Gearing up for WINTER! Jimmy Stewart Airport, Indiana County, PA

When many jobs were gearing down for the winter and preparing for the cold and snow, the Independence earthwork crews were running full steam at the Jimmy Stewart Airport in Indiana County, Pennsylvania.

Indiana County awarded this contract to install the main embankment and drainage for a new 5,500 foot runway. The paving and other infrastructure will be installed in future contracts. Independence Excavating won the bid in the fall of 2009. Following a period of getting our contract and resources together, we hit the ground running in August 2010.

At the core, this is a bulk, mass excavation job, with drainage to support it. The primary challenge of the job is simply to move as much of the cut as efficiently as possible to the fill. It is truly a fast-paced endeavor where every move must count and seconds can affect the overall measure of the job.

The operation generally consisted of a tandem multi- cut loading operation with the bulk of the hauling to the main ravine located off the east end of the current runway. The new runway will sit on that embankment. The hauling was performed under an hours restriction, so the crews worked vigorously to ensure that as much material as possible could be hauled with every available minute of daylight. A portion of the fill required a haul of approximately 1.5 miles, along the south side of the active runway. The main haul crew consisted of a CAT 385 excavator, Komatsu 1250 excavator, CAT D9 and D10 dozers, our new CAT D7E (electric drive dozer), and seven to nine 70-ton haul trucks.

President, Vic DiGeronimo, Jr. said, “We planned this job to be a winter earthwork job. The project team worked hard and did a great job in setting up the job in the fall to be able to haul rock through the inclement weather and knock the job out.” With the resources and pace of earthmoving that we are operating, we will complete the earthwork this spring, a year and a half ahead of the contractual requirement.

From the day we started the project, the entire project team took a hold of the task at hand and poured the coals to the fire to run this job as efficiently and effectively as possible. That team included the Independence personnel, as well as the Indiana County Commissioners, the Indiana County Airport Authority, and engineer, Lee Simpson Associates. Every individual involved in the project is working hard to ensure that the Jimmy Stewart Airport will receive their new runway on a quality embankment.

RESOURCE LIST

The airport is named for the late actor Jimmy Stewart, who grew up in the town of Indiana. Jimmy Stewart was not only a renowned actor, but also a decorated war hero and pilot, and rose to the ranks of Brigadier General in his military career. He is an icon of the area.

• 2.3 million cubic yards of cut to fill

• Third project for Independence Excavating with cut to fill over 2 million yards

• 99 ft of fill placed in the main ravine

• 1.2 million cubic yards of blasting

• 36,000 man-hours

• Main haul crew: –– CAT 385 excavator –– Komatsu 1250 excavator –– CAT D9 and D10 Dozers –– New CAT D7E (electric drive dozer) –– Seven to nine 70-ton haul trucks

• 290,000 gallons of fuel to be burned

• Wetlands preserved on site and mitigated in and off site location