RockBlog
Aggregate quality trumps price on Calaveras Dam
Posted by Shanna Crigger on Wed, April 26th, 2017, 3:00 pm
CALAVERAS DAM – Sometimes you can still win big even when you’re not the lowest bidder.Graniterock’s Aggregate Division secured one of the company’s largest projects ever in terms of volume for reasons that had nothing to do with price.At original bid time for the $800 million Calaveras Dam Replacement Project five years ago, Graniterock wasn’t awarded any of the various aggregates quoted.However, when other suppliers couldn’t meet the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s tight specs and ... Read More
Two-sport professional athlete turns to construction
Posted by Shanna Crigger on Mon, April 10th, 2017, 2:08 pm
PEBBLE BEACH – You’re not likely to find a single general contractor who can say they’re in the same league as Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders and Tim Tebow.High-end Monterey Peninsula home builder Jim Laughton can.Jim is among a very small pool of people worldwide with the skill and determination to play two sports at the professional level.While his focus these days is custom home construction and remodeling, a few decades back he had his eye on ... Read More
Asphalt quality guaranteed with this team
Posted by Shanna Crigger on Wed, March 22nd, 2017, 12:45 pm
REDWOOD CITY – Telling a customer we’re going to make a specific asphalt mix isn’t good enough.We have to prove it every day with rigorous testing and data.Paving a road with material out of spec could result in huge financial repercussions for Graniterock.Some might say the quality of Graniterock’s materials is critical issue No. 1 to the Company’s success.Our reputation depends on it.Overseeing the quality of the hot mix asphalt produced at the busy Northern Road ... Read More
Dispatchers manage mixer trucks like dominoes
Posted by Shanna Crigger on Fri, March 10th, 2017, 6:22 pm
REDWOOD CITY – Graniterock’s concrete dispatchers rarely meet their customers in person.Yet, through relationships developed over the telephone, they know important details about customers’ lives, how the kids are doing and where the next vacation is planned.The team of four – Don Birt, Jennie Stewart, Katie Handmaker and Nick Martin – operate by a simple but powerful business rule in managing concrete orders around the San Francisco Bay Area: always give people more than what they ... Read More
Trusted pump operator listens closely
Posted by Shanna Crigger on Mon, March 6th, 2017, 2:01 pm
REDWOOD CITY – Martin Hernandez fixates on his teammate 100 feet away, the one holding the end of a hose gushing wet concrete inside a giant hole slated to become an underground parking garage in downtown Redwood City.Martin cradles a remote control in both hands to steer the 175-foot (58 meter) robotic arm connected to a hose that discharges concrete from a 500-horsepower machine behind him.His eyes never leave the teammate.As one of Conco Pumping’s top ... Read More
Katha Redmon chose concrete over medicine and never looked back
Posted by Shanna Crigger on Wed, January 11th, 2017, 12:08 pm
WATSONVILLE – Throughout college at UC Irvine, Katha Redmon planned on attending medical school and becoming a physician.However, a part-time job in a concrete laboratory testing new admixtures would alter Katha’s medical school plans and send her down a completely different career path that eventually led from Lehigh and Cal Portland in Southern California to Graniterock in Watsonville.“While performing my regular admixture testing one day, the company engineer poked his head into the lab and asked ... Read More
Construction market forecast murky for 2017
Posted by Shanna Crigger on Tue, January 10th, 2017, 12:56 pm
SAN JOSE – There’s a popular term buzzing around the San Francisco Bay Area construction industry as the books close on a strong 2016 and we look at what’s in store for the year ahead.Cautiously optimistic.It’s a phrase commonly heard when industry experts are asked how they feel about the 2017 market.Our business leaders interpret cautiously optimistic to mean something like “I survived the Great Recession and now that we’re on the other side with business ... Read More
Mechanics take care of A.R. Wilson Quarry and each other
Posted by Shanna Crigger on Fri, December 23rd, 2016, 10:13 am
AROMAS - There's always something to fix or replace at the A. R. Wilson Quarry.With all of the equipment, heavy machinery, giant trucks and moving parts worn down by the massive amount of rock crushed and transported every day, expert mechanics are in demand.Handling the sheer amount of mechanical work necessary for the plant to produce high rock volumes, a job which can run into weekends and holidays, takes a strong, steady hand.In addition to the ... Read More
Rock Star: Joe Burgoon makes his mark at Calaveras Dam joint venture
Posted by Shanna Crigger on Tue, December 6th, 2016, 5:07 pm
CALAVERAS DAM -When a nationwide survey indicates 86 percent of contractors struggle to fill key craft and salaried positions as demand for construction increases, it’s refreshing to meet Joe Burgoon.The 28-year-old Chico State graduate is carving out a construction career he hopes takes him from the trenches to upper management.With the long haul in mind, Joe is diligently working his way up the construction ladder.Last year, he joined Sukut Construction’s joint venture with Flatiron and Dragados ... Read More
Transportation dispatchers stay cool under pressure
Posted by Shanna Crigger on Tue, November 1st, 2016, 2:19 pm
AROMAS – Graniterock’s three transportation dispatchers almost never say no.That word doesn’t make it into the vocabulary of someone trusted with ensuring the company and its customers get their materials when they need them, where they need them – whether that’s a construction job site in Salinas or an asphalt plant in the San Francisco Bay Area.“We’re all here for the same purpose. We all want to go above and beyond,” said Rob Maltoni, who joined ... Read More
RECENT POSTS
- Graniterock Supply grand opening at new location
- Graniterock honored with anniversary proclamations from California leaders
- 125 years of building infrastructure and community
- Keith Severson honored as Volunteer of the Year by the YMCA!
- Graniterock purchases Tope's Garden Center, adds new location in Salinas
- Rock N Run generates $43,000 for schools
- Llagas Creek groundbreaking kicks off Graniterock's largest ever construction project
TAGS
- Business
- Community
- Construction Update
- Graniterock
- History
- Products
- Services
- Sustainability
- Technical