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NEWSLETTERS: Spring 2008 Winter 2007 Summer 2007 Spring 2007 Fall 2006 Summer 2006 Spring 2006 Fall 2005 Summer 2005 Winter 2005 Winter 2004 Spring 2004 Summer 2004 Winter 2003 Spring 2003 Summer 2003 Fall 2003 Winter 2002 Spring 2002 Spring 2001 Summer 2001 Fall 2001 Winter 2000 Spring 2000 Summer 2000 Fall 2000 Winter 1999 Spring 1999 Summer 1999 Fall 1999 Press Releases |
The pond that parallels Lincoln's North 70th Street and Saint Elizabeth Medical Center has undergone a lot of changes over the past year. Although many of the changes can be seen, one of the greatest changes cannot be detected without checking the depth of the lake. The hospital originally had two lakes that bordered the main entrance into the facility. The hospital wanted to abandon the lake to the south in order to make room for additional parking. The challenge was to increase the capacity of the north lake to accommodate the rainwater of a 100-year storm. It was determined that 12,000 cubic yards of material needed to be removed from the south lake in order to accomplish this task. This material could then be used as a sub-base for the new parking lot, thus cutting the construction costs of the new structure. A second challenge that this project presented was that the original depth of the north lake was not enough to allow continuous pumping without returning the displaced water to it. If the water could not be returned to the lake, it would be impossible to hydraulically dredge. The solution to both of the concerns was to bore a 12" PVC pipe under the hospital's main entrance road. This allowed the material to be pumped from the north side to the south side while providing drainage for the water back into the north lake. The use of a directional boring machine helped accomplish the above task and facilitated the process of removing the sediment and returning the water, which increased productivity and limited delays. New Landscape Materials Trucks 
The landscape material sales department of General Excavating has updated the look of their delivery trucks. The new banners display many of our products and give useful information about General Excavating. Local Companies Pitch In To Help Build Sports Fields 
While most schools may prepare for the upcoming sports seasons by practicing, Norris Junior/Senior High School is preparing by building new soccer and softball fields. The fields will allow students at the school to practice on the campus rather than driving four miles south to Hickman in order to practice. John Hendricks, of General Excavating, has lived in the Hickman School District for two and a half years and has two daughters, Karen and Kaitlin, that are currently enrolled in the Norris School system. After reading about the project in the Hickman Voice, John contacted Roy Baker, the Superintendent of Norris School District, and volunteered to build and seed the softball and soccer fields. This portion of the project will be completed with help from Nebraska Machinery and Murphy Tractor, both of which donated equipment to the project. Combined, this equipment will move over 12,000 cubic yards to build the new fields. Roy Baker indicated that the fields were necessary in order to help protect students that participate in these sports from having to drive to Hickman in order to practice every day, before and after school. He indicated that the project was unique because no tax dollars were being spent to construct the playing fields. Local companies and individuals are donating the money and equipment, which saves the taxpayers close to $130,000. When asked what prompted General Excavating to contribute these resources during the heart of the construction season, Hendricks answered, ³We donate money to local charitable organizations every year, this year we wanted to augment those contributions by donating our time and resources to accomplish a construction project." Other companies that have donated equipment, time and money to the Norris Park Project include Olsson Associates, Alltel Communications, Inc., Gene Lilly Surety Bonds, Inc. The Tool House, Vermeer Equipment of Nebraska, Union Bank and Trust Company, Meginnis Ford, Hamilton Equipment, Inspro. Inc., and Whitehead Oil Company. 
While sifting through one of the many construction magazines to which we subscribe, I came across the following picture. Although most of us in Nebraska will never have the need for one of these machines, it is interesting to read about them. The pictured truck is a Caterpillar 797, the largest mining truck that has ever been built. Weighing in at a whopping 1.2 million pounds, this truck is capable of handling the largest of hauling jobs. The truck is equipped with onboard computers that monitor engine calibrations and provide remote data retrieval. Peter Adam of Lubes-n-Greases magazine was quoted as saying this truck, ³is as sophisticated as anything in SiliconValley." The price tag on this vehicle is right at $3 million, which according to the author of the article does include a cup holder. You are not out of the woods once the initial purchase is made. Routine maintenance is a pretty expensive endeavor in itself. A change of oil runs about $500, a spare tire $30,000 and it consumes about 160 gallons of fuel an hour. Although not built for speed, the 797 tops out at an impressive 40 miles per hour. General Excavating has added another feature to its web site. The interactive tool, aptly named "calculator", allows the user to pick one of four basic shapes and add dimensions to it. Once the dimensions are in place, the computer calculates the total volume of the fill area. The user is given a choice of materials from a pull down list and allowed to select any type of material General Excavating sells. Once the material is selected the computer tells the user exactly how many tons are required to fill the area and calculates a price for the order. If the user desires, he or she can fill out an order form on-line and schedule a delivery time for the material that was priced. The "calculator" is a valuable tool for pricing different types of materials for your landscaping needs. It allows the user to decide which material best fits into his or her budget without wasting time. It can also be used as a tool to just determine volumes for various landscaping projects. The calculator can be accessed at the General Excavating web site, http://www.generalexcavating.com. If you have any questions about the "calculator", please call Roy in the General Excavating material sales department. 
The winner of the photo of the quarter for 2nd quarter 1999 was Tom Rogge. This picture was taken at the new State Farm site on the corner of 84th and O Streets in Lincoln. The pictured crew is laying sanitary sewer pipe at a depth of 14 feet. There was approximately 1000 feet of sanitary sewer pipe placed by General Excavating on this project. Safety First OSHA has developed a new standard for power industrial trucks, which are defined by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as mobile, power propelled trucks used to carry, push, pull, lift, stack or tier materials. These are often known as forklifts, pallet trucks, rider trucks, forktrucks or lifttrucks. This standard will appear in Section 29 CFR 1926.602(d). The revised standard, which is estimated will prevent 11 deaths and 9,422 injuries per year, must be implemented by December 1st of this year. The changes that will impact the construction industry are as follows:
If you have any questions about the new safety regulations, contact your local OSHA office or Associated Builders and Contractors for further assistance. Note: If you would like to discuss possible methods for implementing the above procedures in your company, contact our Director of Safety, Dave Waters, at 467-1627. Thanks John John Hendricks, an owner of General Excavating, has decided to leave General Excavating to pursue other interests. His last official day with the company was October 1, 1999. John has been primarily responsible for the environmental remediation department of General Excavating since it began. In May of 1998, General Excavating acquired Nebraska Dredging and John took on new responsibility by assisting in the development of this new facet of our company. Over the course of his career at General Excavating, John has been responsible for hundreds of projects worth millions of dollars. His construction knowledge coupled with his sincere desire to provide the best possible service to his clients has directly contributed to the success of this company. Although the employees at General Excavating and the customers that he has diligently served in the past will miss John, he will not be far away. He will continue to reside outside Firth, NE with his wife and two daughters. For all you have done for our customers, this company and the communities in which we work, thank you, good luck and God Bless. |
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