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2011 Grading & Excavating issue CALCONTRACTOR
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John Deere, Coastline Equipment and Mark Switzer Excavating
(Left) Mark Switzer Excavating utilizing their new John Deere 672G Motor Grader at a jobsite in San Luis Obispo, California. (Above) Mark Switzer, Owner of Mark Switzer Excavating.
Since 1982 Mark Switzer Excavating has been providing California with quality grading, excavating, utility and mining work. Headquartered in Paso Robles, California, the company also has a separate trucking division. Mark Switzer Excavating recently took delivery of a brand new John Deere 672G Motor Grader purchased from Coastline Equipment. Mark Switzer, Owner, Mark Switzer Excavating comments, “In order to meet Tier III compliance we found ourselves in the market for a new motor grader. We did our research and we decided on the John Deere 672G. Some of the features that sold us on the 672G include the all wheel drive and this is the first motor grader we’ve owned that offers this feature. We also liked the fact that this motor grader had the option of lever controls and steering wheel. The cab visibility and over-all stability also played an important role in our final decision.” Mark adds, “Coastline has been exceptional to work with. We’ve always received outstanding service and great parts availability. A few of the Santa Maria branch team members that have made our experience so enjoyable include: Buck Baird, Branch Manager, Steve Lougee their sales representative, Dallas Allen their lead field mechanic and Jaime Perez the Service Manager. Coastline Equipment worked hard to make this a seamless transaction and I am pleased to say that they succeeded in that goal. We appreciate our relationship with them and plan to keep working together in the future.” Long Beach (562) 272-7400 (714) 973-9220
www.coastlineequipment.com
Santa Ana (714) 265-5500 Santa Maria (805) 922-8329
Sylmar (818) 890-3353 Bakersfield (661) 399-3600
Oxnard (805) 485-2106 Lancaster (661) 948-9993
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Grading & Excavating Issue
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Features 06 Papich Construction Begins the Whitley Gardens Phase of Highway 46 Widening Project
12 Tim Greenleaf Engineering
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From Mass Excavation & Hillside Repairs to Hard & Soft Demolition, Tim Greenleaf Engineering is Among the Best in Southern California
18 Sierra Pacific West, Inc. So Much More Than A Grading & Excavating Contractor
22 Byrom-Davey & Heavy Donate Equipment & Resources to Update Kearny Moto Park
26 National Demolition Contractors
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Emergency Services Called Upon During 60-Freeway Overpass Fire in Montebello
29 Industry News 30 Index
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Equipment Rentals
CalContractor Magazine / www.calcontractor.com PUBLISHER:
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Brian Hoover Northern California: Call Dutch Meads (209) 679-1278 CalContractor is published twelve times each year by Construction Marketing Services, LLC. PO Box 892977, Temecula, CA 92589 / Phone: 909-772-3121 / Fax: 951-225-9659 All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
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Begins the Whitley Gardens Phase of Highway 46 Widening Project Written By: Brian Hoover Photos: Courtesy of Papich Construction.
(Above) Overview of the Estrella River Bridge (West Bound) in September of 2011.
n September 30, 1955, acting icon James Dean was getting in some last minute road time with his brand new Porsche Spyder 550 on his way to an amateur road race in Salinas. Racing down the grapevine at 65 mph, Dean was pulled over by a CHP officer and ticketed for exceeding the lawful speed by 20 mph. The actor then continued westbound on Route 46 with a factory Porche mechanic, Rolf Weutherich in the passenger seat. At approximately 5:45 pm, Dean found himself passing through the “Y” intersection at Highway 46 and Highway 41, approximately 1-mile
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from Cholame, California. It was at this spot that Donald Turnipseed, who was driving a 1950 Ford coupe, turned left in front of Dean and ended the young movie star’s life. Dean’s passenger, as well as the driver of the Ford coupe, survived the accident. State Route 46 begins at SR 1 southeast of Cambria, approximately 1-mile from the Pacific Ocean and runs into Kern County and up into the Sierra Nevada foothills. A twolane stretch from Paso Robles to Cholame was once known as “Blood Alley”, for the unusual amount of head-on collisions involving commuters, truckers and tourists. The California Department of
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Transportation (Caltrans) has taken many steps to make this section of highway safer, including mandating the use of daytime headlights by motorists, as well as installing thermoplastic striping and rumble strips. As a final step, Caltrans began widening the road to a four-lane divided expressway in April of 2008 with plans of finishing Phase 2 by January 2014. Papich Construction began the first phase of the Highway 46 project back in April of 2008 and finished that phase in June of 2011. This section ran from Airport Road to Geneseo Road and at approximately 5 miles long, it included 78 drainage systems up to 1650 mm in diameter www.calcontractor.com
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(Above) Construction of Bents #2 and #3, for both Eastbound and Westbound bridges. Scrapers placing Georeinforced fill at Abutment #1 (West approach). (Below)
(RCB, APC and jack-and-bore), 2 large structural concrete box culvert undercrossings, 7 retaining walls, 1 crib wall and 350,000 cubic yards of mass excavation and fill. Phase 1 came in at approximately $30,000,000 and by jobs end the roadway consisted of 155,000 tons of class 4 subbase, 92,000 tons of class 2 baserock and 150,000 tons of asphalt placed in accordance with the Caltrans QA/QC program. 8
