field engineer

pipefitter

engineer

welder

ironworker

Kiewit Corporation

Work/life balance did not exist. Got on a bus shortly after 5, for a 7:00 start. Leave at 5:30, home around 7:25-8:00 depending on weather and traffic.  It was a 14+  hour day, paid for 10. In order to have a somewhat normal life, you have to be at the gym by 3-ish - meaning you have to be in bed by 7:45....which gives you roughly 80 minutes to yourself per day, if you can manage 6 hours sleep.

Salary was decent. OK wages, for a mediocre effort. There is ZERO chance for advancement - even though you may have two-three-four times the training or experience of others; it's an old boy's club.

Management fails hard. Every single day. One electrical 'supervisor' was NOT a tradesman, but a Mech. Eng. ....they had no idea what they were doing, lacked proper training, and due to cultural or religious differences, wouldn't speak to any of the women on the crew. The individual was also demeaning to others, citing things such as "I know you don't understand this on the same level that I do, but...." etc, etc. The other electrical super was an OK guy with definite potential; but I fear he'll get sucked in/spat out by the horrific business practices they take part in, and it'll become a new normal.

There was also a HUGE issue with supervision bullying employees....on a frequent basis. It's almost as though the supervisors had never taken a course in perf. management....or HR planning...or....supervisory self-assessment...or....well.....wait...they haven't! And....while a host of other workers had held supervisory spots with other big firms, this place chose to pick "buddies" over competence. Guys who previously ran 8-digit budgets were passed over for relative idiots, and you're expected to blindly follow them....but instead of guidance and knowledge, they feed ya pure BS.

Craft Safety Advisors....kind of a different thing. They aren't safety people, but they are. They ARE genuine folk who WANT to assist, but they also have to follow an entirely useless safety manager; resulting in a culture that is entirely toxic. Most of 'em don't know much when it comes to legislation, management, awareness, comparing good practice to procedures......I know they're trying - but the company is too GD stupid to put them through the proper courses and really empower a positive culture. As an example, the 'solution' to a rash of dropped objects was to actually throw items out of an AWP, while a crowd watched from way-too-close....and as scaffold tubes hit the ground and bounced into a nearby fence, I grabbed my apprentice and hid her from the chaos. No changes to policy, or conversations looking for acceptable solutions....just mess after mess after mess.....so I knew it was time to leave.

Only thing decent in this mess is the good folks who have defined skillsets and appreciate each others' abilities. Everything else was a nightmare. I hate to say it, but I wasn't impressed. Three seals, a safety cert, and another in business......Nearly 20 years workin' in the patch - 12 in camps up north; never seen anything like this.

Office/Project Control Engineer Technologist

My current role is in the project controls department. My duties include: owner reports on job progress and cost, cost and budget monitoring, past and present work packages for changes in scope or issues during construction, document control, client relations, and construction discipline assistance. Fluency in: MS word, Excel, MS SharePoint, MS Project, MS OneNote, Hard Dollar, SAP, Blue beam Revu

Mechanical and structures Field Engineer Technologist

In the position of Mechanical Field Engineer Tech I monitored the quality and production of a subcontractor, performing Main gate and Stop log installation. The challenges of this work were extremes of weather on high precision instruments and stainless steel permanent materials, the intricacies of the work and contractor relations.

In the position of Structures Field Engineer Tech I created work packages and planned for future construction. I would be given an area of work, and put together a package that included: resources, schedule, quotes for equipment and subcontracts, construction methods and all environment and safety procedures that may be necessary. I successfully created a multi-million dollar subcontract package, as well as many work packages that ran smoothly and made money.

Mechanical survey Engineer Technologist

In this position I aligned the Stop log and Main gate guides, during the construction of spillway piers. Off of owner supplied control in each water passage, I would set up a theodolite and high precision prisms, line in and shoot the guides. Once a guide was aligned, an owner representative would then replicate the set up and verify the accuracy of the work. There were many challenges with this job, as line of site and constant construction were always taking place. The precision of this work was between 0-3mm. The tools used were: Wild T2 Theodolite, Trimble DET-2 Theodolite, Leica Prism, Starrett calibrated rulers and straight edges.

Survey Engineer Technologist

In this position I was tasked with the full layout of the main spillway channel. I worked on night shift to layout blast patterns for the rock drills. I would upload the shifts data file and mark and check holes after production. The tools I utilized were: Trimble R8, Trimble TSC2 & 3 controller. 

