At just 22, Joseph Eggburn, of Sheridan, has already worked on important construction projects familiar to residents of central Arkansas – the Outlets of Little Rock off I-30 and the recently completed on-ramp from Cantrell Road to I-430 in west Little Rock. 

Eggburn will graduate Saturday, Dec. 16, with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Fall Class of 2017 in Jack Stephens Center, earning a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management as well as a new job.

In January, Eggburn heads to Memphis, Tennessee, to work as a field engineer with Kiewit Infrastructure South Co., after having interned with the company over the summer in Nashville, Tennessee.

Eggburn continued to work with Kiewit this fall on the Cantrell Road on-ramp project, which opened in late November. The new on-ramp allows motorists on Cantrell Road, also called Arkansas 10, to go north on I-430 without having to make a left turn through traffic.

“I came in when they were about 60 percent through on the project,” he said. “We had to cut out the side of a hill at the intersection of I-430 and Cantrell Road. The biggest part of the job was two large retaining walls ranging anywhere from 15 to 40 feet tall.”

Before working at Kiewit, Eggburn had earned plenty of construction management experience through the 2 ½ years he spent interning at CDI Contractors in Little Rock after meeting company representatives at the College of Engineering and Information Technology Career Fair.

Through CDI, he gained valuable work experience as a closeout specialist and estimator. He also worked as a project administrator on the Outlets of Little Rock and Malvern National Bank off south I-30.

In 2014, Eggburn came to UA Little Rock on the advice of a friend.

“I heard some very good things about the Construction Management program, and I had a family friend who came to the program,” he said. “Unfortunately, he had an accident and passed away in college. But all he could talk about was the college and how great the program was.”

On campus, Eggburn has been an active member of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity and served as president of the Associated General Contractors (AGC) student chapter. In November, Eggburn received the inaugural AGC Student Chapter Member of the Year award and won a trip to the AGC of America Construction Leadership Conference in Los Angeles.

He has participated in the university’s Heavy Civil Competition Team, where teams of six are given a construction project and 16 hours to complete a bid and schedule the project. The team went to Dallas and presented to the competition judges. UA Little Rock Heavy Civil Competition team placed second in 2016 and third in 2017.

Looking back on his UA Little Rock career, Eggburn advised fellow students that getting involved in student organizations, competition, and networking will put them on the path to success.

“I would tell them to get involved in student organizations and any programs that become available that have networking opportunities,” he said. “The more people you know and hands you shake, the better chance you have of getting an internship and landing a full-time job before you are out of college. I would also advise to become a part of a competition team because it is as close to a real-life situation as you will come in college.”