Phase 2 of this project is known as the Whitley Gardens Phase and just like the first phase, the ultimate goal is to make the existing 2-lane highway into a divided 4-lane highway, from Paso Robles all the way to Interstate 5. The Phase 2 section runs from Geneseo Road to River Grove and is also approximately 5-miles long. Derek Todd is the Project Manager for Papich Construction, “We were
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initially given the task of clearing a new footprint and essentially building an equally large highway right next to the existing 2-lane highway. This required an extensive amount of clearing and rough grading, along with some huge engineered fill earthwork to do at both ends of the new bridge site. The job actually required the installation of 2-new bridges with 2-through lanes (one bridge has a 3rd acceleration lane) in each direction. This called for the construction of abutments, which were designed to be 80 to 100 feet above the original ground level. This critical area needed to be finished as soon as possible, so that the bridge construction could be turned over to our sub-contractor, MCM Construction. Both bridge spans are scheduled for completion by April of 2012, which will allow for traffic to begin to flow on one side and officially complete the Phase 1 stage of the project and allow for work to then begin on the north side of the highway. The north side of the project will involve the removal of existing asphalt and base material, which will be recycled as www.calcontractor.com
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(Above) Papich scraper operators and mechanics (top left to right): Alfanso Herrera, Ryan Jorgenson, Jerry Thompson, Michael Shackelford, Danny Willett, Jeff Wylie, Mark Quaresma, Blake Tackitt, Eric Johnson. (Center row left to right) Jose Meraz, Joel Hudson, Tony Theriault, Larry Allison,Able Mason, Mike Cook, Dave Victorino. (bottom row left to right) James Aguilar, Abdon "Chucky" Arellano, Brad Walker, Matt Johnson and Danny Sumner.
RAP in our own asphalt plant. The existing north side of the roadway will be resurfaced and redirected in some areas.” According to Derek Todd, the overall job was designed well and should balance perfectly as far as the earthwork goes. In all, it will be necessary to move approximately 1.9 million cubic yards of earth on Phase 2. This presented the perfect
opportunity for Papich to utilize a scraper spread of up to 13 machines, including 4 Caterpillar 657’s, in addition to their big Cat D10 and their brand new Cat 140 M motor grader and new John Deere 672GP motor grader. Derek Todd of Papich Construction comments, “Our equipment fleet is predominantly Caterpillar, along with some specialty John Deere machines. We rely on
companies like Quinn Company and Coastline Equipment to keep us up and running, especially on jobs like this one. We also recently purchased a brand new Cat PM201 asphalt grinder from Quinn Company for use on the existing highway portion of Route 46. In addition, we acquired a 180 ton-per-hour CEI Rap King asphalt plant back in 2009 to support our rapidly growing paving operation.
Aerial view of the Papich asphalt plant facility. (Below)
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(Above) (Left) D5 trackwalking Abutment #1 Finish slope. (Center) 657 and 651scraper haul to abutment #1 geofill. (Right) Finish lift paving of Detour #1.
Today approximately $30 million of our $50 million in annual work is asphalt related and with all of the Caltrans state highway projects we have been awarded and are continuing to pursue, we realized we needed our own production facility.” Like Phase 1, Phase 2 of this project will require massive amounts of material, including around 143,000 cubic yards of class 1 aggregate subbase and 41,000 cubic yards of lean concrete base (LCB). Phase 2 will also require approximately 108,000 tons of standard dense hot mix asphalt, which will be capped with 24,000 tons of rubberized asphalt mix. The rubberized asphalt serves to quiet the ride, but it is also gap graded, which allows for the water to percolate through to the dense mix underneath it, keeping the water away from the tires and continuing to drain from that point on. Presently, Papich has only paved a detour section of approximately 3,000 tons of asphalt leading up to one of the bridges. Before finishing Phase 2 in January of 2014, Papich will also install 53 drainage structures, from 8” plastic pipe all the way up to 138” steel plate pipe. In addition there will also be approximately 10,000 cubic yards of riprap to be used primarily as rock slope protection in the Estrella River. A 12x12 concrete box culvert will be installed underneath the highway for use as a wildlife crossing. Deer guards, similar to cattle grates and deer fencing will also be put in place to keep the deer off of the highway and directed to the culvert underpass. According to Todd, “There are several environmentally 10
sensitive areas on this project. The largest is obviously the Estrella River and the state has designed in several filtration swales and large sediment basins to receive and filter any construction runoff. Perhaps the most challenging part of this project has been the all weather crossing of the Estrella River and working with the Water Board to come up with a solution that will allow heavy equipment access to both sides of the river, without harming the river’s eco system. This required several months of design and refinement before approval was achieved. We are allowed to cross on the sand bed during the non-rainy season, however a bridge or crossing would be necessary when the water is present. We first thought we could use a Texas style crossing where the water flows over the top, but this did not pass board approval, so we came up with another idea. We took some of our large riprap and built ramp abutments on each side of the river and then placed a 20-foot trellis made up of crane mats to span the gap. We essentially constructed a small-scale bridge down on the river bottom for the cranes and heavy equipment to work on during the placement of over 4 million pounds of reinforced steel rebar and 9,500 cubic yards of concrete during bridge construction. When completed this bridge will span 800 feet in length and around 100 feet in height, making it officially the largest in all of Caltrans District 5.” Stage 3 of the Route 46 widening project should begin in the spring of 2012. Along with minimizing fatal accidents, the goal is to improve
