engineer

pipelayer

water project manager

utility worker

planner/scheduler

AUSTIN BRIDGE & ROAD

I joined the Austin Bridge & Road (AB&R) and received everything I had hoped for and was very excited about my new opportunity.

During my interview with Austin in Baton Rouge it was made clear to me that the project I would be coming to was in trouble and possibly heading for default.

Unfortunately between the time I was hired and I arrived at the project in Baton Rouge, LA. The State informally discharged AB&R from the job with a formal follow-up two weeks after I started.

This of course changed the nature of my job and required me to help AB&R transition from construction to the bonding companies contractor of choice which had initially been AB&R but was rejected.

Almost overnight, it seemed I went just getting started from making a great effort to building a project to giving it away and helping closing the regional office and my efforts to protect AB&R's integrity as well as my own went unnoticed in the mix.

Prior to and during the transitioning process I learned the full scope of the mistakes made on the project and wondered how a good solid company could make them.  My employee stock went from 23 $/Share to 0$ and the furture became very murky and not what I could anticipate as a great move for my family who had remained in Washington State at our home.

To recap I felt fortunate to have a job that meat many of my requirements but it turned into a learning situation for me and not on the plus side of the equation.


As a party chief for Austin Bridge & Road(ABR) my day starts with a call from the survey manager which typically is to communicate with me the survey requests for the day. These are done in the order of urgency. I have come a long way in the little time that I have been with ABR. I had no knowledge of bridge and road construction prior to working in this field. Now I am able to read and decipher plans and also perform my own calculations to check the plans are accurate or just to get ahead on future tasks. At least in my opinion management at ABR is excellent. They are there to make the project run smoothly and expect the crews to work efficiently but with the main priority being safety. The company is good at rewarding the workers when goals have been met with lunches or some other kind of reward. The culture is relaxed but also fast-paced in order to meet deadlines as much as possible. Probably the hardest part of my job is when survey is needed at many different locations and I have to work accurately but very quickly to be able to get everything done and not have any crews standing around waiting on me. The most enjoyable part of the job is working together with all the crews to successfully complete the project while building relationships.

Austin Bridge is a Great company they’re mostly known in the NTX region but are trying to reach the lengths to become on of the Top Civil Contractor is STX, they are bringing up/in the right people to do achieve that. They are building new relationships and new connections daily, trying to get work in all sectors of the civil business from Roads & Bridges, Private, and Commercial. In STX alone they have brought in superintendent, project managers, engineers ,surveyors, executives and many craft personnel to bring up the work for ABR in STX. Austin treats every employee not just a employee but as an employee-owner, the growth and the success of ABR benefits everyone! Safety is priority 1, they keep up to date on work and budgets with all employees to share the growth or loss of the company not a lot of major companies share that information. Austin alone is going up so if you’re looking to make a career out of ABR take it. You will not regret it.

But.. having to deal with the miserable  coworkers (12-14 hours a day/ 6-7 days a week) will burn you out. Most of the staff/ management are great people on the asphalt plant side. On the other hand you need to watch your back. A lot of people that work there are very two face. (I’ve never dealt with so much drama in my life besides these 40 year old grown a** men) lmao
They will throw you under the bus in a heartbeat beat and go straight to management. They won’t even try to teach you the company’s way to “correctly” complete a task . The training you do get is awful. No one is on the same page, because Everyone has their own way of “doing it right” 

Besides the shady / miserable people . It’s easy work, good pay, and tons of hours. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Exelent company very safety oriented and there's always room to grow 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Foreman's lock of professionalism 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Personally I have a good time working there I got  the chance to practice my skills and it was a great experience to learn new skills in water treatment facilities si im looking forward to find another job in water treatment field

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Every day was different moving from setting forms patching, pouring concrete, piping so if you want to learn more skills this is the right company to work for

There is 0 work/life balance in the company. Was hired with the understanding that this would be a 40-50 hour position. Within months of being there I was told the day is from 6:30am-5:00pm monday-saturday. Must be available on call for night shift to answer questions or to come on site on a whim.  Sundays were "rotating" but we're actually mandatory. There is NO OVERTIME pay for any hours over 40 despite the standard week being no less than 60hrs/week.

Company Holidays are written by corporate, but that does not apply as management demands coverage for holidays on site. Truly the least amount of respect for an employee's time I've ever seen.

Company has a great culture and actively cares about the employees. Company has a "we are family" mindset and actually means it, unlike most companies. Good room for growth, company likes to promote from within whenever possible. As with every company, there are some bad apples but I felt like the majority of my supervisors actually cared about me and cared about my development. Long hours and sometimes not a great work/life balance, but that is a problem with the construction industry and not Austin Bridge & Road. They are generally pretty flexible with schedule if something comes up. 

Austin bridge has been very supportive of my growth as a person by helping me to try my hand at different positions within the company. They do a fair to good job with listening to employee concerns and are very responsive to employees work/life balance. They’ve helped me to train me from zero experience to very knowledgeable on multiple pieces of heavy equipment and multiple different processes within different departments. (Traffic,dirt,carpentry). Very good place to just meet new people and learn about yourself. Good benefits and fair pay for experience and huge potential for raises and growth. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Good hours ,the ppl that actually work are good ,hr  is the reason I left don't waste your time w this company

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Hr is lazy and dishonest they lock u out of your Austin account and refuse to communicate during entire enrollment month ,if u complain you are terminated

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Trash, they boast a great work culture at orientation and stand by none of what they say 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Conflicting directives,racist bullcrap ,disrespect at every juncture

A typical day at work consists of scanning, copying, emailing and processing paperwork. It also consists of processing invoice to ensure everyone is getting paid the accurate amount of money. I learned the different terminology that goes along with construction and why it is important. Everyone is very patient and informative with me and the learning process. The hardest part is getting the employees driving the trucks to turn their paperwork in on time. The most enjoyable is how flexible they are with my schedule.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Engineer 3 salaries reported	$61,833 per year
Pipelayer 2 salaries reported	$20.50 per hour
Water project manager 1 salary reported	$95,243 per year
Utility worker 1 salary reported	$18.00 per hour
Planner/scheduler 1 salary reported	$37.00 per hour

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