The Lafayette Hill area of Pennsylvania soon will be the home of a new championship caliber golf course.
Construction began on the Ace Golf Course in August 2001 and is scheduled for completion this November. The project involves construction of a new 18-hole golf course designed by Gary Player , a veteran member of the PGA tour. The course will be located just off Ridge Pike in the rolling hills west of downtown Philadelphia.
Every aspect of this project must be approached with surgical accuracy so that the course resembles the plans laid out on paper by the designer. The placement of the bunkers, fairway grade, and the shape of each green are all carefully calculated and must be strictly adhered to.
Landscapes Unlimited LLC, based in Lincoln, NE, specializes in the construction and management of golf course projects, having worked on golf courses throughout the United States, including 15 of Golf Weeks top 100 modern golf courses.
Landscapes Unlimited has supervised everything from the land clearing down to the fine grading, sod placement and landscaping of the finished holes. The Ace job, which totals $11 million, has involved land clearing of 100 acres (40.5 ha) and excavation of more than 800,000 cu. yds. (611,643 cu m) of earth.
Landscapes Unlimited owns more than 1,000 pieces of construction and earthmoving equipment, and moving all that equipment around the country comes with huge transportation costs. As a result, the company is explores rental options to meet its equipment needs.
For this project, Landscapes contacted Giles & Ransome and Ransome Rents, which is a full service rental house with five locations throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Ransome Rents is a division of Giles & Ransome Inc., a Caterpillar dealer of Bensalem, PA.
Landscapes Unlimited has rented several pieces of equipment from both Ransome Rents and Giles & Ransome’s construction division. Leonard Schilling, general superintendent of Landscapes and manager of the Ace project, said that "a third of the equipment used here is rented" and that his relationships with rental houses is "very important" to the success of projects such as the Ace Golf Course. Rental equipment allows companies, such as Landscapes, to expand its available fleet without making huge capital expenditures to purchase.
The equipment that Landscapes rented from Giles & Ransome and Ransome Rents include 615 and 613 wheel tractor scrapers, 318BLN hydraulic excavators, D5C LGP bulldozers, 228 and 236 skid steer loaders, and 303.5 hydraulic mini-excavators.
Schilling said that Ransome Rents helped the project flow smoothly with "minimal equipment downtime." Schilling has worked closely with Brian Staley, salesman of Ransome Rents, in making sure that he has the equipment he needs to get the job done. Schilling pointed out that "service from Brian has been excellent. He is quick to find what we need and the equipment that comes out is always in good condition."
Horizon Golf, a subcontractor on the project, who often works with Landscapes, also has rented equipment from Ransome Rents. Horizon specializes in water features and rock wall construction. Similar to Landscapes, the company primarily works on golf courses, but also will tackle neighborhoods and corporate parks that call for elaborate rock walls or water features. Horizon is based in Evansville, IN.
Ian Doll, general superintendent of east coast operations of Horizon Golf, described why he likes the option of renting:
"On projects that are short-term it is much more cost effective [to rent] because we don’t have the transportation costs associated with moving equipment."
For the Ace Golf project, Horizon rented D5C dozers, 928G wheel loaders, 2810 ASV posi-track loaders, and 318BLN hydraulic excavators, which is equipped with a thumb attachment, making setting the rocks much easier. Doll said 99 percent of Horizon’s operators are more familiar with Caterpillar equipment, adding that ’The smooth hydraulics of the excavator allows our operators to act like a giant stonemason. For the rock walls to look right each rock must be placed perfectly, not unlike a sculptor working on a statue."
There were a number of challenges that Doll and his team faced on the Ace Golf Course project, particularly the high number of rock walls and the actual size of the rocks with which he and crews had to work.
Another challenge faced by Horizon’s operators was access to their work areas. For a golf course projects, everything must be in its precise place, and as holes were completed this often cut off access to certain areas. The goal of a golf course is maximum utilization of the available space, and this has made for very confined working spaces for Doll and his crews.
Ransome Rents has earned an ’A-plus" from Doll for service, "Brian is always there with what we need," he said, adding that all Ransome Rents equipment arrived in good shape and was ready to work. Project downtime always is a concern and both Schilling, of Landscapes, and Doll, of Horizon, mentioned how Ransome Rents made it a top priority to keep them up and running.
Both companies are perfect examples of the flexibility that comes with using a reliable and capable rental house. Ransome Rents and Giles & Ransome worked hard to keep both companies running efficiently.
The finished holes on the Ace Golf Course are beginning to outnumber the unfinished ones and both Schilling and Doll are looking forward to the day that their concerns will be avoiding the hazards off the tee, rather than making sure they are in the right place.
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