General Excavating

All of you are probably familiar with the new Desert Bio-Dome being built at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska. You have probably read at least one or two articles about this unique project.You've probably read information like the dome being the largest glazed geodesic dome in the world. Or possibly that the steel structure will be a 13-story building where visitors can see plant, animal, reptile and insect life found in only three remote deserts in the world. Maybe, you saw that a nocturnal exhibit in the dome's basement would be part of this massive construction project. Eventually, snakes, alligators, bats, beavers and lizards will live in the basement exhibits.

The portion of the project that General Excavating is featuring is not as notable. General Excavating was hired to construct the underground climate control piping - the part of the project that most do not write about or talk about. General Excavating was a subcontractor to Kiewit Construction Company, the general contractor for the project. After assisting with the design/build methods of construction, we were hired to install 900 feet of reinforced concrete pipe, ranging in size from 24-inches to 72-inches for the dome's underground mechanical ductwork system. Installation of 4" drainage tile was required in the pipe trench and an 8" minimum layer of insulating concrete was formed around the supply piping. Dee Ciatti, Project Manager for Kiewit Construction stated, "The General Excavating team did an excellent job of keeping us informed of manpower issues, cooperating with other subcontractors and looking ahead for possible design discrepancies. The on-site team led by Tom Rogge and Todd McMann was professional and flexible in handling project changes."

General Excavating also formed and placed twenty concrete mechanical riser boxes and placed a fifteen-foot deep precast pool. All of this construction was installed in a circular building less than 200 feet in diameter, creating very tight workspace.

According to Lowry Engstrom, Project Manager for General Excavating, "The purpose of this project was to provide a proper atmosphere for temperature and humidity control for the animals and people in the Desert Bio-Dome." If a proper atmosphere were not provided there wouldn't be as much "stink" to read regarding the new Bio-Dome. The total quality of a project always depends on the quality of its' underground installations. We are proud to be associated with such a unique and outstanding project.

General Excavating was recognized as a leader in the construction industry when they received an "Excellence in Construction Award" for the fifth straight year. In fact - General Excavating won two awards!

In the category of INFRASTRUCTURE, General Excavating received top honors with their McLeod USA fiber optic cable installation project. In the category of ENVIRONMENTAL, General Excavating won for their Bryan LGH soil contamination project.

The Cornhusker Chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) awards competition is designed to 'recognize the quality and distinction of merit shop construction projects.' Projects are judged on craftsmanship, owner satisfaction, difficult or unusual challenges, and safety.

The McLeod Project consisted of placing four 2-inch conduits and 40 new manholes in downtown Omaha, Nebraska. McLeod USA requested a loop be placed in this area to provide communications duct to be used by local businesses. Construction required the use of General Excavating's trenchless technology. Existing utilities were located by using a vacuum excavator, lowering costs and reducing safety concerns. Due to high vehicle and pedestrian traffic in downtown Omaha, directional boring was used to place the duct. Rick Phipps of McLeod USA accepted the award with representatives of General Excavating.

The Bryan LGH Project required immediate attention because of a catastrophic release of petroleum from an underground storage tank system. Contamination entered an underground pedestrian walkway connecting the Bryan LGH-East parking lot with the building's physical therapy center. Petroleum began seeping into the soils surrounding the tunnel and coming up through the cracks while omitting vapors that created an unsafe environment. An excellence award was given to General Excavating because they provided a safe and quick method for removing the contaminated soils and installed a proper venting system. The team of Bill Imig from Olsson Environmental and Roger Breitbarth of Bryan LGH accepted the award with representatives of General Excavating.

Special thanks to Don Peterson with Yant Equipment, subcontractor of the piping for the Bryan Hospital fuel tanks.

From left: Dan Erickson - GE Project Foreman, Lonnie McCombs - GE Project Foreman, Mike Stewart - GE Project Manager, Bill Imig - Olsson Associates, Scott Fitzgerald - GE President, Roger Breitbarth - Bryan Hospital.

From left: Larry Siklo - McLeod, Rick Phipps - McLeod, James Oldfield - GE Boring Foreman, Dennis Willeford - GE Project Foreman, Lynn Siedschlag - GE Project Manager, Scott Fitzgerald - GE President

What does 'hard'scape materials mean anyway? This term is being widely used in the landscaping industry to help designate the difference between soft materials and hard materials used for landscaping. Basically, soft materials include flowers, shrubbery, trees and plantings; while 'hard' materials include decorative rock, pond material, boulders, flagstone and mulch.

General Excavating provides bulk 'hard'scape materials and found out what is hot this year! WATER GARDENING - more specifically "Do it yourself" pond kits! Create your own backyard paradise with your easy to install complete water garden kits, provided by General Excavating. In a short weekend, homeowner's can have a beautiful water garden to enjoy for many, many years. These pond kits are simple and affordable. Please visit our yard to take a look at our three different sizes and get some 'hard'scaping advice.

General Excavating hosted an Excavating and Trenching Safety seminar where Dr. Jack Mickle, Ph.D. was the guest speaker. Dr. Mickle, a leading authority in the construction safety industry, acquainted attendees with trenching hazards and enforced the appropriate safety regulations. The personal safety of all workers on a project site is of primary importance. General Excavating's objective is a safety program that will reduce the number of injuries to an absolute minimum. Our goal is zero accidents and zero injuries. This seminar has helped our employees learn how to work safely on the job site. We felt it important to share this with our clients. Thank you for attending!

The soil which falls from the edge of a trench is called a lip failure. It usually occurs because the soil at the edge was weakened or torn loose by the backhoe. Although dangerous, lip failures normally involve a relatively small amount of soil, as illustrated in Figure 1.

If the spoil pile is close to the edge as shown in Figure 2, a lip failure may permit a significant volume of an otherwise stable spoil pile to slide into the trench. OSHA requires that the spoil pile be placed two feet back from the edge unless a retaining device is used.

Employees are rewarded for "sticking around" at General Excavating. In the construction industry it is very difficult to hire and keep good, professional, experienced employees. General Excavating is proud to have some of the best employees in construction. By offering several incentive programs to their employees such as profit-sharing, 401K, health insurance, life insurance and bonuses, employees stick around for many years. Celebrating 5, 10 and 15 year anniversaries for 2001 are:

Bill Hogan - 15 years
Lee Lancaster - 10 years
Lynn Siedschlag - 5 years
Tom Miner - 5 years
Guadalupe Malagon - 5 years
Steve Bliss - 5 years
James Puls - 5 years
Earl Smith - 5 years
Marhlon Brown - 5 years
John Kooistra - 5 years
Russell Carter - 5 years
Todd McMann - 5 years

This quarter's photo winner is Dan Erickson. Dan is an Environmental Project Foreman for General Excavating. This picture shows a tank installation at the Columbus Community Hospital.