A Salute to a Linder Customer
Family-owned B.R.S. Inc. tackles challenging water and sewer utility jobs in North Carolina
B John Barringer, President
Will Isenhour, Vice President and Project Manager
B.R.S. Inc. is a family-owned utility construction company that has a long history of serving North Carolina, with operations ranging from small residential services to multi-million-dollar water and sewer main projects. The company has seen significant growth and transformation since it was founded in the early 1930s as Barringer Brothers. “My grandfather started out building chicken pads, ponds and clearing back in the early days,” reflected President John Barringer. “Over the years, the company took on projects in a wide range of construction sectors, and then we dove into the utility divisions. In 1986, we renamed the company B.R.S. Inc., which is Bradford, Ruby and Sons — my father, my mother, and my brother and myself. Since then, we’ve been focused on water and sewer utility work.” Located strategically in Richfield, N.C., the company is well-positioned to serve the Greensboro, Charlotte and Salisbury areas, typically bidding for work within a 100-mile radius of its headquarters. Barringer highlights the company’s adaptability and willingness to take on challenging projects as a key factor in its success.
“Typically, we take on the tougher jobs that other companies don’t know how to approach,” With a Terramac RT14R crawler carrier, an operator transports material.
said Barringer. “We’ve found a niche in the utility industry and have built a team capable of handling those unique projects.” “We’ll do anything from a small residential service, which could be $4,000 or $5,000, up to a $60 million transmission water main and everything in between,” added Vice President and Project Manager Will Isenhour.
With approximately 75 employees, the company places a strong emphasis on creating a family atmosphere, offering competitive benefits and pay, and treating its employees well. “Our success is our folks,” stated Barringer. “At B.R.S., we’d like everybody to know that we are a family-owned company. We believe that nobody works for B.R.S., they work with B.R.S.”
Enhancing local infrastructure
Currently, B.R.S. is working on the Irwin Creek Basin to Remount Road Sanitary Sewer Replacement, which is an ongoing project for the city of Charlotte that is critical for residential expansion.
“We’re replacing and upgrading approximately 15,000 feet of sanitary sewer pipe,” noted Isenhour. “The pipe ranges in size from 30 inches down to 12 inches. Over the life of the project, we’ve worked with several other local contractors to bore multiple tunnels, including passing underneath I-77 to install 120-inch storm drain.” Isenhour continued, “This project will provide some of the necessary infrastructure to complete the new duplexes and high-rise apartment projects going up around South Boulevard and the light rail corridor. This entire basin is falling away, so all the pipes had to be upsized to allow for increased water management and demand.” B.R.S. has found that investing in efficient machinery, such as Terramac crawler carriers and Komatsu excavators, is essential to completing projects.
“The Terramacs are a big part of our pipe laying jobs now,” said Construction Operations Manager Jerrod Hatley. “They eliminated the need to run loaders up and down the right-of-way and tear up the surface. They’re neater and more efficient than what we were used to.”
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