LB3 ENTERPRISES, INC. Continues to Build on Their Reputation for Mass and Finish Grade Excavation Excellence Throughout Southern California

By Brian Hoover, Editor

LB3 Enterprises, Inc. (LB3) was initially formed in Arizona when company president and construction veteran, Larry Brown, began helping developers mass grade, expand and develop Lake Havasu and the surrounding areas. From there, the projects continued to grow in scope and size as the LB3 team quickly grew in both volume and reputation. Development in Southern California began to boom in the 2000s, and this caught the attention of both Larry Brown and LB3 vice president, Tim Cramer, who oversees all company operations. In 2004, a decision was made to expand LB3’s operations into Southern California to take advantage of the expanding construction market. “We have been fortunate to have experienced such tremendous growth since our inception into the Southern California marketplace, “says Cramer. “We are proud to have been involved with and played an integral role in the construction of many amazing Southern California communities.”

Above: LB3’s D9T sloping the back cut to the remedial bottom.

CAT 657 scrapers making quick work with the mass grading in Yucaipa.

LB3’s expertise lies in mass and finish grade excavation services in various markets, from public works and private residential to the material and landfill industry. LB3 can handle most any earthmoving project, from 100,000 yards to 10 million yards throughout Southern California. “I would say that approximately 70 percent of our work is in private residential subdivision construction,” says Cramer. “Mass and finish grading projects will continue to be our focus through 2021 as the housing market continues to grow. The combination of cheap money or low-interest rates and lack of housing inventory will continue to drive this market into the foreseeable future.”

CAT D6K hard at work finishing pads and streets.

CAT 631 Water pull providing plenty of moisture to the fill.

LB3’s largest contract to date is the Otay Ranch Village 2 project that began in 2015 and ran through 2016. This was a massive 400-acre earthmoving job where LB3 moved more than 5-million cubic yards of dirt. The company has recently started mass grading operations in cities like Yucaipa, San Bernardino, Lake Elsinore and Corona. “We are in Yucaipa right now running ten Cat 657 scrapers on a 60acre, 150-lot subdivision project,” says Cramer. “The Mass grading should take around 4-5 weeks with the site finish work wrapping up within a couple of months. We will move more than a million yards of dirt by jobs end.” LB3 has a lot more than scrapers on the Yucaipa project. They are also running motor graders, water trucks, Cat D6 size dozers for the finish work, and even an ag-tractor pulling a box scraper,” continues Cramer. “We also have some larger dozers working with the scraper spread with around 18 total machines working on site each day.”

Hitachi 1200 doing what it does best.

CAT 16M making way for scrapers to exit the cut.

A 120-lot subdivision in Lake Elsinore is the site of another million cubic yard mass grading job for LB3 Enterprises (LB3). “We just started this job and currently have 8 machines onsite. By the end of the week, there will 2 be more than a dozen machines working, with the scrapers coming in a few weeks,” says Cramer. “The challenge of this project is that the construction activity is located directly behind an existing subdivision. The situation is further complicated because there might be some potential for drilling and blasting hard rock materials. We will be doing some potholing to identify those areas, and our team stands ready to handle anything they may encounter.”

CAT D9T ripping for scrapers to make their next pass.

Above: Left to Right - Ray Parga (LB3 Grading Foreman), Johnny Peterson, and Dan Baxter (LB3 General Superintendent) practicing their social distancing.

LB3 has worked on multiple phases of grading and excavating at the Sycamore Landfill. They have moved millions of yards of material over the past four years to create airspace for the landfill operation. They are currently completing their work on the Sycamore Landfill Cell Number 5 project, where they are almost finished with the cell construction, gravel work, sump, and tie-ins involved in this four-month job. MSHA guidelines have continuously been met to the highest standards throughout each of the projects LB3 has completed for Republic Services. LB3 is also starting on a contract mining job for Hanson Aggregates in Corona, where they are performing a six-month overburden project.

D6N GPS finish cat working away.

CAT 140 Motor grader making its final passes on finished pads.

LB3 maintains a large fleet of heavy machinery that is the backbone to completing all of their grading and excavating projects safely and productively. They have all sizes of dozers, motor graders, excavators, wheel loaders and water trucks. “Our fleet is diversified and includes machines from manufacturers like John Deere, Hitachi, Caterpillar and Volvo,” says Cramer. “Our equipment is only as good as our operators, and we have the best in the business working here at LB3 Enterprises. It is our combined team effort that separates us from the other earthmoving companies here in Southern California.” For more information on LB3 Enterprises, Inc., please visit www.lb3enterprises.com or call their Lakeside headquarters at (619) 579-6161. Cc

LB3 AG tractor pulling a bee gee. Scraper hands love to see this guy nearby!