Knoxville’s Duracap Asphalt Co., one of eastern Tennessee’s top paving contractors, has always been noted for its hard work and the speed with which it gets projects completed for its clients.
(L-R) are Cody Smith and Camden Guyton, both of Duracap Asphalt Paving Contractors, and Chase Milam, Power Equipment Company.
Knoxville's Duracap Asphalt Co., one of eastern Tennessee's top paving contractors, has always been noted for its hard work and the speed with which it gets projects completed for its clients.
But when it wanted to increase its efficiency and accuracy even more in its grading work, it brought in the professionals with another trusted name in the Volunteer State.
Duracap turned to Knoxville-based Power Equipment Company to help it identify a bulldozer that would make its grading work much more accurate. For years, the companies have worked well together and have kept up a long and prosperous friendship.
A Quick, Precise Grader
As a result, Duracap decided to get a Komatsu D65EXi dozer, in large measure because of the GPS technology that it employs to do quick, precise grading.
"We demoed it with Power Equipment and immediately saw that it was a much better way of moving dirt quickly and not have to repeat steps in order to do it," said Camden Guyton, grading superintendent of Duracap Asphalt. "We had not really been interested in GPS until we used the Komatsu D65EXi, but once we did, it was a no brainer after that."
He added that it would often take a time or two to grade dirt on a project to its exact specifications, but once the 217-hp (162 kW) D65EXi showed Duracap what it could accomplish with only one grade, the new machine was a must-have.
Earlier this spring, Duracap worked on a large series of apartment complexes in the Knoxville area where it needed to move approximately 60,000 yds. (54,864 m) of dirt. Guyton said that having the Komatsu D65EXi was a definite time-saver for his crew.
"Oh yeah, it improves the work tremendously in that we don't have to have layout and staking, with a guy running out there giving us four corners and all that," he continued.
Two Expertly Run Companies
The new D65EXi dozer is one of several Komatsu machines in the Duracap yard, which includes PC300, PC228 and PC200 excavators. Each was obtained through Power Equipment.
Guyton said that his company has always been extremely satisfied with the service it has gotten through Power Equipment, which also serves customers throughout Tennessee. Besides Knoxville, branch locations can be found in Chattanooga, Kingsport, Nashville, Memphis and Tupelo, Miss.
Duracap has been in operation since 1960 and offers a full array of site services that include asphalt paving, curbing, grading and utilities. Additionally, the firm maintains hot-mix asphalt plants and can provide recycled aggregates for a particular project.
The number of jobs that Duracap has done in the area over six decades is seemingly endless. Roads, parking lots, municipal buildings, schools, churches, shopping centers and industrial and office parks have all been built due to the site work done by Duracap.
Guyton points to the company culture of getting the job done quickly and efficiently, no matter how many long hours have to be put in to do it, as being a key element in Duracap's historic success.
On a more personal level, Guyton characterized his job there as really being part of a family.
"I began working here when I was 16 years old," he remembered. "It is just a tightly-knit company and everybody is real close."
Duracap Asphalt is located at 2535 Asbury Road in Knoxville, Tenn.
For more information, visit www.duracapasphaltpaving.com and http://www.power-equip.com/.
Eric Olson
A writer and contributing editor for CEG since 2008, Eric Olson has worked in the news-gathering business for 45 years.
Olson grew up in the small town of Lenoir, N.C. in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, where he began covering sports for the local newspaper at age 18. He continued to do that for several other dailies in the area while in college at Appalachian State University. Following his graduation, he worked for, among other companies, the Winston-Salem Journal, where he wrote and edited the newspaper's real estate and special features sections for 10 years. Since 1999 he has worked as a corporate media liaison and freelance writer, in addition to his time at CEG.
He and his wife, Tara, have been happily married for almost 40 years and are the parents of two grown and successful daughters. He currently is in the employ of two dogs and three cats, a job that he dearly loves.
Read more from Eric Olson here.
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