In March 2007, Independence Excavating, Inc. broke ground for the McDowell County Federal Correctional Institute in Welch, West Virginia. We worked hand in hand with Clark Construction Co. of Bethesda, MD on a design-build contract from conceptual to final construction plans on this $250 million facility and continuously evaluated the most economical and value added approach to every aspect of the project.
The Results
In nine short months, Independence Excavating, Inc. helped transform 300 acres of a once barren 1,200 acre strip mine into a federal correctional institute. On one side of the job stood a 250' high wall, and on the other a 300' high slope. Handling the rock was a major component of the work. Approximately 95% of all of the utilities had to be blasted in order to install them in the hard, McDowell County Sandstone. We moved approximately 700,000 cy of cut to fill, 135,000 cy of undercut and replaced with geo-grid and aggregates, crushed 425,000 tons of various base materials, installed 75,000 feet of wet utilities, fine graded 200 acres for pavement and other finish surfaces, and built a 35,000 cy earthen berm as a backstop for fire arms training. We also performed all of the trenching for the mechanical and electrical underground and fine grading.