General Contractor IMCO General Construction
 

After a massive landslide in March 2014 swamped State Route 53 near Oso in Snohomish County, Wash., killing 43 and seriously injuring 10, local, state and federal agency personnel, contractors and volunteers joined in the search and rescue operations.

One of the contractors in the emergency volunteer team was Ferndale, Wash.-based IMCO, which provided excavators and operators to aid search and rescue efforts. The firm also was awarded three contracts to remove soil and debris from a roadway that had blocked access from Arlington to Darrington, Wash. That work was needed before a new road could be built. Before beginning the removal work, IMCO and the Washington State Dept. of Transportation worked with a nearby landfill owner to use his property for sorting and debris disposal. As a result, the team was able to reduce haul times and mitigate noise disturbances along SR 530 to the I-5 corridor as a stream of 15 trucks rolled from the haul sites and back each day.

The project team, including IMCO superintendent Brent Richards—a Snohomish County resident—worked 12-hour shifts, seven days a week on the $2.6-million job. Constant communication was required with the owners while coordinating with local and national agencies.

IMCO worked with spotters to ensure that all of the remains and belongings of those who died were recovered and treated with respect.

The project required building erosion- and water-pollution control, slope stabilization and sifting 127,000 cu yd of material in four weeks. Work was finished one week ahead of schedule and nearly 50% under budget.