College graduates seeking engineering careers should consider the Maine Department of Transportation, which is now recruiting assistant engineers to work in nearly every corner of the state, from Scarborough to Presque Isle.

A career at MaineDOT provides stability, and the department also offers a wide-ranging scope of work and the opportunity to get hands-on experience quickly.

The agency spends more than $600 million annually to build and maintain roads, bridges, port facilities, ferries and even rail lines. MaineDOT employees develop and implement new technologies, respond to emergency situations, and work on national issues with colleagues from other states and the federal government.

MaineDOT projects have lasting, state-wide significance. Its 2018-2020 Work Plan lays out a $2.3 billion-plus roadmap to maintain and improve Maine’s transportation system over the next three years.

The Work Plan is published at the beginning of each calendar year and spells out all the projects and activities that the department plans to undertake or build, based on a broad-based prioritization from MaineDOT staff across many disciplines.

MaineDOT employees play a vital role in enhancing Maine residents’ quality of life. In 2018, safety is an increased area of emphasis in Maine and nationally. Performance on the transportation system across America has been trending in the wrong direction, with crashes, fatalities and injuries increasing in parallel with the growth in vehicle miles travelled.

Though safety is deeply embedded in MaineDOT’s mission and culture, highway deaths have been inching up after a decade of decline. In addition, motorcycle fatalities have increased markedly, and Maine’s number of pedestrian fatalities has basically doubled in just four years.

Every project MaineDOT builds and every activity undertaken has safety at the heart of the work, so this year’s Work Plan provides additional tools to attack these troubling trends:

1.Continued addition of rumble strips to prevent lane departures – the deadliest crash type.

2. Targeted outreach to communities that have experienced clusters of pedestrian crashes to identify problem areas and develop strategies to tackle them.

3. Funding to address pedestrian infrastructure needs identified through the targeted community outreach.

4. Upgrades to guardrail systems across the state.

5. Pavement markings, signage and technical measures to reduce wrong-way driving on interstate ramps.

6. Funding to design and construct improvements on I-295 north of Portland where the crash incidence is high.

Students and others who are interested in working on projects that can make a difference, like the safety projects planned for 2018, can find meaningful work at MaineDOT. In addition, MaineDOT provides job stability, a family-friendly culture, and a strong benefits package.

Salaries for assistant engineers range between $40,643 and $48,089, depending on experience.  Employees are eligible for a pension, dental insurance, and health insurance. The state pays between 85 percent to 100 percent the cost of the health insurance premium, depending on the employee’s pay.

For more information, please see mainedot.gov.

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