As part of the runway expansion project at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, Sharks & Sharks General Contractors and Agri Cycle are working toward the building of haul roads to be used in the construction of Lindbergh Road Tunnel and a Natural Bridge Road Bypass.

The project is located on Fee Road, just off of Natural Bridge Road.

Agri Cycle of St. Louis is the subcontractor responsible for clearing acres of trees for the haul roads.

According to Patrick Geraty, owner of Agri Cycle, the company expected to clear 10-12 acres (4-4.8 ha) a day using three tub grinders.

“We were originally supposed to clear 80 acres in five weeks. We’ve wound up clearing 225 acres in about eight weeks,” Geraty said.

Agri Cycle owns the three Morbark 1300 tubgrinders being used on the project. The company also has employed the services and equipment of Ray Boston.

Boston was hired to assist with the tree clearing and is using four Caterpillar 953 high lifts rented from St. Louis-based John Fabick Tractor Company.

“These track loaders were used to push over trees and move stumps to the machines for the operators to grind,” said Geraty.

Agri Cycle began work on July 13 with completion slated for the end of August.

“The thing that helped [the project] move along was that we weren’t subject to any laws on burning, which was considered for the project,” Geraty explained.

Since the contractors were grinding instead of burning, they also did not have to worry about time of day restrictions or the weather, such as wind conditions.

Sharks & Sharks began its work on July 12, with completion slated for Oct. 29. The company currently employs excavators and challengers also rented from John Fabick Tractor.