For Seneca, SC-based Thrift Development Corp., completing a project in its hometown is more than just another day on the job. It’s a labor of love.
The company, working under a $10.8-million South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) contract, is widening 4.2 mi (6.8 km) of Wells Highway, the town’s major artery, which connects shopping centers and Seneca High School to the rest of the town. Thrift is expanding the existing two-lane stretch of road into five lanes with a center turn lane. The company also is doing all the curb, gutter and sidewalk work and building a 175-ft. bridge spanning the Norfolk Southern Railway, which is being replaced.
Glenn Thrift has been doing business in Oconee County since the early 1950s. In 1995, Glenn, the youngest of six Thrift brothers, formed Thrift Development, which now has 40 employees in its ranks. The company works throughout upstate South Carolina and recently was certified in Georgia.
“This project is special to us for a couple of reasons,” explained Thrift’s engineer/estimator Marty McKee. “This being our hometown, we naturally wanted first and foremost a safe environment for not only our workers but also for the traveling public.”
The most prominent example of this may be the emphasis Thrift Development has placed on erosion control. In fact, the project is being documented for educational purposes by Clemson University and SCDOT along with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. The state of South Carolina is now requiring certification for SCDOT erosion control inspectors.
Thrift has set up several test sections along the project that can be used as aids and study material for the certification course. These include a section using erosion control blankets and hydro-mulch, which crews put out with the seeds to eliminate erosion.
Additionally, added McKee, controlling erosion in Seneca means the company is being a good neighbor in ensuring that land is not damaged with excess silt and sediment.
McKee added that the company’s emphasis on Seneca’s safety extends beyond erosion control. When Thrift Development began the Wells Highway widening job in March of this year, the company noticed that a side road extending from the project was in need of some hefty repairs.
“A new bridge had been built on that road about three years ago and the road was heavily congested because of two shopping centers located on it,” he said. “One of the things we were allowed to do was improve that road. It was added to the project after it was let. So we feel we made that road a little safer, too, by widening it and putting in a center turn lane.”
In preparation for the Wells Highway widening project, Thrift Development purchased two new John Deere 700H dozers and a John Deere 672CH motorgrader from Van Lott Inc., based in West Columbia, SC.
“The dozers really have a lot of power,” said McKee. “Donald Smith, our superintendent, and our operators were really impressed by the maneuverability and the power of the machine.”
Gary Thrift, president, agreed. “We demoed the dozer, and it had some updates since the last one we had years ago. We ended up purchasing it, and since then, we purchased one exactly like it.”
Thrift noted that the company is thrilled with the way the 700H handles the slope of the roadway.
Thrift Development also has been pleasantly surprised with the six-wheel drive 672CH motorgrader. “We have been very impressed with the durability of it,” said McKee. “It moves a lot of dirt and holds a line when you’re fine grading. It doesn’t get the bouncing or rocking. It just has that much power.”
Thrift Development has a long history with Van Lott. Gary Thrift noted that one reason his company went with the John Deere equipment was the dealerships service and support.
McKee added that Van Lott’s training also has impressed the company.
“They’re there anytime you need them. You just need to pick up the phone,” he said.
The John Deere equipment has played an integral part in many phases of the project, which is nearly halfway complete.
On Oct. 14, crews finished boring 232 ft. of 42-in. steel pipe under the road at the intersection of Wells Highway and U.S. 123.
“What we proposed to do — instead of digging across the road and installing a cross-lined pipe — we felt it would be better for the traveling public to bore under the road,” explained McKee. “We’re in the process now of having to tie everything together.”
So far, Thrift Development crews have moved out 17,000 yds. of unclassified excavation and brought in 55,000 yds. of borrow material. Crews also have laid approximately 11,000 tons of base, 16,000 tons of binder and 1,200 tons of surface asphalt.
With the roadway between 50 and 75 percent complete, Thrift Development now is moving toward building the bridge across the Norfolk Southern Railway line. Subcontractor United Contractors, based in South Carolina, is tackling this phase of the project.
“We’re building everything up as close as we can moving up toward the bridge itself,” McKee said. “We’re closing off the widened section so it’s still a two-lane road with some turn lanes in it, but we’re not opening it up to traffic until the bridge is fully complete.”
With the nationwide shortage of steel, Thrift Development had to postpone the construction of the bridge by approximately six months while waiting for the fabrication of at least two steel beam girders.
“It is our understanding that one [girder] has been fabricated and the second one is just about complete now,” said McKee, noting that crews should begin constructing the bridge at the end of October.
United Contractors will first widen the outside of the existing bridge. Once that is completed, several utilities will be attached to the newly widened section, explained McKee. “And at that point, the existing bridge traffic will be diverted to the widened outside sections, and the interior sections of the existing bridge will be torn out and a new bridge built to tie into those other two widened sections.”
He added that United will be working closely with the Norfolk Southern Railway to ensure the safety of both the crews and the trains, which will be running under the construction activity.
Additionally, Thrift Development has the task of keeping the heavy traffic flow moving through the job site. During bridge construction the company will not close the road.
“Seneca High School is located on this project,” said McKee. “Traffic control has been a big issue. We tried to do a lot of work while school was out over the summer in the general project area to alleviate the problems we may have had getting in and out and to continue the traffic flow … and it’s going to be a little challenging [on the bridge] to make sure buses can get through, because we’re really narrowing the lanes down.”
Another challenge Thrift Development had to contend with this summer was the deluge of rain brought by the four hurricanes that crossed South Carolina.
“We’ve had a much wetter summer than we’ve had in the past couple summers and that has presented some problems,” said McKee. “There’s been several times when we’ve had some slopes that we had dressed up — and some even grassed — and heavy rains washed it away. Of course, we have to do our pipe in sections, so we’ve had to be especially careful to make sure we don’t block a section off so that everything has a place to drain. We’ve had a lot of erosion control issues that we’ve had to prepare for, not just correct.”
He added that with the number of low points and curves along Wells Highway, much of the water from the hurricanes collected along the roadway. “All the water just went to those places, and we did have a couple of areas … where we did have to block off a portion of the road,” he said.
Despite all the rain and the delay in receiving the bridge girders, Thrift Development has stayed on track with the project. In fact, the company is trying to expedite the job.
“This project has a completion date of May 31, 2006,” explained McKee. “We were trying to complete the entire project one year ahead of schedule … [The steel shortage] has probably put us back a few months, but we’re still well within the completion date.”
McKee added that there is no incentive for completing the project early. “It’s all about making an impression in our hometown. We really feel like we’re giving something back to the community with this project,” he said.
For more information, call Thrift Development at 864/882-4582 or call Van Lott Inc. at 803/794-9340.
Today's top stories