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overall safety and reduce existing and future peak-hour congestion on Route 46 between Paso Robles and Cholame, a critical east-west corridor connecting the Central Coast and Central Valley areas of California. Papich project manager, Derek Todd concludes, “There are so many individuals to thank and recognize that have made this job go as smoothly as it has so far. The list is too long to mention, but I would like to recognize, Robert Dye our general superintendent and Travis Mankins our lead foreman. Both of these gentlemen have been instrumental in not only orchestrating our own crews, but also the numerous subcontractors we have out on the site every day. It almost goes without saying, but our owner Jason Papich has, as always, been the leading force behind everything that goes on out here. “ Papich Construction, Inc. is a Professional General Engineering Contractor specializing in Civil Construction and was established in 1997 by Jason Papich, to continue his father Bill Papich's legacy of providing quality construction services to all of California. From earthwork services including: excavation, building pad grading, road building, trenching, underground utilities and demolition, the Papich team of constructors can provide an extensive array of construction services. For more information on Papich Construction or the Route 46 widening project, please call (805) 473-3016 or visit www.papichconstruction.com. Cc
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Written By: Brian Hoover / Photos: Courtesy of Tim Greenleaf Engineering
There is a certain amount of envy us older guys get when we run across a young guy who started from nothing and has worked his way up to a multi-million dollar company, all before the age of 30. Along with envy however, comes respect, hope and promise. A feeling that if you work hard and watch your finances you can still be very successful in this country, even in these trying times. Tim Greenleaf is an example of what can happen when an individual works hard, smart and with purpose. 12
Tim Greenleaf is a third generation grader, who worked for and learned the trade from his grandfather. Like so many future successful men, Tim faced some hard times as a youth and found himself leaving high school in order to help support his family. He was just 14 years old when he began working for his grandfather as a laborer. He quickly worked his way up to operator and by the age of 18, he was running all of the field operations. Tim had hopes of one
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Tim Greenleaf finds success through teamwork.
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4701-B Little John St. • Baldwin Park, CA 91706Phone: 800-813-8232 • Fax: 626-813-1594
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Hydraulic Breaker • New and improved 8,000, 11,000, 13,500 ft. pound breakers.
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day taking over his grandfather’s business, but soon learned that this was not going to be in the cards. In 2000, and at the still tender age of 20, Tim decided to give it a go on his own. When most men his age were still living at home and playing Xbox, Tim was trying to figure out how he was going to be able to afford the equipment for his new venture. Tim explains, “When I first started I went and worked in areas like Ventura, San Bernardino and Riverside, so as not to compete with my grandfather’s company. At first I took any job I could get and was even happy if someone would let me demo his or her driveway. During the first year it was rocky as I was just establishing my clientele and making a reputation for myself. I started out renting what I needed as I needed it, but as my company began to grow, I knew I had to find a way to own my equipment. Around this time, Jeff Liebl of Quinn Company showed me a rent to own program, where I could 14
make 6-months of accelerated rental payments, with 80% being credited back to me as a down payment. This afforded me a low monthly payment and allowed me to roll right into another rent to own machinery purchase. The first machine was a Cat 953 track loader and I added another track loader just six months later. Today we have used this program to procure 16 Caterpillar machines including: Cat track loaders, wheel loaders, excavators, skid steers, track Cats and Caterpillar backhoes. We also have four Peterbilt trucks and end dumps, as well as several John Deere skip loaders. I am very grateful to Jeff Liebl and the rest of the team at Quinn Company for working with our company over the years and truly being an integral part of our success.” Today, with approximately 47 employees, Tim Greenleaf Engineering performs grading and excavating
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Tim Greenleaf Engineering relies on Cat equipment to stay competitive and responsive to their clients needs.
services that are among the best in Southern California. Their services include everything from mass excavation, hillside repairs, custom house pads, import and export dirt services and finish grading. In addition, Tim Greenleaf Engineering can demo any site from entire buildings to just the interior down to the core. They also specialize in deconstruction services where they carefully dismantle a structure and www.calcontractor.com
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Above: Tim Greenleaf, Owner. They have completed more than 4,000 jobs and customer satisfaction has always been a top priority.
