeply interested in my finding not just one but a whole group of engineers who, by their very nature, have a trade all their own – a very skilled trade at that – and are in the field performing just as much as those of us in the skilled trades. I struck up a conversation with a few of them and they could see in my reaction all that needed to be said. I even said as much. I’m not kidding when I say I feel as though I had struck gold, found the unicorn this video references, (obviously I have posted the video in jest – just in case someone questions it) or discovered the fountain of youth. While it may seem drastic, I was amazed these people existed and existed in numbers at that. 

*NOTE: Just to be sure I am accurately conveying how much skill is involved in what they do, each person carries a sprat certification and the requirements are, among others, physically demanding. It requires many hours to continually re cert and click here for more information regarding that. It takes skill to work with ropes, physical strength to actively work on them, and training to be able to self rescue, be self reliant, and ensure you are continually safe. I used to climb, erect, and work on towers years ago so I could identify.*

Having conversed with them they were on site for a short duration and they sure try to maximize it. I watched them spend ALL day on the gantry crane, repelling, documenting the deficiencies, taking pictures, measurements, etc. They even ate their lunch while in the air and let me tell you – the wind was whipping through the area; it never stopped blowing and with temperatures close to freezing I was impressed. It’s not everyday you meet engineers who actually work in the field you know. There is an automatic level of respect given to someone who braves the elements as we in the skilled trades do.

What’s more, they wanted to work while their was daylight – and this meant overtime. The charge of not really working as most equate work can’t be laid at their feet. Nor can the charge of not being able to grasp just the physical nature of working with your hands because, as I wrote earlier, it is a physical thing indeed to not merely repel but also to transition via ropes and remain suspended all day long. So, suffice it to say I was impressed, intrigued, and curious as to how these guys function in comparison to those in the skilled trades. I wish I could have spent more time with them but alas, I will take what I can get.

Like the zoologist studying rare species I must study this rare breed of engineers who, counter to the vast majority of those I have met, actually thrive in the field environment – with humility; an anomaly, to be sure.

*NOTE: This is in no way meant to slight engineers who perform most if not all of their work at a computer in an office; the world needs all types. The extraordinary thing is, though, most are not like those in the skilled trades. There is a gulf which is never really passable, one where many find themselves on the banks hurling insults across – and those insults come from BOTH directions. I’m inclined to say that it is par for the course and in reality we can boil it down to human nature. Still, it’s not like we don’t have a choice in how we react – we absolutely do. We can appreciate the skills of others because they are all needed – engineers are needed just as those in the skilled trades. It’s merely the rarity of the experienced field engineer that has caught my attention this time around.*

Color me impressed here. I am excited for what subsequent searches may find in this general direction because, as I have laid out earlier, the engineer who is field experienced and humble is the rarest of all – and now I have met a whole gang of them.

*Additional note: Using LinkedIn and connecting with various people, I have discovered there are more of these rare and elusive engineers out in the world. I found some who worked for bridge inspection firms and even underwater diving & inspection firms. The deeper I fall into the rabbit hole the more I am impressed to find as many as I have. Sure, they are but the tip of the iceberg when you consider all of the other engineers out there (who happen to fit the typical image) but I find it interesting nonetheless they exist. And now that the idea is in your head, you may very well meet some, too.*