As far as I can remember, I've always wanted to be a construction engineer. To build buildings, bridges, elevated freeways and huge dams fascinate me and gave me the drive to be one. But, fate may have other plans for me, because I was never good at numbers a requisite for one to be a successful engineer.
Out of frustration, the only field open for me was sales/marketing and I took it like a shark in a feeding frenzy. I graduated with honors and proceeded to do post graduate studies. And guess what, I landed with a job at a company offering products for the construction industry. My passion for construction never evaded me, I may not be a construction engineer, but I ended up as a sales engineer, but still an engineer no less.
My line of work brings me to various construction sites, construction offices and talk to executives of the trade. One time while traveling on the freeway, I caught site of a large truck with a pair of giant pre-cast concrete girder on board. From the looks of it, the girder has a depth of around 2meters and a span of at least 30meters. This must be for a concrete bridge, so I tailed the truck but kept a good distance because of the red
flag markers that juts out a meter from the free end of the girder.
I arrived at the construction site, just in time as a girder is hoisted by a giant power crane from the truck to the prepared piers at the side of the river. I noticed that the embankment have been completed, the approach of the bridge have been ready and only the girder is needed to complete the construction.
by:
The Flagman
