The construction of a new $25 million Waste Water Treatment Plant for the city of York, Nebraska located on 35 acre plot outside the city a few miles to the east began in March 22, 2017 and so far is on schedule for completion in the spring of 2019.

When this project for the city is completely finished they will have an aeration building that will be 156′ x 108’ in size and 17’ deep, enough to hold 2.1 million gallons. Along with the Aeration basin there will be the headworks building, a secondary treatment building, secondary clarifiers, a disinfection contact basin, a biosoilds holding tank and an operations building. Also, there are 2.6 acres of land on the western portion of the property that will have five reed bed areas that will be specially established to catch any possible leaching (from sludge) so the material can be taken back to the disinfection basin. The reeds will consume the sludge in a natural, biological way.

Approximately 7,000 cubic yards of concrete will be used for the building structures. With 75% of the Concrete in place, Overland Ready Mix in York has provided Hawkin’s Construction, who is doing all the work on this project, with 7,100 cubic yards of concrete and approximately 1,667 tons of fill sand.

This new Treatment Plant should give the City of York a minimum of 50 years and can easily be expanded to 100 years with upgrades.

Western Sand & Gravel (WS&G) mines sand and gravel to make concrete or a variety of spec materials such as plaster sand or masonry sand for construction. The main goal is to produce aggregate for NEBCO’s Ready Mixed operations as well as supply sand and gravel to Southeast Nebraska and the Lincoln area. Throughout the years, the mining process has created an ideal habitat for birds, most notably, the Least Tern and the Piping Plover that are listed on the federally endangered and threatened species lists.

“There is an abundance of fine sands,” said Dave B., General Manager of Western Sand & Gravel. “We end up wasting it back on the property near the lake and it really mimics the Platte River to the birds.”

With minimal extra care by Western Sand & Gravel employees, a variety of bird species benefit from the activities of mining at sand and gravel pits.

In addition to years of partnering with and supporting the Tern & Plover Conservation Partnership at the University of Nebraska, Western Sand & Gravel recently began working with the Wildlife Division of the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission. In January, the National Audubon Society put on the nation’s annual largest-running citizen science birding project known as the Christmas Bird count. For the first time, the organization conducted a bird count along the Lower Platte River, including WS&G’s Sand Creek, Sandy Pointe and Louisville sites.

The three WS&G sites within the Lower Platte River Christmas Bird Count ended up being some of the few areas with open water. Sandy Pointe and Louisville both had patches of open water with a good number of geese and ducks. Sand Creek did not have any open water but included thousands of Mallards and Canada Geese on the ice. In total, 36 species were observed in the area.

With Lincoln’s ever growing student population, a new middle school in the Southeast side of town was required to relieve the over crowding at existing schools and account for the predicted future growth in the student population. The solution was to not only construct a new middle school but to also incorporate a new YMCA facility to serve that part of Lincoln. The collaborative effort ensures the 30,000 sf of shared facilities, including gyms and classrooms, get used in the most efficient manner. This partnership between Lincoln Public Schools and the YMCA has proven to be extremely beneficial to both parties since 2009 when they built their first joint-use facility located in Northwest Lincoln in the Fallbrook neighborhood.

Moore Middle School compromises about 186,700 sf of the 243,300 sf facility. When full, it will eventually be home to about 850 students in the three-story classroom wing. The seamlessly integrated YMCA boasts such features as both indoor and outdoor pools. The architect decided early on that precast concrete would be the best material to meet the different and demanding design requirements for both entities. Concrete Industries produced and supplied the project with over 1,450 individual pieces of precast concrete columns, beams, hollowcore, accent banding, solid and insulated wall panels. The exterior of the precast is a mixture of finishes including integral color, sandblasting, form liner and field laid brick veneer. Much of the interior of the precast was produced with a smooth finish that was painted in the field to provide an extremely durable wall finish.

The project also included 10,500 yards of concrete supplied by Ready Mixed Concrete as well as a large quantity of interior Burnished Block supplied by Reimers Kaufman.
The Architect and Engineer for the project was The Clark Enersen Partners and Hausmann Construction was the Contractor. The facility opened this past summer.

