LANCASTER AIRPORT PROJECT WINS ESTEEMED INDUSTRY AWARD
Allan Myers was honored with the esteemed National Asphalt Pavement Association's (NAPA) 2023 Ray Brown Pavement Award for excellence in construction. The Ray Brown award was presented to the highest scoring project for Quality in Construction - Airport Pavement during the NAPA Annual Awards on January 30, 2024.
Allan Myers won for the Lancaster Airport Runway 8-26 in Lititz, PA. The project team completed milling, leveling, and paving within a strict 28-day runway shutdown. With little to no time available for rework, the team spent four months developing a detailed work plan, quality control and risk management processes, and mix testing and verification.
Operators Spend Winter Hours Training
Allan Myers provides annual training during the winter months for craft employees to ensure skills remain current and all training requirements are up-to-date. This training ensures every employee is equipped with the knowledge and skills to be safe on the job and excel in their roles.
By staying compliant, employees are not just meeting a requirement, but actively contributing to the success and integrity of the company. Compliance with the training requirements allow the company to bid work for certain customers.
The first few months of each year are dedicated to equipment operator training and classroom instruction. They are held throughout the company footprint from Pennsylvania to Virginia.
Allan Myers has been training operators for 24 years at a dedicated site with dedicated equipment. A specific site gives employees a safe area to learn the equipment and gives instructors the opportunity to advance the trainees’ skills.
The dedicated training site began at the Paradise Quarry in Paradise, PA, before moving to the Talmage Quarry in Leola, PA, five years ago. The site provides machines with the newest technology and the use of GPS, similar to what our employees use on job sites.
WILMINGTON AIRPORT PROJECT OPENS 45 DAYS EARLY
The Wilmington airport may be small, but it boasts many unique features and services. Located in New Castle County, DE, this airport draws congressional attention with the army and air national guard using this location. Most importantly, this is President Joe Biden’s home airport.
Allan Myers started working here in June 2023 resurfacing and paving 3,000 feet of runway, along with elevation restructuring. The crews disconnected two runways and added green space in the middle. The crews reused the millings from the project in the asphalt mixes for paving it, which is a sustainable practice that conserves materials and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. The result was high-quality asphalt pavements.
“Throughout this project, Allan Myers and the airport have done really well at communicating together,” said Project Manager Tyler Tracy.
The team anticipated wrapping up the project in January 2024, just six months after it started. But the day before Thanksgiving, the primary runway 1-19 opened to traffic, 45 days earlier than expected.
“Just after Thanksgiving, the airport let me know they had experienced adverse weather over the holiday weekend. If the primary runway was not open, commercial flights would have been delayed and or cancelled,” said Tyler.
Other than military and presidential needs, the airport services private and commercial flights on three major runways, 10 taxiways, and several aircraft parking ramps.
A unique factor contributing to the early delivery is the location of the project. The airport is right in the middle of three Allan Myers sites with the Wilmington, DE, asphalt plant, the Fallston, MD, office, and the materials headquarters in Malvern, PA.
Due to the close proximity, Allan Myers was able to pull materials and crew resources as needed from each of these locations. Some days there would be 50 plus individuals working on site between crews and other days there would only be a 4-man dirt crew with the airport escort vehicles.
“We used asphalt from the Wilmington plant and services from all three locations,” said Tyler. “This project was 100 percent a collective shared resource with people chipping in to deliver a quality project. We never would have been able to accomplish what was required if multiple business units didn’t pull together.”
Adding to the excitement of the successful project, great coordination of resources, and early completion, the project is also award worthy. The airport was awarded a National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) Quality in Construction Award and recognized for Innovative and Green and was named the Best Private Job at the Delaware Asphalt Pavement Awards (DAPA) for 2023.
Richmond's Largest Data Center Project Meets Strict Schedule
The QTS Richmond data center project at the new data center campus just outside Richmond, VA, was completed on schedule in February 2024.
The initial scope of the $30 million project at the Sandston Technology Park included site work, grading, and wet utilities for four buildings. The project started in February 2022 and by the end of that year, the client scaled back the scope to include just two 175,000 square feet buildings and the site grading and site pads for the other two locations. Even with the changes, the project remained on task and schedule for completion.
“Overall, it was a successful project even with the changes, and we hit every production deadline from HITT, the general contractor,” Project Manager John Marchetti said. “We were also able to keep a good relationship with the GC throughout the duration of the project.”
“There were hard dates in the contract that we had to hit and we completed this mission critical project on schedule,” Construction Manager Ben Bushey said.
QTS Richmond is the largest and most connected data center in the area. There were one to three Allan Myers crews on-site throughout this project plus a variety of subcontractors.
“The project team had a good handle on the scope of the project,” John said. “So, the coordination of our work and the subcontractors worked well.”
John came to Allan Myers six years ago as a field engineer out of college. This was the first project where he took the lead as Project Manager. “The projects I’ve worked on in the past helped me take the lead on this one. I had gained the experience to handle a project of this size.”
Another Step in Improving Employee Safety
Safety is at the forefront of the Allan Myers culture. In 2019, the company switched from the traditional construction hard hats to a safer helmet that provided better protection with a different design around the head and a chin strap.
Allan Myers is making moves again in 2024 to ensure the employees in the field are wearing the safest helmet option on the market.
The new helmets by Studson use the most advanced materials along with a design focused to protect the brain against impact and concussion from every angle. This advancement significantly reduces the risk of sustaining life-altering injuries.
“For me, this is an important thing because we’ve proven in the past that these helmets protect our folks,” Vice President of Safety, Paul Ziegler said. “The helmet is one of the most important things we put on every day and that’s why we wanted to get the best that is out on the market.”
The helmets include an integrated technology and a 4-point chin strap system with a magnetic buckle enclosure. The enclosure makes adjusting it easy with just one hand while wearing gloves. The shell of the helmet provides comfort while the padding material inside significantly reduces the sharp twisting and compression of the brain, the primary cause of concussions.
The new helmets are currently being rolled out to employees across our footprint.
Helping Hand Up: 2023 Recap
The Helping Hand Up initiative at Allan Myers had an amazing 2023! The company donated more than $550,000 to 77 organizations throughout the year. There were 368 employees who donated time to hands-on projects and/or donated during our 5X Giving Campaign in December. Most impressively, employees spent 445 volunteer hours dedicated to work projects with Helping Hand Up partners.
Projects included fundraisers, road and bike rides, playground building, toy drives, property repairs, and many others. Allan Myers also supports the passion of employees through the matching gift program.
Since Helping Hand Ups inception in 2018, Allan Myers has donated more than $2 million to local organizations throughout the company footprint.
Helping Hand Up partners with and supports deserving charitable organizations, all with a shared passion for helping other people in communities where Allan Myers works and plays. Employees get involved in service opportunities and events that make a difference in these communities.
Team Member Spotlight
Isha Bright, Tack Truck Driver
Isha Bright was looking for a new career where she could be home every night with her kids. She was driving 18-wheelers overnight and was ready for a change. She found Allan Myers in summer 2023 and started full time as a Tack Truck Driver in Chesapeake, Va. Since then, she discovered a love for a new career and the best part is being home every night.
A year ago, she was unfamiliar with paving and working in the construction industry but now sees herself at Allan Myers for the long haul. “I want to stay here,” she said. “This is the first job I’ve had where I don’t mind getting up and going to work. I really love working here.”