Rountree Construction Company Inc.

Rountree Construction Company Inc. provides materials, site development services across southern Georgia

Rountree Construction Company Inc. began as a handshake deal with an order for a sand plant written on the back of a napkin. In 1983, founder Bill Rountree incorporated the company in Valdosta, Ga., and after a few years of being in the materials business, he expanded into construction services. For Bill’s son Danny, Rountree Construction provided a chance for community members to work for a local business instead of a national corporation.

Zac Rountree, President

“My dad, Danny, worked for a company that assigned him a number, and he used the number instead of a signature,” recalled Rountree Construction President Zac Rountree. “That hung on his mind, as well as the fact that the company he worked for wasn’t based in southern Georgia.”

Danny served as president before passing on the duties to Zac and transitioning into his current advisory role. Several other Rountree family members are involved at the company, including Zac’s brother, Eli, who is the vice president and handles estimating, as well as Stacy, Zac’s uncle, who is the general superintendent.

Eli Rountree, Vice President

“We all learned the business from the bottom up,” noted Zac. “I started out on a grade crew, and then went to the sand mine. That’s allowed me to predominately oversee sand operations and surface mining while Eli manages the other aspects of the business.”

Focusing on commercial site development

Today, Rountree Construction employs 68 people. The company supplies materials from its mining operation throughout the region, but it primarily focuses on commercial site development and typically takes on county, city and Department of Transportation (DOT) jobs. Current projects for Rountree Construction include apartments, several unit complexes, and commercial developments such as healthcare offices, daycare centers and restaurants.

With a Komatsu D51PXi intelligent Machine Control (iMC) dozer, an operator moves material. “Once you get in the machine in the morning, you do a quick calibration with the blade, then you can start pushing dirt,” said President Zac Rountree. “That’s a big time and cost saving for us.”

“On the materials side, we try to stay within a 100-air-mile radius, and on the construction side, we travel up to 100 to 150 miles depending on the customer,” said Zac. “The sand mine provides ready-mix concrete sand, masonry sand and golf sand for customers. Our construction business handles everything from clearing to final grade, except we sub out water and sewer.”

With approximately 85% of its projects coming from repeat customers, Rountree Construction prioritizes those relationships.

“We pride ourselves on looking out for the customer and contractor,” said Zac. “By covering all our bases, we’re able to provide them a turnkey product. Our customers prefer that because it offers them one point of contact for any questions or changes.”

Operators use a Komatsu D51PXi iMC dozer to move material and a Komatsu PC290LCi-11 iMC excavator to load a truck. “Learning the technology was easier than our operators expected,” said President Zac Rountree. “The additional cost paid for itself through time and labor savings.”

Diving into technology

To stay on schedule and meet tightening tolerances, Rountree Construction decided to add a GPS-equipped machine to its fleet. After meeting with Tractor & Equipment Company (TEC) and Mike Kinneman, a TEC sales representative, Zac bought a Komatsu D51PXi-24 intelligent Machine Control (iMC) dozer, which allows operators to view the entire job site from the cab without having to stake everything out, and it gives experienced operators the tools to move material more efficiently while decreasing the physical toll on their body.

“At first we had some resistance from our older operators who didn’t want to learn the new technology or thought they could out-perform the machine,” said Zac. “Once they gave the dozer a chance and realized how it made their job easier, they all wanted to run a dozer with GPS technology. Learning the technology was easier than our operators expected. Having everything integrated with the machine also means we don’t have to worry about wires or masts. Once you get in the machine in the morning, you do a quick calibration with the blade, then you can start pushing dirt. That’s a big time and cost saving for us. It’s been a pleasant surprise. Our operators have adapted and prefer the machine, and the additional cost paid for itself through time and labor savings.”

Danny Rountree, Consultant and Engineer

Due to the positive results, Rountree Construction added two more Komatsu iMC machines: a D39PXi-24 dozer and a PC290LCi-11 excavator.

“After talking with Mike and some other people at TEC, we decided to demo the 290LCi and were impressed,” said Zac. “Not only were we sold on its GPS capabilities, but it was the right-size machine for our lowboy capacities. We could haul it between job sites without special permitting, and it's large enough that we can use it at the sand mine.”

Stacy Rountree, General Superintendent

In addition to excavating ponds and cutting to subgrade on construction projects, Rountree Construction utilizes the PC290LCi to manage flood water parameters when expanding mining operations.

“Water levels are always a concern of ours when working near bodies of water,” said Zac. “We try to keep a 100-year floodplain and use the 290i to mark where to build and manage the water on-site. We’re essentially creating an imaginary line where there’s no physical pointofreference, which allows our operators to avoid over-digging and eliminates the need for surveyors to map the land. We marked our floodplain on one side of the property, moved down the road to the other, marked it again, and we knew where our floodplain line was for the entire project.”

(L-R) TEC’s Mike Kinneman poses with members of the Rountree family — Eli, Stacy, Danny and Zac — at Rountree Construction’s office in Valdosta, Ga. “If I need TEC, they’re there,” said Zac. “I can pick up the phone, call Mike, and he will handle it. Like our philosophy, they don’t treat us as just another customer to deal with. It’s important to have that support and relationship, and they’ve been a great partner to us.”

Rountree Construction also added a PC290LC-11 excavator after its good experience with the PC290LCi-11, and the company has a Komatsu GD655-3 motor grader in its fleet as well.

“If I need TEC, they’re there,” said Zac. “I can pick up the phone, call Mike, and he’ll handle it. Like our philosophy, they don’t treat us as just another customer to deal with. It’s important to have that support and relationship, and they’ve been a great partner to us.”

Rountree Construction utilizes several Komatsu machines on its job sites, including this PC290LCi iMC excavator.

Continuing to adapt

Moving forward, Rountree Construction will keep embracing technological development and is considering adding more Komatsu machines to its fleet such as a WA475 wheel loader, a PC360LCi-11 iMC excavator, and a D71PXi iMC dozer.

“We want to continue to grow at this rate,” said Zac. “We want to stay in front of the technology curve by continuing to innovate. We also want to remain a strong member of the community and continue to provide local jobs for people that don’t want to be just another number.” ■