Mark Mallett casts an expert eye at the bridge piers being constructed over the Intracoastal Waterway near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The young civil engineer is measuring the progress of one of the 24 bridges on the fast-track, $225 million, Carolina Bays Parkway project. Out of the corner of his experienced eye, he is also monitoring pleasure-boat traffic on the Intracoastal Waterway.
“We encounter exciting challenges all the time,” he says, pausing as a sail boat glides through the bridge piers. “This design/build job allows engineers like me to take the design and figure out how to build it. Lots of teamwork is involved, with equipment and resources coming in from all over the place. The whole team works together to improve the construction process. At HBG, the door is always open to how you want to engineer the job.”
Mark started working for HBG Constructors in October 1997, at the Bath-Woolwich Bridge over the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine. He found it a dynamic, fast-moving environment. While on that $48 million project, Mark worked on various parts of the job, learning a variety of skills. He worked as a field engineer overseeing the segmental bridge superstructure erection. Also, Mark helped set up and manage the document control office for the design/build job.
“It is really something to see the bridge finally come together after many people worked so hard,” says Mark. It is a magnificent structure and I’m proud to have been involved.”
Working in Maine was not a big change for the native Canadian, but South Carolina is a whole different world. Mark marvels, “Dirt is a hot commodity around here—and there are no rocks! Cut-and-fill doesn’t even exist. Every time we create a borrow pit, it becomes a drainage pond or a lake.”
Despite the new climate and geography, Mark was eager to move south. “I stayed with HBG because I like the people I work with, and the company is professionally opening doors for me. With projects going on all over the United States and in the Caribbean, there’s lots of future here for a young guy like me.”
Although Mark misses his co-workers at Bath who moved to different parts of the country, he stays in touch with them via e-mail. “It’s a small world,” he says. “We’ll be together on another project somewhere.”
Mark has come a long way with HBG Constructors in only three years. His enthusiastic outlook and engineering skills make him a perfect fit at our growing company. He works hard, learns fast, and adapts to change readily. If this sounds like a career that would fit your needs, take a look at the many job openings available at HBG Constructors.
