Brayman Construction Corporation by North American Constructors Journal

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Brayman Construction Corporation:

From Suits to Boots

Brayman Construction Corporation’s successes are based upon critical thinking, diversification and clear communication Written by Kevin Doyle Produced by Stephen Marino

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tephen M. Muck set a goal for himself to one day own and build his own successful business.

So, in 1992 he left a successful career in investment banking and bought Brayman Construction Corporation, based in the Pittsburgh suburb of Saxonburg, because, he says, he wanted to trade suits and ties for boots and jeans. The company was founded in 1947 by George Brayman, which by 1992 performed approximately $7 million in annual volume. Today, Brayman Construction Corporation, with Muck as CEO, Chairman of the Board and owner, employs approximately 450 staff members across its various divisions and generates between $150 million to $200 million in annual revenue. Brayman’s success has been built on tenets that are essential to growing any business: critical thinking, diversification, clear communication with stakeholders as well as civic leaders and, of great importance to Muck, creating an environment that encourages his staff to learn and grow within the organization. Brayman’s diversity includes 8 divisions with primary core

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“What I do is strategy buildin connections. So, I try to make understand the capabilities of all [and] are able to utilize each competitive product - Chairman/CEO competencies in heavy civil engineering and construction, foundation drilling, marine construction and commercial diving. One of Brayman’s affiliate companies, Advantage Steel & Construction, self-performs steel erection and operates a steel fabrication shop, and was recently voted the third fastest growing company in Pittsburgh by the Pittsburgh Business Times. Another affiliate, Brayman Precast, operates a precast concrete manufacturing Steve Muck

Brayman Construction Corporation | 5 and a risk manager.

ng and establishing synergy sure that all of those entities of the parts of the organization h other to provide the most t for our customers. O Stephen Muck facility and a rebar fabricating facility with pre-tie capabilities. Brayman’s ability to perform many construction functions in-house and its reputation of tackling challenging projects provides the organization a built-in edge over its competitors.

A Focus On Diversification, Risk Management And New Opportunities Muck characterizes his role in the organization as a strategy builder Tim Taylor

“Strategy is easy to understand, we have a lot of moving parts and a lot of moving companies,” he says. “Part of what I do is to make sure that all of those entities understand the capabilities of all of the parts of the organization [and] are able to utilize each other to provide the most competitive product for our customers.” The organization’s focus, through Muck’s eyes, is on seeking new opportunities. Brayman embraces and effectively manages risk, making novel, high risk projects possible. The companies’ employees foster this entrepreneurial spirit. “Believing in the people in the organization and having their backs has allowed us to do complex, higher margin work, some of which has never been done before,” he says. “(We also have) our willingness to learn new things and thrive. Our latest diversification has been into the construction robotics market, creation and pursuit of solutions for the industry.” Brayman often brings one, two, or more of its divisions, and their particular expertise, together to pursue difficult jobs where there are few competitors with the

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Brayman Construction Corporation | 6 Jeff Hopple

says Muck. At Brayman Construction, as at many heavy construction companies, knowledgeable, efficient people with 40-plus years of experience are retiring, replaced by younger employees who need to learn the nuances of the organization and the jobs to be done.

capabilities to meet the exacting standards set by customers. One of Brayman’s assets is the ability to properly position the right people in the various roles each job presents. That could mean hiring a single individual or acquiring a new company with a necessary skill set and slotting them into the team.

Staff Education A Priority Nurturing employees with opportunities to grow and learn all the different facets of the business has become critical, particularly considering the events of the last two years. Like many industries, the construction industry is experiencing a major labor skills gap, probably the most severe challenge facing the industry,

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To facilitate and expedite the necessary training, Brayman has introduced a mentor program, with the organization’s senior, most experienced people passing along the lessons they have learned, with a one-on-one perspective, to younger staff. It’s a thorough process and connects mid to senior management with less experienced employees. Muck stresses the importance to this group of understanding how the business is run, in addition to product knowledge. The goal is to develop the team and individuals to become complete business people, who, in addition to their skills as engineers and project managers, will have a more well-rounded understanding of the dynamics of the business, in order to manage projects effectively and generate profitable outcomes in the years to come.

Brayman Construction Corporation | 7 One route taken by Brayman to facilitate younger employee development, is a unique preapprenticeship training program instituted six years ago. The program is open to high school graduates, who spend one Saturday every month over a two-year period to become familiar with the many activities and capabilities of Brayman’s 8 divisions. After the two years, they can join one of the organization’s trade apprenticeship programs or one of the internal employment opportunities. A major benefit of the program is that participants can avoid incurring college debt.

Additionally, participants enter the workforce with skills that allow them to integrate into the workforce and contribute almost immediately. A major reward for participants, says Muck, is the increased earnings potential these candidates achieve by the age of 25 or 26.

Premium Placed On Work Site Safety Brayman handles some of the riskiest construction activities, including marine construction, steel erection, heavy lifting and commercial diving anywhere from 10 to 100 feet deep.

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Brayman Construction Corporation | 10 The risk level dictates placing a premium on work site safety. Outside the obvious need to protect your people, ensuring that all employees feel safe enhances productivity and thus, profitability. Employees are encouraged to be on the alert, looking after themselves and their co-workers, especially new employees.

introduce myself.”

