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CONSTRUCTION
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Volume 15
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Number 3
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MARCH 2015
Spring is coming
Moving on up
L-R: Roy Amonette, Marc Vogelman and Marcos Saldana
Jennifer Saucier and Kevin Meinhold
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he folks at A.G.P. Rock ‘N Dirt Yard are preparing for a busy spring season in South Austin. Roy Amonette and Marc Vogelman are the owners and Marcos Saldana is the manager. The office manager is Vogelman’s wife, Ellie. The company has operated for almost five years. Saldana says he began working as the manager three years ago. “I usually arrive at the yard at 7:30am to assist contractors who get here before we do,” Saldana said. “I stay until 4:30pm or 5:30pm until everything is done.” Grateful to work at a job he loves, Saldana says he and the owners have fun at the yard every day. Saldana enjoys driving the trucks,
meeting new people and visiting with existing customers. Amonette and Vogelman do a little bit of everything, such as preparing trailers and loading and delivering materials. According to Saldana, the company’s inventory has grown quite a bit since he came on board three years ago. Once in a while, employees get together and have a party at the yard. Customers are always welcome to stop by. The most recent party took place on New Years Eve. Their close friends and customers attended the event. “We smoked a couple of different meats on the barbecue pit and listened
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n 1983, the Caya family bought Standard Drywall Inc. (SDI), a drywall subcontractor founded in San Diego, CA in 1955. Brothers Blaine, vice president, and Robert “Bob” Caya, president, established the corporate headquarters in San Diego, starting with a small crew and very little equipment. Their father Robert, executive vice president, founded the company. The Caya’s saw opportunity in the Austin market and opened a Texas regional office on Drossett Drive in 2011. Jennifer Saucier Is the office manager and project engineer. She assists Kevin Meinhold, general superintendent, and the project managers.
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“Opening an office in Texas was thought out for a long time,” Meinhold said. “We got a job at Randolph Air Force Base 15 years ago and saw the opportunities here.” Meinhold began his career with Standard Drywall 27 years ago. “I love what I do today,” he said. “I have done this type of work most of my life. This is all I know. I started out as a worker in the field and worked my way up to foreman and then to general superintendent.” The company provided the drywall services at the recently completed JW Marriott project, its largest job to date continued on Page 17
Happy trails
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ustinites have a new place to take a morning walk on The Boardwalk Trail at Lady Bird Lake. Jay-Reese Contractors Inc. is the GC and the City of Austin is the owner. Katie Williams, Jay-Reese Contractors, was the project manager and Derek Eckhoff, Jay-Reese Contractors, was the superintendent. Al Godfrey, Limbacher & Godfrey was the architect. The City of Austin project manager was David Taylor. “The Boardwalk Trail final product is a spectacular structure stretching and meandering along the lake shoreline for nearly a mile and a half,” Williams said. “The new trail provides pedestrians a much safer path either day or night from dangerous roads and highways nearby. This location enables everyone to enjoy the natural scenery and wildlife with the beautiful backdrop of downtown Austin.”
The pedestrian/bike trail has various bridge structures and on grade trails, a 425-sf restroom, LED handrail lighting for elevated trail sections, landscaping and associated site work. The project also included structural concrete abutments, stone retaining walls and structural steel shade structures. Williams says the majority of the work was done over Lady Bird Lake and took approximately 18 months. The project faced many obstacles from design, access, storage, safety, fabrication and construction. According to Williams, one small yard at the east end of the project was used for all deliveries, material storage, equipment storage and distribution of the building materials to the project.
The Boardwalk Trail at Lady Bird Lake
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