Education in the Underground

A look at education and workforce recruitment initiatives in the underground construction market

Labor shortages have been an ongoing issue in the United States, and the construction sector is certainly not immune. According to recent data published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were more than 7.6 million job openings in the United States through July, with nearly half a million (248,000) in the construction sector. 

In recent years, several organizations involved in heavy, civil and underground construction have undertaken initiatives to address this shortfall. Some of these professional associations include the Underground Construction Association of SME (UCA), the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI), and the North American Society for Trenchless Technology (NASTT), in addition to fraternal organizations like The Moles and The Beavers. Individual schools, including the Colorado School of Mines and Purdue University, have also increased their efforts to provide civil underground construction education to their curricula. 

Some indications are that these efforts are beginning to have an impact. BLS data show that gap has been narrowing overall, buoyed by a resurgent residential construction market, according to the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). 

Over the next several issues, TBM: Tunnel Business Magazine will examine the educational efforts underway in the underground construction arena. For this issue, we spoke to Paul Schmall, vice president of Keller and a long time participant with The Moles’ educational outreach initiatives. 

The Moles have long been active in the area of student recruitment and education. One of the hallmarks of the organization has been The Moles Students’ Day program orchestrated every year by the hard-working Moles Education Committee. Many industry members, including the very outspoken Gary Almeraris, cite The Moles Student Day program as influential in their entering into the construction market. 

“The Moles have been hosting Students’ Days for over 50 years,” said Schmall. “It started in the New York area and about five years ago we added Student Days in New England and, most recently, in Washington, D.C. 

“With Student Days, we are able to orchestrate a day where we get the students out and experience an actual living, breathing jobsite. When you are trying to pique someone’s interest, there is nothing better than getting them into the field.”

The most recent expansion of the Student Day program occurred in 2023 at the RiverRenew Tunnel project in Alexandra, Virginia, which was hosted by Traylor/Shea. The program expanded into New England beginning in 2020. “The program is now getting established and sustainable in those areas, and the schools are expecting it every year,” Schmall said. 

In addition to hosting Student Days, The Moles started a student scholarship program over 20 years ago. The Moles provide scholarships to academically qualified and deserving students in fields related to heavy civil and underground construction at the colleges and universities that faithfully participate in The Moles Students’ Days. 

Schmall said The Moles encourage their members to provide internship opportunities to these and other interested students. “There is nothing more effective in getting people to choose this field than an actual internship experience,” he said.

Part of the challenge in getting the programs up and running is developing relationships with the universities. “We’re still in the process of getting the schools in the Washington, DC area to understand that we want to have a long-term relationship with them that can be beneficial for everybody,” Schmall said. “We are willing to host a Students’ Day  every year and include them in the scholarships that are available. We need the relationships to be sustainable.”

“It has been a long process, but we think we’re getting to the right people, and we’re expanding relationships with the right schools – the schools that hold construction in high regard.”

One hurdle that underground construction companies still need to overcome is that the field of construction is sometimes not thought of as highly as other field within civil engineering, despite the many opportunities that exist. 

“Surprisingly, there is still an attitude at some colleges and universities that a career in construction is less worthy of pursuing,” Schmall said. “It’s almost viewed that construction is a field for someone who doesn’t excel academically – kind of like a consolation prize.

“But we have found that people who go into construction and do well in the field are students who are well rounded. They are not necessarily the ones with 4.0 grade point averages, but they have to be bright and ambitious. They are the problem solvers and the leaders. They have the skills that cannot be taught in the classroom. If they are invested, they can make a successful career in the field of the construction.” 

Of course, no one individual or organization can be successful on their own. Recognizing this, The Moles collaborate with The Beavers, their counterparts on the West Coast, as well as other industry associations.

“We have a tremendous collaboration with The Beavers,” Schmall said. “Both The Moles and The Beavers have a Charitable Trust, and we compare notes. We’re all working with the same end goal in mind. We have also recently started collaborating with DFI and ASCE on UCA’s “Down for That” educational initiative. The Moles and The Beavers have been major funders to that program, which is geared toward reaching out to college and even younger students, like high school and younger, to increase awareness of the opportunities that exist in construction.”

For information on The Moles and its educational initiatives, visit TheMoles.net.

This article was written by Jim Rush, Editor/Pushlisher of TBM: Tunnel Business Magazine.