How To Become A Bridge Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a bridge engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Andrea Welker Ph.D.

Bridge engineers are civil engineers responsible for designing and building bridges. Put simply, bridge engineers help vehicles and pedestrians cross rivers, valleys, roads, and other obstacles.

Bridge engineers ensure that the bridges and roads can support necessary loads without excessive stress or degradation. They are also responsible for determining the load-bearing of a structure during environmental changes such as hot and cold seasons, excessive wind, or natural disasters such as earthquakes. Qualifications include a bachelor's degree from an accredited program and to pass several licensing exams, such as the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, which allows one to become an engineer in training (EIT). EITs can then work to become licensed professional engineers; this is typically a four-year process and culminates in the Principles and Practice of Engineering exam.

The average hourly salary for the position is $33.60, which equates to $69,898 annually. The career is likely to see growth in the near future and result in new opportunities emerging all across the United States.

What general advice would you give to a Bridge Engineer?

Andrea Welker Ph.D.

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Engineering Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Villanova University

Be open to new experiences. Find a good mentor. Become a valued employee. Always remember that you are designing something for someone.

ScoreBridge EngineerUS Average

Salary

6.1

Avg. Salary $78,679

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.3

Growth Rate 7%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.30%

Asian 17.51%

Black or African American 3.51%

Hispanic or Latino 10.35%

Unknown 4.56%

White 63.78%

Gender

female 15.91%

male 84.09%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress Level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.3

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.1

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a bridge engineer

Explore bridge engineer education requirements

Most common bridge engineer degrees

Bachelor's

65.2 %

Master's

19.2 %

Associate

7.0 %

Start to develop specific bridge engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Autocad	11.03%
Structural Analysis	10.43%
AASHTO	9.74%
Structural Design	6.88%
Rehabilitation	6.74%

Complete relevant bridge engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New bridge engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a bridge engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real bridge engineer resumes.

Research bridge engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage various wastewater capital improvement projects.
Deliver bridge design for new concrete bridge construction projects and analysis for retrofit and rehabilitation on existing structures.
Prepare AutoCAD drawings for final design, sketch plans and presentations for several bridge and highway projects.
Perform detailed analysis of structures using SAP2000.

Prepare your bridge engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your bridge engineer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a bridge engineer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Bridge Engineer Resume templates

Build a professional Bridge Engineer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Bridge Engineer resume.

Apply for bridge engineer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a bridge engineer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do bridge engineers rate their job?

-/5

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Bridge Engineer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020

Cons

very little

A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2019

Pros

I like it because of it is the basis of development