LB3 Enterprises, Inc.

Moves More Than 2-Million Cubic Yards of Dirt and Rock on Terracina Mass Grading Project in Lake Elsinore

By Brian Hoover, Senior Editor

According to data from the state Department of Finance demographics unit, approximately 103,000 new housing units were built in California in 2020. That represents an 8% increase from the previous year, with an approximate 50/50 balance between single-family homes and apartments. Home prices continue to rise throughout the nation, as median home price margins have increased in California’s Inland Empire by double-digit percentage gains since July 2020.

Overview of Terracina mass grading project where LB3 Enterprises is moving more than 2-million cubic yards of earth.

Low interest rates and high demand have been driving prices up for the past year, with the Inland Empire’s median price being $529,000 as of July 2021. That is a 26% increase from the same time last year, with home sales being up 19% within the same period. Based on data from the Census Bureau, there were 7,132 permitted units in the Inland Empire through the first six months of this year. That is up 17% from 6,103 units over the same period in 2020. While these figures may seem impressive, they still represent a substantial shortfall in supply relative to demand.

Josh George, Field Superintendent, Eric Morton, Foreman, and Dan Baxter, General Superintendent, LB3 Enterprises, Inc.

The Inland Empire population is expected to grow by 9% within the next year, nearly double the 4.8% growth average projected for the State as a whole. This means the Inland Empire region will grow from 4.7 million in 2021 to 5.1 million in 2030. That is an increase of 400,000 people, so where are these individuals and families going to live? Conservative estimates suggest that California is currently over a million homes short of what it needs right now. Many other estimates and opinions have that number at more like 3.5 million more homes needed. In the Inland Empire region alone, it is estimated that over 122,000 new housing units must be added to meet future housing demands. That means that developers must build approximately 13,600 new units annually. The Inland Empire is seen by many as one of the last remaining affordable housing areas in Southern California. So, what does all this mean? On the negative side, it appears that we are not going to have enough affordable housing in California anytime soon. On the positive side, it suggests that home developers will continue their tremendous growth for many years to come. It also means that earthmoving contractors like LB3 Enterprises will also continue their upward growth trend.

L to R: LB3 Enterprises office staff and field managers visit the Terracina mass grading project in Lake Elsinore.

KB Home acquired 400 lots at Terracina and will offer 400 singlefamily homes with lots starting at 4,500 square feet and move-ins scheduled as early as 2022. The job broke ground in July 2021 when KB Home contracted LB3 Enterprises, Inc. (LB3) to perform the mass and finish grade on the Terracina 138-acre site in Lake Elsinore. Josh George is one of two field superintendents working at LB3 and is currently supervising six significant projects, including Terracina. Josh supports the foremen on each project on material management and reviewing the many logistical issues that come along. He also helps to update job numbers using their HCSS program each day and scheduling and ordering equipment and operators. “Our work on the Terracina project began this past July and is scheduled for completion by the end of the year,” says George. “We will have the mass grading complete by mid- November with just the fine grading of access roads and other areas left to do.” George points out that LB3 will move around 2.2 million yards of dirt, including remedials.

Coburn Equipment Rentals, Inc. utilized 18 scrapers at peak production, moving 65,000 to 75,000 yards a day.

Eric Morton is the foreman for LB3 overseeing daily operations on the Terracina project. Morton starts his days early to line up the team members and inform them of their job priorities for the day ahead. “I meet with the grade checkers at the end of each day and discuss the adventure for the day ahead. I call it an adventure because things change and you never really know what you might face with each new day,” says Morton. “We come up with a game plan the night before and discuss it further the next morning. Everyone understands where we are headed each day, but situations like breakdowns happen and you have to make the necessary adjustments.”

Scrapers work together with other support equipment on 138-acre Terracina jobsite.

