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Omega Construction Clears Land for Recycling Plant By Irwin Rapoport CEG CORRESPONDENT
revalyu Resources, a German multinational firm that recycles plastics and other materials, is investing $200 million to build a plastic recycling facility in Statesboro, Ga., that will be able to recycle close to 200 million lbs. post-consumer PET (polyethylene terephthalate) annually. The project was made public last December. The facility, being constructed at the Gateway Regional Park, is the company’s first in the United States and the first phase of a long-term project. The site occupies 43 acres. Project’s Start Current efforts are concentrating on earth work and site prep for the construction, which is based on several phases. Omega Construction is off to a fast start. Trevor Jeans, Omega’s assistant project manager, explained that the site had previously cleared and graded. Phase 1 will see the construction of the recycling facility, various support buildings, underground infrastructure, roads and surface parking. see PLANT page 6
Omega Construction has started earth work and preparing the footprint for a new recycling plant from revalyu Resources, being constructed at the Gateway Regional Park.
ABC Names Georgia Number One State for Construction For the first time, Georgia was named the top state for construction in Associated Builders and Contractors’ annual Merit Shop Scorecard. The scorecard, released yearly since 2015, ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on policies and programs that strengthen career pathways in construction, encourage workforce development and advocate for fair and open competition on taxpayer-funded construction projects. “Commonsense conditions, policies and educational systems are vital in creating quality infrastructure built safely, efficiently
and effectively for taxpayers,” said Ben Brubeck, ABC’s vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs. “More than 88 percent of the U.S. construction industry has already made the choice not to join a union, and the construction industry is facing a skilled labor shortage of more than half a million people. Anticompetitive policies only impede the vast majority of merit shop contractors from building and working in their own communities and further exacerbate the industry’s labor shortage. Taxpayers are best served by policy and educational priorities that create a
level playing field for all contractors to compete.” Georgia’s construction industry continues to prosper, and it earned the top spot due to the state’s continued dedication to workforce development. This year, 99 percent of career and technical education students in the state earned a credential and/or continued to a career. Along with inclusive policies that welcome all of the construction industry to compete to build projects in their communities, Georgia’s construction employment continues to grow. Georgia claimed third in the 2022 rankings.
Florida followed Georgia in second in 2023. Since the inception of the rankings, Florida has placed in the top 10 and continues to be a model state for the merit shop, excelling in the preservation of fair and open competition and creating a policy environment for the entire industry to succeed, especially in fostering a pipeline of highly skilled workers. Among the top five, Arkansas ranked third, Wisconsin ranked fourth and Indiana ranked fifth. Rounding out the top 10 states are Iowa, Kentucky, Alabama, Oklahoma see ABC page 4
Page 2 • December 27, 2023 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Georgia State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide
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Construction Equipment Guide • Georgia State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • December 27, 2023 • Page 3
Page 4 • December 27, 2023 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Georgia State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide
Georgia DOT Awards Funds to 29 Transportation Projects In early November, the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) announced that it had provided money to a total of 29 projects in September, including resurfacing, bridge construction and rehabilitation, reconstruction, safety and other building projects. The single largest investment, valued at $24.4 million, involves a reconstruction project that will consist of 2.5 mi. of widening and reconstruction on U.S. Highway 17/Georgia Highway 25, from Harry Driggers Boulevard to Ga. 99 in Glynn County. The job accounts for 19 percent of the total awarded funds, GDOT said in a news release. In addition, another $69 million, or 58 percent of the overall award, has been allocated to 10 resurfacing projects. The largest of these proposed projects is valued at $18.8 million, and will require 14 mi. of milling, inlay and plant mix resurfacing on Ga. 85 from Ga. 1 to North Central Church Road in Harris and Muscogee counties. Another resurfacing project, valued at approximately $15 million, includes 9.3 mi. of milling and plant mix resurfacing on U.S. 27/Ga. 1 from the Carroll County line to Ga. 1 Business in Haralson County. GDOT also funded $27.3 million to seven different bridge construction projects across the state — the most significant of which involves erecting an $8.6 million bridge and creating its approaches over Big Dry Creek on U.S. 27/Ga. 1 in Floyd County. This work, along with the other six bridge projects, represents 21 percent of the state agency’s allocated funds. Additionally, bridge rehabilita-
tion work at various locations in Brantley, Charlton, Glynn, Clarke and Walton counties are to receive a total of $14.9 million, approximately 3 percent of GDOT’s September awards. As far as safety projects scheduled around Georgia, the transportation department handed out another 3 percent of its funds. One
in Hall County is worth $1.2 million and will focus on improving the intersection turn lane at Ga. 53 and Ga. 369. Plans also call for railroad safety upgrades in signage and pavement markings, pedestrian safety improvements and rumble strip installation in portions of the state, according to GDOT.
