Garney Installs First BioCon Pelletizing Application
Oct 2015
OCTOBER 2015 — Garney completed a state-of-the-art installation on two Kruger BioCon dryers at the Western Wake Regional Water Reclamation Facility for the Town of Cary, North Carolina. Garney’s involvement with the installation of these dryers marked the first pelletizing application for this type of dryer in the nation. At present, only eight BioCon dryers have been placed in service throughout the United States.
The Solids Handling Facility produces Class A, Exceptional Quality biosolids in compliance with EPA 503 regulations. The pelletizing system provides a final product that can be applied in a variety of commercial agricultural reuse applications, virtually free of site and use restrictions. To date, the Town of Cary has processed nearly 210 tons of pelletized material and anticipates producing roughly 100 tons per month.
Garney was responsible for construction of the Solids Handling Facility, installation of three belt filter presses, BioCon dryers, odor control facilities, and ancillary utilities. This project was one of eight concurrent construction projects for a new 18 MGD treatment facility on a greenfield site that will serve the growing Towns of Cary, Morrisville, and Apex.
In addition to constructing the facility and systems, Garney provided 60,000 LF of 54” and 48”steel pipe force main in Wake and Chatham Counties. The effluent outfall pipeline connects to the new Western Wake Regional Water Reclamation Facility and discharges in the Cape Fear River through a cast-in-place headwall constructed on the river bank.
Garney Welcomes Fred Thornhill, Federal BD Manager
Oct 2015
OCTOBER 2015 — Garney welcomes Fred Thornhill, who will lead all business development endeavors for Garney Federal, Inc. Fred will work in conjunction with Jay McQuillen Jr., P.E., Director of Federal Operations, to broaden Garney’s client base in the Federal market throughout the United States. The mission of this business unit is to develop the Federal government into one of Garney’s key customers. Garney’s resume includes several Federal projects, but as a percentage of our total volume, it is a small piece of our customer base. Garney will focus on our expertise – water and wastewater projects – within this market segment.
“Fred brings to Garney more than 25 years of Federal construction expertise,” said Mike Heitmann, President & CEO of Garney Construction. “Working with the Federal government brings certain challenges and requirements, and Fred is able to navigate these very effectively. Fred is a critical part of the team we are building to tackle this new initiative.”
Garney Federal will add additional expertise and personnel resources in government contracting as well as resources with heavy civil capabilities in the Pacific Northwest, California, and Hawaii. Business operations for Garney Federal will be based in Gig Harbor, Washington.
“Garney will bring our 100% employee owned culture to this market sector,” said Heitmann. “This culture has proved to be extremely successful in the municipal and industrial water and wastewater markets. Our employee-owners work harder and smarter than our competition because they own the company. Our strong resume of project experience, financial strength, and safety record make Garney a strong candidate for the Federal market.”
Garney Awarded ABC Excellence in Construction
Oct 2015
OCTOBER 2015 — The South Texas Chapter of Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) named Garney recipient of the 2015 Excellence in Construction Eagle Award for the ClearWater Ranch Development & Delivery Project. Garney also won the Platinum STEP Award in the South Texas Region recognizing Garney’s safety efforts on our numerous projects in South Texas.
ABC’s National Excellence in Construction program has become the premier competition within the construction industry that recognizes outstanding construction projects across the nation. The awards celebration honors members of ABC’s most innovative and high quality construction projects, safety programs, and diversity programs.
Garney was recommended for the award based upon outstanding work in serving as the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) for the ClearWater Ranch Development & Delivery Project. Garney met strict design and construction time frame requirements set by Parkhill Smith & Cooper and Midland County Fresh Water Supply District No. 1 due to drought conditions faced by citizens in West Texas.
Construction was pivotal in adding a second source of freshwater to the T-Bar Ranch pipeline for the City of Midland, Texas. The project included the drilling and development of 25 wells, allowing access to more fresh water during the severe drought. With the addition of this water source, the 65-mile long T-Bar Ranch Well Field Development & Delivery system now delivers more than 24 MG of fresh water per day to the Midland community.
“The quality of work and attention to detail in the construction of this difficult project was among the best I’ve seen,” said Ryan Kennerly, Project Manager of Parkhill, Smith & Cooper. “The project was well-coordinated, particularly the wells and collection pipeline work, remote pump station work, and power transmission lines, which minimized disruption of the service to Midland water customers. Garney did an excellent job with conflict resolution between the different trades to keep land owners happy and required utilities in close proximity of existing roadways.”
Music City Hosts Pipe and Plant University
Oct 2015
OCTOBER 2015 — With Garney’s commitment to continuous improvement and employee development, more than 200 employee-owners gathered in Nashville, Tennessee, for the second annual Pipe and Plant University. The training provides a series of meetings held for Project Managers and Project Engineers across the company with a focus on safety, quality, and technical advancement.
Garney welcomed several liaisons and vendors from the transmission industry including Robert & Cassie Construction, Bricker Seismic, Tekrock, Terrafirma Earth Technologies, GME and Colorado Shoring. Individuals from Burns & McDonnell and Eco-Tech spearheaded sessions for the facility group.
Tours at several of Garney’s area job sites were also held for attendees, thanks in part to Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County.
Pipe and Plant University is a critical stepping stone toward advancing Garney’s employee development efforts. In 2016, Garney anticipates continued growth in combination with several new initiatives. Building our bench and depth around continuous improvement will remain foremost in our culture to ensure our systems and infrastructure can support this growth.
Harvesters’ BackSnack Helping Hands
Oct 2015
OCTOBER 2015 — September marked Hunger Action Month and employee-owners from the Kansas City headquarters gathered to participate in the Harvesters’ BackSnack program. Harvesters, a regional food bank serving a 26-county area, is a certified member of Feeding America. This nationwide network serves more than 200 food banks.