The Lincoln Saltdogs and the American Association jointly announced that Haymarket Park was named the league’s ‘Best Playing Field’ for 2017.  Haymarket Park has been the Field of the Year for all 17 seasons of its history.

The award is decided by the votes of the league’s field managers and media personnel.

Jeremy J. is in his first season as Athletic Turf Manager at Haymarket Park after serving as the Assistant Athletic Turf Manager for several seasons. Johnson graduated with a degree in Turfgrass Management from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and has served as an intern at Haymarket Park and with the Philadelphia Phillies.

“I am very pleased to continue the tradition of ‘Best Playing Field’ here at Haymarket Park,”Jeremy said. “This league features some great playing surfaces and terrific groundskeepers, and I am honored to receive this award.”

Haymarket Park has been the home of the Lincoln Saltdogs and Nebraska Cornhuskers since it opened in 2001. It is one of the anchors of the city’s Haymarket District.

“Jeremy and his staff do a wonderful job with the turf at Haymarket Park,” Saltdogs President/General Manager Charlie M. said. “This playing surface is one of the best in all of minor league baseball and it takes a team effort with the Stadium Operations staff to win this award for the 17th year in a row.”

Jeremy has a staff of comprised of full-time and intern workers.

“This award would not have been possible without the help and teamwork of the entire staff,” he said. “I would like to thank my assistant Jen R. Her assistance, and knowledge of this facility, was essential in managing two playing surfaces and the landscape to such a high standard. I would like to thank Marcus L., Mike M., and Blake T. for their hard work and ability to take on more responsibility; along with our entire grounds crew for their countless hours maintaining our standards. Finally, I would like to thank Josh K. and Charlie M. for ensuring that my transition into this position was as smooth as possible.”

Construction of a new Scheels “destination” store in Lincoln continues to progress. The store is located just to the east of its existing store at SouthPointe Pavilions in Lincoln.

Sampson Construction is working on the 220,000+ square-foot Scheels building, which when complete will be three times the size of the existing Lincoln store that opened in 2000. Upon completion in September 2018, the existing store will be removed for a new parking structure.

Ready Mixed Concrete in Lincoln has been working with Sampson from the beginning of the Southpointe Pavilions revamp to make enough space for the size of the new Scheels store. Ready Mixed has provided all the concrete for the project and has worked close with Sampson specifically on the Scheels project for design and quality control of the different concrete mixes from the aquatic concrete mix for the 16,000 gallon aquarium to the flowable fill used to incase the underground HVAC ducts. Quality control is an important part of this project and to date, there has been zero failed tests, which is reflective of the hard work the team of employees has put into the product provided. When completed, Ready Mixed will have supplied approximately 6,000 cubic yards.

Reimers Kaufman and Watkins have supplied masonry accessories to JM2 along with concrete block, while U-MIX Products will supply bulk bagged core fill masonry grout and bulk bagged Type-N Mortar.

Concrete Industries supplied concrete and manholes.

Costco will be opening the doors to their new 156,000 square-foot Lincoln store in October and NEBCO Companies will have played a large roll in the construction process.

The Washington based warehouse retailer is building their newest location in South Lincoln at 16th Street and Pine Lake Road.  Construction for the new store included the involvement of Ready Mixed Concrete, Reimers Kaufman, U-MIX Products, Concrete Industries, Constructors, Trafcon and Beatrice Sand & Gravel.

Ready Mixed Concrete is supplying a total of 6,000 CY of concrete for the project including 3,000 CY for the interior of the building and 2,800 CY for the rest of the project, including footings and other placements.  Lottman Carpenter out of Diller, NE is the Concrete Contractor for the project.

Constructors involvement includes all of the offsite paving while Trafcon handles the traffic control and offsite pavement marking.  Constructors is also doing the onsite asphalt drives and parking lot as well as the crushed rock base course, which was supplied by Beatrice Sand & Gravel’s Sietz Quarry.

