“It has a lot of power, so I can get through any type of material quickly, ” said Manuel Tores.
(Photo courtesy of Kirby-Smith Machinery. )
Brice Lockhart doesn’t necessarily believe in the adage, “bigger is not always better. ”
“We like jobs that involve really big pipe, especially ones with large quantities that need to be put in the ground, ” said Lockhart, who owns and operates Lockhart Excavation LLC in Austin, Texas, along with his wife, Melanie. “We’ve laid an up in order to 72-inch water line plus we did a 30-mile, 24-inch drinking water line in Hutto years ago. They are not always as large as those, but for the most part, our jobs are sizable. We strive for all those. ”
Lockhart added that experience plays a big role in Lockhart Excavation’s ability to complete such undertakings on time and on budget. He has been putting pipe in the particular ground with regard to nearly 30 years and the majority of his staff has a similar level of expertise.
“I started doing utility work in 1994 and spent 20 years working for another contractor, ” recalled Lockhart. “When it went out associated with business, We started Lockhart Excavation. October will be our eighth year in business. Several of the guys on staff worked with me inside the past — probably 80 percent of them. I actually give them the lot of credit regarding our success. They just know how to get the job done. ”
Lockhart Excavation started as a good eight-man crew and within the first year, Lockhart added three more crews to meet growing demand. After a period where “things leveled out, inch Lockhart Excavation experienced an additional rapid expansion during the last two to 3 years. Today, the company employs approximately 90 people and installs all types associated with wet utilities throughout the Austin tx area plus West Texas.
Mainly Residential
In the Midland-Odessa area, Lockhart Excavation recently installed more than 22, 000 ft. of water, sewer and storm tube for a 152-home subdivision. Superintendent Daniel Torres said that’s been the fairly typical type of job in West Tx.
“Generally, we have 2 or three of those going at once out here, but back in Austin texas, we usually run 15 to 20 jobs, inches Torres stated. “Residential is our main market — putting in resources for subdivisions and apartment complexes. We have function lined up in the area intended for a while, so it’s keeping us busy. ”
Lockhart said residential projects are usually the company’s forte, but it occasionally takes on commercial plus large public utility installs. The 30-mi. water line, which was an $18 million job that Lockhart Excavation do as a general contractor, was in the latter category.
“It ran from Noack to Hutto and was the largest we now have done so far, ” said Lockhart. “We crossed varying terrain. The biggest challenge was boring under Brushy Creek. All of us had in order to dig a bore pit 40 feet deep. Those types associated with jobs are rare, yet we can handle them. Mostly, we stick with the particular residential and right now there is plenty of that type of work to do. inch
Superior Service
After expanding into West Texas, Lockhart Excavation needed more equipment. Lockhart contacted Kirby-Smith Machinery Inc. (KSM), which has helped Lockhart Excavation add more than 20 Komatsu excavators to its fleet. Matt Jackson, a KSM territory manager, assisted with the most recent purchases, which included Komatsu PC210LC-11 and PC360LC-11 excavators.
“The PC360s are usually good to get large pipe and heavier work such as breaking rock and moving mass amounts of material quickly, ” mentioned Torres. “We use the PC210s pertaining to smaller pipe and to backfill trenches. Across the board, we have found Komatsu to be a lot more powerful plus productive than other brands. The hydraulic response is excellent. ”
KSM’s Matt Knutson (L) talks with Brice Lockhart on a job site near Odessa, Texas.
Lockhart additional, “I’ve usually liked Komatsu excavators. We all used them in the particular past with other companies. They are quick, strong and they last. Reliability and longevity are very important to me. We put a lot of hours on our own Komatsus and rarely possess an issue. That’s extremely valuable when time will be money and you have to get pipe within the floor as rapidly as possible. ”
Lockhart also appreciates KSM’s superior service.
“Matt and Kirby-Smith have been great to partner with, inches stated Lockhart. “They have a huge inventory of machines and have been able to get us pretty much anything we required. Service after the sale is very important in order to us and they have delivered every step of the way. For example , we had a minor issue with the machine, and they had this fixed within a few days. In our encounter, other companies would have taken months. ”
KSM tracks Lockhart’s newest machines along with Komtrax for hours, so its service team knows whenever to perform scheduled services under the Komatsu Care program, which covers the first 2, 000 hrs or 3 years.
“They set it up during convenient times in order to minimize our downtime, ” said Lockhart. “Because Komatsu Care is complimentary, it saves us money on individuals services. More importantly, it ensures they are done upon time by trained technicians, and that will keeps the machines in good working order therefore that we maintain productivity. ”
Bright Future
Lockhart said that if the carrier’s recent workload is an indicator for the future, it’s on a good path. This individual can see Lockhart Excavation adding more crews plus additional gear within the next couple of years.
“Both the particular Austin area and Western Texas continue to grow, so there has been plenty of work, inch said Lockhart. “As customers got to know all of us and saw our quality of function, they asked us in order to do more for all of them. They also referred us to others. That’s how we got into Western world Texas. A friend of mine was doing work for a developer that needed some help. I had the crew that will needed work, and all of us moved within. We have been there for six years right now and we think it’s going to stay busy meant for quite a few time. inches