For more than three decades, Albanese D&S Inc. has steadily built its reputation by taking on increasingly difficult underground utility and heavy civil construction projects throughout Massachusetts.
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Today, the Dracut, Mass.-based contractor is putting that experience to work on the largest single project in the company's history — a $43.8 million infrastructure improvement project in Lowell that combines deep excavation, major stormwater improvements, water and sewer work, rock removal and a complicated crossing of an existing levee.
The project also has required Albanese D&S to make some substantial additions to its equipment fleet, including a DEVELON DX800LC-7 excavator purchased specifically for the job and several other large DEVELON machines supplied and supported by Equipment East.
Friendship Becomes a Business
The roots of Albanese D&S go back much further than 1991 — and thousands of miles from Massachusetts.
Company founders Giovanni Albanese and Andrea Ciano grew up together in Italy. The two were childhood friends, lived within roughly a quarter-mile of one another, attended school together and were born only about three weeks apart.
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Their paths eventually brought both men to Massachusetts. Albanese came to the United States when he was approximately 14 years old, while Ciano arrived as a young man in his early 20s.
Their lifelong friendship eventually became a business partnership.
Albanese incorporated Albanese D&S in 1991, and Ciano joined him as a partner before the company performed its first project, according to Ciano's son, Pietro Ciano, who today is part of Albanese D&S's management team, working in project management and estimating.
The company's earliest projects were considerably smaller than the work Albanese D&S tackles today. During the 1990s, much of its work involved sewer installations and water main replacements as Massachusetts communities expanded and upgraded underground infrastructure.
By the 2000s, Albanese D&S was performing increasingly demanding utility projects for customers including the Boston Water and Sewer Commission and Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. The work required deeper excavations, difficult utility crossings, sheeting and shoring and increasingly sophisticated construction methods.
A series of progressively larger contracts followed, including the company's first MWRA project in 2005 and an approximately $8.9 million contract in 2009.
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In 2012, Albanese D&S landed an approximately $15 million Boston Water and Sewer Commission project. Another major test came in 2016 when the company received an emergency contract in Plymouth involving approximately 5 mi. of failed sewer force main. Albanese D&S completed approximately $15 million worth of work in only six months using a combination of open-cut replacement and slip lining.
Additional large MWRA projects followed, helping establish Albanese D&S as a contractor capable of tackling increasingly complex heavy civil work.
Today, the company employs approximately 80 people and maintains more than 200 pieces of equipment and vehicles, ranging from pickups and service trucks to excavators, loaders, skid steers, pavers, rollers, tractors, trailers and support equipment.
Despite that growth, Ciano said the company's philosophy remains centered on planning, preparation and safety.
“If you do all the right things and you're prepared for the project and you plan the project correctly, you have the proper supervision and you stay on top of the job,” he said. “Production and profitability tend to follow.”
Albanese Takes On Largest Project Yet
That approach is being put to the test on the City of Lowell's Centralville Phase 1 — Mainline Conduit and Separation Outfall project.
The $43.8 million contract is designed in large part to address a combined sewer overflow, or CSO, problem.
In portions of Lowell, stormwater entering catch basins currently flows into the sanitary sewer system. During heavy rainfall, that additional water can overwhelm the wastewater system, resulting in combined sewer overflows into the Merrimack River.
Albanese D&S is installing a new drainage system approximately a mile long that will allow stormwater to be separated from the sanitary sewer flow and routed independently.
But installing such a large drainage system in an established urban area means much more than simply laying new pipe. Because of the size and depth of the new drainage infrastructure, Albanese D&S also must relocate or replace portions of existing sewer and water systems.
The quantities illustrate the project's scale.
The contract includes approximately 5,315 linear ft. of sewer pipe ranging from 8 to 18 in.; 8,195 linear ft. of drainage pipe ranging from 12 to 60 in.; 2,050 linear ft. of 8-by-5-ft. and 6-by-5-ft. box culvert; and 7,595 linear ft. of water main ranging from 8 to 24 in.
Approximately 3,325 linear ft. of the drainage installation consists of 60-in. pipe, with portions reaching depths of approximately 25 ft. The project also requires removal of more than 5,400 cu. yds. of rock.
Other work includes dewatering, bypass pumping, excavation support, contaminated-soil handling, pavement restoration and sewer rehabilitation.
One particularly demanding portion involves construction of the Bunker Hill Outfall at the Merrimack River, including a cofferdam, concrete headwall and apron and riverbank restoration.
Another involves crossing the VFW Highway and an existing earthen levee, requiring extensive coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Massachusetts Department of Transportation and other project stakeholders.
The project received its notice to proceed in November 2025 and is expected to continue into 2028.
And some of the toughest excavation remains ahead.
“We're going to be 25 feet deep in about 18 feet of rock,” Ciano said.
Going Bigger With DEVELON
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Work of that scale requires equally serious equipment.
Albanese D&S has increasingly standardized much of its excavator fleet around DEVELON equipment supplied by Equipment East.
The relationship dates to approximately 2012 and 2013, when Albanese D&S began purchasing a substantial number of what were then Doosan machines. It represented a significant change from equipment brands the company traditionally operated.
Ciano said Albanese D&S and Equipment East were both expanding at roughly the same time.
“We essentially grew together,” he said. “As we grew, they grew.”
Today, Equipment East supplies and supports a significant portion of Albanese D&S' excavators, loaders and other equipment.
The Lowell project pushed the relationship to another level.
Among Albanese D&S' most significant recent purchases are DEVELON DX490 excavators and a DX800LC-7 — the latter purchased specifically for the Centralville project.
