John Uhl

Relentless Ally

Building Relationships, Teams and Solutions

“You have to be willing to step up and take responsibility for the situation at any given moment, in any sector of our work, and try to make a difference in every way possible.”

John started his career as an intern with Balfour Beatty’s Houston office. After he received his degree in 2013, he was assigned to serve as senior project engineer on the South Bend Memorial Children’s Hospital expansion. In addition to his role as senior project engineer, John also led the project’s Building Information Modeling (BIM) coordination. He participated in a very involved BIM coordination process which provided all stakeholders with a continuous, real-time flow of information, enabling the team to make informed decisions regarding sequencing and quality control on the project. John and the team developed many precedent-setting techniques that have been implemented as a best practice on current Balfour Beatty projects.

John now works in Austin as an assistant superintendent on The Independent - a multifamily project that soars 670 above the downtown area, making it the tallest building in Austin. As steward of Balfour Beatty’s Zero Harm program on the project, John’s number one priority is safety. He prides himself on taking ownership of safety for the entire project family. If he sees something on the project that looks unsafe, he starts a dialogue about it without delay. “What I feel to be unsafe isn’t always against the rules, but from my training with some remarkable superintendents, I’ve learned that safety is not just about the rules. Safety is about using your instincts to see potential risks and then figuring out how to eliminate or mitigate the risk for everyone’s benefit. We want to ensure everyone goes home to their friends and family, every day,” shared John.

His favorite part of being a member of a construction team on a large project like The Independent or the South Bend Memorial Children’s Hospital expansion is applying what he has learned and on a much larger scale. “Providing solutions-oriented results to help a client or a team reach their business goals is a remarkable feeling and extremely gratifying.” He takes great pride in noting the Balfour Beatty projects across Austin and being able to say, “I helped build that!”

As part of Balfour Beatty’s unique brand of construction, we strive to be active participants in the needs of those communities in which we work and play. John was instrumental in initiating a fundraising campaign featuring a rubber duck race in downtown South Bend along the St. Joseph River to benefit South Bend Memorial Children’s Hospital. When he returned to Texas, he was involved in coordinating Balfour Beatty's participation in the Austin Duck Derby, which supports the Boys and Girls Clubs of Austin.

When asked about being a Relentless Ally John answered humbly, “You have to be willing to step up and take responsibility for the situation at any given moment, in any sector of our work, and try to make a difference in every way possible.”