Is Hydraulic Engineering a good profession to work on?

[victor93rs]

Hi. I think i'm going to study hydraulic engineering. I'd like to study that career because, among other things, I like dams a lot. But when I talked to an engineer that had worked on some dams in my country (I live in the Dominican Republic, and would like to study abroad), he told me that engineers working in dams, for large companies (e.g. Ferrovial, Odebrecht, Andrade-Gutierrez...) have the disadvantage of having very demanding jobs. He meant that they are demanded to work lots of time, to live on the project's place, to move to another countries to work, and that most of them do not have enough free time, or social life, and that they live separated from their families... So these are the questions I want you to answer me:

Does working on projects such as dams, involve the conditions mentioned above?

Do you think those conditions are still frequent today (the last time the Engineer I talked to worked on a dam was ten years ago)?

Do you think that those conditions would have changed in the future (e.g. for the time I get graduated, maybe on 5 years)?

Do you think that there will be demand for dam construction fot the rime i graduate?

Thanks for your attention!

[whit]

Hi. I think i'm going to study hydraulic engineering. I'd like to study that career because, among other things, I like dams a lot. But when I talked to an engineer that had worked on some dams in my country (I live in the Dominican Republic, and would like to study abroad), he told me that engineers working in dams, for large companies (e.g. Ferrovial, Odebrecht, Andrade-Gutierrez...) have the disadvantage of having very demanding jobs. He meant that they are demanded to work lots of time, to live on the project's place, to move to another countries to work, and that most of them do not have enough free time, or social life, and that they live separated from their families... So these are the questions I want you to answer me:

Does working on projects such as dams, involve the conditions mentioned above?

Do you think those conditions are still frequent today (the last time the Engineer I talked to worked on a dam was ten years ago)?

Do you think that those conditions would have changed in the future (e.g. for the time I get graduated, maybe on 5 years)?

Do you think that there will be demand for dam construction fot the rime i graduate?

Thanks for your attention!

Well, since the majority of dams are being constructed in developing nations, depending on your position and role in the project, that may require significant overseas traveling.

I think the demand for dams and other hydraulic structures will probably grow over the next decade or more due to overseas development. In the US, we aren't building as many new dam structures but the is significant work in inspection, rehabilitation and repairs for the existing ones to keep them functioning properly.

Always difficult to predict the future, but I do see growth potential in hydraulic systems, water distribution, etc.

For this type of work you would need either MS or ME at a civil engineering program that specialized in hydraulics/water resources.

[victor93rs]

Sorry for the lateness, but thanks for your advice! It was very useful for me! But I have decided that, although I'd love to build dams and similar structures, I don't think H.E. is the right profession for me, because of how demanding it is. But Thanks, really!

[whit]

No problem. What did you decide to do instead?

[victor93rs]

No problem. What did you decide to do instead?

I still don't know... Perhaps another engineering.