Civil Engineering Technology - Highway Technology

In today’s fast-paced society being able to quickly get from place to place is essential. Become a part of the team designing the highways of tomorrow with a Civil Engineering Technology (CET) – Highway Technology associate degree at Gateway Technical College.

Civil engineering technicians help civil engineers plan the construction of highways, buildings, bridges and other structures. Highway technicians may also estimate construction costs, prepare drawings and develop a list of needed supplies.

Gateway’s construction science group (CSG) programs (CET-Highway, Land Survey, CET-Fresh Water and Architectural-Structural Engineering) share a common first year of coursework. This allows for a basic understanding of all four areas which is a valuable fundamental skill set while giving students an opportunity to explore each program and decide what the best fit is for them. In the second year of the program students take core classes in Civil Engineering – Highway Technology.

Courses are offered at the integrated Manufacturing and Engineering Technology (iMET) Center in Sturtevant. Students can also access courses through the Nodal network on Gateway’s Elkhorn Campus. The Nodal workstation is equipped with headphones and webcams, providing two-way audio and video communication across the internet, including the ability to share screens, allowing students to fully participate in class as if they were in the classroom at iMET.

Graduates can find careers as construction inspectors, estimators, assistant engineers, designers, assistant construction managers and utility coordinators. They work in fields such as highway and building construction, water supply services and pollution control.

Gateway’s highway engineering courses use real world problems and projects instead of just book exercises. The fusion of education and application is an essential part of all courses. Students obtain hands-on understanding of design and inspection skills used in the engineering and construction processes.

Technical skills developed in the program include utilizing graphic techniques to produce engineering drawings, conducting standardized field and laboratory testing, utilizing modern surveying methods for land measurements and/or construction layout, estimating material quantities and costs for projects, designing storm systems for hydrological events and determining forces and stresses in elementary structural systems.

As a capstone project all students in the construction science group (CET-Highway, Land Survey, CET-Fresh Water and Architectural-Structural Engineering) are divided into multidisciplinary design groups. The student design teams are given a real world design project that emphasizes each specialty and allows students to apply concepts and training developed in their degree program to a real life project.

Students are encouraged to join the Civil Engineering Technician Associate club (CETA). The club hosts an annual Professional Night where professionals from the industry come giving students a great opportunity to network and obtain job leads. Students can also participate in the Society of Women Engineers club.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of civil engineering technicians is expected to grow 12 percent through 2020. The median annual salary of civil engineering technicians was $49,260 in 2015.

Curriculum Sheet:

10-607-4 Civil Engineering Technology - Highway Technology Curriculum Sheet 2017-18.pdf

Most program courses offered at these locations:

Elkhorn Campus, SC Johnson iMET Center

Some courses may need to be completed at another location. Please consult WebAdvisor for specific course offering information.

Featured Faculty

“Gateway is an amazing place because students can develop real, employable skills within the profession while developing a foundation regarding the reasons things are done. So if they choose to enter the workforce they have the skills and marketability to obtain a good job, or if they choose to continue on to get a 4-yr degree, they will have a significant advantage in their civil classes because they understand 'how' things are done while learning the theory behind the 'why.' Also, as expensive as education is these days, there is a significant cost savings by starting at Gateway. Out of all the levels in education to teach, I chose this level because it provides a great opportunity to help students establish their footing in this field.”

~ Steve Whitmoyer