Excavators replace cranes
Cranes used to hold exclusive sway over the heavy lifting required in bridge construction, but excavators are replacing them in many bridgebuilding tasks. Al and Steve Thorson are enthusiastic about the efficiency and speed of their Komatsu hydraulic excavators - two PC400s and a PC200LC-6 - from Road Machinery and Supplies Company. RMS sales representative Ron Carothers services the Minnowa account.
"We use excavators for footings for the abutments, shaping the slopes, placing riprap," explained Al. "Years ago, you would have used clamshell and drag buckets on cranes for a lot of the work. But now excavators are more efficient and faster."
The Thorsons turned to RMS for Komatsu excavators "because we like the people, service and sales," Al emphasized. "Ron Carothers and I have known each other for about 28 years now. He takes care of us very well. Komatsu excavators are outstanding machines. They're reliable and productive." Minnowa also has seven Link-Belt cranes from RMS.
Using this Link-Belt crane,
a Minnowa operator drives
pile at a bridge job near
Highway 63 in New
Hampton, Iowa.
Minnowa Construction
crews put the finishing
touches on a recent bridge
construction job east of
West Concord, Minnesota.
"We're pretty loyal to RMS," continued Al. "They're treated us well. They have a serviceman who lives in Decorah, Iowa. And when RMS moved into Iowa, that was a big plus for us, because we can draw service from their locations when we're working down there. And it's a lot handier for short-term equipment rental."
Minnowa Construction employs a mechanic who travels from jobsite to jobsite in the summer and works on each piece of equipment during the winter months. "We try to bring each piece into the shop to go through it and make sure it's ready to go, to help eliminate as much downtime as possible," said Al. "We can't afford downtime. We don't have a lot of replacement machines."
The Thorsons occasionally call on RMS for service work. "They respond very well when we need them," commented Al. Minnowa also bought a Tramac hydraulic hammer from RMS to break concrete on bridge demolition jobs, "and we have several dump trucks and belly dumps that we purchased from RMS," Al added.
Good people essential
Tackling difficult jobs and successfully completing them has allowed Minnowa Construction to make its reputation in the bridge industry, but the Thorsons also credit their employees with Minnowa's steady growth and success over the last 17 years.
"It boils down to good people and a lot of hard work," said Steve. "Many of our key foremen and operators have been with us since we started in 1984. We work well together and respect each other. We're open-minded about any job and possibly a better way to do it. Everybody has an opinion and an idea, and it may be a better one than we have. These guys are professionals, and we value their opinions and ideas."
As for the future, Steve noted that business will remain steady. "There will be lots of jobs out there," he said. "Roads aren't capable of handling all the people who are driving today, so more highways means more bridges: new ones and reconstructions."
The Thorsons plan to go after some of that bridge business, but not all of it. "We either have to grow and be really big or stay where we are and have pretty good control," Steve observed. "We're comfortable with our current size. We just want everyone to be happy and prosperous."
"We're pretty happy where we are," agreed Al. "We want to stay manageable, and we want to stay really good at what we're doing."
That's good news for customers of Minnowa Construction, Inc.