North Perimeter Contractors, LLC (NPC), the Ferrovial Agroman U.S. subsidiary rebuilding the I-285/SR 400 in Atlanta, Georgia, exposed young minds to the world of civil engineering and heavy highway construction through community outreach events.
They participated in a job shadow day for DeKalb County high school students in December 2017. C.E.R.M. (Corporate Environmental Risk Management), NPC’s subcontractor, hosted the career event. Iñigo Azofra, NPC Segment Manager, escorted students through the Mount Vernon Highway bridge construction site. Students learned about the substructures and superstructures needed to build bridges and also about careers in construction.
This March, NPC gave back to DeKalb County students again, this time at Chamblee Charter High School (CCHS) in Chamblee, Georgia. CCHS hosted its 3rd Annual Career, Technical and Agricultural Education Day (CTAE Day) for students pursuing careers in Science, Technology, Engineering Arts and Mathematics better known as S.T.E.A.M. Students were interested to learn from the very engineers who are reconstructing the I-285 and State Route 400 interchange in their own backyard!
Students picked the brains of NPC’s associate project managers, safety coordinator, human resource coordinator and DBE office. NPC’s staff provided sound advice about the educational paths needed to work as a civil engineer in construction including other roles that support engineers in highway construction.
“I chose to pursue a career in civil engineering because of a career day I attended at my high school,” said Sionel Arocho-Meaux, NPC Associate Project Manager. “Therefore, giving back to the students at Chamblee Charter High School really meant a great deal to me.”
During the CTAE Day and job shadow day students learned about NPC’s parent companies Ferrovial and Ferrovial Agroman U.S. and the careers available to them inside and outside of Georgia and the United States of America.
NPC will continue to uphold its corporate social responsibility by partnering with Chamblee Charter High School and participating in job shadow days while they continue to build the I-285/SR 400 Interchange Improvement Project. Later this year, NPC will invite CCHS students to shadow its construction crews and visit the project work site. NPC also plans to continue participating in its subcontractor’s outreach initiatives.
About the I-285/SR 400 Reconstruction Project
The I-285/SR 400 Reconstruction Project in Atlanta, GA will improve 4.3 miles of I-285 from west of Roswell Road to east of Ashford Dunwoody Road and 6.2 miles along SR 400 from the Glenridge Connector to Spalding Drive. The improvements include eastbound and westbound collector-distributor lanes on I-285 and northbound and southbound collector-distributor lanes on SR 400. The new lanes will feed into the new interchange.
The $834 million project ($458 million provided by Ferrovial Agroman) also includes a diverging diamond interchange on Abernathy Road at SR 400 and widening Mount Vernon Highway bridge over SR 400. Pedestrian and bicycle improvements will also be made.