Durr Receives South Central Construction's Best Of Awards
HARAHAN, LA (December 5, 2008) –
On Friday, December 5, Durr Heavy Construction, LLC was one of twenty companies recognized at the South Central Construction magazine’s Best of 2008 Awards luncheon.
Held an each year, this event serves as the most preeminent event in the local construction industry. Over 47 projects were presented for review with the top 34 receiving honors.
This year, Durr Heavy Construction received honors for three of its projects in Louisiana. The Bass Pro Shops in Denham Springs project received Best Infrastructure Project in Louisiana, the National Guard’s Readiness Center in Covington received the Award of Excellence in Civil Projects and the WWL New Guy Wire Foundations in Barataria received the Award of Excellence in Infrastructure Projects.
“These three projects presented numerous challenges and opportunities for us to exceed expectations,” Freddy Yoder, COO and President of Durr Heavy Construction. “None of this could have been achieved without the hard work and dedication of our outstanding employees.”
The Bass Pro Shops project was lead under the direction of Vice President of North Shore Operations, Jason Manson. This project was unique in that the 74 acre site was home to four General Contractors, including Durr. This required a strong communication plan with each General Contractor and coordination of construction schedules.
Durr acted as a subcontractor on the National Guard’s Covington Readiness Center to Citadel Builders, LLC with Manson as Project Manager. The scope of work included demolition and removal of most buildings on the military site and all site work including underground utilities and parking lots. During excavation, an unknown grave site was uncovered thus halting all construction until the remains could be identified and removed by the military.
The most unique project was the WWL New Guy Wire Foundations in the swamps of Barataria, lead under the direction of Vice President of South Shore Operations, Richard Mire. During Hurricane Katrina, the existing foundations were lifted out of the ground causing the radio towers to be unstable. Durr was charged with building a road through the swamps that cranes and cement trucks could use to build the new 84-ton foundations. All work was completed while maintaining the integrity of the ecological system in the area.
The Louisiana awards voting was conducted in Baton Rouge by the following construction and design judges: Barry Lacy and Richey Charoenpap, both of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development; Charles Currier of BASF; Ann Ellis of Milton Womack Contractor; Wesley Gifford of Woodrow Wilson Construction Co.; Robert McKinney and Gordon Brooks, both of the University of Louisiana – Lafayette; and Tom Sofranko of the Louisiana State University.
The judges based their decisions on the following criteria: solutions to challenges, project management, construction innovation, client service and safety.