The Conco Companies, Author at The Conco Companies

Conco is Pre-Qualified with Hoop Welding for Caltrans, a process which can take up to a year to achieve through many stringent testing criteria. Conco has invested in the time, people, and the proper equipment to meet this qualification process for Caltrans and a lot more.

With Conco Reinforcing at our Benicia Rebar fabrication shop and Rail yard facility now being able to meet the Caltrans criteria, we are fabricating welded hoops.

An Example of this is the current Caltrans Project 01 – 366004 Eureka Slough. This Project consists of 120 caissons (Piers drilled into the ground, filled with welded rebar hoops, vertical rebar, and concrete). Depending on varying depths and widths each caisson can contain 300 or more certified welded Rebar hoops. There are around 18,000 Certified welded rebar hoops on this job alone.

This added Caltrans welding certification along with the newly renovated Benicia Reinforcing facility has increased the capability to diversify what Conco is now able to do in its Pre-fabrication yard with its outdoor overhead cranes. With Conco’s Hoop welding equipment 1 operator can weld up to 250 Certified hoops in one shift. Conco currently has over 34,000 hoop welds on the books.

We are thankful for the investment from Conco’s management and the hard work of the employees at our Benicia Facility that made this possible to be a pre-qualified hoop welding facility. We look forward to continuing to meet the industry demands along with a high quality of service. (YouTube VIDEO)

Heat Illness Prevention

Every summer we encounter heat exhaustion that can sometimes keep our workers out of commission for hours or even days. In preparation for the coming summer heat, two portable cooling stations have been procured in our Southern CA region. These cooling stations have an oscillating mist blown that, according to our field crew, “helps recharge your energy with only a few minutes [of exposure]”. We are hopeful this, in addition to shade and water, will aid in avoiding such negative heat-related experiences, thereby providing an overall better experience for our workforce!

Daniel Varelas seen in the picture above, receiving a brief cooldown before continuing his work on

the structure foundations at the USC Pasadena Medical Office Building.

Conco is currently working on THE CONFIDENTIAL: a 29 story, cast in place tower in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood. Partnering with Exxel Pacific as the General Contractor, Conco is helping to bring this mixed-use building to completion by providing concrete pumping and placing, shotcrete and reinforcing. With over 22,000 CY of concrete planned to be poured, we anticipate topping out the tower in November of 2023. This project will demand over 4 million pounds of rebar that we will fabricate at our state-of-the-art rebar facility in Rochester, WA. In the end, THE CONFIDENTIAL will contain 375,000 square feet of deck and we are thankful to RPM for their support on the rebar installation and Cadman for their readymix supply.

As noted by Superintendent Bill Lessard, “This crew came off of what could be called a mega project at Building X (a Facebook project) so it’s kind of nice to get back to the basics of a rinse and repeat tower while they’re still firing on all cylinders. It’s a great crew, the core of which have been together 8 years. It’s always a privilege and a pleasure to be charged with such a competent crew who work so well together”. This is the third tower project for Bill with Conco, and the whole team benefits from his expertise.

Left: Spencer Jones (Carpenter), installing elevator embeds. Right: Jon Estrada (Carpenter) and Desmond Upulasi (Laborer), pouring columns. Photos by Jacob Christian, General Foreman.

THE CONFIDENTIAL, inspired by the work-from-home impacts of the pandemic, will feature larger units that have dedicated workspaces. Most units will also have a balcony for outside space. This unique approach will result in less occupants of the building and the hope is that it will encourage a sense of community amongst the residents. Developed by Security Properties, this project will contain four levels of below-grade parking in addition to the 29 levels of mixed use above; including commercial/retail, additional parking, office, residential and amenity levels. This building is sure to be a fantastic addition to the Belltown neighborhood and Conco looks forward to this next project with Exxel Pacific!

The Conco Companies has been hard at work on The Port of Vancouver Terminal 1 project in Vancouver, Washington. This project is a mixed-use development that will include office, retail, and hotel spaces. The building consists of 120,000 square feet of slab on grade with a 5-story parking garage. At Level 6, it splits into two towers that will be connected by a skybridge.

Photo taken April 14, 2023

Another turn-key project for Conco, we are providing reinforcing, formworks, concrete pumping, place and finish work, and shotcrete as well. For this project Conco will pour 711,390 sq. feet of deck on this project, which is anticipated to be completed in September 2024. There will be more than 8 million pounds of rebar placed on this project, in addition to almost 392,000 linear feet of cable and 35,370 cubic yards of concrete.

Photo taken January 13, 2023

Jeremy Bacon, Project Manager at Conco for 9 years, says “The most interesting part of this project to me is the design. As part of that design, board formed columns, walls, and exposed concrete beams along the south and west sides of the building will highlight Conco’s craftmanship in the area for years to come.”

Jeremy Bacon (L), Paul Gannon (M), Kevin Clark (R) , Project Leadership for the Port of Vancouver Terminal 1

The Port of Vancouver, Terminal 1 takes up two city blocks and is over a spread of 120,000 sf. The project will be split into two separate towers after the parking Levels are complete. To meet the scheduled durations, Conco has two crews performing work at the same time. Scheduling and coordination between two separate crews, the GC and MEP subs takes a lot of effort. Kevin Clark, General Foreman for this project praised our crews by saying “Manpower management has been a great accomplishment between foremen of all the trades. Daily meetings between the trades have allowed for effortless teamwork. We all know each other’s goals which helps to maintain continuity on the project. Robertson and Olson’s Superintendent, Todd Howem has been a huge help coordinating all of the subcontractors. ”

Paul Gannon is the project Superintendent for The Port of Vancouver Terminal 1 and has worked for Conco for 10 years. He found the most interesting part of this project to be “The sheer size of the building! That, coupled with the amount of rebar that has been placed, especially in the foundations, is really something.” Paul also felt that the scheduling of this job posed a challenge but said that “A unique accomplishment of this job was maintaining the schedule while basically building two buildings at the same time! The transitioning of foundations to slab on grade and then into elevated decks was challenging on this large footprint.”

When this project is complete ZoomInfo, a Vancouver-based company, will move into both towers of Terminal 1, making the location it’s global headquarters.

The architects on this project are DLR Group and West of West Architecture & Design

Ramona Metro Point – A Transit Oriented Development

The Conco Companies has been working on Ramona Metro Point since November 2022. This project, developed by Community Development Partners, is another affordable housing project that Conco is proud to be a part of. Working with Walton Construction, Conco is providing reinforcing, concrete pumping, place and finish, as well as shotcrete services. This project is anticipated to finish on April 2, 2023 and will bring 50 affordable housing units to the area.

Ramona Metro Point is a 4 story, wood-framed, transit-oriented development in El Monte, CA. Its unique horse-shoe design optimizes both style and function for the much-needed low-income housing in the area. The development, along with many others for which Conco assists, are part of the massive strive to accommodate and combat the housing crisis which exists within the general Los Angeles Area. Conco has taken every opportunity to expedite the construction schedule, doing our part in this life-improving effort.

Nearly half of the units at Ramona Metro Point will be specifically designated to house families of El Monte Unified School District that identify as homeless. Coupled with social services and educational classes it will provide, Ramona Metro Point is designed to make a positive impact on the community.