This summer Watkins Concrete Block and Builders of the Future “Building & Developing Tomorrow’s Construction Leaders” hosted a two-day Teach the Teachers event. The event had a great turn out of nine teachers from the Omaha metropolitan area. The first day of the event Jeremy Ramsey, Watkins Residential Masonry Specialist, took the teachers through a hands-on learning experience of masonry ranging from laying concrete masonry units to laying brick. The second day of the event the teachers were able to install a patio from beginning to end with the guidance of Mike Newcomer, Watkins Hardscape Specialists. Huge thanks to Mark Bowder, Executive Director, and Dave Robinson, Program Facilitator, with Builders of the Future for helping set up the event. Also a big thanks goes out to some local contractors, SunCo and Indigenous Landscaping, for donating tools and equipment for the event.

Now that the golf season is over, a crew from Constructors led by Jerrad Spoon is on site at Quarry Oaks to tear out and replace several stretches of cart path in need of repair.
“Due to the inherently hilly nature of the Quarry Oaks property and 25 years of sub surface erosion we need to repair several stretches of cart paths on the course”, said Ken Cuddy, Golf Course Superintendent. “We are so fortunate to have this work done in-house by a sister company: Constructors. This same crew has done work out here before and work with great efficiency and knowledge of the course. They also appreciate and understand the delicate turf conditions and take great care to protect the course while getting the work done in a timely manner” Cuddy went on to say. In addition, they will be installing guard rail along some of the new stretches of cart path. Quarry Oaks was able to repurpose rustic timbers from several of the OPPD power poles that were replaced last year to serve as the guard rail. This weathered natural timber look will blend in with the aesthetics of the property while providing a safe cart path for our patrons.
Work began on January 20th and should be done within 30 days.

As part of Nebraska’s “Go Big” Athletic Facility project, the Ed Wier Running Track is being replaced with a new outdoor track located north of the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Nemaha Sports Construction, Inc. subcontracted Constructors to perform the asphalt portion of the new track. The new track required 6” of asphalt pavement, amounting to more than 5,000 tons. The smoothness tolerance on a project like this is very tight, requiring a maximum 1/8” deviation, using a 10-foot straight edge. This type of precision asphalt paving is very difficult. Therefore, Constructors’ paving team used stringless pave control to successfully construct a precision pavement for the new running track. By meeting these stringent requirements, the track qualifies to certify world records if one would be set. After a curing period, the track will be coated with a polyurethane elastomer surface in ‘Husker Red’ that will make the track one of the top-rated running tracks in the nation!

The Two Landmark Centre office building located in downtown Lincoln on Lincoln Mall and 12th Street has recently been demolished. The property, which was more than 35 years old, is owned by NEBCO and the new building will be leased to the federal government. Through the years it has served as office space for NEBCO employees, Universal Surety and Inland Insurance, and other local businesses.
The new 2 Landmark Centre will be very similar to NEBCO’s 1 Landmark and 3 Landmark which are also on Lincoln Mall. “This project will continue our commitment of excellent architecture and hopefully serve as a catalyst for future developments in south downtown,” mentions Jim Abel. The new building is set to be completed in the summer of 2023.
The companies that assisted in the demolition were Sampson Construction and Peitzmeier Demolition & Concrete Cutting, Inc.

The NEBCO, Inc. Board of Directors has named Jack Abel as President succeeding Bob Nordquist, President since 2004. Nordquist will continue as a NEBCO Director.
Jack began his career at NEBCO during summers while in school; working at Concrete Industries Structural Plant, General Testing Lab, Reimers Kaufman, Quarry Oaks, Lincoln Saltdogs and Constructors.
After graduating from UNL with a degree in Business Administration he continued working in different areas of the company as his responsibilities grew into management.
He became Vice-President in 2019 and also sits on the Board of UNL College of Business Young Alumni, Downtown Lincoln Association, and the Lincoln Children’s Zoo.

Husker Concrete and Constructors have been hard at work on a project at Crete Carrier’s headquarters in Lincoln located at 400 NW 56th. The project consists of expansion and renovation of it’s existing facilities.
Constructors is a sub-contractor working on building a 10,000 cubic yard parking lot. Construction for the parking lot started in June and will take 3-4 months to complete. Steve Samuelson (Constructors) is the project manager.
Husker Concrete is supplying the concrete for the project.
Sampson is the General Contractor.

Constructors’ crews safely and successfully set girders for a bridge located on the Fremont Southeast Beltway project for the Nebraska Department of Transportation. The project began in September 2020 and is estimated to finish by the end of October 2021.
The goal of the project is to construct a 389’ long x 88’ wide two span concrete girder bridge. The girders span over the UPRR mainline tracks and Old Highway 275. Each girder is 168’ in length and weighs approximately 85 tons.
Concrete Industries supplied the concrete girders and Western Sand & Gravel is supplying granular backfill material.
The general contractor is Graham Construction and Constructors is a subcontractor on the project.

Concrete Industries produced 12 precast bridge girders that were recently delivered to the South Beltway project site near 27th and Saltillo Road in Lincoln. The 153 foot girders, each weighing approximately 75 tons, traveled across Lincoln on trucks alongside six police escorts to control traffic on Corn- husker Highway and south on 27th Street. Once on site, the girders were lift-ed and set in place for the overpass currently under construction.
The agencies involved in coordinating the delivery include: Concrete Industries, Argee Transport Co. Hawkins Construction Company, United Construction Company, City of Lincoln Traffic Engineering, Lincoln Police Department, and BNSF Railway.

OL&B Railway recently finished up work on replacing the railroad crossing on Y street.
This project was a partnership with the Railroad Transportation Safety District and the City that started back in 2017. They were looking for an improved, long term replacement for the crossing. They wanted to try something new for the possibility of using it in other crossings. The crossing is a pre-cast tub crossing that integrates
the tracks and the road all together instead of being separate. This is the first application of this type of crossing in Nebraska and only the third location in the country for this specific style with the fastening system used. It is designed for simplicity of installation, durability, service life, and to be the smoothest crossing for vehicle traffic.

Constructors recently completed the Ansley Viaduct project in Ansley, Nebraska. Work on the $7.5M Nebraska Department of Transportation project began in March of 2020. The job consisted of a bridge re-deck and new substructure over the BNSF mainline tracks, as well as 18,000 square yards of concrete pavement replacing the existing Highway 92 and Highway 183 roadways. Bridge construction included setting 18 new steel girders, weighing approximately 72,000 lbs each over the live railroad tracks.