Brubacher Steams Ahead on $9M Site Work in Exton

Wed January 02, 2002
Chris Volker

For nearly 30 years, Brubacher Excavating Inc. has offered a full range of excavating services, as well as, pipe and utility installation, roadway construction and general earthmoving activities. The company’s clients usually include residential developers, municipal and industrial customers, large commercial contractors and golf courses.

The company has completed several major projects in the past several years including Boulder Industrial Park in Lehigh County, PA, which involved constructing a 1.4 million sq. ft. (130,064 m) warehouse; the KNADE Auto Auction in Burlington County, NJ; and the Pepperidge Farm Plant in Lancaster County, PA.

Currently, Brubacher is working on an 88-acre (35.6 ha) commercial site in Exton, PA, a project being developed by Wolfson-Verrechia, and is providing complete site work for the project, which exceeds $9 million. This job includes earthwork, as well as bulk work for the road widening and delivering the building pads for construction of the various structures to be erected.

Major retail establishments will occupy the site, such as Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart, as well as a multi-screen cinema and several smaller retail establishments.

Brubacher mentioned that the project, which began in Aug. 2001, is ahead of schedule on its planned 13-month construction cycle. It entails 30 acres (12.1 ha) of land clearing, 11 mi. (17.7 km) of curb replacement, and drilling and blasting.

More than 50 pieces of equipment and approximately 80 workers are on-site at any given time. The primary equipment used is Caterpillar dozers, Volvo off-road trucks, Komatsu dozers and Kobelco excavators. Overseeing the project are:

• Project Manager Steve Ozga;

• Site Superintendent Larry Wright;

• Co-superintendent Matt Shriver;

• Assistant Site Superintendent Warren Peters.

• Bruce Kramer, an estimator with Brubacher Excavating for more than 15 years, prepared the bid and related details.

“The conventional work is done mostly in-house since the company rarely uses subcontractors,” said Brubacher.

“The company’s philosophy is do as much themselves as possible so that the customer benefits from the overall safety and quality control that we offer. Through our complete job site approach to managing construction projects, our company has grown substantially. To give us better job site control, we established our own surveying, land clearing departments, blasting and aggregate production, curbing, paving and landscaping departments. For instance, in regard to a land clearing job, we have total control of what gets cleared, the root and stump removal, and all of the very important elements associated with this environmentally sensitive work. Field Operations Manager Harvey Norris is assigned to coordinating schedules, quality control and meeting profitability expectations for all six of these areas,” he added.

According to company Senior Vice President Keith Brubacher, the family-run business was founded by Brubacher’s grandfather in the late 1950s. “My grandfather Jesse and father Ben started out with a bulldozer that they used for general farm work. My father then began his own excavating business alongside my grandfather’s company in the early 70s. He started off with a John Deere 310A backhoe and, after his first year in business, he purchased a second one. This was the beginning of what is now Brubacher Excavating Company.”

Brubacher is located in Bowmansville, PA, and exhibits a genuine concern for its employees, the environment and, more importantly, the needs of its customers. This service to its commercial customers, residential developers and general contractors has led to the creation of a thriving full-service site construction company.

“Our customers have seen the strong work ethic, great eye for detail and competitive prices since the company, during peak periods, employs 325 highly skilled construction personnel,” said Brubacher. “This is strong testament to the work ethic that my father instilled in all of us and into the company.”

Brubacher Excavating has been recognized by numerous Soil Conservation Districts for its excellence with land development.

The company also operates B&B Reclamation, a construction disposal facility, which allows Brubacher Excavating to dispose of construction debris, stumps, concrete, rocks or excess fill material.

Brubacher owns most of its equipment. For instance, Brubacher owns a crusher and makes its own aggregate from rock that is drilled and blasted. For its equipment needs, the company turns to Cleveland Brothers (Cat); Furnival (Komatsu); L.B. Smith (Kobelco); and Plasterer Equipment (John Deere).

The company has also designed a certification program for operators run by Certification Manager Rick Deeds. According to Brubacher, the whole idea is to “improve the safety, maintenance and productivity awareness of our operators. This, in turn, makes operations much more cost-effective.”

This story also appears on Construction Equipment Guide.