its contents for recycling purposes. This can help offset job costs, as well as remaining environmentally responsible. Tim Greenleaf comments, “We are well known for our turnkey services where we can take a job from complete demolition to finish grade, saving our customers
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time and money in the process. Our operators, laborers and technicians are fully trained and certified to perform all of our services, including asbestos removal and other abatement services. Our grading and excavating services offerings are unique in the fact that we take on the jobs that others shy away from. We want the jobs that drop from the sidewalk, straight down three stories. We specialize in this type of work and it sets us apart from the others. We use extended excavators and unique tried and true methods. What keeps our job interesting is not just moving dirt around all day, it’s
about taking on the jobs that other companies say can’t be done. I believe our willingness to take on these difficult jobs is what has helped us weather the current economic situation. We specialize in custom home hillside type work and we put our men and machines on steep hills that most people would not even walk down. I am also quite proud of our other service offerings like the job we recently completed on the Disneyland Hotel Courtyard project. We ripped down approximately 7 restaurants, 13 pools, and even an underground waterfall and did the grading for the
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new water park. We started this a year ago and just recently finished. We are also getting ready to start a 12-acre job in Beverly Hills that includes the construction of lagoons and ponds and even a mini-golf course. Because of our confidentiality agreements we can not divulge the celebrities that we are doing work for, but they are currently keeping us very busy.” A challenge that Tim Greenleaf Engineering and most everyone in this industry are experiencing right now is of course the economy. Tim continues, “It is not just getting the work, it is getting profitable work. A little more than three years ago, I didn’t even want to answer the phone. We just could not take on any more work and it was not how much, it was, ‘When can you start?”. Consequently, we have invested in a very thorough job-costing program. We do this while some of our competitors insist that if they have money in bank, they are remaining profitable. I am here to tell you that is a dangerous way to do business and it is the reason why so many construction companies are bidding these jobs below cost. 2011 was the year of the budget bid. Now I think people are better adjusted and things are a bit better. Still, much of our profit is in our receivables. We will get paid, but when we do, we cannot touch it. You just have to work smarter. I was fortunate to see some 16
The Tim Greenleaf Engineering team has over 100 combined years of demo and grading experience. They are prepared for all types of projects.
of this coming and we saved the profits that we made when times were good. I did not buy that beach house or Harley Davidson. My savings account is what funded the jobs like we are doing now and I am thankful for that. I am also thankful for our awesome team of employees. My wife, Joanne takes care of all of the compliance paperwork and keeps the office in order, while the rest of our long time employees do what they do best. Right now I feel like a marathon runner with no finish line in sight. I just want to remain comfortable, without feeling like a workhorse all the time. I will be happy to stay the same size, just not so hurried all the time. I look forward to the future and the challenges ahead.” Tim Greenleaf Engineering works primarily in LA and Orange Counties, but will and have gone out much further. For more information on Tim Greenleaf Engineering, you can visit them at www.tgegrading.com or call 714-847-2700. Cc
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Sierra Pacific West, Inc. So Much More Than A Grading & Excavating Contractor Written By: Brian Hoover / Photos: Courtesy of High Velocity and Sierra Pacific West
How does one go from dreams of dentistry to becoming a general engineering contractor? Both are honorable occupations but are about as far apart as careers can be in terms of venue. One fills in holes, while the other makes new ones. Well in this case it came down to opportunity and circumstance, when Tom Brown’s parents gave him the task of building a horse barn on their property one summer before college. Young Tom rented a tractor from a local yard and with no experience at all, he began clearing and grading the land where the barn would soon
stand. After no more than three hours of working, his rented tractor seized up. Later, Tom found he had inadvertently hit a tree stump, sending the crankshaft right up into the crankcase. The owner of the rental store struck a deal with Tom to work off the cost of the repairs in his shop. After Tom had put his time in, the owner thanked him and to Tom’s surprise presented him with a paycheck. It seemed that the proprietor, Bill Whitten was impressed with Tom’s integrity, disposition and work ethic. This gesture left a lasting impression on Tom and would
eventually influence his career choice one day. Tom’s life would soon take several other dramatic turns including college, a full tour with a US army intelligence group and finally marrying his wife of 42 years Sandra. Tom comments, “I remember sitting on the California beach after serving my duty in the US Army. I had been exposed to so many different elements; especially in light that this was during the Vietnam era. I was contemplating and thinking what was in the future. Some days later a business agent with Local 12 Operating Engineers
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): La Jolla Laboratory Replacement Project. Sierra Pacific West’s Cat 345B excavator loading a belly dump truck.
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Left: Tom Brown, President of Sierra Pacific West, Inc. Middle: Sierra Pacific West, Inc. Headquarters located in Vista, CA Below Left: NOAA overview. Below Right: The continued export of material at the NOAA project. Bottom: Survey Crew finalizing pad elevations for the Aquarium.
came knocking on at my door and explains, ‘Bill Whitten says you’re a good machine operator. Want to join the union? I thought to myself, ‘why not?’ and I signed on as a journeyman operator.” Early on, Tom worked for several general contractors and eventually earned a reputation as a top-notch dozer operator. His hard work landed him a job as an operator for Erreca’s, who was at that time one of California’s largest grading & excavating companies. Over the next seven years, Tom went on to become the Chief Estimator at Erreca’s and
eventually Vice President. Always looking to advance and grow personally, Tom left the company in 1984. In 1988, he officially formed Sierra Pacific West, Inc., with his wife, Sandy, serving as the company’s CEO and Tom as President. Tom reminisces, “Sitting with my wife, Sandy, on the dock at my parents’ summer home in Northern California, I remember thinking of the best place to raise our children and to headquarter our business. Sandy and I felt that Northern California offered us more opportunity at that time and we were looking in the
Sierra Mountain region. So thinking that this was going to be our future, Sandy and I decided to name our company Sierra Construction. That name was taken, so how about Sierra Pacific. Also taken. Eventually found that Sierra Pacific West was available and so we formed our corporation under that name. The funny thing is, business and life in general in San Diego was so rewarding, we decided to stay and never did make that move to the Sierra’s. We stayed and the name also remained and that is how we got our name.”
