Heroes of the highways honoured
08 Dec 2025Members of our M6 and A19 teams were recognised for their acts of bravery and selflessness at the recent Highways Heroes Awards
10th Dec 2020
Engineer Paula McMahon wins Apprentice Champion recognition
Congratulations to Structures Engineer, Paula McMahon, who was recently crowned Regional Apprentice Champion for the North East and Highly Commended Apprentice Champion at the National Apprenticeship Awards.
Paula started her career as an apprentice at Cleveland County Council, in the North East.
That role gave her the opportunity to explore a large selection of works and visit many departments, including construction, within the council. She then went on to get a 1st Class degree in Civil Engineering from Teesside University.
She joined Sir Robert McAlpine nearly six years ago and is currently working on the maintenance of the strategic road network as part of the A19 DBFO (design, build, finance and operate) scheme.
Paula is passionate about inspiring young people into engineering and construction careers.
She undertakes many activities to promote her profession, such as helping with the North East Apprentice Ambassador Network and regularly giving talks to schools.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, she has been involved in remote discussions with young students to explain career routes, share her own experience as an apprentice, and mentor them. These sessions explore the diverse options that exist within engineering and construction, and how different people can find their own roles within the sector.
Watch Paula talk about her wins for the National Apprenticeship Service.
Since I’ve enjoyed such a varied and interesting career in engineering, I like to shout about it and I like to allow young people to think about it as a career because it may well suit them.
Paula McMahon Structures Engineer, Sir Robert McAlpine
That role gave her the opportunity to explore a large selection of works and visit many departments, including construction, within the council. She then went on to get a 1st Class degree in Civil Engineering from Teesside University.
She joined Sir Robert McAlpine nearly six years ago and is currently working on the maintenance of the strategic road network as part of the A19 DBFO (design, build, finance and operate) scheme.
Paula is passionate about inspiring young people into engineering and construction careers.
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