The DX800LC-7 is an approximately 80-ton-class excavator with an operating weight of approximately 179,000 lbs. and more than 500 net hp. The machine offers a maximum digging depth of approximately 27 ft. and substantial digging and lifting capacity — attributes particularly important on a project involving deep cuts, large-diameter pipe, rock excavation and heavy excavation support.
For Ciano, equipment selection often comes down to putting as much a productive machine as reasonably possible into the available workspace.
“If you can fit it on the street, the biggest machine is what you want,” he said. “You want the power, you want the reach. That gives you the best productivity.”
DX800 Takes On Pile Driving
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The DX800LC-7 also is performing a critical excavation-support function.
Albanese D&S has equipped the machine with a Maxbrio excavator-mounted vibratory pile driver used to install H-beams for sheeting and excavation support.
The arrangement allows the excavator operator to pick up, position and drive the beam from the cab rather than relying on a conventional free-hanging pile driver and additional equipment and personnel to position the beam.
Ciano said that capability is particularly valuable when crews must make deep excavations through congested urban streets filled with existing utilities.
Albanese D&S uses H-beam and wood-lagging or steel-plate combinations to quickly establish excavation support. The company also operates vacuum excavation trucks to help crews expose existing utilities safely.
The excavator-mounted pile-driving arrangement can turn what otherwise might be a three-person operation into one largely controlled by the excavator operator, although Albanese D&S still uses a ground person and safety chain while handling beams.
That combination of equipment and experience has become an important part of the company's approach to difficult utility crossings.
Operator Gives DX800 High Marks
For Albanese D&S equipment operator Gil D'Aguiar, the DX800 represents the largest excavator he has operated during a career spanning more than 20 years.
His reaction after spending time in the machine was straightforward.
“This is an amazing machine,” D'Aguiar said. “Very smooth when you operate. Very strong machine.”
Despite its size, D'Aguiar said the controls proved easy to become comfortable with and the cab provides a high level of operator comfort.
Visibility is assisted by the machine's camera system, an important consideration on an excavator this large.
Albanese D&S also is making increasing use of GPS technology. The company has approximately eight excavators equipped with Topcon GPS systems, along with a grader and dozer.
Equipment East works with Albanese D&S and its technology supplier to prepare new machines so they can arrive ready for work with machine-control equipment installed.
On the Lowell project, GPS-equipped excavators provide operators with grade and pipe alignment information directly in the cab.
DX490s Keep Material Moving
While the DX800 attracts attention because of its size, Albanese D&S' DEVELON DX490 excavators also are playing an important role.
Two DX490s are working on the project, including machines being used with Felco bedding conveyor systems.
The setup is particularly useful on narrow streets where there is limited room for a large excavator to swing. Material is loaded into a hopper behind the excavator and conveyed forward between the tracks, allowing the operator to place bedding or backfill without repeatedly swinging around for material.
For Albanese D&S, the benefit is simple: faster cycle times.
“They basically don't have to spin around to get stone,” Ciano said. “The cycle time is amazing.”
The large capacity of the DX490s also speeds truck loading.
“They're loading these dump trucks in like six buckets,” Ciano said. “I've never seen that done before.”
The company had owned an older conveyor system for years but rarely used it. After putting it back into service and seeing the productivity advantages, Albanese D&S invested further in the concept.
On a congested urban utility project, the combination of a large excavator and conveyor allows the company to retain the digging power and reach it wants without requiring additional swing room.
Support Behind the Equipment
For Albanese D&S, however, the machine itself represents only part of the purchasing decision.
Dealer support carries equal weight.
Ciano said there are numerous manufacturers producing capable equipment today. What often separates one ownership experience from another is what happens after the sale.
“It's support,” he said. “It's how you treat [the customer]. It's being able to service you and caring enough to service you.”
That has been a major reason Albanese D&S' relationship with Equipment East has continued to grow.
The dealership's location is another advantage. Equipment East is directly across the street from Albanese D&S' Dracut operation and approximately 10 minutes from the Lowell project.
Its mobile service fleet can perform extensive repairs in the field, and that capability was particularly important when the DX800 arrived. Because of the machine's size, Equipment East personnel assembled the excavator on site before it went to work.
Albanese D&S performs much of its routine maintenance internally, but Equipment East supplements those capabilities when needed, including scheduled service and repairs when the contractor's own shop is busy.
The dealership also assists in coordinating installation of machine-control systems before new equipment is delivered.
For a contractor with approximately 80 employees, more than 200 fleet assets and multiple crews working simultaneously, minimizing downtime is essential — particularly on a $43.8 million project with a demanding schedule.
More than a decade after Albanese D&S began making its move toward what is now DEVELON equipment, Ciano said the machines have earned their position in the fleet.
The transition came at roughly the same time Albanese D&S itself entered a period of substantial growth. As the contractor took on larger and more difficult work, its equipment requirements became more demanding.
The DEVELON machines had to prove themselves along the way. They did.
Today, Albanese D&S is willing to entrust some of its largest and most demanding work to the brand — including a DX800LC-7 purchased specifically for the largest project the company has ever undertaken.
“The guys love them,” Ciano said of the company's newest DEVELON excavators.
But Ciano continues to emphasize the support behind those machines.
Equipment East's proximity, parts availability, field service capability and ability to respond when Albanese D&S needs assistance have made the dealership an important part of the contractor's equipment program.
The Centralville project is considerably larger than the sewer and water projects Giovanni Albanese and Andrea Ciano were pursuing when they started Albanese D&S in 1991.
But the basic approach remains much the same: prepare carefully, put the right people on the job and give them the right equipment to get it done.