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Above: Scraper spread working on construction site for Cresta Bella Apartments project in Rancho Bernardo, CA
Tom and Sandy Brown started their company with a strong emphasis in residential construction, while dabbling a bit in public works. When housing began to dry up in the 80’s, Tom moved into more public works and construction of military facilities. Tom comments, “I remember how difficult it was to get into military work, mostly because I just did not fully understand the process. Over time, we became much savvier to the workings of governmental agencies and began to win jobs. At the same time, we also took on more Caltrans, county and eventually public school work. After many years of public school work, we were asked for the first time to qualify in order to be considered for the job. This turned out to be a rewarding exercise in that we found that we had performed 146 projects since our inception and that we were actually on of the largest infrastructure contractor at that time in all of Southern California.” When times were booming in the general engineering construction industry, Sierra Pacific West (SPW) found that finding reliable subcontractors was a challenge. This became such an issue that they formed their own concrete division in 20
2000. Tom explains, “We started our concrete division in order to keep up with demand. Now that business has slowed, we find ourselves going back to our roots and once again surround ourselves with good reliable subcontractors and suppliers. This has definitely helped us move forward during these tough times. I have found that is not always about how much you do, it is about the margins and exposure that you put yourself into.” Sierra Pacific West’s project resume is long and impressive. From grading the world’s largest circular reservoir in San Diego to the largest military commissary in the US, they have been recognized as an award winning contractor time and time again. Other notable projects include the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal Pavement Replacement Project and numerous expansion projects at the Palomar Airport in San Diego. Tom Brown continues, “One of the most interesting and challenging projects, we have ever been part of, would have to be the NOAA Project. NOAA is a federal agency located in La Jolla at the University of California that studies the condition of the oceans and the atmosphere. Back in 2009, we were awarded the grading and excavating
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portion for a new building that would replace the current facility. The existing structure had been built on the bluffs in La Jolla and over a period of time erosion began to compromise the structural integrity of the entire building. This building will be demolished sometime this year, and we were responsible for the infrastructure work that would accommodate the new facility. This was essentially a huge hole in the ground located in an ultra-sensitive coastal zone. This presented our company with numerous challenges including: traffic complications, local resident complaints and working with the City of San Diego and the Federal Government. We excavated several elevations and exported around 160,000 yards of dirt by jobs end. This was complicated by not being allowed to dump the spoils at the Miramar Landfill and having to then transport the dirt to around a half-dozen locations in San Diego County. We only had a certain amount of time to complete this project and the LD’s were always on our mind. We also ran into massive amounts of hard concretion material with boulders so large that we had to break them up before loading and www.calcontractor.com
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trucking offsite. To make matters worse, the concretions left tremendous voids that took our concrete usage way over budget. There was also a very sensitive area that traversed the jobsite that included a storm drain that ran parallel to the property line. When we went to install our soil nail tiebacks, we ran into the active storm drain due to improper elevation plans. This was not the only unforeseen issue we ran into on this project. We also breached a saltwater pool located at the Scripps Oceanography facility next door that was closer to the property line than planned. These delays and additional costs were taking their toll and the Federal Government was looking to charge penalties. In the end, we negotiated and kept our loss to a minimum. This was a job that definitely showed the character and integrity of our operators and crew. They never got rattled and took on each situation with patience and skill. You might say this job could be classified as a simple hole that ended up being a very complicated learning lesson for all of us.” Sierra Pacific West is still one of California’s largest general engineering contractors with just under 100 employees and close to 100 pieces of heavy equipment. At their largest, SPW had around 300 employees, but as Tom attests, “Today I would say that bigger is not always better. I think our company today is more controllable and I think our margins are better. We rely on many subcontractors and suppliers to keep going safely and profitably. Hawthorne Cat, a Caterpillar dealer serving San Diego County, is one of those suppliers. The comments and praise for Hawthorne are completely unsolicited. They have been there for us since day one and I want to recognize theme for the tremendous asset they are to our company. We have been through some tough times and Hawthorne has never wavered in their commitment to our overall success. Individuals like Tee Ness, Dick Moss and Mike Carcioppolo have always provided us with the www.calcontractor.com
Above & Below: Sierra Pacific West uses a Cat 259B on Bonsall Landfill Remediation project for San Diego County.
