The $6.6 million project to reconstruct Iowa Street in Lawrence, Kan., has just recently been completed.
Funded by moneys from the city sales tax and two Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) sources — the Highway Safety Fund and the Surface Transportation Program — the project kicked off in February 2013 and was completed on Nov. 16.
King’s Construction Co Inc., of Oskaloosa, Kan., served as general contractor for the job, which involved reconstruction of the intersection of Lawrence’s 15th Street and Iowa Street and the utility work associated with it.
The company had already carried out a similar project in the same city, when they handled reconstruction and utility work at Kasold Street in 2010. For the Iowa Street job it fielded a fair-sized fleet of equipment, including Caterpillar trackhoes, used for installing pipes, removing pavement, and loading dirt, and Caterpillar motorgraders and unloaders, utilized for grading road and backfilling.
Waste and recycled material was hauled off by tandem/end dump trucks. Permanent Paving Inc., of Overland Park, Kan., provided the majority of the concrete paving work with a Gomaco paver. Fine grading was handled by a Terex trimmer.
In addition to Matthew Moffet (utility supervisor) three members of the family associated with the company contributed to the project —Brain King (job supervisor), company vice-president Dan King (who supervised overall completion of the job), Daniel King (grading supervisor), and Pat King (concrete supervisor).
“This was a very fast paced job,” a company spokesperson said. “We did meet a problem with soft subgrade, which we resolved by laying flyash and geogrid.”
King’s Construction engaged a number of subcontractors for the project. In addition to Permanent Paving, which carried out the concrete paving and curbing work, they included the J. Warren Company, based in Topeka, Kan., which was responsible for street lights.
Surveying was carried out by Landplan, headquartered in Lawrence, Kan.; Fulsom Brothers Inc., of Cedar Vale, Kan., provided signage; and Perry Fulsom Construction Inc., based in Grenola, Kan., handled seeding and erosion measures for the job.
Pavement marking was by the Twin Traffic Marking Corporation and Traftec Inc., both of Kansas City, Kan., while Betty’s Trucking of De Soto, Kan., assisted with trucking needs and Bettis Asphalt & Construction Inc., based in Topeka, Kan., provided asphalt. Boring was carried out by Torgeson Trenching Service Inc., also headquartered in Topeka, Kan.
About the Company
Duane King’s first big iron was a Caterpillar D-7 bulldozer, purchased in 1954, the year he founded King’s Construction Company.
His brother Floyd joining the company five years later effected a name change to King Brothers Construction, which lasted until Duane King retired in 1981. Floyd King’s sons Dan and Kent, who had then been working in the company for more than ten years, became partners with their father in 1987, when the business was incorporated.
Now with more than 60 employees and more than 100 pieces of dirt-moving equipment, King’s Construction Company Inc. specializes in excavation, underground and concrete work.
It has handled a wide range of this type of job, including excavating terraces and ponds for area farmers, watersheds, and landowners; multiple dirt excavating and utility jobs for the University of Kansas Overland Park Soccer Complex; and work on the I-70 Lecompton Interchange and the South U.S. 59 Highway as well as other federal and state projects. Its current projects include work for the Lansing High School, on the South Lawrence Trafficway, and at Rock Chalk Park, Lawrence, Kan.
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