The people I have worked with have been amazing. There are great people at Kiewit. The hardest parts of my positions will have had to be night shift winter work. Spending all night in the bitter Manitoba winter was hard. The highlights are endless. Job satisfaction is high.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Exposure to large-scale and technically complex infrastructure projects
Stable workflow and recognizable company within the industry

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Role responsibilities were not fully aligned with expectations discussed during the hiring process
Actual day-to-day work was more drafting-focused and junior in nature than expected for an intermediate/senior engineering position
Career progression and internal leveling structure were not always clear or transparent
External experience did not always appear to translate proportionally into internal level and compensation decisions
Internal mobility and department transfer opportunities felt limited in practice
Hybrid or remote flexibility appeared to depend heavily on team structure, tenure, or management preference, and there was a perception that in-office presence had a stronger impact on long-term career progression
Compensation was less competitive compared to similar opportunities in the market

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
the experience can vary significantly depending on the team, department, and management structure. The culture tends to be more traditional and office-oriented, with high visibility often placed on in-office presence and internal experience within the organization.

For employees joining from outside the company, especially experienced hires, it is important to clearly understand role expectations, leveling structure, and long-term growth opportunities early on to ensure alignment.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day involved a mix of technical documentation and coordination work. This included drafting and reviewing engineering drawings, preparing or reviewing specifications for equipment, and participating in meetings with vendors and project stakeholders.

A significant portion of time was also spent on shop drawing reviews and coordination tasks to support project execution and ensure alignment between design requirements and supplier deliverables.

Kiewit for me was a very good experience indeed. I was given the opportunity to work on some of the largest equipment with the best of mitigation tools, in an environment based on safety and doing the right thing at all times. I look forward to getting back with Kiewit once again. My division of Kiewit, K2 Mining, was a wonderful place to work, the shop is neat, we have every shop tool necessary to perform every task without cutting corners. The comradery amongst the men was very strong, letting you know you were part of a team. As for the hardest part of my job, I would have to say knowing when I should or should not step in to stop an unsafe act when I witnessed seasoned co-workers.doing things they shouldn't. This can always be viewed two different ways. Our motto was "never walk past an unsafe act" , however, the seasoned technician will be quick to tell you to mind your own business, or not to be a proverbial "rat". There is uncertainty in how this is viewed by your co-workers, even when diplomacy in your intervention is used to the utmost extent. However when I witness a green hat performing an unsafe act, there is no aprehension in my intervening at all, using diplomacy of course. I always appreciate any constructive criticism that comes my way, especially when I am new to a site and under new management.
The most enjoyable part of my job has always been working on the largest and best equipment, being allowed to repair equipment the right way the first time, with the proper parts, instead of patching the job here and there to save expenses, knowing that it is the wrong decision, but it is what your employer tells you to do. I enjoy repairing my equipment the right way every time. And in time, this is where the real savings show themselves. A stitch in time saves nine, so to speak. Kiewit and I share these same beliefs and ethics, and this is why Kiewit is where I wish to work the rest of my years, no matter where the jobs may take me.

met with Quality Team to review the day's upcoming  activities
enter testing data into various databases, reported to project owner on activities, reported to Quality Manager on any items requiring his attention; worked with the team to manage time, schedule meetings, inspections, manpower schedules etc.

I learned how important quality really is in a project.  In past working experiences, the quality of the work being done was never a top priority - scheduling always took the lead. We had a breach of a large cofferdam at one of the construction sites, and within 12 hours, the Ministry of Labour was in my office looking for all of the quality documentation, right down to the testing of the aggregates used in the cofferdam. Because it was all organized both in binders and electronically, they were able to leave with the information they were looking for in minutes.

I worked closely with the Quality Team and provided support that they could all count on.  If they required any type of documentation, I was able to retrieve it in a timely fashion in the format requested.

The hardest part of the job was meeting with sub-contractors to review their NCR's and gaining their respect.  At first, there was a lot of animosity, naturally, as they were defending their quality of work, when it didn't quite meet the project specs or provincial standards.  I don't like confrontation.

The most enjoyable part of the job was going onto the worksites to meet with various sub-contractors, engineers, inspectors to better understand what the paperwork they were handing in to me meant!  I was in awe of the work being done, the types of equipment being used, and how every aspect was scheduled so keep the project running smoothly.

Working with Kiewit on the highway1/port mann bridge improvement project was great. I was hired right out of school and the training they provided me really helped me considering I did not have any really previous work experience as a Surveyor. I was on night shift for the majority of the project because the road work couldn't be done during the day. I was put in charge of the major road milling and paving projects using specialized survey techniques such as the first 3D milling machine using total stations and DTM files. On our off days we would do a lot of layout and monitoring. I also completed the majority of the projects lazer scanning of highway elevations and overpasses. The management was often very disorganized but it worked to my advantage because it forced me to make my own decisions and learn new things on my own.  The hardest part of my job was the hours. I love night shift, that was not the problem. The problem was we were having to do 6 and 7 day weeks almost all the time, especially during the nicer months for weather for paving. But, it also was an advantage because of the hours we were able to bank. The most enjoyable part of the job was that it was my first surveying job and once I broke through the learning curve it made work a lot more fun knowing exactly what I was doing. I felt accomplished.