Another contract, valued at $2.6 million, was made available for the construction of a roundabout at the intersection of Ga. 14 and Washington Road (County Road 1389) in Fulton County. The September awards by GDOT bring the total construction contracts for Fiscal Year 2024 to $684 million, which includes the
agency’s Transportation Investment Act (TIA), Design-Bid-Build, and locally administered projects. GDOT’s FY2024 began July 1, 2023. Bids for the state’s Design-BidBuild projects were received Sept. 25, and contracts were awarded to the lowest qualified bidders on Oct. 6, the department noted.
Prosperous Construction Industry Lands Georgia in Top Spot ABC from page 1
and Mississippi, in order by rank. Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin have returned to the top 10 rankings this year. Indiana and Wisconsin have strong workforce development systems, seeing 99 percent and 92 percent respectively of the states’ career and technical education students earning a credential and/or continuing to a career. All three states have innovative and proactive approaches to upskilling, leading to a sustained, positive job growth rate in construction.
Notably, Wyoming climbed 10 spots to 20th. The state’s passage of the Fair and Open Competition Act in 2023 now protects local workers against government-mandated project labor agreements on state and local projects, as the Biden administration and union advocates press the use of PLAs on federally assisted projects. In Wyoming, PLAs would shut out 96 percent of the construction industry from bidding and working on public projects. Michigan continues to fall in the rankings, dropping from 23rd in 2022 to 31st in 2023.
The state’s legislature unfortunately repealed right to work this year, which will take effect in 2024, stripping the right from workers to decide whether or not to join a union as a condition of their employment. Also, local lawmakers codified a prevailing wage executive order into law in 2023, taking effect in 2024. Repeal of the ABC-supported Fair and Open Competition Act is also in sights of the legislature in 2024. This is a trend for the state, as Michigan fell nine spots in 2022. The bottom five states, in ranking order, included Hawaii, Rhode Island, New York,
the District of Columbia and Washington, each receiving poor ratings in creating conditions and policies for merit shop contractors to thrive. The 2023 Building America: The Merit Shop Scorecard rates state laws, programs, policies and statistics in seven categories: project labor agreements, prevailing wage laws, right-to-work laws, public-private partnerships, workforce development, career and technical education and job growth rate. For more information, visit https://meritshopscorecard.org/.
Construction Equipment Guide • Georgia State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • December 27, 2023 • Page 5
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Page 6 • December 27, 2023 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Georgia State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide
Mass Grading Under Way On $200M Recycling Plant Project PLANT from page 1
“The lot sat unused for some time prior to the start of construction,” he said. “No existing buildings have been demolished. Site prep is focused on stripping topsoil and building up the building pad. As of today, we have stone down on the pad and we are working on getting our parking lots and roadways graded. We are expecting to have our site prep wrapped up in a couple of weeks. This includes the warehouse building pad, process tower pad, and all roadways.” In regards to the earth work, Jeans explained that “the main goal is to get the warehouse building pad to grade and stoned. Within that process, we are excavating dirt out of the retention ponds and truck court for the on-site fill material. The material coming from the ponds was primarily placed at the building pad, then the rest of the dirt has been going to areas as required. The biggest issue with this site is the soils. They are very sensitive to moisture. In most cases, one would see the fill material be placed in 12-inch lifts. Due to the sensitivity and compaction needs, we are placing fill material in at 4-inch to 6-inch lifts to achieve compaction. Outside of that issue, we have not encountered any other
The site is large enough for the general contractor to set up areas for the storage of materials, layout yards and the parking of equipment.
