We are interviewing for an engineering technician position that involves 75% or more fieldwork in all types of weather involving both residential and commercial sites.  The ideal candidate can expect a dynamic, fast paced, very independent and ever-changing work schedule predominantly in the field of geotechnical engineering.

Engineering technicians are responsible for driving to new residential/commercial projects usually within 1/2 hour to 1 hour of Asheville, but sometimes up to 2 hours away, where they will be responsible for performing a variety of field tests.  The purpose of these field tests is quality control of the construction materials for footings, slabs, walls, and roads per the plans and specifications.  In addition, the collection of cylinder/prism/cube samples are performed on site and transported to our lab for curing and testing for compressive strength.

• Testing and inspecting foundation soils of buildings, walls, and roads with a hand auger and dynamic cone penetrometer (DCP) to evaluate the soil/partially weathered rock/rock bearing capacity.
• Logging the soil/rock stratification and DCP results of the test pits, writing up detailed descriptions of the site, topography, geological features, measuring slope angles, sketching up cross-sections of the land within the general building area and obtaining photographs and reporting this information back to the project engineer.
• Testing for compaction of soil when fill is placed to raise site grades, inspecting retaining wall construction, testing fresh concrete, grout, mortar for slump, air content, temperature and make test cylinders, prisms, cubes from the fresh concrete, grout or mortar from concrete trucks sampled with a wheelbarrow.
• Overseeing excavators excavating geotechnical test pits and collecting and logging soil/rock samples at regular intervals.
• Performing dynamic cone penetrometer testing to determine strength and bearing capacity of the subsurface soils/partially weathered rock and rock.
• Overseeing drillers during geotechnical drilling and logging soil/rock samples.
• Performing soil classification tests in the laboratory such as natural moisture content, grain size analysis, percent fines (silt/clay content), Atterberg Limits (plasticity characteristics), Moisture-Density Relationship of soils and compressive strength testing of concrete, grout and mortar specimens.

• Carrying 50 pounds to and from your vehicle to a job site and up and down slopes.
• Pushing a wheelbarrow sample of concrete obtained from a concrete truck that will be used for testing concrete and molding test specimens that can weigh up to 150 pounds.

• A reliable vehicle that can store field equipment, and sometimes even a wheelbarrow.
• A reliable smartphone and signal for continuous communication with engineering staff and technicians.
• Appropriate clothing for all 4 seasons and work boots/hiking boots are required.