Although the company boasts of retention bonuses and premiums for first aid certifications, and 3 years worth of work, you most likely never last longer than 2 weeks. And if you do, don't expect to see any extra money.

Yes, the pay is excellent, and the night shift premium is as good as the IBEW. The company does promote within, but they do not promote the best qualified. If fact, they purposely promote the least qualified - in my opinion - so as not to make management look bad.

Yes, the CLAC and Kiewit agreement has a nice clause to abide by the Alberta Employment Standards in lieu of lay-off notice. But it is followed by instructions on how to file a grievance if you do not get the money.

This is the only workplace that foremen put apprentices in charge of journeymen. These apprentices do not accept instruction and they will publicly demean you in front of the foremen who allow and uphold their behavior.

I highly recommend you read the CLAC and Kiewit collective agreement (it is posted online). Especially the section that states you can be disciplined,up to and including termination, without a shop steward present. In fact, the agreement also states that a shop steward must ask his foreman permission before acting as a steward. The Agreement goes on to say you are welcome to submit a grievance if you feel you were wrongly terminated.

If you get the chance to work for Kiewit, I highly suggest that you keep looking for work, as most people are laid off within 2 weeks of being hired.

As a FE your success is entirely dictated by which superintendent(s) you work with. This could be good/bad. I worked with some who were great, and some who were not so great. In fact, you can get terminated over basically anything if you get on a supers bad side (communication optional). Keep in mind many originate from trades so this is VERY easy. Technically the Lead FE/Project Engineer is your boss but you will work as super technical support. I heard in the office environment (Calgary) it's just as bad and people would get terminated frequently for trivial things.

Company is VERY political and VERY corporate. HR is questionably competent and doesn't do their due diligence (but where ISN'T that the case). Can be pretty cliquey as others have said. For some reason YOU will be the contact regarding payroll for your craft workers??? Onboarding is hit or miss. Onboarding is kind of a mess. Besides the very basics there is little explanation/guidance. You're handed a laptop, told to do a bunch of e-learnings (none of which are helpful), and that's it. You'll spent a LOT of time (post e-learning) asking your supervisor(s) about things only to be sent a link to something that would've been REALLY nice to know about an hour ago. Typically it will be something you couldn't have access without it being sent to you, so you never would've found it on your own. 

I grew to like the job and the pay was very good (but I was on a more chill job site), but depending who you're with/where you are it can be difficult to manage the corporate politics and potentially snake tier coworkers.

Over the years I've worked in all kinds of facets with Kiewit. Technical excavations environmental projects, disaster relief etc.. Through years of building solid relationships within the company, I found nothing to hold me back.  
  Hard place for young Engineers and craft to break in initially . Once established within the company, you'll never run out of work. 
 I've worked as an operator, doing many technically challenging projects.
I've worked as a Foreman/ General Foreman and  found that this level they're incredibly strong.  They group of men and women I worked with have always worked towards solving a problem as a group..  I have the utmost respect for my peers..  Solid core group.. 

I've worked as a lead with their design group/ engineering staff.. It is great to have Civil to be able to work directly with engineering.. This helps young Engineers grasp the very 3 dimensional world that civil construction deals with everyday. 

The one thing to be aware of, the cost is life away from family.. This is the nature of the beast  this industry.. With a culture like this it makes it bearable.

The Bull Arm Hebron Project is the first of its kind in the world in that the scope of the 700 Slip Form was never attempted before. This presented numerous challenges from a planning, logistical and engineering point of view. 

A typical work day began with a 6:30am meeting to plan work, a Stretch and Flex, and toolbox talk. Attendance would then be taken and the craft would begin the day at 7am. 

As the Field Tech, it was my job to monitor attendance, source material, monitor production and track costs for the department when I was on shift. We rotated between day shift and night shift every two weeks. 

A shift was always the same team members, from departmental staff to Exxon Mobil Management, which provided the opportunity to get to know the people you worked with on a personal as well as professional level. 

I learned that it can be quite simple to plan a task on paper or in a board room, but the realtime execution of the task is where the unforeseen problems can arise. However, through proper planning and monitoring, any task can be broken down into a series of smaller tasks, making it that much more manageable.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Field engineer 6 salaries reported	$85,167 per year
Pipefitter 10 salaries reported	$40.69 per hour
Engineer 7 salaries reported	$86,708 per year
Welder 5 salaries reported	$45.06 per hour
Ironworker 4 salaries reported	$41.94 per hour

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