12 minute read

UCANE Member of the Month

Next Article
Legal Corner

Legal Corner

C.C. Construction, Inc. has a Long History of Success in the Cape Cod Sitework and Utility Construction Marketplace

Chris Cooney and his family business are keen competitors in both the private and public sectors.

Site development at future Middleboro DPW facility

C.C. Construction, Inc. (CCC) has been digging holes on Cape Cod since 1983, when Chris Cooney and his wife Dyanne decided to start up their own construction business. Understandably the holes they dug in the early days weren’t too big or too deep. “Of course we started out small,” remembers Chris. “My first machine was a John Deere JD555 shovel-dozer, and I only had a small dump truck, one employee, and we rented a small empty lot to park the equipment.” But Dyanne and Chris pushed forward, worked long days and weekends, and it wasn’t long before volume picked up and a good reputation began to build. “We didn’t have our first office until 1988,” recalls Chris, “so Dyanne would answer calls at home from potential customers. I can remember many times shutting down the machine so I could answer her call on my bag-phone, and then running around just before dark to look at sites and prepare quotes.”

During the 80s and 90s, Dyanne and Chris’s hard work began to pay off, as the company grew and became known as a dependable contractor doing mostly private work, small subdivisions, and septic systems. Most of the work was still on the Cape with occasional ventures off-Cape.

By the mid 90s, C.C. Construction had seen steady growth along with an expanded fleet of equipment. During this period Chris made a decision to bid on more complicated and higher risk projects. “We were at a point then where we could bid on site projects with more aggressive completion schedules,” says Dyanne, “and it was during that period that we decided to bid some work on the islands.”

According to Chris, working on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket not only had logistical challenges associated with working off shore, but also excavation challenges including high groundwater tables and sandy soils. “A lot of contractors weren’t interested in this high risk island work,” said Chris, “but after a learning curve we became pretty good at it.” It proved to be a good move by Chris and Dyanne, who have had a nearly continuous and major construction presence on both islands ever since.

continued on page 32

C.C. Construction continued from page 31

Expanding into Public Work

While the early years saw CCC focusing on the private construction market, there were occasional small jobs that the company performed with local town DPW’s on the Cape. By the late 90s, the news on Cape Cod was dominated by water quality issues including lawsuits from the Conservation Law Foundation, pushing EPA and the Commonwealth toward dramatic levels of sewer and water investments on Cape Cod. Chris knew that getting more involved in the public construction market would be key to growing their business for the long term. “We have had some great private clients, and we still do, that were able to create multiple projects over the years,” said Chris, “but we all know that it is the public market that creates the steadiest flow of work year after year. Knowing this fact, and with all the talk back then of potentially billions of dollars flowing onto the Cape for public infrastructure, I knew we needed to be more invested in that market.”

C.C. Construction’s first major public utility project was a water main project in the town of Falmouth in the early 90s. The $870,000 project involved 3,500 feet of 12inch main, 75 house services, and extensive traffic control. The project was completed successfully and since then the company has seen their public work volume steadily increasing. Over the last 10 years the company has performed multiple local sewer and water projects totaling over $50 million, under what is now known as the Cape Cod Section 208 Wastewater Management Plan. Expanding into the public market proved to be another good decision by the family business.

Second Generation and Continued Growth

Chris and Dyanne’s son Brian grew up in the family construction business. Starting literally in the trenches, Brian worked during high school and college summers learning what hard work was all about. After his graduation from Northeastern University in 2009, Brian started full-time with the company. He continued getting field experience, including proficient skills operating heavy equipment, before transitioning to Project Manager in 2012.

Elevated to Vice President in 2017, Brian manages the company’s team of estimators and project managers and works alongside Chris and Dyanne in the day-to-day operation of the business. Brian’s increasing involvement allows Chris to concentrate on equipment purchases and deployment, and to lend his 40 years of experience to any field problems that might surface. As Treasurer of the corporation, Dyanne continues doing the majority of the daily cost control, accounting, and A/P functions that she began doing in 1983. Chris, Dyanne, and Brian Cooney at their new 20,000SF headquarters in Plymouth, MA

New sewers along Route 28 in Falmouth, MA

Aerial view of the newly constructed C.C. Construction headquarters in Plymouth, MA

Brian’s full-time role with the company in 2009 also marked CCC’s first year as a member of the Utility Contractor’s Association of New England. It didn’t take long for Brian to get involved with Association business. He started by attending Government Relations Committee meetings and in 2014 was elected to the Board of Directors. Brian is currently Treasurer of UCANE and his contribution to the industry has had a positive impact, the same way it has had at CCC. Since joining the family business 11 years ago C.C. Construction’s annual revenues rose from $12 million to $24 million. The company currently employs approximately 60 people and typically has six to eight projects going at the same time during peak season.

Brian is quick to suggest that he has only contributed in a small amount to the company’s recent growth. “My mother and father worked very hard to build this company and they are still here every day continuously showing all of us what it takes,” says Brian. “They also have been able to attract and maintain very talented and dedicated employees along the way. Without good employees, business success is impossible.” Chris agrees with Brian’s assessment, but adds with a wink, “I don’t think it’s just coincidental that we started ramping when Brian joined us after college. He has brought in some new ideas and although our styles might be different, we complement each other very well.”

