The 2004 construction season is coming up fast! The past couple of weekends with 50 and 60 degree weather has been a nice change from the cold and snow. With that brings the calls how soon projects can start. Its nice to get a jump on the year, but when the weather turns back cold, it’s not easy to work in and quickly turns unprofitable. With that in mind, I would say at this time all 3 crews will have a normal, to somewhat later start date with our current work load.

We have been successful in picking up subdrain work a little at a time with each letting. It is still not a full season yet, but we are looking a lot better than last year. The problem area is being short on early work as we wait for the larger concrete paving projects to be completed. Total to date footage on the books is 555,657 feet. This surpasses last year’s total of 485,693 feet. There are a few more opportunities coming to increase this number, so with some tight bidding we could fill this crew out fairly easily!

Sealcoating bids have been far and few between this winter on the state level. Projects on the county levels are just starting to come in. Naturally, the next two coming months we'll be getting notification from the smaller towns and cities. The past two years have shown a decrease in projects at all levels. With the amount of snow fall and early rain events this winter season , it has been hard on sealcoat roadways. This and the past gap in sealcoating should have the amount of possible work at a higher level. Some early conversations with various city maintenance officials confirms this thought. At the present time we have a handful of projects on the books and I'm very confident we can fill out this crew as well.

Stabilization projects are coming in slow and steady. It is still a new program that is growing at the state and county levels. Several of the projects that we completed last year have been topics of several workshops and planning meetings. I have given a Power Point presentation four times now to various large groups of engineers and project planners. These meetings have been very successful in sparking interest of the product and show casing Manatts as a leader in the industry. Another area of promotion was provided with the help of Alliant Energy in the production of an informational video about fly ash stabilization. They came down last summer and filmed Virg's crew along with Kurt completing the Jasper county projects. This video is being used to promote the use of fly ash as a stabilization agent in existing asphalt roads and parking lots.                                    

There currently are 5 large projects on the books for stabilization. One project in Tama county involving 4400 tons of fly ash and another in Jasper county with 4300 tons of fly ash. There are some other projects on the horizon that could easily fill this division out for the season. This winter we are having two spreaders built on Osh Kosh 6 wheel drive trucks to accurately apply the fly ash on projects. These are coming in mid April and will be needed for work at that time or a little before.

As we return to work this year, we once again must have safety at the front of our minds at all times. As you do a task repeatedly using the best safety measures, it will become second nature  as the normal way of completing the task. If you see someone else doing something that might require personal safety devices, (safety glasses, hearing protection, etc.) take the time to remind them. We all need to work together in having a safe and fun work environment. Taking these actions now is a lot easier and helps us avoid  incidents and having to use police-like tactics to force compliance.

Finally, I would like to introduce and welcome Darin Eide to our division. As the crews have grown, I am finding myself spread very thin in covering all the responsibilities of managing 3 very mobile crews.  Darin started this January as a project coordinator for all 3 divisions and will assist me and the crews.

There is a lot of work in planning and set-up before a crew moves in on a project. He will help carry that load, and I will be able to focus on promoting the stabilization market. Darin and his wife, Megan have two young daughters and have moved from Cedar falls to Brooklyn this winter.  And if you didn't notice the last name, yes his dad is Donn at the Newton office. Take the time to introduce yourself and welcome them to the Manatt family!