Archive for the ‘Construction Zones’ Category

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Project Spotlight: Excavation Work at the Annapolis Towne Centre

Tuesday, September 25th, 2012

From March to June 2012, Reliable Contracting worked exclusively at night at the Crosswinds apartment complex, performing site work and excavating a basement. The four-story complex with below-grade parking is being constructed as part of Bozzuto Construction’s Annapolis Towne Centre development.

As a full-service commercial site contractor, Reliable Contracting utilizes its own fleet of 15 off-road trucks and 250 pieces of earthmoving equipment, giving us the ability to move 10,000 cy of earth per day for mass grading and excavation projects.

Reliable Contracting Grading and Excavation Services

Utilizing state of the art equipment and experienced operators, Reliable’s Grading and Excavation Division performs a full range of earthmoving services to prepare commercial and residential development sites in the State of Maryland, like the Crosswinds apartment complex.

If you have any questions or if you have a construction project that you need completed right the first time, please contact Reliable Contracting by calling 410-987-0313 or visit our website. Reliable Contracting maintains a reputation as a leader in the construction industry and can be seen working on Maryland’s roads, highways, airports, office parks, shopping centers, hospitals, churches, and residential neighborhoods.

Reliable Contracting Company serves the following and surrounding Counties: Annapolis, Queen Anne’s, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Calvert, Caroline, Charles, Howard, Prince George, St. Mary’s, Talbot, and Washington D.C.

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter

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Reliable Contracting: Safety is our Goal

Thursday, August 30th, 2012

Safety, dependability, and conscientiousness…

These are all virtues that Reliable Contracting stands for. And to further our commitment to these ideals, we at Reliable Contracting, have enacted two very important safety initiatives.

  1. SAFETY FIRST: You may have noticed the “SAFETY IS OUR GOAL” decals now adorning each and every Reliable Contracting vehicle. These are now in place because we recently enlisted the help of SAFETY FIRST, a safe driver call center, to better monitor our drivers. If SAFETY FIRST receives a complaint, it will be processed and forwarded to the Safety Department at Reliable Contracting within minutes to allow our safety personnel to properly deal with each safety concern.


  2. Safety Reviews: Here at Reliable Contracting, we like to conduct periodic safety reviews at our welding and maintenance shops. These reviews have resulted in several recent equipment and process modifications designed to reduce the risk of accident or injury on the job.



If you notice unsafe behavior, an unsafe situation, or have an idea to make our business safer…SPEAK UP! We need your help to make Reliable Contracting the safest construction company around and to make every day a SAFE DAY!

If you have any questions or if you have a construction project that you need completed right the first time, please contact Reliable Contracting by calling 410-987-0313 or visit our website. Reliable Contracting maintains a reputation as a leader in the construction industry and can be seen working on Maryland’s roads, highways, airports, office parks, shopping centers, hospitals, churches, and residential neighborhoods.

Reliable Contracting Company serves the following and surrounding Counties: Annapolis, Queen Anne’s, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Calvert, Caroline, Charles, Howard, Prince George, St. Mary’s, Talbot, and Washington D.C.

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter

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Posted in Construction Contracts, Construction Zones, Reliable Contracting, Safety Tips | No Comments »

Admixtures Change PCC Performance :: Concrete Contractor in Maryland

Thursday, June 28th, 2012

The most widely used structural material for transportation infrastructure and pavements in Portland cement concrete, or PCC. And in order to achieve a PCC mixture that is workable, durable, and of high quality, mineral and chemical admixtures must be applied.

All about Admixtures

  • Chemical Admixtures: The most common chemical admixtures are air-entraining agents, water reducers, superplastics, retarders, and accelerators. All of these admixtures can affect PCC in several ways, including: managing its rate of early hydration and regulating its fluid properties.
  • Mineral Admixtures: Common mineral admixtures include fly ash, silicia fume, and microsilicia. These admixtures are added to concrete to enhance its workability; to improve resistance of concrete to thermal cracking, alkali-aggregate expansion, and sulfate attack; and to enable a reduction in cement content or water.

Concrete Contractor in Maryland

Do you have a concrete project that you need completed right the first time?