utmost in support and are a major part of our success over the years. We are guaranteed only the best in quality and durability with the best parts and service availability possible. No matter where we are in California, there is a Cat dealer there eager to meet our needs. With the slower economy, we are having to travel out of our area and it is good to know we have the Caterpillar dealer network behind us.” Sierra Pacific West, Inc is a general engineering firm based in the City of Vista, San Diego County, California. Their firm has completed a variety of military, commercial, industrial and public works projects throughout Southern California, specializing in heavy highway, roadway, public school, memorial, community parks and agency related work in a comprehensive range of types and sizes. Sierra Pacific West, Inc. provides services as both a Subcontractor and General contractor, and places high value and importance on close and cooperative work efforts between the general contractor and the subcontractor. Tom Brown of SPW currently volunteers as chairman of the AGC Apprenticeship & Training Trust, California’s open-shop apprenticeship program. The program is designed to meet the needs of open shop contractors who want to train apprentices on State of California public works projects, Federal Davis-
Bacon, and private construction projects throughout California. He is also involved on the national level of the AGC and as the upcoming chair of the Highway Transportation Division. In addition, Tom Brown also serves as the President of AGC Charities that reaches out with help to various worthy charities. For more information on Sierra Pacific West, Inc. please call 760-599-0755 or visit them at sierrapacificwest.com. For more information on Hawthorne Cat, please visit them www.hawthornecat.com or call them at their corporate office in San Diego at 800-437-4228. Cc
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By: Brian Hoover
I
t is said that BMX racing was started by a group of adolescents back in the early 70’s . The story goes that these Southern California kids took their 20� Schwinn Stingray bicycles, modified them and then began racing each other on an abandoned dirt lot. These were most likely not the first kids to do such a thing. It is probably more accurate that boys and girls from all over the U.S. and the world were practicing some version of this sport wherever a bicycle could be found. It was California, however, that first recorded these ventures on film, which spread the new sport like wildfire. Originally called Bicycle Motocross, the sport captivated the
bodies and minds of many young boys and girls across America and was eventually shortened to the much cooler acronym, BMX. Today young riders maneuver their specially designed bikes over jumps, banked corners and other obstacles in sanctioned events that can get very competitive. Although created by kids, the sport is now enjoyed by all ages at all sorts of skill levels and today there are BMX parks in just about every major city. Kearny Moto Park is one such park and is located in Kearney Mesa California (San Diego). Their approximately 1,000 foot long dirt track has been heavily used over its 30-year history and it had been 8years since it had a facelift. Paul
Pankow Jr. was introduced to BMX racing around three years ago when his son, Kaden took up the sport in earnest. Paul and his son were spending two to three days a week at Kearny Moto Park and eventually the bug hit Paul Jr. and he began racing at the adult levels. Paul Pankow Jr. also works as an operator for Byrom-Davey, a Southern California based company that specializes in the construction of synthetic turf fields, all weather tracks and complete stadium facilities. Paul Jr. could see that their track was in need of a little TLC and he was very excited to learn that Vince McCurdy (who runs Kearny Moto Park) received a commitment from Lance Maguire (who builds
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Above L - R: Ron Neidhardt, Kearny Moto Park, Ryan Baum, Kearny Moto Park, Lance Maguire (cab), ABA, Jacob McCurdy, Kearny Moto Park, Vincent McCurdy, Kearny Moto Park and Paul Pankow Sr., Byrom-Davey. Below: Lance Maguire of ABA operating the Hyundai wheel loader donated by Heavy Equipment Rentals. Below Right: Ron Neidhardt of Kearny Moto Park operates the Cat compaction roller.
tracks for the ABA) to come down from Oregon and help rebuild the Kearny Moto Park track. Paul Pankow Sr. explains, “As soon as my son let me know of the proposed plan, I made a few phone calls, one
of which was to Kent Porter at Heavy Equipment Rentals to see if he would be willing to donate some heavy machinery to this worthy cause. Kent and the folks at HER generously agreed to donate a wheel
loader, track skid steer, a roller and a mini excavator. To our pleasant surprise, he even volunteered to deliver them to the sight. With the help Heavy Equipment Rentals, we were now armed and ready to perform a first class rehabilitation for the boys and girls at Kearny Moto Park.� Basically a BMX track is a smaller version of what a motorcycle track would look like with berms, banked turns, whoops, jumps and straightaways. Over the duration of approximately one week, Paul Pankow Jr., now armed with the necessary heavy equipment, would not only rebuilt the existing berms, but would also change the configuration of the entire track. Lance Maguire of the American Bicycle Association, along with the help of Paul Pankow Jr., designed and added more jumps and what they call rollers or whoops to basically change it up from what it had been for the past eight years. They had enough dirt stockpiled on site and by reworking the existing fill material they were able to complete the job without having to import any additional dirt. In addition to the heavy machinery work, quite a bit of handwork and grooming was
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necessary to achieve the exact grade and angles for the banks and slopes. The rebuild included a brand new triple jump, four straight-aways and the rehabilitation of all the berms back to their original height. Paul Pankow Jr. and Byrom Davey, Inc. also took the time to replace the small antiquated drainage system with larger pipe to help keep the track dry at all times. The boys and girls as well as the adults at the Kearny Moto Park now have a brand new and more challenging track thanks to the efforts of individuals like Paul Pankow Jr. of Byrom-Davey, Inc., Kent Porter of Heavy Equipment Rentals and Lance Maguire of the American Bicycle Association. Call it a donation or a kind gesture, but I am sure that Paul Jr.’s son, Kaden would call it…….awesome! For more information of the Kearny Moto Park, please visit them online at kearnybmx.com or call (619) 561-3824. Over the past 10 years, Byrom-Davey has completed 194 synthetic turf fields and all-weather tracks and they are considered the leader in the sports track and stadium build industry. For more information on Byrom-Davey, Inc., please visit them at Byrom-Davey.com or call (858) 513-7199. Cc
Top: Kaden Pankow gets ready for a race. Above: Paul Pankow Jr. and his son Kaden Pankow. Below: Jacob McCurdy uses a Cat 257B to shape the banks and slopes at Kearny Moto Park.
