ABC Pelican Chapter partners with LTC Delta Ouachita Campus in West Monroe

Creating a trained workforce and providing additional training for workers in the construction industry have been the focuses of the Pelican Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. for many years.

Providing those same services has also been a goal of the Louisiana Technical College (LTC) Delta Ouachita Campus in West Monroe, La.  Through a steering committee of both parties, the LTC Delta Ouachita Campus has become the training center for three major contractors in northeast Louisiana with others expected to participate in the near future.

After meeting with company executives and LTC administrators, ABC has enrolled the employees of three major companies at LTC Delta Ouachita Campus.

James Machine Works, James Construction and Pulp Mill Services all have workers training in welding. These craftsmen are retraining to meet the skill levels needed at their construction companies.

Danny Emmons and Joe Moser, welding instructors, keep the instruction tailored to fit the demands of the companies, and they keep the instruction times flexible to meet the employees’ schedules. 

Through the combined efforts of ABC, the technical college and the employers in northeast Louisiana, training costs can be kept to a minimum, skilled workers will increase production, and better jobs and higher wages will contribute to economic growth. 

Louisiana AGC installs 2007 officers

Alexandria contractor David Randy Gilchrist, Gilchrist Construction Co. LLC, was recently installed as president of the Louisiana Associated General Contractors Inc., a statewide construction trade association headquartered in Baton Rouge.

Gilchrist is a longtime member of the Louisiana AGC and part of the 700-plus construction businesses comprising the organization. 

Gilchrist grew up in the construction business and began working alongside his father when Gilchrist Construction Co. was formed in the 1970s, at the time operating as a small site-work company. In 1985 Gilchrist, at the age of 25, took over ownership of Gilchrist Construction.  In 1988 he expanded operations to include highway projects. 

Other officers of Louisiana AGC serving in 2007 are Senior Vice President Clint Graham, Lincoln Builders, Ruston; Vice President Bruce Hix, James Construction Co., Baton Rouge; Treasurer Vic Weston, Tri-State Road Boring Inc., Baton Rouge; Immediate Past President Robert S. Boh, Boh Bros. Construction Co., New Orleans.

Other board members installed included Highway/Heavy Division Vice Chairman Quin Boylan, Jack Harper Contractor, Mandeville; New Orleans District Director Jonathan Kernion, Cycle Construction, Metairie; Monroe District Alternate Director Rusty Mabry, The Mabry Co., Ruston; and New Orleans District Alternate Director Ryan Gootee, Ryan Gootee Contractors, Metairie.

DOTD announces results of Jan. 31 bid letting

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) considered bids totaling more than $39 million at its Jan. 31 public bid opening, according to Gov. Kathleen Blanco and DOTD Secretary Johnny B. Bradberry.

With a bid of $4,757,029.47, F.G. Sullivan Jr. Contractor LLC of Baton Rouge was the apparent low bidder on the state’s most expensive job, a project in Ascension Parish calling for grading, drainage structures, class II base course, cold planing asphaltic pavement, superpave asphaltic concrete overlay, superpave asphaltic concrete pavement, concrete slab span bridge, traffic signalization and related work on La. 44 from approximately one-half mile south of La. 942 to La. 942.

New Orleans architect re-named HMS Architects

When HMS Architects was founded in 1996, the firm was officially called Howard Montgomery Steger Performance Architecture. The names represented the three founders and the specialty of the firm.

Since then, one of the principals has left the firm and principals Charles B. Montgomery and Keith R. Steger have expanded on the types of projects they do and the client base of the firm.

“As the formal name was such a mouthful, we’ve always referred to the firm as ‘HMS’ or ‘HMS Architects,’” says Montgomery. “We spent more than 10 years developing and marketing HMS into a reputable and respected brand. Now we’ve formalized it to better reflect the team of professionals that are responsible for our success.”

HMS is a nationally recognized group of experts in programming, design and construction administration. Principals Montgomery and Steger have a collective 60 years of project experience with a commitment to quality and design. The firm, headquartered in New Orleans, offers full architectural services including consulting, master planning, project management; landscape design, interior design, conceptual design, feasibility studies and preparation of construction documents.

The Brock Group completes XServ acquisition

The Brock Group recently announced the closing of its acquisition of XServ Inc., a leading provider of industrial scaffolding and insulation services. 

The combined entity is a multi-craft specialty services provider, offering coatings, scaffolding and insulation services to refining, petrochemical, power, pulp and paper, and other industrial businesses.

XServ has about 7,500 employees working throughout the United States, as well as in the Caribbean and South America. 

The acquisition enhances the company’s ability to provide facility maintenance and reliability solutions to our customers, said Todd Brock, Brock’s co-CEO.

Each of the operating companies has strong management teams and name recognition, and will continue its normal operations within The Brock Group, said Jeff Davis, Brock’s president.  

Terms of the acquisition agreement were not disclosed. The companies design and implement solutions for their customers’ maintenance and reliability needs for a broad range of major industries.

SJB Group gets DOTD contract for CPM analysis

SJB Group LLC of Baton Rouge recently announced that its Construction Services Division has been selected by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) to perform Construction Time Analysis services using the Critical Path Method (CPM) of analysis for statewide construction projects. 

The Retainer Contract, which has a program ceiling of $500,000 and a two-year term, will be performed under separate Task Orders.

As part of the scope of services, SJB Group will employ the CPM technique to construct models of DOTD projects that include a list of all activities required, the duration of each activity and the dependencies between the activities.

Using this information, SJB Group will calculate starting and ending times for each activity, determine which activities are critical to the completion of each project and those activities with float time or are less critical.

IEMS expansion to increase motor storage service for industrial customers 

TD Construction laid the foundation recently for a 10,000-sq-ft warehouse expansion at Industrial Electric Motor Service Inc. in Baton Rouge.

Once the project is completed in April, IEMS will have 22,500 sq ft of climate-controlled space to store spare motors for major industrial customers and maintain a larger inventory of new electric motors for sale.  

A 42-meter pump truck from Concrete Eaters of Sulphur, La., poured 280 cu yds of 5.5-bag mix concrete for the foundation.

Field Supervisor Keith Menck of KP Constructors said 21 30-in diameter shafts were drilled and poured 30 ft deep into the foundation to support a 30-ton overhead crane in the warehouse.

TD Construction also used about 2.75 tons of conventional steel wire mesh to reinforce the concrete. Haddad Construction is the general contractor for the project.

“We received a large demand for secure electric motor storage after Hurricane Katrina and we need additional space for our inventory of new electric motors,” says Archie Shaw, IEMS president.

Ardaman & Associates acquires Louisiana firm

Ardaman & Associates of Orlando, Fla., a geotechnical engineering and environmental services firm, recently announced its acquisition of Soil Testing Engineers, a Louisiana-based geotechnical and environmental engineering practice. 

The acquisition expands Ardaman & Associates’ services in the Gulf Coast area, which historically has included work for the New Orleans District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and currently with several phosphate mining clients in Louisiana and Mississippi. 

Founded in 1974, Soil Testing Engineers has a staff of 50 associates operating from offices in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

Additionally, Chad Poche, formerly a branch manager with Soil Testing Engineers, has been named Louisiana branch office manager. 

Ardaman & Associates is an engineering practice providing geotechnical, environmental, water resources and facilities engineering, and construction materials testing to public, industrial and private clients worldwide.