Top 12 Highway Engineer Skills to Put on Your Resume
In highway engineering, your resume has to work as hard as you do. Make it sharp. Make it specific. Put skills front and center that prove you can shape corridors, manage constraints, and wrangle real-world data without flinching.
Highway Engineer Skills
1. AutoCAD
AutoCAD is a CAD platform used to draft, edit, and document highway plans and details with precision—think alignments, cross sections, sheets, traffic control details, and everything in between.
Why It's Important
For highway work, clean geometry and consistent documentation are non-negotiable. AutoCAD delivers exact linework, fast revisions, and standards-driven outputs that keep projects moving and coordination tight.
How to Improve AutoCAD Skills
Get ruthless with fundamentals: layers, blocks, xrefs, sheet sets, layouts, viewports. Speed lives here.
Build standards that stick: templates (DWT), plot styles, annotation scales, naming conventions, and disciplined file organization.
Draft smarter: dynamic blocks, parametric constraints, fields for title blocks, and precise object snaps with custom shortcuts.
Automate the boring parts: AutoLISP, scripts (.scr), tool palettes, and custom commands to crush repetitive tasks.
Reference like a pro: external references and data references to manage big plan sets without chaos.
Bridge to design tools: when roadway modeling is required, pair with Civil 3D for corridors, surfaces, and profiles—seamless handoff, fewer re-draws.
How to Display AutoCAD Skills on Your Resume
2. MicroStation
MicroStation is a robust CAD environment used across transportation projects for drafting, modeling, and standards-controlled production—often the backbone for DOT deliverables.
Why It's Important
It handles large datasets with composure, keeps annotation and levels predictable, and connects cleanly with Bentley’s civil design tools used on many highway programs.
How to Improve MicroStation Skills
Tune the workspace: custom seed files, DGNLibs for levels/text/dimensions, and function keys. AccuDraw and AccuSnap set to your habits.
Master references: nested references, display rules, level filters, and clip boundaries—critical for giant corridor sets.
Speed up annotation: annotation scale, Item Types, and cells for details and callouts that always land right.
Design on top of it: if your project requires modeling, integrate OpenRoads workflows inside MicroStation to keep design and drafting aligned.
Manage the project: common data environments (like ProjectWise) keep versions, approvals, and standards under control.
How to Display MicroStation Skills on Your Resume
3. HEC-RAS
HEC-RAS (Hydrologic Engineering Center’s River Analysis System) models open-channel flow and structures. Essential when a roadway crosses water or sits near floodplains.
Why It's Important
Highways and water don’t always get along. HEC-RAS helps you size openings, assess backwater, evaluate scour, and design crossings that survive real storms.
How to Improve HEC-RAS Skills
Work in 2D when it matters: unsteady 2D for complex floodplains, split flows, and overbank behavior; 1D where it’s clean and fast.
Use RAS Mapper well: high-quality terrain, breaklines, Manning’s mapping, and georeferenced results. No guesswork.
Represent structures accurately: bridges, culverts, ineffective flow areas, contraction/expansion, debris sensitivity—details swing results.
Set good boundaries: hydrographs, rating curves, time steps, warm-up periods; then test sensitivity so the model doesn’t lie to you.
Calibrate if you can: gage data, high-water marks, and field observations tighten confidence.
Automate repetitive runs: use the HEC-RAS Controller for batch scenarios, alternative geometries, and parameter sweeps.
How to Display HEC-RAS Skills on Your Resume
4. Civil 3D
Civil 3D delivers BIM-driven roadway design: alignments, profiles, corridors, intersections, grading, and production sheets with data staying connected end to end.
Why It's Important
Change one thing, update everywhere. With standards baked in and modeling front and center, you produce faster, and coordination stays honest.
How to Improve Civil 3D Skills
Own the core: alignments, profiles, corridors, assemblies/subassemblies, and intersections. Roundabouts too, when applicable.
Grade with intent: feature lines, grading objects, and Grading Optimization for complex pads and tie-ins.
