Conco Now: News & Updates | The Conco Companies

The Conco Companies, one of the nation’s largest commercial concrete contractors is finishing up concrete work on the new Platform at Union Station, a luxurious 21-story apartment building that is part of the Union Station Neighborhood in the heart of downtown Denver. The building is being developed by Holland Partners and includes 288 apartment units, a 260-car underground parking structure, and approximately 7,000 square feet of retail space. The project broke ground in early 2013 and is expected to be completed later this year.

Conco’s Role in the Denver Union Station Redevelopment Project — Conco is finishing up concrete work for the highly anticipated Union Station Neighborhood in Downtown Denver.

The Platform was appropriately given its name as it is adjacent to the new commuter rail platforms and other transit options located within the historic Denver Union Station. Once it is complete, it will be the tallest tower in the project. The modern building will offer residents spectacular views and impressive amenities such as a 15th floor pool deck and resident lounge, fitness center, yoga room, dog run, and 24-hour concierge services.

The architect is Shears Adkins Rockmore who specializes in the design of urban projects. They describe the tower as a “restrained palette of exterior materials, precast concrete, glass and metal.” The design is intended to compliment Union Station as well as to set a contemporary tone for the new district. The ground floor is glass and the building’s façade consists of grey and white concrete paneling. The north side of the tower has a glass curtain wall on the corners of the building. Apartments are on floors 5-21 and most are 1-bedroom units with some 2-bedroom and a few studio apartments available. The building has obtained LEED Gold certification.

The highly anticipated Union Station redevelopment is being done in conjunction with the FasTracks light rail development. The combined projects have an estimated budget of $7.2 billion to make it the largest transit redevelopment in the U.S. The project is expected to play a large role in furthering the revitalization of downtown Denver and will bring to the neighborhood residential housing, office and hotel development, and a mix of retail.

When your project demands exceptional services and the best value, Conco can deliver. We have been offering premium concrete services throughout the Western U.S. since 1959, and have a regional office in the Denver area. With state-of-the-art equipment and modern facilities, we work diligently to meet goals and stay within budget.

Most large scale construction projects in downtown settings lack the room necessary to stockpile large quantities of equipment or materials needed to get the job done. This makes the utilization of the space that does exist vital in the planning of every job task. This is certainly the case with 1 South Market, a new high-rise residential tower being built in downtown San Jose.

One of the tasks that Conco had to undertake on this project was to backfill 2,900 tons of crushed rock in three 8-hour days. With the congestion of a busy worksite, there was no margin for error as delays in placing the material would impact many other job tasks.

In order to deliver the crushed rock within these constraints, Conco brought in its Direct Feed trailer which allows a Superdump, Transfer, End Dump or 10-Wheeler to unload its contents directly into the hopper attached to the trailer. Material is then fed from the hopper onto one of Conco’s Telebelts. The Telebelt then places the material directly to the point of placement. With this system, there is no need to stockpile material on the jobsite and handle it twice via a loader or bobcat. It is also quicker and less labor intensive than using a loader, as the material is discharged directly from the back of a truck.

The Conco Companies just took delivery of two new Schwing M36/31 concrete pumps that are specifically designed to skillfully meet the challenges of our drilling customers. The new M36/31 pumps are currently based out of our Southern California operations.

Up until now, one of the problems that drillers have faced is that most concrete booms are not capable of lifting the heavy loads of long tremmie pipes filled with concrete. Since most pumps are rated with a lifting capacity of 300 – 400 lbs., cranes have been required to assist with the lift of the boom in order to avoid the potential for catastrophic failure.

To address this problem, Conco met with Schwing America to collaborate on engineering a pump that would better serve the drilling industry. Unlike conventional pumps, the new tremmie pump is capable of lifting long tremmies into caissons without the need for a crane assist, and the roll and fold design of the boom does not interfere with typical drilling operations. The result of our combined effort is a pump that has up to 1,100 pounds of capacity for lifting up to 60’ tremmies of 4” 11Ga. safely. Furthermore, these new pumps are equipped with the latest emission standards and are CARB compliant!

The features of our new Schwing Tremmie pumps include:

Modified tip section allowing for 1,100 lbs. of lifting capacity.
Roll and fold boom that does not interfere with drilling operations.
Small footprint for tight jobs.
Forward “X” style telescoping outriggers and lateral telescopic rear outriggers that do not interfere with jobsite obstacles.
Modern “B” Rock valve that can easily pump lean mixes.
Large material cylinders to reduce cycling times resulting in smoother pumping.
Cab over truck to maximize reach.
CARB compliant 2014 model.
Max Pump Performance, 178 Yards/Hr, 1,102 Pressure

A large part of getting the job done right is having the right equipment to do the job. Conco’s new M36/31 concrete pumps are designed to be the right equipment to assist us in better serving the project specific challenges of our drilling customers.

Conco is a leading supplier of concrete services for the Western United States. We have built our reputation with superior concrete formwork, reinforcing, place and finish, shotcrete and other ancillary services that benefit from our vast experience. Our concrete services include commercial, educational, parking and other construction development as well as public works projects.

Pumping concrete safely requires a comprehensive commitment throughout the entire organization. Having pumped millions of yards of concrete over the past 50 years, The Conco Companies have developed and implemented some of the most rigorous pumping safety procedures in the entire concrete industry.

Safety starts by insisting that all Conco pump operators attain American Concrete Pumping Association (ACPA) certification. ACPA training teaches our operators all aspects of the safe operation of a concrete pump. This training must be completed every two years and covers all operational and safety issues that might be encountered by crews. Our operators are taught how to operate their equipment safely and also how to protect all those that work around the pump from harm.

In addition to ACPA certification and company specific safety training, Conco obtains inspections of all of its boom pumps and Telebelts every year by certified boom pump inspectors. This inspection ensures the structural integrity of the equipment we operate.

Boom pipe cumulative yardage pumped is also tracked so Conco can be certain that pipes are changed on regular intervals in order to avoid pipe failures in the field. Our boom pumps are also equipped with a transition cover designed to protect people working behind a concrete pump (namely ready mix drivers) from injury caused by an unforeseen pipe elbow blowout.

Finally, Conco Pumping has purchased more than $10 million in new boom pumps and Telebelts in the last 18 months. This new equipment helps us provide our customers one of safest, most up-to-date and CARB compliant fleets on the west coast.

Conco’s commitment to safety isn’t just talk. Our pumping division completed 2013 without a single lost time accident, and our goal is to repeat this performance, year after year.

The first quarter of 2014 saw some significant projects being completed for The Conco Companies. Concrete work for the new Levi’s Stadium (home to the San Francisco 49ers) is virtually complete as only minor concrete remains. The goal posts have been installed and the seats are in as the stadium gets ready for an on time opening this summer. Conco has placed more than 67,000 cubic yards of concrete without a single injury or accident of any kind.

In Seattle at 815 Pine, we poured the final deck (Level R2) on March 20, 2014. This was the exact day shown on our original contract schedule from August of 2012! Regardless of the weather impacts from two Seattle winters and any unforeseen challenges which presented themselves throughout the construction, Conco deployed the resources and equipment needed to keep the project on track, as committed.

In addition to these two signature properties, Conco has completed 15 other sizable projects in the first quarter including high-rise office buildings, mid-rise office buildings, multi-story apartment buildings, parking garages, hospitals and a casino.

Looking forward, Conco’s backlog continues to grow but our continual reinvestment in the construction industry with new equipment and added personnel along with our ability to complete projects on time and on budget will help us satisfy our customers’ needs on new jobs in the future.

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