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truck hauling 8,800 gallons of gasoline exploded into flames and essentially melted the Paramount Boulevard Bridge in Montebello on December 14th. The cause of the explosion is thought to have been overheated brakes or some other sort of mechanical failure. The several hour blaze was evidently so intense that it actually melted the truck, burned a crater in the freeway and sent a shower of hot concrete onto the freeway below. To make things even worse, it was discovered that plastic tubing, encased in a concrete sidewalk, contained fiber optics and other utilities. The casing also contained asbestos, which can only be removed by a licensed Hazmat professional. In order to demo the bridge, the utilities would first need to be safely removed without disrupting service or releasing the harmful asbestos into the air. Cutting or disrupting the cables, which ran the length of the overpass, would hurt local businesses and interrupt service to the residents in the area. The location of the incident was just 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles and on a portion of the 60-Freeway that is traveled by some 220,000 vehicles every day. Approximately 10-miles of freeway between Interstate 710 and Rosemead was eventually shut down causing gridlock for
A
commuters that travel to and from Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley and the Inland Empire. Caltrans officials immediately contacted Ocean Blue Environmental, who is their Hazmat contractor in the LA area. Ocean Blue then called National Demolition Contractors, who they use for most all of their heavy equipment needs. Jeff Perry, Owner & President of National Demolition explains, “We have a contract with Ocean Blue and received a call on December 14th asking us to be onsite within two hours. We were there within an hour and a half ready to work. Initially we were asked to only uncover the utilities on the 138 foot portion of the bridge that had burned and that took us just under 8-hours to complete. We got a call the next day requesting our services on the remaining 134 foot section and this time with a larger crew, it only took 4 and ½ hours to finish. We utilized our Cat 216B skid steer with a UB hydraulic hammer attachment. Anyone can operate a skid steer and breaker, but in this case, it required a professional to utilize it precisely so as to not disturb the plastic pipe encased in concrete. After shattering the concrete with the hammer, our hand crew got busy with 80 lb. air jackhammers to remove the rest of the surrounding concrete.
Below Left: National Demolition utilizing their Cat 216 Skid Steer and UB hammer to expose the asbestos pipe. Below Right: National Demoliton crew working with careful precison on exposed asbestos pipe containing fiberoptics that fed into a local hospital.
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Written By: Brian Hoover Photos: Courtesy of National Demolition Contractors
Meticulous handwork was required from this point on to open the plastic pipe, remove the hazardous material and finally free the fiber optic and telephone lines. Flatiron, who was the general contractor and Caltrans crews took over at this point to begin demolishing the eastbound lanes of the bridge. The utility lines were protected in an enclosed I-beam that ran the length of the bridge. The westbound lanes were then taken down over several nights in order to keep traffic disruption to a minimum.” The most miraculous part of this situation is that no one was killed or injured in the disaster. Yes a bridge was destroyed and according to transportation officials the cost will most likely be more than $5 million and take three to seven
months to complete. Caltrans and the various contractors called out on this emergency are to be commemorated for their quick response and endless hours of work. Jeff Perry continues, “This is the kind of work we thrive on. Many of the larger or simpler jobs go to other contractors, but we specialize in these more complex situations. We want and look for this kind of work and we have the equipment and professional manpower to do it right the first time, every time.” National Demolition Contractors was started over a decade ago by Jennifer and Jeff Perry. Today the company has a bonding capacity in excess of $80 million, making them one of a handful of contractors capable of handling the really big jobs. In addition to general demolition work, National Demolition Contractors also offers abatement, environmental soil remediation, recycling and green demolition, disaster relief and emergency services, as well as operated equipment rental. With one of the largest Caterpillar fleets in California, National Demolition Contractors, Inc. is available 24/7, no matter what the job or where it is located. When it matters, call National Demolition Contractors. For more information on National Demolition Contractors please call (310) 732-1991 or visit nationaldemolition.com. Cc
Above: National Demolition used their UB 800 Lb. breaker attachment to breakup concrete around the transite pipe. Right: National Demolition’s emergency response team responded to the 60-Freeway fire in Montebello where a 8,800 gallon fuel truck exploded, compromising the integrity of the Paramount Blvd. overpass.
