Clark County

Named for Captain William Clark of Lewis and Clark expedition fame, Clark County's history of the last nearly two decades can be characterized by growth, in terms of population, jobs and housing. One of the fastest growing regions in Washington State and in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan region during this time, Clark County today is home to more than 400,000 people.

The Clark County Public Works Department serves the growing community by providing a number of different services. The Solid Waste and Clean Water programs protect and enhance the county's environmental resources by providing such services as solid waste, recycling, and yard waste removal; and sewer, water quality, and wastewater programs, respectively. The Transportation and Engineering programs, respectively, administer and engineer the county's transportation system; and plan, design and construct capital improvements such as roads, bike paths, parks and walkways. Operations and Maintenance maintains county roads and parks.

A CECOP internship at Clark County can offer a broad taste of experience in the Clean Water and Engineering programs of Public Works. The Clean Water program can offer work experience in such areas as hydrology, hydraulics, water quality modeling, and stormwater facility assessment. The Engineering program offers a wide experience in the development of capital projects. Past interns have seen a variety of future and current construction sites, by accompanying survey crews and project inspectors for work on the sites. Moreover, they perform work in the design phase of projects, assisting design engineers, construction engineers and environmental permit coordinators with the myriad tasks required to get a project ready to construct.