Kiewit Construction is well known in the contracting industry nationally for the variety and depth of jobs that it takes on. It has built landmark highways such as the Eisenhower Tunnel through the Colorado Rockies, the Fort McHenry Tunnel beneath Baltimore Harbor and many other projects. Kiewit opened for business in 1884 and is one of the largest employee owned companies in the country. It will celebrate its 125th year in business this year.

Kiewit has survived the industry’s ups and downs by adapting and taking on new jobs and pursuing different opportunities. This has led Kiewit to delve into many industries such as transportation, oil and gas, electrical, alternative fuel, marine, water and mining to name a few. The New York Kiewit location is currently working on the Atlantic Avenue viaduct rehabilitation project in Brooklyn.

Ryan Jones, equipment superintendent of Kiewit Construction, explained that Kiewit is replacing 87 of the possible 176 elevated steel spans that stretch across approximately half of Atlantic Avenue. This viaduct carries Long Island Rail Road’s (LIRR) Atlantic 1 and 2 tracks connecting Jamaica to downtown Brooklyn.

The project consists of mostly putting up steel bridges and then replacing longitudinal girders and cap beams. To keep the job organized, Jones needed a telehandler to perform in the fabrication yard a couple of blocks down from the site. He contacted Jim Eyen, his representative from Foley Rents to find a telehandler. Eyen found the telehandler and had it delivered to the job in October. Once it arrived, four different attachments were added to the telehandler: a set of forks, a general purpose bucket, a small 8 frame cork attachment and a lattice boom stick end with a hook. These attachments enable the material handling machine to support the entire yard.

The Caterpillar TL1255 telehandler has multiple uses at the site. It is used to extend out to the dock systems that Kiewit built. The prefabricated spans are brought to the yard by the machine where the crews will place ties on the new structure. It also supplies all offloading trucks as well as keeping the yard maintained.

Kiewit is very happy with the telehandler.

“The capacity of the machine and the weight balance are two great features of the TL1255. It is very stable, has added safety and it allows us to have a much quicker production time,” said Jones.

Jones also likes the sight lines of the boom.

“You can see to the other side of the machine, it has a real good vision area to add to the safe operation of the machine,” Jones said.

Eyen was very involved with Jones in every step of the delivery process and made sure that things were kept on schedule. Due to the great follow up and ongoing contact, Jones said he will rent from Foley in the future. He credited Eyen with providing great service, which is a key factor for Kiewit, because it allows the company to meet deadlines and keep jobs moving.

Celebrating 125 successful years in business is no small feat, and looking to the future Kiewit is ready to handle whatever comes their way.

This story was reprinted from Foley PayDirt, Spring 2009 issue.

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