Rhode Island high school and middle school students will have a unique opportunity to operate a backhoe, an excavator, or a striping machine at the RhodeWorks Construction Career Days on April 26 and 27 at the Rhode Island Department of Transportation's (RIDOT) Midstate Maintenance Facility, 2400 New London Turnpike, East Greenwich. The event runs from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. both days. More than 1,200 students have registered. RIDOT hopes the introduction to construction careers will help seed the workforce for the multiple projects that RhodeWorks will generate - along with 6,000 jobs.
Originally designed to introduce high school students to the construction transportation industry, the two-day event now includes middle school students. In addition to heavy equipment, attendees can visit booths and tables that showcase plumbing and heating, painting, drywall, finishing and glazing, manufacturing and welding. Representatives from colleges and universities, as well as municipalities and the construction and engineering sector, will also be there to familiarize the students with construction transportation trades.
RhodeWorks Construction Career Days is sponsored by RIDOT, the University of Rhode Island Transportation Center (URITC), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Construction Industries of Rhode Island (CIRI), Beacon Mutual Insurance Company, and the New England Laborers Training Fund.
In addition, the event will feature a bridge building competition sponsored by RIDOT, URITC and Rhode Island Consulting Engineers (RICE). For several weeks prior to the event, teams from local schools have been working in teams to design and build a bridge out of balsa wood. At the event, the bridges will be tested for strength and judged by members of RICE.
DIRECTIONS: Take I-95 North or South to Exit 7 (West Warwick, Coventry). Follow signs