Exhibit 24(a)
 
               CONSENT OF ERNST & YOUNG LLP, INDEPENDENT AUDITORS
 
   We consent to the reference to our firm under the caption "Experts" in the
Registration Statement on Form S-8 registering 500,000 shares of common stock
pertaining to the 1989 Employee Stock Purchase Plan of Jacobs Engineering Group
Inc. and to the incorporation by reference therein of our report dated November
4, 1998, with respect to the consolidated financial statements of Jacobs
Engineering Group Inc. and subsidiaries incorporated by reference in its Annual
Report (Form 10-K) for the year ended September 30, 1998 and the related
financial statement schedules included therein, filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
 
                                          ERNST & YOUNG LLP
 
Los Angeles, California
February 25, 1999
 
 
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