Reliable Contracting’s three concrete crews can install curb and gutter for any project from large shopping centers to residential developments. In addition, we can perform all types of flat work to finish off your project, including aprons, dumpster pads and sidewalks.

Interested in scheduling Reliable Contracting for a job? Contact us by calling 410-987-0313 or visit our website.

We currently have crews available for work. Contact us today to schedule your estimate before we are completely booked solid!

Reliable Contracting maintains a reputation as a leader in the construction industry. Our clientele includes builders, developers, individuals and government agencies. With projects ranging in cost from $10,000 to over $10 million, Reliable can be seen working on Maryland’s roads, highways, airports, office parks, shopping centers, hospitals, churches, and residential neighborhoods earning our reputation by providing clients with consistent quality and dedication to their projects.

Reliable Contracting Company serves the following and surrounding Counties: Annapolis, Queen Anne’s, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Calvert, Caroline, Charles, Howard, Prince George, St. Mary’s, Talbot, and Washington D.C.

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter

Sources:

A Concrete Solution

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Posted in Concrete Contractor, Construction Contracts, Construction Zones, Demo Project, Safety Tips, Types of Asphalt | No Comments »

Pervious Concrete: Developing the Right Concrete Mix

Monday, June 18th, 2012

Pervious concrete is designed to easily drain water. This is accomplished through a serious of void spaces, known as the porosity, which are interconnected and rapidly permeable to water movement. As you can imagine, this creates a unique set of challenges for the concrete producer.

Developing a pervious concrete mix that is easily placed, performs well, and is durable is not easy. It is a balancing act, requiring the concrete producer to develop mix designs for each of his aggregates. It also requires producers to identify the warning signs of pervious concrete problems, specifically problems related to the following:

  • Water content
  • Mixture proportions
  • Admixture dosing

While some of these issues can be remedied by changing construction practices, most problems require changes from the concrete producer.

Producing Pervious Concrete

  • Permeability: The primary considerations when determining proper mix design for pervious concrete are: strength for loading; freeze/thaw resistance; durability against winter maintenance (plowing and deicers); and porosity to produce the desired permeability.
  • Workability: While pervious concrete requires proper void content, it still needs to be smooth and durable. This is achieved through proper mix proportions, primarily controlled by aggregate angularity and gradation; cementitious volume; sand or fiber content; water-cementitious materials ratio (w/cm); admixtures; and environmental factors (mixing time, water temperature, and mixer/truck moisture state).
  • Mix Constituents: The largest volume of material in pervious concrete is aggregate. Because of this, aggregate selection has the largest influence on unit weight. The use of good quality, clean, well-graded crushed aggregate results in pervious concrete pavement with improved structural properties, reduced raveling, and improved permeability.
  • Admixtures: There are numerous admixtures used in pervious concrete, including: air entraining; internal curing; hydration stabilizing; viscosity modifying; and water reducing.

If you have any questions about the Troubleshooting Pervious Concrete or if you have a construction project that you need completed right the first time, please contact Reliable Contracting by calling 410-987-0313 or visit our website.

Interested in scheduling Reliable Contracting for a job?

We currently have crews available for work. Contact us today to schedule your estimate before we are completely booked solid!

Reliable Contracting maintains a reputation as a leader in the construction industry. Our clientele includes builders, developers, individuals and government agencies. With projects ranging in cost from $10,000 to over $10 million, Reliable can be seen working on Maryland’s roads, highways, airports, office parks, shopping centers, hospitals, churches, and residential neighborhoods earning our reputation by providing clients with consistent quality and dedication to their projects.

Reliable Contracting Company serves the following and surrounding Counties: Annapolis, Queen Anne’s, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Calvert, Caroline, Charles, Howard, Prince George, St. Mary’s, Talbot, and Washington D.C.

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter

Sources:

Troubleshooting Pervious Concrete

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Posted in Benefits of Warm-Mix Asphalt, Construction Zones, Reliable Contracting | No Comments »

National Work Zone Awareness Week :: Maryland Highway Construction

Friday, June 8th, 2012

The fact that work zone fatalities are the lowest they have been in 30 years is cause for celebration. But, as U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood points out, this is certainly no time to ease up on work zone safety awareness efforts.

