Skilled Laborer

Utility and Mechanical Crew Support

You support MEB's utility and mechanical crews on the work that has to be right before the pipe goes in: potholing, trench prep and trench box setup, bedding, backfill, and testing. This is the rung between Laborer and the trades, and it is where you build the skill that makes you a pipelayer or a fitter.

Your own safety and the crew's. Keep your training current, follow trench safety requirements including box use, ladder access, and excavation limits, and stop work and tell supervision the moment something is unsafe.

Pipe support. Assist pipelayers with placement, alignment, and joint preparation across storm, sanitary, water, and ductbank, and learn the differences between the materials as you go.

Locating and excavation. Pothole and hand-excavate to find existing utilities, and support trench preparation and trench box setup.

Bedding and backfill. Place and grade stone bedding to contract requirements, and support backfill, compaction, and dewatering operations including sump pumps and well points.

Layout and grade checks. Read stakes and markings, and use a tape measure and builder's level under direction.

System components. Assist with valves, fire hydrants, cleanouts, valve boxes, and manholes, and support testing, flushing, and chlorination.

Tools and materials. Use hand and power tools within your training and authorization, keep them clean and stored, and stage and protect pipe, fittings, and materials ahead of the crew.

Your own progression. Learn the installation methods, the terminology, and the sequencing. The next rung is Pipelayer, and how fast you get there is largely up to you.

1+ years of construction field experience. If you have been a laborer and you are ready for utility or mechanical work, this is the step

Willingness to work in and around open trenches and excavation equipment every day

Ability to read stakes and markings and use a tape measure and builder's level. We will teach you the rest

Safe use of hand and power tools, and the sense to stop when a task is outside what you have been trained on

Reliability. Show up on time ready to work, and tell your Foreman in advance if you cannot

The habit of staging tools and materials before the crew needs them rather than after

OSHA 10 preferred. We provide and maintain the required safety training: trenching and excavation, confined space, rigging, overhead powerline, fall protection, silica, and the rest

Respirator medical clearance required. Where the work calls for a tight-fitting respirator, OSHA requires a clean-shaven seal area. If you need a religious or medical accommodation, tell us and we will work through the options with you

High school diploma or GED preferred. Valid driver's license

Strenuous manual labor; carry, lift, and move up to 50 lbs without assistance

Work in trenches and confined spaces on uneven, muddy ground, outdoors in all weather

Climb, stoop, balance, and perform shovel and pick work, including repetitive lifting

Required PPE at all times

The anticipated starting hourly rate for this position is $20 to $28.75 an hour. This is the range we expect to pay someone starting in this position. Where an offer lands within it depends on the experience you bring, the certifications and technical skills that apply to this work, the scope you have carried before, and what we pay people already doing equivalent work here. The range covers base pay. It is a starting range, not a ceiling. People move up through it and past it as they grow with us.

Employee ownership. MEB is employee owned. Through our ESOP, the people who build the work own the business behind it.

Benefits. MEB pays the medical and dental premiums for our employees. We also offer vision, disability, and life insurance, FSA and HSA options, a matching 401(k), tuition reimbursement, a health and wellness program, and paid time off.

Room to grow. Every craft ladder here is defined, from helper through foreman to craft superintendent, and it keeps going into field operations leadership. You will know what the next rung takes and we will tell you where you stand against it.

Core values. Clients First, Safety Matters, and Family by Choice. You will see them on the jobsite, not just in the handbook.

Who we are. Founded in 1982, MEB is a Virginia-based construction firm with more than 475 employees, headquartered in Chesapeake with a regional office in Richmond. We build resilient environments: projects that improve the communities we work in, locally and nationwide.

What we build. Heavy civil is the core of what we do: our own crews and equipment self-perform water and wastewater treatment plants, pump stations, pipelines, utility systems, and industrial facilities, scope most general contractors subcontract out. We also build schools, public libraries, recreation and sports centers, and civic facilities across Virginia, and we are a national leader in aviation fueling systems and storage on government and military installations nationwide.