Reimers Kaufman supplied 6,800 Standard Gray Units, 13,077 Standard and Rockface Colored Units from Northfield/Oldcastle, and 17,682 Quick Brik 4″ high units from Miller Material/Oldcastle.

U-mix supplied 75 yards of bulk mortar and 125 yards of core-fill masonry grout.

Concrete Industries supplied approximately 3,000 LN FT of reinforced concrete pipe from 15” diameter through 48” diameter for storm water drainage.  CI also supplied 7 manholes totaling approximately 75 VF for sanitary sewer.

The Lincoln Saltdogs hosted the Gary Southshore RailCats on August 21 in front of nearly 7,000 fans at Haymarket Park.  The Saltdogs plated eight runs on eight hits and a walk in the fifth inning to secure the win, but the highlight of the day came during the 26-minute eclipse delay.

The Saltdogs wore special black and white eclipse jerseys and stopped the game after the completion of the top of the third inning, just before 1 p.m., to watch the eclipse darken the sky.  Spectators erupted in applause at 1:02 p.m. as the moon crawled in front of the sun until the whole sky looked like a late-evening sunset.  The air turned chilly and went still.

Tickets were sold to fans as far away as California, Florida, New York and even as far as the United Kingdom and Germany.  The first 3,500 fans through the gates received free eclipse viewing glasses courtesy of Kuglar Vision.

Saltdogs pitcher, J.R. Bunda whipped out his phone during the middle of the third inning and went live on Instagram so his family in Hawaii and friends around the world could experience the same thing as the 6,956 fans at Haymarket Park experienced.  “This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for all of us,” Bunda said. “To be one of the six professional baseball teams to be playing during this time and in a historic event where people all over the world are coming to this area. We all just tried to soak it in.”

Just outside of Haymarket Park several science departments from the University of Nebraska hosted a fair. Students and professors set up 3D models, telescopes, sunspotters and maps.

From flashing lights, to sirens and loud horns, kids got a chance to learn more about vehicles they see in the Kearney community and the people who drive them.  About 20 trucks of all shapes and sizes took part in the annual Roadway Heroes Touch-a-Truck event in Kearney on August 12.

Kearney Ready Mixed Concrete participated in the program allowing kids the chance to climb aboard a Concrete Truck.  Cody Fielding, Melissa Tyron and Jerry Stithem talked to the kids about safety around the truck, emphasizing that truck drivers can’t see them in certain areas as well as three points of contact.  The trio also handed out colored pencils and sheets for the kids to color.

The event is organized by the Kearney Area Children’s Museum.  More than 300 people participated in the annual event.

Work is well underway at the Concrete Industries Havelock complex on a new Wall Panel Finishing Facility. The 16,000 sq. ft. precast building being constructed by Concrete Industries will allow Concrete Industries’ Structural Division to handle and finish precast concrete wall panels year-round in a warm, dry environment. The Structural Division is planning to occupy the facility by Thanksgiving of this year.

A new U.S. 75/Nebraska Highway 2 interchange located on the south edge of Nebraska City that started last Spring is continuing to progress. Both Constructors, Inc. and Concrete Industries Nebraska City are involved with the project that is scheduled to be completed in the Fall of 2017. Constructors is completing the one-mile-long paving project, which will consist of constructing a new elevated interchange with Nebraska Highway 2 elevated over U.S. 75. The project includes grading, culverts, bridges, paving, seeding, landscaping and lighting.  The project is being built in phases to accommodate traffic, with traffic control being maintained by Trafcon. Traffic control for this project consist of signals, temporary traffic signals, flaggers and pilot cars to facilitate traffic flow.  In total, Constructors will pave 85,000+ CY of concrete and 20,000+ tons of asphalt. The concrete for the project is being supplied by Concrete Industries Nebraska City while the asphalt is being shipped out of Constructors’ 804 Plant in Lincoln. With over 15 subcontractors involved, project coordination by Brent Davis and Zach Yelkin of Constructors, Inc. have kept the project moving forward. Some of the major subcontractors involved include Pink Grading, United Contractors, and Linhart Construction.