Latham Excavation was contacted by Kirby Nagelhout Construction Company (KNCC) in June 2007 to be subcontracted for an operation and maintenance building (O&M) for a large wind generation farm located in Wasco, OR. The job scope included many standard commercial building excavation types such as building pad prep, parking lot & sidewalk grading, storm water retention and site utilities. “What made this job unique was the distance from Bend that had to be traveled and how best to suit our customer, as well as logistically get our employees to the jobsite daily.” said Al McGuire, commercial supervisor Latham Excavation.

Portland General Electric (PGE) was the owner of the project and had some aggressive timelines that had to be
met in order to make this job a
success. “Many items PGE added were not part of Latham's original scope,
Fred [Nicoll, GM of Latham Excavation]
would quickly provide pricing to
prevent any schedule delay. Dean
Rask [project supervisor], of Latham played a key role in offering recommendations to help fast track decisions and forecast potential conflicts.” noted Nick Loos of PGE.

The job scope included excavating and replacing 16,000 yds due to poor soil conditions and building up erosion control “armorment” around the
building pad. This was done with a rip rap type of material that protected the site from high winds. (See photo) The material was place in a 2-1 slope as
per engineered drawings. In the field, the material was placed by a loader delivering the material and the excavator placing the rock.

In addition to the original project scope, Latham Excavation also put in an onsite septic system and an onsite storm water management system that was integrated with the septic system. The storm system included an oil-water separator tank, approximately 15,000 gallons weighing close to 145,000 lbs that had to be set in four intervals with a crane. A fire pond was also installed.

Summarizing the project, GM Fred Nicoll said “What made this project a success was good communication between the field supervisor, the customer and the Latham team back in Bend. Since the job required four to five pieces of machinery and an average of four employees, mobilization to and from the jobsite was critical to meeting timelines. Working closely on any jobsite with other subs is a challenge, but all the subs on this job worked as a team to keep the project flowing smoothly.”
“Latham worked closely with PGE to help value engineer the civil drawings and produce a finished product that would meet our needs. PGE is pleased with Latham's performance on this project and I would like to say thank you to the Latham Team for everyone's effort.” said Nick Loos of PGE