Standardize: styles, layers, object naming, and templates that match agency requirements. Save the guesswork for design, not drafting.
Manage data: data shortcuts and references to keep surfaces, corridors, and pipe networks in sync across teams.
Automate: Dynamo for Civil 3D, scripts, and reports to handle repetitive geometry and QA checks.
Produce clean sheets: plan/profile production, match lines, labels that read right, and quantity takeoffs that reconcile with the model.
How to Display Civil 3D Skills on Your Resume
5. Synchro
Synchro (traffic signal timing software) analyzes and optimizes signalized networks, aiming for smoother flow and safer streets.
Why It's Important
Signals make or break corridors. Better phasing and coordination reduce delay, clear queues, and cut crash potential.
How to Improve Synchro Skills
Start with good data: turning counts, saturation flow, pedestrian volumes, travel times, detector health. Junk in, junk out.
Model precisely: lanes, storage lengths, phasing, clearance intervals, controller types, and detection. Don’t hand-wave geometry.
Optimize with purpose: cycle lengths, splits, offsets, and phase sequences tuned for corridor objectives, not just intersection delay.
Coordinate corridors: time–space diagrams to lock down progression, then verify with field runs or probe data.
Implement and monitor: push timings to controllers, observe peak periods, and iterate. Use performance measures to keep plans honest over time.
Validate with simulation: if needed, couple with microsimulation to expose spillback, blocking, or side-street pain points.
How to Display Synchro Skills on Your Resume
6. VISSIM
VISSIM is a microscopic simulation platform for complex traffic behavior—lane-changing, queues, signals, transit, bikes, even pedestrians if needed.
Why It's Important
When spreadsheets and HCM hit their limits, VISSIM shows how a design breathes: where it clogs, where it flies, and what actually fixes it.
How to Improve VISSIM Skills
Calibrate then trust: tune driver behavior (Wiedemann), desired speeds, and lane-change aggressiveness to match observed conditions.
Model signals correctly: import timing plans or build them carefully. Logic matters—phasing, detectors, transit priority, coordination.
Use good geometry: exact lanes, tapers, pockets, crosswalks. Small misses skew big outcomes.
Run scenarios, not just one: multiple seeds, warm-up, and sufficient run time. Report medians and spreads, not a single magic number.
Leverage the API: batch runs, parameter sweeps, and automated output parsing for fast, reproducible studies.
Tell the story: visuals help, but numbers rule—delay, queues, travel time, and reliability aligned with project goals.
How to Display VISSIM Skills on Your Resume
7. SAP2000
SAP2000 handles structural analysis and design for frames, shells, and more—handy for retaining walls, sign structures, culvert frames, and highway-adjacent buildings. Bridge-heavy work often moves to companion tools, but many components still fit SAP2000 perfectly.
Why It's Important
It gives you reliable linear and nonlinear analysis, staged construction, and code-based design checks that align with real loading and detailing demands.
How to Improve SAP2000 Skills
Model with intent: correct releases, diaphragm assumptions, boundary conditions, and mesh density. Units consistent, always.
Load it right: AASHTO LRFD combinations, wind/ice/seismic as needed, and construction staging if sequence matters.
Choose the right analysis: static, modal, response spectrum, pushover, or time history—fit the method to the problem.
Template and reuse: section libraries, load patterns, and output sets that match common highway structures.
Automate repetitive work: the API can generate models, iterate parameters, and harvest results at scale.
Verify: quick hand checks and sensitivity studies catch modeling slips before they bite.
How to Display SAP2000 Skills on Your Resume
8. StormCAD
StormCAD (OpenFlows StormCAD) models and designs stormwater collection systems—laterals, inlets, gutters, pipes—so roadways stay passable when skies open up.
Why It's Important
Hydraulics at the curb line determine safety and operations during storms. Sound inlet spacing and pipe sizing keep spread under control and intersections clear.
How to Improve StormCAD Skills
Define rainfall and methods: correct IDF curves, return periods, rational vs. unit hydrograph approaches, and region-specific assumptions.