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Quality you can rely on
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For details, contact your local Komatsu distributor.
Case Launches B Series Motor Graders New Case 865B VHP Motor Grader Delivers Major Cab, Power, Efficiency Upgrades
www.clairemontequipment.com
7651 Ronson Rd. San Diego, CA 92111 Office: 858-278-8351 Fax: 858-492-9959 San Diego 4726 Convoy St. Office: 858-278-8338 Fax: 858-278-4845 Escondido 1330 Mission Rd. Office: 760-739-9100 Fax: 760-739-8888 Fontana 8520 Cherry Ave. Office: 909-429-9100 Fax: 909-429-9397 Imperial 440 West Aten Rd. Office: 760-355-7700 Fax: 760-355-7704 Indio 81-501 Industrial Place Office: 760-863-5558 Fax: 760-863-0959
Case Construction Equipment recently launched the first model in its new B Series motor grader product line with the introduction of the Case 865B VHP (variable horsepower) motor grader. The new Case 865B VHP motor grader features a Case 6.7-liter engine with triple horsepower ranges to match the power requirements of various applications and deliver optimum fuel efficiency. The motor grader features a forward-mounted articulation joint and rear-mounted cab, giving operators a commanding view of the complete moldboard and ground-engaging equipment. The spacious new cab offers improved control layout, while maintaining the traditional nine-lever motor grader controls preferred by most operators. The Case 865B motor grader operates across a range of 178 to 205 net hp. It has an operating weight of 35,993 lb and a standard 13-ft-wide moldboard. The 865B is also available with a 12-ft-wide or 14-ft-wide moldboard. Blade pitch positions range from 42 to 87 degrees, with maximum blade shift of 27 in to the right and 21 in to the left. Maximum ground penetration is 28 in. A direct-drive transmission provides eight forward and four reverse gears. The Case circle design, with outer-facing gear teeth, improves operations and serviceability, maintains gear power and increases the life of circle drive components. An exclusive multi-radius, involute moldboard lets the Case 865B VHP motor grader move more material with less horsepower and less fuel than competitive models. Exterior lighting options provide superior nighttime operations for snow-plowing, dozing and grading. A new instrument cluster displays critical engine and fluid temperatures, and 28 machines functions. Available attachments for the Case 865B VHP motor grader include a scarifier, push block, rear ripper, dozer blade and front-mounted counterweight. Cc 2011 Grading & Excavating issue CalContractor
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ADVERTISERS INDEX Art’s Trench Plate & K-Rail................17 Quinn Company..................................2 California Asphalt Pavement Assoc. ..25 RDO RENTS........................................5 Clairemont Equipment ................28, 29 Topcon ..............................................7 Coastline Equipment ..........................3 Trench Shoring Co. ..........................11 Coastline Equipment Crane Division 30 UB Equipment Corp. ........................13 Hawthorne CAT ................................31 RDO Equip. / Vermeer ........................5 Heavy Equipment Rentals ................17 Volvo Construction Equipment & Nixon-Egli Equipment Co. ..Back Cover Services ..........................................11
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(Left) Sanchez Bros Paving using their new HAMM HD 12 VV Roller to compact an asphalt parking lot in Downey, CA. (Above L to R) Rudy Sanchez, Junior Sanchez and Johnny Sanchez, Sanchez Bros Paving Corp.
With over 100 years of combined asphalt construction experience, the Sanchez family has been servicing Los Angeles County and its surrounding cities with quality workmanship since 1992. Incorporated in 1999, they specialize in commercial and industrial projects and have earned a reputation in the industry as parking lot specialists. They recently took delivery of a brand new Hamm HD 12 VV roller purchased from Nixon-Egli Equipment Co. Rudy Sanchez, President, Sanchez Bros Paving comments, “This is the first Hamm roller that we’ve owned and we couldn’t be more pleased. The Hamm HD 12 is a great mid-size roller that fits the needs of the scope of our work – which is mainly parking lots. I was amazed at the quality of its compaction performance and our operators really like the high-capacity water sprinkling function. This feature helps obtain smooth compaction, while saving time with fewer interruptions. Another benefit is that it’s easy to haul on the trailer alongside other equipment. We also loved the price. Nixon-Egli really worked with us on the financing to make the deal go as smooth as possible.” Rudy adds, “Nixon-Egli is a name we know we can trust and they were a pleasure to work with on this deal. They’ve been around a long time just like us and we’ve crossed paths many times. Jack Rogers, the Nixon-Egli representative has been a staple in the industry for years and he also worked very hard for us on this deal. In the past he has let us demo machines and he provided us with a fair price on the trade-in on this deal. We’re very happy to be doing business with Nixon-Egli Equipment and and they are a great partner to have in the asphalt industry.”
California’s Largest General Line Construction and Municipal Equipment Dealer. So. California: 2044 S. Vineyard Ave., Ontario, CA 91761 • (909) 930-1822 No. California: 800 E. Grant Line Rd., Tracy, CA 95304 • (209) 830-8600 www.nixon-egli.com