Boatnerd Discussion Forum

The dredging and blasting of rocks, etc in the upper channel is Phase 1. Phase 2 is building the upper approach walls, as the existing walls are too close to the bascule bridge and the thousand footers would be hitting it.

Phase 3 is the big one, where the Sabin and Davis Locks are demolished the new lock built and building of the new lower approach walls. I could see the formation of a conglomerate to build it. But Phases 2 and 3 are still in the design stage from what I understand.

Contracting work to a company that owns its own equipment was the traditional construction model, but many construction companies today actually own very little equipment. They will lease it from leasing companies or subcontract it out from local contractors to assemble what they need for any given contract.

If I recall correctly, I read an article a few years ago that Titan Salvage, (which was at the time one of the world's largest marine salvage companies) didn't own anything larger than large pumps that could be airlifted from job to job. Everything else was leased or subcontracted. That has changed however, since Titan merged with Svitzer Salvage to form Ardent and they are now in partnership with a large tug firm in the Mediterranean. I realize the time sensitive nature makes salvage different than other contracting. But still many construction firms, marine or general, no longer own much equipment.

Another common model is a partnership of several construction companies to handle big projects. This usually results in a legal entity (company) being established just to bid and run the project, but not always. So perhaps this Nevada-based bidder may partner with a locally based contractor to get the equipment and labor they need.

They'll sub-contract the work to other contractors.

I knew of Bultema myself just didn't go back that far. Who was the operator?

Operator's name was Max S. I graduated from Onekama High with one of his sons and Max, and his future wife, graduated from Arcadia High with my mom.

They'll contract out to a company that has the equipment.

Nobody has really answered my question. The companies mentioned in previous posts have maritime equipment and are active maritime dredging operations on the Great Lakes. So where is this Nevada company going to get the required equipment to do this work and get it there? Tugboats, cranes, barges?
Most of this equipment can't be brought by truck in the sizes needed.
There are small tugboats that are truckable as well as small barges, but are these big enough to do the work?
Something sounds questionable about this!

garbear wrote:

Up North George wrote:

Coalburner wrote:Does anybody else find it curious that a company from Nevada (where there is very little water and few (if any) navigable waterways got the contract for dredging on the new lock? What is up with that?

Years ago Canonie Construction out of Muskegon (Now Andrie) was originally a mostly Marine construction company. They had jobs on a reef in Florida , a big pipeline job just outside of Norfolk Virginia, a huge job as part of the clean up after Mount St. Helen's volcano, just to name a few. As long as you have the bonding and backing to be able to bid the work companies from all over bid jobs nation wide.

Go way back for Canonie, it was Bultema. Had a friend in high school whos Dad was a crane operator for them. They had a yard in Manistee. They went all over in the summer to be with their Dad.

I knew of Bultema myself just didn't go back that far. Who was the operator?

Up North George wrote:

Coalburner wrote:Does anybody else find it curious that a company from Nevada (where there is very little water and few (if any) navigable waterways got the contract for dredging on the new lock? What is up with that?

Years ago Canonie Construction out of Muskegon (Now Andrie) was originally a mostly Marine construction company. They had jobs on a reef in Florida , a big pipeline job just outside of Norfolk Virginia, a huge job as part of the clean up after Mount St. Helen's volcano, just to name a few. As long as you have the bonding and backing to be able to bid the work companies from all over bid jobs nation wide.

Go way back for Canonie, it was Bultema. Had a friend in high school whos Dad was a crane operator for them. They had a yard in Manistee. They went all over in the summer to be with their Dad.

Coalburner wrote:Does anybody else find it curious that a company from Nevada (where there is very little water and few (if any) navigable waterways got the contract for dredging on the new lock? What is up with that?

Years ago Canonie Construction out of Muskegon (Now Andrie) was originally a mostly Marine construction company. They had jobs on a reef in Florida , a big pipeline job just outside of Norfolk Virginia, a huge job as part of the clean up after Mount St. Helen's volcano, just to name a few. As long as you have the bonding and backing to be able to bid the work companies from all over bid jobs nation wide.

guest wrote:Lots of construction companies have no or minimal websites, particularly when they live off government contracts instead of private work. They bid for their work, so they have no need to try and drum up business through a website. For example Glawe Inc out of Alpena has been around forever doing all sorts of road, sewer, and marine construction, yet I see no website. Same with Bolen Asphalt out of Tawas, MI.

It kind of appears that Trade West Construction may be a small construction management company and will subcontract out a large portion of the work, which is quite common as long as the contract allows for that.

The company has been in business 19 years, which is far longer than most businesses survive.

Glawe shows as permanently closed.

Coalburner wrote:Does anybody else find it curious that a company from Nevada (where there is very little water and few (if any) navigable waterways got the contract for dredging on the new lock? What is up with that?

I seem to recall there is a small river with a few dams on it what supplies water to nearly all the southwest states. I suspect there are several well qualified contractors in the Nevada region capable of handling this job.

Lots of construction companies have no or minimal websites, particularly when they live off government contracts instead of private work. They bid for their work, so they have no need to try and drum up business through a website. For example Glawe Inc out of Alpena has been around forever doing all sorts of road, sewer, and marine construction, yet I see no website. Same with Bolen Asphalt out of Tawas, MI.

It kind of appears that Trade West Construction may be a small construction management company and will subcontract out a large portion of the work, which is quite common as long as the contract allows for that.

The company has been in business 19 years, which is far longer than most businesses survive.

I can't find a website for the low bidder. Usually a company will have a website you can look at so you can get some background on the company.

That's how the competitively-bid construction industry is. Your location or size has little to do with the work you get, as long as you are qualified.

They won a competitive bid. To do so, they were pre-qualified by the USACE, underbid their competitors by nearly 12 million dollars, and perhaps most importantly have submitted a $2.6 million dollar bid bond. Kokosing (Durocher) was the highest of three bidders, and Luedtke looked at the job but did not bid. The middle bidder was Cashman Dredging and Excavation out of Quincy Mass.

Keep in mind that this isn't just a sand dredging job. Both overburden(sand, gravel or clay) and bedrock have to be removed. That will require considerable blasting and/or mechanical removal means.

Does anybody else find it curious that a company from Nevada (where there is very little water and few (if any) navigable waterways got the contract for dredging on the new lock? What is up with that?