VOLUME 14 ISSUE 1
$5.99 JANUARY FEBRUARY 2025 SERVING CONTRACTING FIRMS AND THE ARIZONA COMMUNITY. . . THEN & NOW
BRIDGES OVER TROUBLED WATER—AND TRAFFIC: PHOENIX’S FREEWAY OVERPASSES BYPASSING HOOVER DAM: THE MIKE O’CALLAGHAN-PAT TILLMAN MEMORIAL BRIDGE BRIDGING HELL CANYON: A STATE ROUTE 89 PROJECT WITH SOME WICKED DEPTHS CROSSING THE SALT RIVER: CONSTRUCTION OF THE LOOP 202’S MILE-LONG BRIDGE PEDESTRIAN BRIDGES: ARCHITECTS MAKING CONNECTIONS IN INNOVATIVE WAYS EDWARD KRAEMER & SONS: WHY THE MILL AVENUE BRIDGE FALSEWORK COLLAPSED
Arizona’s Timeless Magazine
ARIZONA’S FLOATING CRANE:
CONSTRUCTING THEODORE ROOSEVELT LAKE BRIDGE BIG-D “FULFILLS” AMAZON’S WAREHOUSE REQUEST
MCCARTHY BUILDS GALVESTON ELEMENTARY IN CHANDLER
RESOURCE ENVIRONMENTAL STARTS METROCENTER MALL DEMOLITION
SOUTHWEST JCB REVS UP MACHINERY AT OPEN HOUSE
STEVENS-LEINWEBER BUILDS AN “EMPIRE” IN PEORIA
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Garrett 602-541-0554 Jon 602-541-5971 greerparts@hotmail.com
Publisher Billy Horner billy@arizcc.com
Editor Frolicking with penguins in Douglas Towne Antarctica douglas@arizcc.com A heck of a lot more rain and snow; Arizona needs a wet year
Change and hoping some of it works
Positive changes for our country
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2025?
Contributors Learning something Peter Corbett new every day Mark Edelman Bill Kelton Rebirth of the Richard Parker America I grew up in Luke M. Snell Doug Sydnor International travel in the spring
Production Manager Laura Horner laura@arizcc.com
In Memoriam Charles “Chuck” Runbeck 1928 - 2020
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Arizona Contractor & Community (ACC) magazine is published bi-monthly (Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr, May/June, July/Aug, Sept/Oct, Nov/Dec). ACC is a professional publication designed for the contracting industry, engineers, architects, equipment rentals, suppliers, and others interested in Arizona and its history. Content including text, photographs or illustrations may not be reproduced without the written permission from the publisher. The publisher does not assume responsibility for unsolicited submissions. ACC reserves the right to reject any editorial and advertising material and reserves the right to edit all submitted content material. Arizona Contractor & Community Copyright © 2025 All rights reserved.
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CONTENTS
10 14 17 47 48 54 60 64 68 74 76 80 84 88 90 94
Contributors - Peter Corbett & Richard Parker From The Editor: Our Unsung Emergency Responders: Tow Truck Operators - Douglas Towne Construction Around Arizona: Projects • People • Practices Back When: The Bridge That Bypassed An Engineering Wonder - Douglas Towne Bridges Over Troubled Water-And Traffic: Phoenix’s Freeway Overpasses - Douglas Towne Arizona’s Floating Crane: Constructing Theodore Roosevelt Lake Bridge - Billy Horner Bypassing Hoover Dam: The Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge - Douglas Towne Bridging Hell Canyon: A State Route 89 Project with Some Wicked Depths - Peter Corbett Crossing the Salt River: Construction of the Loop 202’s Mile-Long Bridge - Bill Kelton Saluting Arizona’s Builders: Jed Billings Douglas Towne Old School Equipment: Early Self-Propelled Boom Cranes Within Arizona - Billy Horner Building on the Past: 1987 - Westbrook Expands Interstate 17 in North Phoenix - Billy Horner Architect’s Perspective: Pedestrian Bridges - Making Connections - Doug Sydnor, FAIA Digging Through the Archives: John Kraemer and EKS Billy Horner Bid Results Advertising Index
Front Cover Theodore Roosevelt Lake Bridge under construction by Kraemer & Sons, 1990. Article on page 54 EIGHT
Image Courtesy of Arizona Contractor & Community
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PETER CORBETT ARTICLE ON PAGE 64
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P
eter Corbett worked for 35 years as an Arizona journalist after graduating from Northern Arizona University in 1980. His career included stints at weekly newspapers in Flagstaff and Verde Valley, the Scottsdale Progress, the Phoenix Gazette, and finally at The Arizona Republic before taking a buyout in 2015. A native of Omaha, he grew up in Columbus, Ohio, before moving to Flagstaff in 1974 to attend NAU. During his 50 years in Arizona, Corbett developed a keen interest in history while traveling the state. His treks included multiple hikes to the top of Mount Humphreys, a four-day hike across the Grand Canyon, and visits to the waterfalls at Havasupai. He’s lived in Flagstaff, Sedona, Clarkdale, Tempe, and, finally, Scottsdale for 30 years. Corbett and his wife have two adult children, both ultramarathon trail runners. Corbett worked for more than two years at the Arizona Department of Transportation, where he contributed blogs on the history of the state highway system. In 2015, he launched “On the Road Arizona,” a travel and history blog that was honored as Arizona’s Best Travel Blog by the Phoenix New Times. He is a freelance writer for Arizona Contractor and Community, True West Magazine, Flagstaff Business News, and Quad Cities Business News.
RICHARD PARKER ARTICLE ON PAGE 31
R
ichard Parker is a journalism student at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. A senior, he plans to utilize his videography and documentary training to show others the beauty and fragility of the Arizona environment. He is passionate about the Arizona wilderness and wants his reporting to encourage others to protect and promote a cleaner environment. Richard wants his work to spread awareness and encourage others to look past our differences and understand that we are all in this together. He is writing a piece about the enormous loss of wildlife and biodiversity over the last century and what the experts say we should do to slow and reverse this process. He plans to continue his environmental research and reporting by taking on these big stories that not many people want to hear about and humanizing them to mass audiences so that these significant problems do not seem so daunting to the individual. In addition to environmental issues, Richard has published on topics including indigenous housing projects and a student tax guide in 2023. Outside of journalism, he has been a screen printer for almost a decade, enjoys hunting and fishing with his friends and family, and likes to play the keyboard to relax. JANUARY FEBRUARY 2025
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Projects . PEOPLE . PRACTICES
SOUTHWEST JCB REVS UP ITS MACHINERY FOR A SUCCESSFUL OPEN HOUSE
S
outhwest JCB, a provider of construction and job site machinery and equipment, held its inaugural open house in Phoenix at its new location in November 2024. The event, which took place at 2950 West Durango Street, was designed to showcase the company’s 5-acre facility, meet with customers, and highlight the full range of JCB and Dynapac machinery available for the Arizona market. The facility is specially designed to support all aspects of JCB and Dynapac products, including service and maintenance. ARIZCC.COM
CONSTRUCTION AROUND ARIZONA People
CONSTRUCTION AROUND ARIZONA
Images Courtesy of Arizona Contractor & Community
With approximately 100 guests in attendance, the event featured booths from JCB North America, Dynapac Corporation, and Avant. Attendees had the opportunity to interact with staff, obtain pricing for equipment, and participate in a raffle for door prizes. A catered BBQ lunch was also provided, creating a relaxed atmosphere for networking. The parking lot was lined with various models of current equipment, offering guests the chance to see the machinery up
close. Doug Varner, Director of Operations for Arizona, shared his excitement about the event. “We are particularly excited about our new 4CX backhoe, which is the industry’s
Right: Brianna Buenabad and Kayla Wright (l-r), sales & marketing specialists at the JCB registration booth. ARIZONA CONTRACTOR & COMMUNITY
CROSSING THE SALT RIVER:
CONSTRUCTION OF THE LOOP 202’S MILE-LONG BRIDGE BILL KELTON
“A
re you sure we have a good number?” Wilson Sundt asked as he peered over my shoulder at the Quattro Pro spreadsheet on my computer screen. Prompted by my announcement that our in-house estimate to build bridge girders was lower than any of the quotes we had received, his question echoed in my brain because I knew that none of us had ever built Type VI bridge girders, much less over 800 of them.
SIXTY EIGHT
Wilson was a decisive leader at Sundt Corp., and he expected that same characteristic in the team. So, I responded affirmatively with all the confidence I could muster. Wilson glanced at me and then at our division manager and said, “Well, I guess we're in the girder business now.” What I consider to be the Freeway Construction Olympics of the 1980s and 1990s resulted from the long overdue funding of mass transportation in the Valley. ADOT was releasing projects at an unprecedented
pace, and many larger contractors were locked in intense competition for the work and the resources needed for the projects. Those resources included steel, concrete, aggregates, equipment, and labor. Sundt and Tanner Companies were fierce competitors on larger projects. In 1992, our team at Sundt had just lost a large project on I-10 to Tanner. Then, despite swinging hard at the new projects, we lost the second Mill Avenue Bridge Project to Edward Kraemer & Sons. When ADOT advertised the Mile Long Bridge project, our deflated team was convinced Tanner would have multiple advantages because they owned concrete ready mix and girder manufacturing companies. The Mile Long Bridge is Loop 202 from approximately McClintock Road to the
JANUARY FEBRUARY 2025
Loop 101 interchange. It goes across what is now Tempe Town Lake in the Salt River channel. This project was unique for Arizona because it was more of a causeway constructed in Louisiana marshes than a normally dry riverbed crossing. Most river crossings are between 3 and 7 spans, but the Mile Long Bridge was nearly 40 spans long and more than 50 feet above the riverbed in some places. Each of approximately Far left: The 140-foot-long AASHTO Type VI bridge girders were constructed in the two casting beds (center of the photo) in Salt River Material’s yard on McKellips Road, 1995. Left: Four workers pose by a concrete truck during construction, 1995. Below: Action Ready-Mix concrete mixers staged for a bridge pour, 1995. Bottom: Girder preparation facing west towards Phoenix, 1995. Images Courtesy of Arizona Contractor & Community
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ADVERTISERS’ INDEX
PLEASE PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS, THEY MAKE THIS PUBLICATION POSSIBLE! Aggregate Machinery 480-730-1212 aggregatemachinery.net
P. 16
Earnhardt 480-926-4000 nobullfleet.com
P. 26
Metro Engineering & Survey P. 32 623-466-6640 metroaz.net
Southwest Asphalt 480-730-1033 fisherind.com
Arizona Materials 602-278-4444 arizonamaterials.com
P. 38
ECCO Equipment 602-276-2040 eccoequipment.com
P. 24
Metro Traffic Control 623-879-0610 metrotrafficcontrol.net
P. 12
Southwest Industrial Rigging P. 24 602-278-6281 swirusa.com
Asphalt Busters 623-936-8800 asphaltbusters.com
P. 63
EES 480-809-4687 emergencyenv.com
P. 13
NCS 928-567-6585 networxcs.com
P. 53
Southwest JCB 602-454-9808 SWJCB.com
Baja Ready Mix 602-503-9391 readymixconcreteaz.com
P. 20
Elite Sports 602-899-9200 elitesportsbuilders.com
P. 20
NECA 602-263-0111 azneca.org
P. 28
Specialty Companies Group P. 7 623-582-2385 specialtycompaniesgroup.com
BidJudge 602-456-BIDZ bidjudge.com
P. 40
Empire Sales Center 520-582-2050 empirecat.com/eloy
P. 32
New West Oil 602-759-5559 newwestoil.com
P. 67
Statewide T&T 602-368-8797
P. 87
Blueline Grizzly 928-308-1901 bluelinerockgrizzly.com
P. 83
Fisher’s Tools 800-390-4063 fishertools.com
P. 40
New Western Rentals 623-847-3594 newwesternrentals.comw
P. 90
Sunland Asphalt 602-323-2800 sunlandasphalt.com
P. 32
Borderland 520-623-0900 borderland-inc.com
P. 11
Forrest Rents P. 87 602-620-2383 forrestequipmentrentals.com
Pacwest Rentals 480-832-0855 pacwestrentals.com
P. BC
Sunstate Equipment 888-456-4560 sunstateequip.com
P. 36
Branco Machinery 480-892-5657 brancomachinery.com
P. IFC
GenTech 800-625-8324 gentechusa.com
P. 38
Powerscreen 602-772-1419 powerscreenwestern.com
P. 22
Trench-Ade 833-384-1176 trench-ade.com
P. IBC
Buesing Corp 602-233-3339 buesingcorp.com
P. 4
GFT Ready Mix 602-269-9206 gftmix.com
P. 73
Preach Building Supply 602-944-4594 preachbuildingsupply.com
P. 59
TSR 602-253-3311 tsraz.com
P. 30
CalPortland 602-817-6929 calportland.com
P. 42
GoodFellow 623-594-5401 goodfellowcorp.com
P. 53
Purple Wave Auction 866-608-9283 purplewave.com
P. 3
Vermeer Mountain West P. 40 480-785-4800 vermeermountainwest.com
CAMS 602-331-5455 cams-az.com
P. 79
Greer Aftermarket Parts 602-541-0554 602-541-5971
P. 6
Reliable Portable Bathrooms P. 5 602-601-2222 reliableportablebathrooms.com
Westroc 480-550-1815
P. 42
Castle Hot Springs 844-276-8052 castlehotsprings.com
P. 42
Herc Rentals 602-269-5931 hercrentals.com
P. 10
Reuter Fabrication 602-415-0449 reuterequipment.com
P. 8
WillScot 800-782-1500 willscot.com
P. 59
CED 602-437-4200 cedphx.com
P. 9
Insearch Corp 480-940-0100 insearchcorp.com
P. 46
RT Underground 602-622-6789
P. 12
WSM 623-936-3300 wsmauctioneers.com
P. 18
Cemex 602-416-2652 cemexusa.com
P. 46
Insurica 602-273-1625 insurica.com
P. 11
S&S Paving 602-437-0818 sspaving.com
P. 83
Curry Fluid Power 602-661-6596 curryfluidpower.com
P. 34
JS Cole 602-633-0990 jscole.com
P. 92-93
Salt River Materials 480-850-5757 srmaterials.com
P. 78
Curry Supply 800-345-2829 currysupply.com
P. 34
KE&G 520-748-0188 kegtus.com
P. 7
Shanes Grading & Paving 602-992-2201 shanespaving.com
P. 28
Custom Truck 602-527-4088 customtruck.com
P. 17
Keystone Concrete 480-835-1579 keystoneconcretellc.com
P. 6
Shanes Hauling 602-992-2201 shanespaving.com
P. 30
DCS Contracting 480-732-9238 dcscontracting.com
P. 9
Landco Power 480-788-1333 landcorental.com
P. 12
Sharp Creek Contracting 602-437-3040 sharpcreek.com
P. 20
DitchWitch 602-437-0351 ditchwitchwest.com
P. 91
Lang, Thal, King & Hanson 480-534-4900 lang.law
P. 16
Sitech Southwest 602-691-7501 sitechsw.com
P. 63
Dynamic Diesel 602-376-1448 dynamicdieselrepair.com
P. 9
Madco Rentals 480-280-0364 madcorentals.com
P. 83
Solterra Materials 602-531-0454 solterramaterials.com
P. 82
E&E Companies 480-251-8929
P. 22
MDI Rock 602-569-8722 mdirock.com
P.22
Sonsray Machinery 844-sonsray sonsraymachinery.com
P. 44
NINETY FOUR
P. 8
P. 9
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