I can see where you're coming from with your post; however I don't feel the analogies are a great match. I think you are aiming at correlating the design aspects of programming with civil engineering and the implementation/maintenance aspects with the art of the auto mechanic.

Programming involves both. Implementation might get easier as paradigms are established, but new problems always surface. Design might not have reached steady state yet (or saturation), like civil engineering. (CE is still evolving, but the rate of new problems has diminished.)

The fringes of Computer Science share aspects with such diverse fields as Cognitive Science, Psychology, Biology, Philosophy, and yes, Engineering (electrical, mechanical, chemical, etc). In this sense, I don't see CS slowing down at all any time soon.

Well. I'm leaving aside the prospect of the Singularity, when our own computers and programs began to write themselves. CS will still be evolving even if we are no longer the principle designers.

Design, as such, leaves behind a wake. This wake becomes more solidified as paradigms and standards emerge as accepted solutions to particular problem spaces. This does not mean the boat has stopped.

Matt