Model inlets honestly: capture efficiency, clogging factors, gutter slopes, and bypass routing—no hand-waving at sags.
Build scenarios: leverage alternatives for design storms, future land use, and sensitivity to roughness or clogging.
Connect the corridor: integrate with Civil 3D or OpenRoads surfaces and alignments so grades, structures, and drainage align.
QA the outcomes: check spread, HGL, surcharge flags, and outlet capacities; compare against field observations when available.
Document clearly: profiles, spread reports, inlet summaries, and plan callouts that reviewers can audit quickly.
How to Display StormCAD Skills on Your Resume
9. Geopak
Geopak is a legacy Bentley civil design suite long used for roadway geometry, corridors, and drainage—still in play on many DOT contracts.
Why It's Important
Plenty of agencies maintain Geopak standards and workflows. Knowing it means you can support active projects and translate work to newer platforms without friction.
How to Improve Geopak Skills
Refine core workflows: geometry tools, corridor modeling, criteria, and cross section generation.
Control your standards: style files, preferences, and seed projects that match agency deliverables.
Manage big jobs: disciplined file structure, references, and consistent naming to avoid broken paths and missing resources.
Bridge forward: learn how to migrate design intent and data to OpenRoads Designer for long-lived projects.
Document: set up reproducible reports and cross section workflows reviewers can trace.
How to Display Geopak Skills on Your Resume
10. InRoads
InRoads is another Bentley legacy platform for roadway design—geometry, surfaces, corridors, and drafting—still common across long-running infrastructure programs.
Why It's Important
It keeps older project baselines editable and verifiable. Many deliverables remain tied to it, so fluency saves time and rework.
How to Improve InRoads Skills
Know the files: ALG, DTM, ITL, IRD—how they relate, how to version them, and how to share without conflicts.
Build consistent templates: template libraries that reflect typical sections, superelevation, and target controls.
Generate smart outputs: cross sections, plan/profile sheets, and reports with labeling that matches standards.
Coordinate across teams: reference management and clear folder structures prevent broken links and misaligned surfaces.
Plan migration: learn translation paths to OpenRoads Designer so projects can evolve without losing design intent.
How to Display InRoads Skills on Your Resume
11. MXROAD
MXROAD is a string-based roadway design tool used widely outside North America and on legacy programs—powerful for template-driven alignments and surfaces.
Why It's Important
Agencies with established MX workflows still expect it. You can maintain older models and deliver updates without rebuilding from scratch.
How to Improve MXROAD Skills
Work the strings: understand master strings, input files, and how models build from them.
Template discipline: well-structured templates capture typical sections, grading controls, and transitions.
Input file power: key-ins and input scripts let you reproduce complex designs quickly and consistently.
Quality control: profiles, cross sections, and triangulations checked against design criteria and clearance requirements.
Look ahead: plan how to bring MX data into OpenRoads when projects move to newer standards.
How to Display MXROAD Skills on Your Resume
12. OpenRoads
OpenRoads is Bentley’s modern civil platform—terrain, corridors, superelevation, drainage, quantity extraction, and drawing production under one roof.
Why It's Important
Many DOTs are standardizing on it. Model-based design ties geometry, annotation, and quantities together, so updates ripple cleanly and reviews go faster.
How to Improve OpenRoads Skills
Build firm foundations: feature definitions, element templates, annotation groups, and design standards that drive consistency.
Corridors done right: templates with parametric controls, point/feature targeting, superelevation, and civil cells for complex intersections.
Manage terrain and reality: terrains from survey, TINs, meshes, and breaklines; clean edits, not patchwork fixes.
Drainage inside the model: integrate storm/sanitary networks with profiles, clash checks, and summary reports.
Produce with control: drawing models, sheet models, named boundaries, and automated labeling tuned to agency specs.
Stay current: newer releases bring stability, performance, and tools that trim hours off corridor edits and sheet updates.
How to Display OpenRoads Skills on Your Resume