issues on site. The bottom of the foundations are ranging from 2 feet below the finished floor to 7 feet, 6 inches below finished floor.” The site has been laid out around the building pad. “We are working on other areas such as the truck court,” said Jeans. “From there, we will lay out other scopes within the project off of tasks on site.” For the earth work and site prep, equipment operators are using a John Deere 350G excavator, a Cat D4 bulldozer, a Cat 825C compactor, a Volvo smooth drum roller and a Case IH 620 tractor pulling two pans behind it for mass grading. The ongoing work has a growing work force as operations intensify. “Our grader has kept around five to six people on the job to get the grading done,” said Jeans. The amounts of soil and other materials being excavated are considerable. The site is large enough for the general contractor to set up areas for the storage of materials, layout yards and the parking of equipment. When construction ramps up for the various structures, infrastructure, and roads, more equipment and crews will be brought on board. Local and regional subcontractors will be helping with the project. Project Background Officials from the company, the Development Authority of Bulloch County and Georgia State Representatives were in attendance for the Oct.10 ground breaking ceremony. The facility employs the very glycolysis technology which has already processed six billion plastic bottles in India. The glycolysis process is based on having enzymes to break down plastics. “Due to its unique recycling process based on glycolysis, the quality of revalyu’s recycled PET products enables its customers to replace conventional oil-based PET with revalyu’s more sustainable rPET,” states the company’s press release. “Compared to conventional PET, revalyu’s rPET is produced using 75 percent less water, 91 percent less energy, and saves around 0.7 barrels of oil and 0.2 cubic meters of landfill space per-2,000 pounds of PET recycled.” Jan van Kisfeld, revalyu’s managing director, points out that the company intends to recycle 25 million plastic bottles
Crews are excavating dirt out of the retention ponds and truck court for the onsite fill material.
daily at the Georgia facility, which is expected to start operating in the Summer of 2025 “Our first plant in the U.S. is a very important step for the expansion of our company,” he said. “Our existing and future U.S. customers have a huge demand for our 100 percent recycled pellets, which are equivalent in quality to conventional oil-based PET pellets. This advanced recycling plant will serve our customers directly from the U.S., enabling quicker transportation time, lower cost and a smaller CO2 footprint.” The company first converts used PET bottles into sustainable monomers, which are then filtered to remove all impurities before being re-polymerized. “The result is a very pure, sustainable rPET polymer which can be used to directly replace PET polymers produced from petrochemicals such as oil,” states revalyu’s press release. “At present the company sells 100 percent recycled PET pellets and filament yarns to over 60 repeat customers in over 15 countries.” The recycled material can be used for textiles, upholstery, polyester carpet fiber, industrial strapping, clothing and even new plastic bottles Vivek Tandon, who founded revalyu, noted: “Used PET plastic can now be efficiently, profitably and easily recycled again and again without degradation of quality. Our already commercialized revolutionary process will transform the PET plastic industry as we know it. In the years to come, less and less PET will be manufactured from oil as it is replaced by high quality recycled material. We thank Bulloch County for their incredible support, we could not have chosen a better partner for our international expansion.” Benjy Thompson, CEO of the Development Authority of Bulloch County, welcomes the investment. “revalyu has a respected reputation for their plastics recycling process and the positive effects it will have on the environment,” he said. “We are thrilled that our region will host the first U.S. site for revalyu and their truly innovative technology. In addition, we look forward to the positive impacts that revalyu will have on our community.” The facility will employ 71 people in Phase One and another 50 people in Phase Two, for a total of 121 jobs. The Heraeus Group, a family-owned global Fortune 500 technology company, purchased revalyu in 2021. CEG (All photos courtesy of Omega Construction.)
Construction Equipment Guide • Georgia State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • December 27, 2023 • Page 7
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