Morton explains that a large grading project like Terracina starts with a job walk and all the proper introductions with the utility companies, city inspectors, soils engineers, subcontractors, and of course, the developer. “Once all the meet and greets are complete, we stake the perimeter of the jobsite so that erosion control can enter the project. We then begin our brushing or land clearing duties and check to see if there are any environmental issues,” says Morton. “We use GPS to flag these areas so that they are not disturbed during the clearing of trees and brush. Next, the debris is placed in large piles before being loaded and hauled offsite with excavators and articulated rock trucks.” Morton continues by pointing out that LB3 then must figure out where their first cuts and fill areas will be located. Next, LB3 crews will begin prepping those zones with prewatering as a dust control measure to help the fills go a little smoother. “It is all sort of a puzzle where you create an initial hole and begin moving dirt from one spot to another,” continues Morton. “We are constantly moving mountains or at least huge hills. So, you have this massive hill on Monday, and by Friday, it is gone and moved somewhere else onsite. We have also built a couple of pads with stunning views of Lake Elsinore on the far west side of the jobsite. It truly is amazing work that we do here at LB3. Watching the landscape change so rapidly and then seeing the finished site come into place is pretty cool and exciting.”

Above: LB3 Enterprises utilizing machines from their fleet, including a Cat 834 wheel dozer, a John Deere 850K dozer with slope board and their Cat 16M motor grader.

When asked about the challenges on the Terracina project, Morton points out that the overall mass grading project was pretty straightforward and predictable. He doesn’t, however, say that it was without any challenges. “At the beginning, the biggest challenge was dealing with a few environmental issues when blueline streams were located on the topographic map. We worked around these areas until they were officially released. It did change our initial game plan, but we managed until the entire jobsite was eventually open for grading,” says Morton. “We performed drill boring sites to see if the area had groundwater and if the material was competent. We do this to determine what is rippable and what heavy machinery would be needed to get the job done. We did find 2-feet to 4-feet diameter floating rocks in certain areas and needed to determine if scrapers could be used to remove them or if we had to bring in an excavator and rock truck to haul them offsite. We have one cut remaining that has some large rock. Otherwise, it was all pretty standard with good basin design and no tricky geogrid or slope stabilization issues.”

LB3 hired Coburn Equipment Rentals, Inc. (Coburn) out of Chino to provide all scrapers with operators. “Coburn is great to work with, and they have great operators and field mechanics onsite to handle breakdowns and other equipment issues that affect a job,” says George. “We started with eight scrapers from Coburn and had 18 units onsite at peak production. We were moving an average of 65,000 to 75,000 yards a day at peak performance.” George says they also had F&B Rentals with locations in Santa Ana and Orange onsite to support their operated compactors and dozers. “We had several other equipment rental companies onsite. These included Jimco Construction and Equipment Rental who provided dozers and water trucks, and C5 Equipment Rental who supplied one operated dozer and another dozer on long-term rental,” continues George.

Cat articulated water pull filling up on Terracina project site.

LB3 had several pieces of heavy machinery from their fleet on the jobsite. These support machines include their Cat 834 wheel dozer, a Cat 16M motor grader, a John Deere 850K dozer with slope board, and a John Deere 9320 tractor with a pull-behind scraper. “These support machines were primarily used to keep the roads clean and smooth. Clean roads allow the scrapers to move faster, more safely, and controllable, and that equates to higher production,” says George. “Scrapers are the profit vehicles, and everything else is support. It all revolves around the scrapers, and we do everything we can to keep them moving. All of our crews are doing an outstanding job, and we are ahead of schedule.” George says that LB3 will also perform fine grading on Terra Cotta Road, stretching from Lakeshore Drive to Nichols Road when complete. “This new road will be a corridor that will take residents to the Nichols Road on and off-ramp that connects to the 15 Freeway,” says George.

Both George and Morton say that the success of Terracina and other projects is due to the tremendous experience, work ethic, and confidence that everyone at LB3 and other subcontractor companies bring to the jobsite every day. “It is important that we thank everyone that gives their all to make sure that every job is a success. This includes the support we get from the home office, as well as every laborer and operator on the jobsite,” concludes Morton. “Dan Baxter is our general superintendent for LB3 on this job. Dan has done a great job working with and between Josh George, our field superintendent, and our project manager and support staff back in the office. We have also been able to coordinate with other contractors onsite that are doing things like underground utilities. It is all about coordination and awareness, and I feel like we are working with the best in the business on this particular project.”

For more information on LB3 Enterprises, Inc., please visit www.lb3enterprises.com or call their Lakeside headquarters at (619) 579-6161.