New Headquarters in Plymouth

Increasing work volume usually requires increasing the distance you are willing to travel to secure work and such was the case for CCC. New projects were taking them off-Cape and at significant distances from their base in South Dennis. In 2017, the company bought 28 acres of land in Plymouth, formerly a gravel pit, with convenient access to Route 3. The Town of Plymouth approved the company’s plan for a seven lot commercial subdivision in 2018, with C.C. ConPolished trucks reflect C.C. Construction’s pride in their fleet

struction maintaining 15 acres for its new office and yard. With impressive efficiency the company self-developed all of the lots, sold five to solid local businesses, constructed their new headquarters, and opened up the beautifully landscaped commercial park, all within two years.

On a recent visit to the new headquarters at 11 Cantor Court, one sees a brand new building containing 5,000 SF of modern office space, a 10,000 SF garage area with eight bays for equipment repairs, and 5,000 SF of mechanic’s rooms and under-roof parts storage. Behind the building is a 10,000 gallon above ground fuel storage tank with temperature control capability and delineated areas for excavators, trucks, and support equipment.

Neat piles of various aggregates dot the back yard with a large mobile screener humming away. Excavators, end dumps, and loaders were busy recycling surplus excavated materials from various projects into usable or saleable product. Despite the activity, all the paved areas looked like new as a sweeper with the CC logo circled the site. As Brian explained, “Our family has always taken great pride in keeping our jobsites, as well as our own equipment and facilities, clean and neat. We have reflected that in the extensive landscaping we installed along the park’s entrance road, including the underground sprinkler system that keeps it green.”

Difficult Nantucket Project No

Match for C.C. Construction

Among CCC’s current active projects is the North Liberty Street Sewer and Water Replacement, located on Nantucket Island. The project is part of the Cape Cod Section 208 Plan, funded by low interest SRF loans from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Clean Water Trust, and continued on page 35

administered by MassDEP. The project designer is Haley and Ward, Inc., of Maynard, MA. Site inspection services are being performed by Sarian Company, Inc., located in Sandwich, MA.

The $4.1 million project was bid in April 2019, with a completion date projected for December 2020. The scope includes removal and replacement of about one mile of 8-inch and 12-inch water mains and the same amount of 8-inch and 10-inch gravity sewers. New services are being provided to approximately 150 homes and businesses along the route, in addition to extensive roadway restoration.

The challenges of performing infrastructure work on Nantucket are many. The first of which is seasonal restrictions to working within public roadways. The picturesque island town that boasts of 82 miles of coastline, is only 14 miles long and about four miles wide, with a total area of 48 square miles. Although there are only about 17,000 year-round residents, the population swells to over 50,000 residents during the busy summer tourist season.

“We know from experience that summers are off-limits for us over there,” says Brian. “So what may look like plenty of time to do the work is really a very compressed schedule. On this project we knew we were going to lose the summers of 2019 and 2020, but we didn’t expect to lose six weeks this Spring due to the COVID pandemic as well.”

The streets in Nantucket are very narrow, with fences and shrubs abutting many roadways. Loading of trucks behind the excavator is the norm for much of the pipe work. Existing old utility records are scarce and encountering unknown pipes is a daily event. Working on the island in the cold New England winter is also far from ideal condicontinued on page 37

Pipe crew installing sewers on narrow Nantucket streets (January 2020)

A barge delivers gravel to C.C. Construction’s Nantucket Project

New England’s Premier Precaster!

(800) 696-SHEA (7432) Fax: (978) 388-6959 www.sheaconcrete.com info@sheaconcrete.com

Other Products Include:

Median Barriers, Tanks, Pump Stations, Leach Chambers, Fire Cisterns, Utility Structures, Curbing, Precast Footings, Bollards, Stairs, etc…

773 Salem Street773 Salem Street 87 Haverhill Road153 Cranberry Hwy 153 Cranberry Hwy160 Old Turnpike Road Wilmington, MA Wilmington, MA Amesbury, MA Rochester, MA Rochester, MA Nottingham, NH Mail: PO Box 520 ● Wilmington, MA 01887 Mail: 87 Haverhill Road • Amesbury, MA 01913

tions, when dealing with water and sewer bypass systems and groundwater control. Getting crews, equipment, and materials over to the island presents another complication not found on mainland water and sewer projects.

Although the Nantucket Steamship Authority runs passenger ferries on a limited schedule and can accommodate some bulk and commercial deliveries, CCC chooses large barges as the method of delivery for all equipment and materials. “It takes a lot of coordination on both ends of the trip to get pipe, manholes, stone, and everything else over here,” says Brian. “And even then the weather sometimes scuttles the entire plan.” Brian credits his suppliers, and fellow UCANE members - Acme Shorey Precast Co., Inc. (manholes), P.J. Keating Company (stone and gravel), and Cape Cod Winwater (pipe, fittings, castings) for working closely with CCC to get the needed materials delivered. Brian also adds, “Our own takeoffs need to be very accurate on everything imported to the island because it is not a simple matter of going for a short ride in a pickup to get a missing item!”

To get their crews to the island, CCC flies them to and from work daily via planes operated by Cape Cod Airways, flying out of the Hyannis Airport. CCC also owns a house on the island set up for his employees if they choose to stay overnight, but most workers prefer to take the plane daily. “We totally understand that most of our people want to be home at night with their families,” says Chris Cooney, “and we fully support that and accommodate them.”

After more than 25 years of experience working on Nantucket, C.C. Construction knows what it takes to plan and execute an off-shore project and they are doing it again with the North Liberty Street Area contract, which is running on-time and on budget.

Construction on a new water main through a busy intersection in Falmouth, MA 30-foot excavation for new $35 million Town Hall in Plymouth, MA

We are proud to count C.C. Construction, Inc. as an active UCANE member, and we wish the Cooney family continued success as they position themselves for the next generation. n

This article is from: