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TxDOT’s New $8.1B Plan $95M UT-San Antonio Research Addresses I-35 Congestion Building to Showcase Lab Work Since 2011, TxDOT has been developing solutions for I-35 that not only enhance mobility but reflect what is important to the community. At the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce Regional Growth Summit, TxDOT was joined by state Sen. Kirk Watson and other local officials to announce a plan to add two managed express lanes in each direction along 33 mi. of I-35 from RM 1431 (Round Rock) to SH 45 Southeast (near Buda) as part of an enhanced I-35 project called Capital Express. The proposal also includes lowering I-35 through downtown Austin and potentially removing the upper decks from Martin Luther King Boulevard to Airport Boulevard. “We only get one shot to rebuild and improve I-35 through downtown Austin, so we have to do as much as is reasonable within the existing footprint to enhance mobility and lower it,” said Watson. “I want to thank TxDOT for continuing their hard work and honoring what’s important to our community.” Adding two managed express lanes in each direction will require extensive reconstruction of I-35, providing the opportunity to add additional enhancements to the project. They could include placing the express lanes under the mainlanes where right of way is limited and providing direct access
between the express lanes and frontage roads. Those features improve safety by preventing drivers from weaving across mainlanes and causing interruptions. The Capital Express project also includes operational improvements such as longer entrance and exit ramps, intersection bypass lanes, and bicycle and pedestrian improvements. “Five segments of I-35 in the Austin area are on the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s 2016 Top 100 Most Congested Roads in Texas list,” said Watson. “I-35 through downtown Austin is number two statewide. We need solutions that provide true transit benefits and give drivers reliability when they need it.” According to Austin’s communityimpact.com, the projected cost is $8.1 billion. This new proposal requires adjusting the on-going environmental study. Instead of studying the project in three sections, the new alternative will be studied as one, from RM 1431 to SH 45 Southeast. Public input provided at previous I-35 meetings, open houses, and workshops will be incorporated into the new project. Opportunities to provide additional input will be available at open houses scheduled for spring 2018. “Having a new and improved I-35 is something we have been waiting on for see EXPRESS page 14
When finished, the SEB will house various departments that are currently located in other nearby buildings.
By Eric Olson CEG CORRESPONDENT
What promises to be a sparkling new addition to an already beautiful campus is currently rising from a site on the eastern edge of the main campus of the University of Texas at San Antonio. The school began constructing a 153,000-sq.ft., four-story Science and Engineering Building (SEB) off Bauerle Road and Key Circle earlier this year with a finish date set for May 2020. The $95 million project, the largest in school history, will house laboratory, classroom and meeting space designed to support students and researchers in brain health, mechanical and chemical engineering, biology and chemistry. According to a UTSA official helping oversee
the project, the architecture of the building is contemporary and will blend in with other buildings around it. But the SEB’s design is most notable because it will utilize a large amount of glass both on the exterior and interior to literally give transparency to the work within. “We have designed it so the glass allows students from other disciplines and majors, as well as visitors, to see into the laboratories from the hallways, a concept that is called ‘Science on Display’,” explained Robert Espinoza, director of capital projects at UTSA. By using glass to showcase on-going lab work, the school hopes to foster better interaction among students and give them the chance to see USTA page 12
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Page 4 • November 12, 2017 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Texas State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide
WestStar Bank Announces 14-Level Texas Seeks $61B for Tower Will Transform El Paso Skyline Harvey Damages to By Lori Tobias
WestStar will occupy three floors of the building and will also have a commercial bank operation on the ground floor. The bank will bring an additional 35 employees to downFor the first time in nearly 40 years, a major commercial town El Paso. In total, WestStar Bank and its affiliates will office building is on the drawing board for downtown El have approximately 180 employees working in the new Paso. WestStar Bank announced this fall that it will build the location. 14-level WestStar Tower at 601 N. Mesa Street, just across “We are excited to be closer to the start of the construction the street from its current headquarters. phase of a first-class office building in downtown El Paso,” “Fourteen stories in downtown El Paso is big,” said said L. Frederick “Rick” Francis, chairman and CEO of Richard Dayoub, president and CEO of the Greater El Paso WestStar Bank. “WestStar Bank has always had a presence Chamber of Commerce. “In Dallas, maybe not so much. In downtown and we are proud to continue that legacy and put our name on this project.” The Tower will be constructed on property purchased by Hunt Companies in 2014. The land was purchased at the time as a part of an exploratory effort by Hunt with an eye toward potentially relocating its offices downtown, as well as identifying a suitable site for other office and retail use, according to the press release. Since then, Hunt has had numerous discussions with the city of El Paso regarding the building’s usage, public amenities, and new-construction incentives, and received approval by City Council on Sept. 19. WestStar Tower LLC is still in discussions with the county of El Paso, and hopes to receive the county’s approval soon, according to a press release. Hunt Companies will move its headquarters from Mesa Street on the city’s west side to the new facility in downtown El Paso. The office building will serve as the corporate headquarters for Hunt, occupying three floors of the building. “We are very pleased that the city has given their full support to this unique downtown project,” said Josh For the first time in nearly 40 years, a major commercial office building is Hunt, executive vice president of on the drawing board for downtown El Paso. Hunt Companies. “We hope to wrap up our discussions with the county in Chicago, maybe not so much. But here, it’s big, and it’s the very near future and receive their approval as well. We important not because it is a tower, but because it will be the are proud to lead this project as part of our efforts to develop first new really significant size office building downtown. and revitalize the heart of our city. Our hope is that the new More important than anything else, it’s a new crown jewel WestStar Tower will serve as a catalyst for continued growth for our downtown revitalization.” in the downtown El Paso. It is our intent to create a premier The revitalization is part of the city of El Paso’s “20 in 20 downtown location.” Strategic Plan,” which includes eight strategic goals, among The current WestStar building also will attract a new tenthem the goal to create an environment conducive to strong ant, Dayoub said. “It’s a beautiful building with its own parksustainable economic development. ing garage and surface parking, so someone else will no Plans for the development include eight levels of office doubt want to take that building on.” space with additional levels for on-site parking with approxCompletion is scheduled for 2020, however, Dayoub imately 600 parking spaces, ground-level retail areas and noted that construction could begin as early as 2018, making park-like green space available for use by the public. it possible for an earlier completion date. WestStar’s investment in the project is about $70,000,000, (This story also can be found on Construction according to a resolution from the El Paso City Council, Equipment Guide’s website at www.constructionequipwhich also voted to approve tax incentives for the project. mentguide.com.) CEG
Public Infrastructure
CEG CORRESPONDENT
The state of Texas needs more than $61 billion in additional federal assistance to rebuild the public infrastructure of the Texas Gulf Coast damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Harvey, according to Commissioner John Sharp with the Governor’s Commission to Rebuild Texas. Hurricane Harvey caused an estimated $180 billion in damages. The $61 billion represents the portion for public infrastructure such as roads, bridges, schools, government buildings and other public facilities. It also includes projects designed to mitigate the impact of future storms on the Texas Gulf Coast. The $61 billion would be above current expenditures by the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) and does not include the cost of temporary and permanent housing needs for individuals, which is overseen by Commissioner George P. Bush and the General Land Office, not the Governor’s Commission to Rebuild Texas. Of the $61 billion, 60 percent of the money is for flood control; 33 percent to buy out and elevate houses and buildings in flood-prone areas; and the remainder for hazard mitigation, water utilities as well as roads and bridges. The Governor’s Commission to Rebuild Texas derived the $61 billion from surveys submitted by mayors and county judges listing their communities’ needs, plus U.S. Army Corps of Engineer projects that could mitigate the potential for future storm damage. “The $61 billion represents a snapshot at this time as the request will evolve as we continue to work with mayors, county judges and other local officials to document their communities’ needs for public infrastructure,” said Sharp. The Commission’s staff refined the data with the assistances of a panel of experts selected from the state’s university systems for their expertise in coastal flooding and disaster mitigation. The list is not considered comprehensive and is only illustrative of the state’s needs. And having a project on this list does not alleviate the need for local officials to file the necessary required paperwork with the federal or state government to request financial assistance or reimbursement, and to compete for funding opportunities. “We wanted to illustrate the size of the assistance we need and the type of projects,” said Sharp. “Just because a project is on the list does not mean it will be funded and just because a project is not on the list doesn’t mean it can’t be funded if a mayor or county judge brings it to us.” Sharp said there are some local projects that did not get on the list because they were not submitted first to mayors or county judges, or they have not yet submitted them to the commission. “This is a ‘bottoms up’ process. We rely on the county judges and mayors to tell us what their communities need,” Sharp said. (This story also can be found on Construction Equipment Guide’s website at www.constructionequipmentguide.com.)
Construction Equipment Guide • Texas State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • November 12, 2017 • Page 5
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Page 6 • November 12, 2017 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Texas State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide
Houston, Texas Central Sign Agreement for Bullet Train In a city whose official seal boasts a train as a symbol of progress, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and the Texas Central railroad company reached agreement on Aug. 17 to work together on an economic development and jobs-creating plan for a bullet train that will revolutionize travel in the state. Turner and Texas Central, developers of the high-speed train between Houston and North Texas, unveiled the joint agreement in support of the project, including proposed traveler-friendly connections between the new train station and the greater Houston region. Texas Central will consult with the city on finalizing Houston’s passenger station site — in the general area south of U.S. 290, west of Loop 610 and north of Interstate 10 — near major employment centers including the Galleria, Medical Center, Energy Corridor and Downtown. Texas Central would ensure that the terminal has a “high level of integration with local transit systems,” including “convenient, efficient and direct access for passengers to and from local transit systems,” according to the memorandum of understanding signed today at Houston City Hall. The action marks the most significant
embrace yet between Houston and Texas Central as it moves forward on the innovative passenger line connecting the state’s biggest metro areas in 90 minutes, with a midway stop in the Brazos Valley. It comes just days after Texas Central announced that Irving-based Fluor Enterprises and The Lane Construction Corporation will handle pre-construction planning, scheduling, cost estimating, design and engineering services and will be the preferred design build group after the financial close. Tim Keith, president of Texas Central, praised the city, noting that “over the project’s entire history — from conception to development, and now into the construction phase — Texas Central has had a strong partnership with the city of Houston.” Turner said Texas Central’s unique investor-led model, combined with the immense scale of the more than $10 billion project, creates a real opportunity for Houston — which so dominated Texas rails that it once was known as the place “where 17 railroads meet the sea.” “As I shared in my State of Mobility address, Houston needs a paradigm shift — a comprehensive approach to mobility that includes all forms of transportation,” Turner
said. “Certainly, a high-speed train to Dallas is a glowing idea among the options, especially when state transportation officials project traffic congestion on Interstate 45 between Houston and Dallas will double by 2035, increasing travel time from about four hours to more than 6.5 hours. Simply building more highways is not the answer.” Turner said the city will work with TCR to make sure there is a wide choice of transportation options into the Houston area from the Houston train station. “We also look forward to the project’s creation of job opportunities and economic development. Another huge win for taxpayers is that the Texas Bullet Train is a private venture that receives no public funds,” Turner said. Keith said the company is looking forward to moving ahead with the city on a project that will help the local economy and provide other job opportunities. “We are thrilled to partner with the mayor and the city for our shared vision for what this project can be for the Houston region. We are grateful the mayor has endorsed a major milestone in the plan to bring a stateof-the-art Bullet Train system to our great state,” Keith said. “We’re ready to go.” Houston businessman Drayton McLane
Jr., a member of the Texas Central board of directors and former owner of the Houston Astros, said the project is a game-changer — a new transportation choice that’s fast, safe, reliable and productive. “The bullet train is the next great deal for Texas. This demonstrates how the free market can play an integral part in addressing America’s enormous infrastructure opportunities. The agreement continues the project’s momentum and shows the nation — and the rest of the world — how Texas does big things the right way for the public good,” McLane said. The project is expected to generate $36 billion in direct economic activity over the next 25 years, create more than 10,000 direct jobs per year during construction and up to 1,000 jobs permanently when operational. The agreement says many of these jobs will involve construction within the city, including building the rail line and the Houston passenger station. Local companies will benefit from construction work, such as building the system and maintenance facilities, supplying materials and providing long-term support for our state’s newest industry. The agreement says Texas Central is committed to recruiting see TRAIN page 14
Kirby-Smith Promotes Gary TxDOT Clears Hurricane Debris Boyd to Dallas Service Manager Kirby-Smith Machinery Inc. announced the promotion of Gary Boyd to service manager in Dallas. Boyd, who joined the company in 2009, will manage the branch service operations for Kirby-Smith Machinery’s Dallas facility. He was promoted from his role as product service manager. Boyd brings more than 40 years of heavy equipment service experience to the position, including previous experience as a branch service manager in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. “Gary has extensive experience coming into this role,” said Tom Montgomery, vice president of customer care. “He has served the company well as both a service technician and as a product service manager. Gary has been a tremendous mentor for our new technicians, and I believe he will do a great job leading our service team in Dallas.” For more information, call 888/861-0219 or visit kirby-smith.com.
As of mid-October, the Texas Department and only 13 required some repair. of Transportation has collected more than 10 Of the 25 State of Texas Assistance million cu. ft. of debris — or the equivalent Requests for debris removal TxDOT has of about 186 football fields — in the four received, work has been completed in 10 districts most impacted by Hurricane Harvey counties and cities. since landfall Aug. 25. From Corpus Christi to Houston and numerous Recovery Spotlight on towns in between, TxDOT crews have worked tirelessly to help clear Refugio County roadways and help citizens in their ongoing recovery efforts. When Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas “We continue to deliver much coast, it left a path of destruction in its needed service to those communities wake. The trees and brush of the Coastal Gary Boyd seeking our assistance,” said Marc Bend sustained major damage causing Williams, TxDOT deputy executive director. “I am so proud of the men approximately 215,000 cu. yds. of debris and women of TxDOT who have so in Refugio, Bee, Aransas and Goliad selflessly given their time and energy Counties. Texas A&M Forest Service, Texas to this clean-up effort, even while many of them continue coping with Department of Transportation, Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service and the their own personal losses.” More than 600 TxDOT employees Texas Department of Public Safety are working weekly rotations have been working together to remove vegetative brought in from around the state to debris and help rebuild Texas. assist local employees with debris removal in the hardest-hit areas on the coast from Corpus Christi to Beaumont. At For more information, visit TxDOT.gov. (This story also can be found on the height of the storm, more than 500 road (This story also can be found on Construction Equipment Guide’s web- closures impacted the state transportation Construction Equipment Guide’s website at www.constructionequipment- system. Additionally, more than 4,300 site at www.constructionequipmentbridges were inspected following the storm guide.com.) guide.com.)
Construction Equipment Guide • Texas State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • November 12, 2017 • Page 7
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CyrusOne, a premier global data center REIT, announced today plans for a new state-of-the-art data center campus in Allen, Texas, north of Dallas. The project will consist of three phases, with construction commencing in October. The first data center will be approximately 340,000 sq. ft., bringing CyrusOne’s total footprint in Texas to more than 1.7 million sq. ft. Upon completion, the site’s three data centers will offer more than 100 megawatts of available power. “The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex has always been a strong market for CyrusOne, and we continue to see growing demand from customers to scale with us. Allen is a business-friendly community, and its proximity to Dallas makes it an ideal site for our new state-of-the-art data center campus,” said John Gould, executive vice president, global sales, CyrusOne. “It’s great to welcome this Texas-based leader and the national companies they serve to Allen,” said Allen Mayor Stephen Terrell. “CyrusOne makes the perfect neighbor as their investment in our community strengthens our tax base, which benefits our schools and services. Additionally, the new data cen-
ter has few needs for city services and will have minimal impact on our infrastructure, thanks to CyrusOne’s use of environmentally-friendly waterless cooling technology.” The new facilities will have access to multiple cloud providers and allow direct access to one of the largest fiber hubs in the United States, along with other CyrusOne hubs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Additionally, the new data centers will be linked to the CyrusOne National Internet Exchange, which delivers interconnection between other CyrusOne locations across the country. CyrusOne operates 40 data center facilities across the United States, Europe and Asia to provide customers with the flexibility and scale to match their specific IT growth needs. CyrusOne facilities are engineered to include the power-density infrastructure required to deliver high availability, including an architecture with the highest available power redundancy. For more information, call 855/908-3662 or visit cyrusone.com. (This story also can be found on Construction Equipment Guide’s website at www.constructionequipmentguide.com.)
Construction Equipment Guide • Texas State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • November 12, 2017 • Page 9
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Up-and-Coming Contractor Has Texas Seeing Orange By Ryan Johnson SPECIAL TO CEG
Oscar Orduño could have easily followed in his father’s footsteps by working in the bakery business. After all, Orduño came from a family of bakers. Both his grandfather and father owned bakeries in Mexico, and Orduño was destined to do the same. But the well-worn path wasn’t for him. Today he’s the owner of a successful construction company, with 180 employees, working in the Dallas-Fort Worth area — one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States. After his parents sent him to Texas to live with an aunt, Orduño learned to speak fluent English, graduated from high school and enrolled at the University of Texas at Arlington School of Architecture. Two years into college, a good friend told Orduño about a degree program that caught Orduño’s attention — construction management. “My friend told me what I could do with a degree in construction management,” Orduño said. “He took me to a job site, and I realized that was truly what I wanted to do. Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to build things.” It wasn’t long after that Orduño transferred to Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, where he completed a bachelor’s degree in construction management in 2005. That move set off a series of events that changed Orduño s life and opened new doors in the construction world. Success Comes Quickly After signing on with a local general contractor, Orduño’s first project was supervis-
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ing and managing the construction of a new Home Depot store in Houston. From there he went on to become a senior project manager for Craig Olden, a division of Hayward Baker. He gained valuable experience in temporary and permanent earth retention systems. He then took that knowledge and started his own company — Oscar Orduño Inc. — in 2014. “I’ve always wanted to have
Orange, Orange Everywhere
If you pull up to a construction project where Oscar Orduño’s crews are working, you can’t help but see orange. That’s because Orduño keeps his equipment freshly painted in a signature orange, including his trucks, bulldozers, grouting equipment, water tanks and more. Even his operators wear orange jackets on the job sites. The color is both functional — keeping workers visible and safe on the job site — and a personal favorite of Orduño’s, highlighting his affinity for Doosan construction equipment and his alma mater, Sam Houston State University. “Pretty much every piece of equipment that we have on our projects is painted orange,” he said. “I think the color stands out nicely on our projects.” What did he say to the sales specialist who sold him his dozers? “I told him, do you know that your equipment is fixin’ to get painted orange?” Orduño said. Orduño lived up to his promise and painted the dozers orange to match his Doosan machines.
The company builds permanent retaining walls, too. Many of the construction projects are located in the expanding Dallas and Austin areas, and Orduño routinely has 16 projects in progress at any given time. After just three years in business, his company has already completed 50 projects with more than 100 projects in progress. Growing With Doosan One of the first pieces of equipment Orduño needed for earth retention projects was a specialty drill attachment powered After signing on with a local general contractor, by the hydraulics on a Doosan Oscar Orduño’s first project was supervising and crawler excavator. Orduño turned managing the construction of a new Home Depot to a company called REV Drill, store in Houston. coincidentally a large purchaser of Doosan excavators, to rent one my own company,” he said. “The first six of its drills and a Doosan excavator. This was months to a year were very tough. I have a his first experience with the equipment special affection for the guys that joined me when I had six months into the business. It’s brand, and it made such an impression on a family-oriented business. Our employees him that today it’s the only brand of crawler excavator in his fleet. have bonded together as a group.” “I received a lot of great feedback from Many of Orduño’s earth retention projects are for underground parking structures and our operators and our superintendents about support for high-rise buildings with under- the Doosan equipment,” he said. “We were pleased with the hydraulic performance ground structures. “There are only a few companies based in from Doosan machines.” Orduño’s business quickly took off. Texas that can do the type of work we do — Shortly after he rented and eventually purconstruction of underground structures on chased his first Doosan excavator, he needed the commercial side, and temporary reten- a second machine, then a third and so on. In tion systems for highway expansions and see FLEET page 14 bridge constructions,” he said.
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USTA Uses New Blend of Materials on New Research Lab USTA from page 1
“Our other nearby science buildings are made of stone,” Espinoza said. “and we also have built a new administration facility and a 900-bed housing complex, both of which are brick only. As an architect myself, I think this new science building’s combination of materials is very interesting design-wise. When you add in all the glass with the stone and brick, the SEB will be a very attractive structure. “Then, too, because it is in the science sector of the campus, it needs to blend in with those structures. We wanted it to look alike, but different,” he said with a laugh.
connect with those with different interests. “It also should be a good recruitment tool when we bring high school students in to tour the facilities, as well as showing the kids in some of the summer camps what we have going on here,” Espinoza said. Students and visitors to the building will enter a three-story atrium on the front of the SEB, which faces west. Espinoza said most of the exterior glass will be located here. Although that could potentially direct too much heat and light through the glass and into the building, he was The school began constructing a 153,000-sq.-ft., four-story Funded and Built for quick to point out that another science building across Science and Engineering Building (SEB) off Bauerle Road and World-Class Research from it will provide shade for the SEB in the critical Key Circle earlier this year with a finish date set for May 2020. The new SEB also will give University of Texas at afternoon and evening hours. San Antonio much more room to conduct classes and carry out much-needed research programs. A Three-Year Building Effort UTSA’s research expenditures total nearly $60 milPhase 1 of the SEB project started in the spring with lion annually, with about half of that within the College the excavation and utility work. Phase 2 is scheduled to of Sciences. Researchers and students focus on neurostart in December or January on the building construcscience, nanotechnology, stem cells, medicinal drugs, infectious diseases and vaccine development, where the tion itself with a target date for completion of May school is tops in the nation in undergraduate education 2020. and research. Texas-based Bartlett Cocke General Contractors is To continue that high standard, UTSA and the Texas managing the construction. Shah Smith & Associates in State Legislature decided to fund a new facility through Houston is the consulting engineering firm. revenue bonds in 2015. The first shovel hit the ground in May and soon The $95 million project, the largest in school history, will house tuition When finished, the SEB will house various departtrenchers and milling machines started work. Espinoza laboratory, classroom and meeting space designed to support ments that are currently located in other nearby buildsaid that a fair amount of rock was quickly pulled up so students and researchers in brain health, mechanical and chem- ings. Chemistry and biology will move from their aging that by June, the entire footprint of the building had ical engineering, biology and chemistry. labs to facilities on the second and third floors, respecbeen excavated. The deepest end of the excavation was tively. The current engineering building across the about 20 ft., he added. paseo will remain active, but the SEB will allow that departWith that done, the utility work began, a step that was ment to expand its space on campus by housing it on the new structure’s first-floor. timed to coincide with summer vacation for UTSA’s stuThat will include 17,000 sq. ft. dedicated to “makerdents. space”, a gathering area where people with similar engineer“We knew that would be an ideal time to take over the site ing and technology interests can collaborate on projects. and start trenching for our sanitary sewer, storm water, elec“Essentially, it is a huge workshop where students can trical service and duct bank lines — those areas outside of build various materials for their engineering projects,” the building construction footprint,” Espinoza said. Espinoza explained, “and it has all the glass around it so peo“Unfortunately, it has proved to take longer than the three ple can see what they are building.” months the students were out, so now we have rearranged The first shovel hit the ground in May and soon The top floor will be the home of UTSA’s chemical engiour student pedestrian pathways to get them safely and trenchers and milling machines started work. neering and Brain Health Initiative programs. efficiently around the work. We had initially taken over a A special two-story space also will be built to house a dislot of the student parking area adjacent to the site, but we tillation column for chemical engineering research. These A New Blend of Materials types of columns separate liquid chemicals and are routinely have since given some of that back now that school is in Being Used at UTSA session again.” Opened in 1969, UTSA now has approximately 29,000 used in the petrochemical industry. The UTSA column will After a slight pause in late August to pump out all the students and is consistently ranked among the top 100 col- help train students studying for careers in industrial chemical engineering. rainwater at the SEB construction site after San Antonio was leges in the country. brushed by the remnants of Hurricane Harvey, work Its campus was designed so that its buildings are situated A Popular Location resumed on utility installation. Espinoza said that work along paseos, or large walkways, featuring flagstones and UTSA’s main campus is located just to the north-northwould last through the fall, along with building the piers and lined with trees and landscaping. Espinoza said the paseos west of downtown San Antonio in a popular area of town mimic the walkways along the city’s famed San Antonio near the intersection of Interstate 10 and the Texas Highway foundations. The winter months will see Bartlett Cocke’s crews turn River. Loop 1604. A new mall and Six Flags Fiesta Texas are each UTSA’s paseos run east-west and north-south, he just across the loop from the university in an area experienctheir attention to the construction of the SEB itself, which explained, with Sombrillo Plaza, a large open area, located ing steady growth and development. will continue for two more years. Espinoza estimates maybe about 75-80 people are where the paseos intersect. The new Science & Engineering Espinoza doesn’t see the university’s growth slowing working at the site currently, with many of them being Building is located at the southeast corner of the plaza, with anytime soon, either. “We have a lot of space on our campus in which to work framers, earthmoving-equipment operators and concrete other structures on either side of it. Espinoza said that the school started with stone and stucco and we are building the SEB on the edge of campus,” he workers on the duct banks. When work expands after the first of the year, he figures on its buildings’ exteriors, before introducing brick into said. “There is also plenty of room for future projects, as well.” as many as 250 to 300 people could be on site at the busiest newer structures. The SEB, though, will be the first structure on campus to (This story also can be found on Construction time. The entire construction operation, he said, is about the utilize a blend of stone and brick, a design that will become Equipment Guide’s website at www.constructionequipsize of three football fields. standard for future UTSA buildings. mentguide.com.) CEG
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Contractor Grows Fleet With Help From R.B. Everett FLEET from page 10
2015, Orduño initiated a relationship with the local Doosan dealer, R.B. Everett, and in just three years, Oscar Orduño Inc. has purchased 32 Doosan machines — a combination of crawler excavators and wheel loaders — making him one of the largest, if not the largest, individual owner of Doosan equipment in North America. His primary machines are the DX225LC-3 and DX225LC-5 crawler excavators, however, last year he purchased three DX140LC-5 excavators. “During the transition to the ‘-5’ version, the hydraulic performance of the DX140LC5 excavators was boosted and it allows us to use the smaller machines to accomplish much of the same work done by the larger DX225LC-5,” he explained. In addition to the crawler excavators, the company owns a variety of Doosan wheel loaders, including tool carrier iterations, for jobsite support. He said the wheel loaders, fitted with a quick coupler and paired with a bucket or pallet fork, are instrumental in moving materials around the job sites and are doing dirt work that was previously outsourced to other companies. “There are some projects where our clients have asked us to perform the excava-
tion and pile the material that gets removed from the job site,” he said. “Having our Doosan wheel loaders allows us to take care of those needs. It’s a big advantage. We’re able to not only do what’s needed for our retention work, but we can perform work previously done by other companies. It’s a cost savings and a time savings for the clients and us.” One of Orduño’s key indicators of his Doosan equipment’s performance is fuel efficiency. His excavator and wheel loader operators track how much fuel each machine burns each day. He said his Doosan excavators and wheel loaders provide exceptional fuel efficiency to help keep his operating costs down. “My Doosan equipment performs very well, especially for the type of work we do,” he said. “My excavator operators tell me the machines are fast, and speed is important for our production. Plus, the Doosan wheel loaders have the lifting capacity and speed we need to load and unload our materials quickly. I don’t see a need for switching brands because the performance of the Doosan equipment is excellent for us.” Another benefit to owning and operating only one brand of excavators and wheel loaders is the consistency and familiarity for the operators. It’s much simpler for an oper-
ator to transition from one job site to the next when the machines are all the same brand and function similarly. “My operators can go from one job site to another and use the same type of machine,” Orduño said. “That minimizes them not knowing how to properly operate the equipment. That’s another advantage of being consistent with the Doosan brand.” Unmatched Support The business partnership between Oscar Orduño Inc. and R.B. Everett goes much deeper than just buying construction equipment. “Doosan and R.B. Everett have been a big part of our ability to grow,” Orduño said. “It’s difficult for startup companies to get this level of commitment or support from an equipment dealer. I feel like they’re a partner to us and they have shown that throughout our relationship.” In fact, as Orduño’s construction equipment inventory increased, the dealership’s service department ramped up with additional mechanics, even allocating one mechanic almost exclusively to Orduño’s business. “If we need help, they’ll be there within the same day, sometimes within hours,” Orduño said. “Stopping, for us, is like any other company — you’re losing production
and you’re losing revenue. Having a dealer that can respond to issues immediately is critical to our success on schedule-driven projects.” In addition to parts and service support, the dealer has worked with Orduño and his staff on training opportunities. Employees have visited the dealership for equipment training sessions, and R.B. Everett staff even helped Orduño’s safety manager develop specific training materials for the company’s Doosan machines, based on the material presented in the operation and maintenance manual. Keeping life in balance is paramount to Orduño, and he can do that with the help of his Doosan equipment. He doesn’t let himself get overburdened with the stresses of owning a large construction firm. Instead, he makes a point of including personal fitness and exercise in his daily routine. While he chose a different career path than the family tradition, Orduño still helps his wife, Odette, run the bakery to take his mind off his construction projects. For more information, visit doosanequipment.com/Oscar. (This story also can be found on Construction Equipment Guide’s website at www.constructionequipmentguide.com.)
Bullet Train Moves One Step TxDOT Plans to Add Express Closer With Development Deal Lanes to Ease Congestion on I-35 TRAIN from page 6
construction contractors, subcontractors and employees from the Houston-area job market for the construction of the project and its maintenance and operation. And at least a third of the permanent jobs after construction will be created within the city, according to the agreement. Texas Central expects to pay more than $2.5 billion in taxes over the next 25 years, going to counties, cities, schools and other taxing entities along the route. The agreement says the project will have a “substantial and long-lasting positive impact on the city’s economy, serve as a catalyst for future growth, create jobs and infuse tax revenue into the state and the local communities.” It says the train will help cut traffic congestion and related air emissions, providing “sound, fast and comfortable transportation alternatives,” using “world-class, proven technology.” The agreement says the city and Texas Central will be collaborating in several areas: • provide environmental surveys, civil
engineering and utility feasibility studies of certain city property and rights-of-way as part of the determination of the train’s final route; • coordinate with Harris County, METRO, the Gulf Coast Rail District and the Texas Department of Transportation to plan and design the Hempstead Corridor; • participate in the study and design of “efficient multi-modal connections” between the Houston station and the city’s major activity centers; • ensure that supportive service facilities for the bullet train are within the current or future city limits of Houston, subject to federal regulations and statutes; and • develop a minority, women and small business enterprises program in line with the city’s goals for professional services, development, construction, supplier and other related services. For more information, visit texascentral.com. (This story also can be found on Construction Equipment Guide’s website at www.constructionequipmentguide.com.)
EXPRESS from page 1
generations,” said state Rep. Celia Israel. “I am excited to see TxDOT take community input and help us fulfill that vision. This is a game changer when it comes to safety as well as improving this critical Texas asset." “The Capital Express project along I-35 in Austin aligns perfectly with our statewide Texas Clear Lanes strategy to address some of the most congested roadways in Texas,” said J. Bruce Bugg, Jr., chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission. “Working with Senator Watson, Representative Israel and other transportation professionals in and outside of TxDOT has gotten us to a point where we can continue gathering valuable public input and move forward on this transformational project.” TxDOT is evaluating ways to phase construction to allow for the most mobility improvements without limiting future enhancements. The plan will be to focus on downtown Austin first, where improvements are needed the most, with interim solutions from SH 45 North to SH 45 Southeast. Multiple financing options are being considered, including federal loans, state and local
transportation dollars, and debt financing. An environmental decision is anticipated in 2019 and construction could begin as early as 2021. “Addressing congestion along I-35 is a top priority for the Austin District,” said Terry McCoy, TxDOT district engineer. “I35 is a critical path through Austin and serves as our state’s main thoroughfare for goods and services. This project will ensure reliability when drivers need it most.” Managed express lanes are special barrierseparated lanes adjacent to general-purpose lanes that are designed to remain congestion free. They utilize variable tolls to manage the amount of traffic in the lanes. This is accomplished by increasing the toll when traffic is heavy and lowering it when traffic is light. Express lanes can help reduce congestion in the general-purpose lanes. The additional express lanes, combined with the significant operational improvements to the existing mainlanes and frontage roads, will improve travel times for all drivers. (This story also can be found on Construction Equipment Guide’s website at www.constructionequipmentguide.com.)
Construction Equipment Guide • Texas State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • November 12, 2017 • Page 15
NEXT ISSUE CLOSES NOVEMBER 30, 2017
Page 16 • November 12, 2017 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Texas State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide
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