“We do some simple things, such as first-year employees getting assigned a different color hard hat,” says Muck. “That way when any experienced person, superintendent or myself see a lime green hardhat, we know that is somebody new who hasn’t been with us a year yet. It also allows me to go over and

Naturally, schedules can change, so Brayman’s policy is to not overbook future work in order to have the capacity to deal with schedule changes. It’s a real balancing act to ensure the company maintains adequate resources and personnel to deliver high quality work to customers in accordance with project schedules.

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Customers And Partners As with any successful business, Brayman maintains clear communication channels with customers, especially when it comes to meeting their projected schedules.

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Brayman Construction Corporation | 12 Brayman works with a variety of partners, some on a long-term basis, some new to individual projects. In the latter case, the company employs a vetting process to evaluate a potential partner’s cultural values and their ability to deliver quality work safely and on time. In Muck’s experience, good contractors all seem to have the same basic values. Their foundations include, first and foremost, caring about their people, the safety of their job sites and not shying away from taking reasonable risks. Such foundations lead to more successful, profitable, and reliable organizations.

High Profile Projects The Brayman Construction Corporation’s resume of successful projects is impressive. Some of the most notable include: CHARLEROI LOCKS AND DAM 4 RIVER CHAMBER COMPLETION PROJECT: The ongoing joint venture project with Trumbull Corporation for the US Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh District, is scheduled as a nine-year project at a cost approaching $270 million dollars upon completion. The modernization effort will yield one new 84-feet-wide by 720-feet-long

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chambers to replace the existing 56-feet-wide lock currently in operation. KANAWHA RIVER BRIDGE: Brayman served as general contractor on this award-winning $83 million project for West Virginia’s Division of Highways District 1, completed in 2011. The 2,975-foot segmental bridge carries I-64 East over the Kanawha River, crossing multiple local roadways and the Norfolk Southern railroad. The 760-foot main span remains the longest segmental span in the United States. This was selected as a Bridge of the Year award winner and was Brayman’s first balanced cantilever bridge. BLUESTONE DAM: Brayman has been at this site in Hinton, WV for multiple projects for over 15 years and anticipates completing its current contract in 2030. Brayman is currently working on the final phase: Phase V Stilling Basin. This project has a current cost of $320 million and duration of approximately nine years. At the onset of these projects, this dam (owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) was considered to be one of the most at-risk for failure dam structures in the United States. Work at this location has included several hundred high-capacity anchors, large mass and tremie concrete

Brayman Construction Corporation | 13 placements, grout curtain cut off walls, complex monitoring instrumentation. As the current project completes the safety upgrades, Brayman will be building a community park with multiple ball fields leaving a lasting legacy for the community. THE ‘ANDY WARHOL BRIDGE’ AND ‘RACHEL CARSON BRIDGE’: Officially known as the 7th Street and 9th Street bridges in Pittsburgh, Brayman rehabilitated both bridges for Allegheny County. Both projects involved extensive steel repairs, complete replacement of the concrete

bridge decks and bridge sidewalks, blasting and painting of the entire structure. Close proximity to downtown Pittsburgh necessitated careful planning and coordination between Brayman, subcontractors, the city, and Allegheny County.

In The Community No matter where the projects are, Brayman’s employees connect and stay in touch with local leadership, including mayors, city council members and others in order to determine local needs. A prime example is the Bluestone Dam project (noted above), the highest

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Brayman Construction Corporation | 14 risk dam in the country, where the company has enjoyed a 15-year relationship working with the local community on development along the New River.

invest in the company, which he accepted,” says Muck. “In large part I learned the business from Jack, in addition to working with Brayman’s superintendents.”

From The Past And Into The Future

The company continues to learn new things and thrive through diversity. The most recent example of diversification has been its entrance into the construction robotics market and the creation and pursuit of solutions for the industry.

Muck attributes much of the company’s success to the early years and a gentleman named Jack Hughes, who retired 20 years ago. “Jack was the only project manager, the purchasing agent, and wore many other hats when I initially acquired the company. I offered Jack the opportunity to

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The formation of the company’s affiliate Advanced Construction Robotics Inc. came about from Muck’s long-term observations that

Brayman Construction Corporation | 15 productivity was lagging, work force availability was dropping, safety was a growing concern, and many day-to-day construction activities, such as rebar tying, were boring and uninspiring. Advanced Construction Robotics debuted TyBot in October of 2018, which ties rebar intersections. Next up is its IronBot product in 2022, which handles rebar carrying and placing. While Brayman’s qualified staff does most of the ‘heavy lifting’ Muck adds his experience and a different perspective. “Our largest, most recent project is the nine-year, $320 million [Bluestone Dam Phase V Stilling

Basin] project,” he says. “Because of the duration, potential escalation risks and the complexity of the work, I spent quality time with our team as we were building [the bid]. Really my role is risk assessment and maybe some left-handed, right-brain approaches to the work. I’ve been at this for almost 30 years now and understand the principles and can put fresh eyes on something my people have worked on for weeks or months or years.” Muck sees Brayman Construction Corporation as a nimble, innovative and reflective company with multiple plans in place. He firmly believes in its people to drive

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“I enjoy the diversity of what we do and I love the people, w field, hands-on, building great works, the guys supervising t trying to get a low, hard-bid project … and trying to utilize all t we have in our diverse organizatio - Chairman/CEO Stephen Muck www.brayman.com

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whether it’s the guys out in the them; or the estimating teams the tools and the resources that on.” k

continued growth and success, encouraging them to take risks and pursue their dreams. “We really do our own thing based on many [foundational industry] principles,” he says. “We’re looking for continuous improvement and efficiencies. Running parallel to that is human development, which has become so critical in our industry.”