Dirt Is Flying To Airport Site On Conveyor Belt In Atlanta
With the help of a unique fleet production program, 5R Constructors is working two eight-hour shifts six days a week to complete a $350-million earthwork contract for the Atlanta airport's new 9,000-ft-long fifth runway by June 2005. 5R, a joint venture of C.W. Matthews Contracting Co., APAC-Georgia and Thrasher Trucking Co., received a notice to proceed in May 2002 after a court-appointed arbitrator upheld the controversial sole bid on the project, which had been rejected by the city council (ENR 3/11/02 p. 15). The firm had the enclosed conveyor belt up and running four months later, says Q. William Hammack Jr., 5R's managing director.
Trucks were not an option for delivering the earth directly to the site, which is enclosed by urban development, including Interstate 285 and Route 85. "It would have taken three years more to build it with dump trucks running 24/7," says Hammack. Inspired by mining practices, the team came up with the conveyor plan. "We think this is as environmentally friendly a project as can be built," he adds.