The BackSnack program provides 20,000 backpacks of food for area students every weekend during the school year, in addition to providing more than 360,000 meals through its Kids Café programs. An estimated 127,000 children in Harvesters’ service area receive free and reduced-price school meals during the week, and many of those are at risk of hunger on weekends. The BackSnack program was developed to fill the weekend hunger void.
Garney has been a financial sponsor of the BackSnack program since 2010, but this was Garney’s first experience volunteering in the packing process. In three hours, employee-owners were able to pack 2,050 BackSnacks for our area’s greatest treasures.
Join Garney in our fight against hunger and learn how to you can donate or volunteer in your community through a local participating organization.
Garney wins Target Outstanding Project Safety award
Aug 2015
AUGUST 2015 — In recognition of performance demonstrating a vigorous, persistent commitment to safety initiatives, Garney has been awarded the 2015 Target Outstanding Project Safety (TOPS) award. Garney accepted this award from the Southeastern Construction Owners & Associates Roundtable (SCOAR), an organization dedicated to fostering innovative thinking on issues related to industrial construction and business performance.
Garney’s safety performance was recognized by working 122,000 working hours without a safety incident on the V.C. Summer Offsite Water Treatment System in Jenkinsville, South Carolina. Garney’s crews are currently constructing the system for a nuclear power plant through a design-build-operate contract.
Garney is proud to recognize, Brandon Blevins, Site Safety Manager, who accepted the award at SCOAR’s Annual Scholarship & Safety Awards Dinner (featured left). Brandon has developed a site safety culture with a moral commitment that no expense shall be spared when it comes to executing safe work practices.
“Brandon and the management team have created a safety culture in their planning, which has translated to the job site, giving our employee-owners the tools and resources to do their job safely” said Tony Kempf, Vice President and Safety Council Chairman, Garney Construction. “As employee-owners, they are living the number one goal of the company on the job site every day.”
Ft. Collins relationship builds on 15 years of service
Aug 2015
AUGUST 2015 — Garney has recently been selected for a fourth consecutive, five-year contract with the City of Fort Collins Utilities. Since 2000, Garney has provided more than 70 water, wastewater and stormwater utilities infrastructure design and construction services task orders to the City. Projects have ranged in size from small emergency repairs to new construction on major utility infrastructure systems. As Garney embarks to continue service through 2020, capital improvements within this phase are estimated to exceed $15 million.
Among the many improvements and rehabilitations, Garney has worked in collaboration with the City to expedite schedules around Colorado State University football games, irrigation season and bird nesting season.
Employee-owners Wayne O’Brien, Chief Operating Officer; Jeff Moore, Senior Project Manager; Gary Haas, Assistant Project Manager; Rich Trimble, Superintendent, and many other crew members have been pivotal in delivering services for this monumental work program.
After 42 years of service, Joe Lewis, Jr. retires
Aug 2015
AUGUST 2015 — This month marks the close of Joe Lewis’ tenure as a Garney employee-owner and Pipeline Superintendent. When Joe began his career at Garney in 1973, he worked alongside his father and brothers as a laborer. Since that time, Joe has worked tirelessly to embody Garney’s goals and philosophies. He was quickly promoted to Pipeline Superintendent and has been a mainstay in several of Garney’s hallmark projects in the Midwest.
Joe was conscience about his work and always strived to represent Garney in all aspects of his projects. His knowledge and experience in the industry, as well as attention to detail, were second to none. Following in his father’s footsteps, Joe Lewis, Sr. (1989), Joe Jr. was the recipient of the George Enright Award in 2008. In foremost recognition at Garney, this award exemplifies the dedication, loyalty and spirit that Garney Construction was built upon. Joe will enjoy the fruits of retirement with family and friends, and is eager to spend more time traveling, carving wood, and watching baseball.
It is with the highest recognition and appreciation that Garney recognizes Joe Lewis – may retirement be all you hoped and more.
MBBR Implementation Insights
Jul 2015
Solutions and Best Practices for Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor Installation and Start-Up
JULY 2015 — A top concern among wastewater treatment facility owners is increasing energy efficiency while improving effluent water quality. Municipal facilities must comply with increasingly stringent requirements for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), ammonia and nitrogen levels, as well as provide for growing populations. On the commercial side, water-intensive businesses have to plan for sustainable growth under the same regulations. And, as always, public and private enterprises alike are aiming to cost-effectively curb their environmental footprint.
The moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) is an adaptable and flexible solution that helps owners achieve all of these goals. The MBBR process relies on floating biofilm carriers in a mixed motion aerated treatment basin. The biofilm carriers provide a protected surface to support prolific growth of heterotrophic (uses organic carbon for growth) and autotrophic (uses inorganic compounds for growth) bacteria within its cells. Compared to traditional treatment processes, the method requires less maintenance and a fraction of the space. Without the need for an activated sludge return stream, operation is also simplified while efficiency is improved.
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Think safe, dig second
Apr 2015
APRIL 2015 — April marks National Safe Digging Month. Nationally recognized and in its eighth celebration, the tradition serves to provide awareness about the dangers of unplanned digging. According to 811 and the federally-mandated “Call Before You Dig” campaign, every six minutes an underground utility line is damaged.
No matter how small or large the project, homeowner or contractor, simply calling 811 will mitigate injury, repair costs, fines, and inconvenient outages in notifying the appropriate utility companies. Once notified, Local One Call Centers will dispatch a professional to mark the lines in a few short days.
Think safe.
Think smart.
Call before you dig.
Get it done with 811!