SUKUT CONSTRUCTION

COMPLETES RANCHO MISSION VIEJO PA 3.1 AND COW CAMP ROAD PHASE 2 ROUGH GRADING PROJECT

By Brian Hoover, Senior Editor

It is no secret that California is in desperate need of more housing, and the rush is on to meet this overwhelming demand. A recent study by the McKinsey Global Institute estimated that California would need 3.5 million more homes by 2025, the required equivalent of all other 49 states combined. This is good news for the future of home builders and developers throughout California, as well as heavy civil general engineering contractors like Sukut Construction (Sukut). Sukut was founded in 1968 as a grading company in a rapidly expanding residential market. The company quickly expanded into the public works arena and eventually entered the environmental, energy, and joint venture markets. In 2021, housing continues to be a significant growth area for Sukut as they take on upwards of $100 million in private work each year.

In October of last year, Sukut completed their rough grading contract for the RMV PA 3.1 and Cow Camp Road project. RMV Realty contracted with Sukut to perform mass excavation of over 3,000,000 cubic yards of earth. Sukut also completed nearly 3,000,000 cubic yards of remedial grading for Rienda, the community’s newest village, The Ranch of Rancho Mission Viejo. At its completion, The Ranch will include 14,000 homes, sites for parks and schools, miles of multi-use trails, recreational clubhouses, community farms, civic uses, childcare centers, places of worship, and up to 5,000,000 square feet for non-residential uses, including shopping, dining, and employment centers.

Above & Below: Sukut Construction utilized as many as 30 scrapers on any given day during the mass grading of 6,362,000 cubic yards of dirt on the Rancho Mission Viejo PA 3.1 Cow Camp Phase 2 Rough Grading Project.

Bryan Nesthus has been with Sukut for ten years and served as the project manager in charge of overseeing the Rancho Mission Viejo PA 3.1 and Cow Camp Road Phase 2 Rough Grading project (Rancho Mission Viejo project). “We worked directly for the property owner on this contract that started January 1, 2020,” says Nesthus. “Our work was complete by the middle of October 2020, and by job’s end, we exceeded the original estimates by moving a total of 6,362,000 cubic yards of earth.”

Cat D9 dozer grading a hillside on the Rancho Mission Viejo PA 3.1 Cow Camp Phase 2 Rough Grading Project.

Sukut’s work on the Rancho Mission Viejo project was spread across a 300-acre site formerly leased by a large plant nursery operation. “A significant portion of the site was covered in greenhouse structures,” says Nesthus. “The initial part of our job was to clear around 65 acres of these existing greenhouses along with 300 acres of vegetation and trees.” Rough grading began while the clearing continued, and at peak production, Sukut was running around 30 scrapers daily. “Most of the material was made up of cobble and sand, except for the hillsides where the soil was softer and more manageable,” continues Nesthus. “Along with the Cat 657 scrapers, we also utilized four Cat D9 dozers, three Cat 824K wheel dozers, a Cat 14M motor grader, and a Cat D10 dozer for ripping during the most active stages of the project.”

Nesthus points out that in early summer 2020, Sukut took delivery of six new Cat 657 Tier 4 Final scrapers from Quinn Company. “Sukut is the first in the world to take delivery of these new Cat Tier 4 final fully CARB-compliant 657 scrapers, and I was excited to find out that my job would be the first to use these incredible machines,” says Nesthus. Sukut is continuously upgrading their fleet in accordance with current emission standards. The Company has around 270 pieces of heavy machinery in its fleet, with scrapers accounting for 100 of that unit count.

Above and Below: Sukut Construction excavating and installing a 96-inch RCP storm drain for the Cow Camp Road Phase 2B Roadway and SMWD Improvements project.

Along with all of the mass excavation duties, Sukut also performed the removal of wet material where they utilized their Cat 349 excavators in tandem with Cat 740 articulated trucks. The Company also did the fine and finish grading for the single and multi-family structures scheduled to be built. Around 75 acres were turned over to the developers, graded and ready for building. Sukut finished the job with the final erosion control work.

According to Nesthus, the Rancho Mission Viejo project was not without its challenges. “We had to work around the existing utilities for a significant portion of the project. This included SDGE (San Diego Gas & Electric) overhead power lines and an existing SMWD (Santa Margarita Water District) 66-inch water main,” says Nesthus. “However, one of the biggest struggles we overcame was dealing with the cobbly material because it would break and become very sharp, resulting in significant tire damage. We had to strategically bury this material in deeper fills to keep it below future building foundations and utilities. We continued to mitigate the damage by adding support equipment to keep the sharp rock fragments off of the haul roads.”

Sukut took delivery of six new Cat 657 Tier 4 Final scrapers during the construction of Rancho Mission Viejo PA 3.1 Cow Camp Phase 2 Rough Grading Project.

In addition to the rough and fine grading scope associated with the housing phases, Sukut completed the rough grading work for an additional mile of the future Cow Camp Road Phase 2B. According to Nesthus, this part of the job included working next to additional contracts in progress, including the contractors working on the completion of the Cow Camp Road bridge. Sukut was later awarded the Cow Camp Phase 2B Roadway and SMWD Improvements project. “Along with grading the additional mile of Cow Camp Road, we were also contracted to construct all the infrastructure within Cow Camp Road, including approximately three miles or more than 15,000 linear feet of 24-inch CML&C waterline, sewer, storm drain, dry utilities, traffic signals, and asphalt paving,” continues Nesthus.

Above: An overview of the Rancho Mission Viejo PA 3.1 Cow Camp Phase 2 Rough Grading Project to include the new Cow Camp Road Bridge and new asphalt roadway.

The residential development market is expected to increase significantly this year. After a slow down due to the pandemic, many developers are eager to kick off projects in 2021 that were supposed to begin last year. With the continued demand for housing, many large housing projects are expected to come out to bid and begin construction by mid-2021.

Approaching the next decade, Sukut continues to do what it does best, “build from the ground down” with unparalleled earthmoving and civil engineering expertise in over ten areas: Alternative Energy, Emergency Response, Flood control, Water Control, Excavation, Land Remediation, Landfill Maintenance, Recreation Development, Resorts Development, Shoring Techniques, Transportation, Underground Utilities, Large Water Systems, Water Infrastructure. For more information on Sukut, visit their website sukut.com or call the Company’s corporate office at (888) 785-8801. Cc

Brian Hoover is co-owner of Construction Marketing Services, LLC, and Senior Editor of CalContractor Magazine.