“We’ve made a lot of progress reducing fatalities for construction crews working on our nation’s roads, but even one death is too many,” said Secretary LaHood. “It’s critical for drivers to slow down, look for changes in traffic patterns and watch for the men and women who are working to improve our nation’s highways and bridges.”

National Work Zone Awareness Week Kickoff

National Work Zone Awareness Week is an annual campaign designed to promote motorist and worker safety and mobility issues in work zones.

“Dedicated workers are building and maintaining the roads and bridges we rely on every day to get us where we need to go safely,” said Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez. “The least we can do as drivers is to keep them safe by obeying posted speed limits. We must also pay extra attention in work zones, which means putting away our cell phones and watching out for any changes to normal road conditions.”

Highway Safety Statistics

  • Work zone fatalities reached their highest point in 2002, 1,186 deaths.
  • In 2010, highway work zone fatalities fell to 576-the least since 1982.
  • Work zone fatalities have been cut in half over the last 10 years.
  • In 2010, states reported 37,000 work zone-related injuries.
  • On average, four people are injured in a work zone every hour.

For more information on National Work Zone Awareness Week, visit http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/wz/outreach/wz_awareness.htm or contact Reliable Contracting by calling 410-987-0313 or visit our website.

Interested in scheduling Reliable Contracting for a job?

We currently have crews available for work. Contact us today to schedule your estimate before we are completely booked solid!

Reliable Contracting maintains a reputation as a leader in the construction industry. Our clientele includes builders, developers, individuals and government agencies. With projects ranging in cost from $10,000 to over $10 million, Reliable can be seen working on Maryland’s roads, highways, airports, office parks, shopping centers, hospitals, churches, and residential neighborhoods earning our reputation by providing clients with consistent quality and dedication to their projects.

Reliable Contracting Company serves the following and surrounding Counties: Annapolis, Queen Anne’s, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Calvert, Caroline, Charles, Howard, Prince George, St. Mary’s, Talbot, and Washington D.C.

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter

Sources:

U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood Reminds Drivers to Pay Special Attention in Work Zones Across the Nation

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Construction Industry News: EPA Trying to Pass New Stormwater Rule

Friday, May 11th, 2012

The Environmental Protection Agency recently created a general permit for stormwater runoff from construction sites. The new permit – titled the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)  - went into effect on February 16, 2012.

For more information, refer to the following: FR Notice (PDF) (8 pp, 180K).

The 2012 CGP replaced the 2008 CGP, which expired on February 15, 2012. This new permit will provide coverage for eligible new and existing construction projects for a period of five years.

Features of the 2012 Construction General Permit (CGP)

• The 2012 CGP includes a number of modifications to the 2008 CGP, many of which are necessary to implement the new Effluent Limitations Guidelines and New Source Performance Standards for Construction and Development point sources, known as the “C&D rule.”

• Does not include turbidity limits.

For background on the EPA’s original rule and related legal wrangling, see EPA to Reconsider Key Aspect of Construction Stormwater Rule, by attorneys Meline MacCurdy and Russell Prugh of Marten Law (September 30, 2010).

If you have any questions about the EPA Proposed Stormwater Rule or if you have a construction project that you need completed right the first time, please contact Reliable Contracting by calling 410-987-0313 or visit our website.

Reliable Contracting maintains a reputation as a leader in the construction industry. Our clientele includes builders, developers, individuals and government agencies. With projects ranging in cost from $10,000 to over $10 million, Reliable can be seen working on Maryland’s roads, highways, airports, office parks, shopping centers, hospitals, churches, and residential neighborhoods earning our reputation by providing clients with consistent quality and dedication to their projects.

Reliable Contracting Company serves the following and surrounding Counties: Annapolis, Queen Anne’s, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Calvert, Caroline, Charles, Howard, Prince George, St. Mary’s, Talbot, and Washington D.C.

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter

Sources:

EPA Pushing for New Construction Stormwater Rule

EPA Submits Permit for Construction Sites Minus Turbidity Limits for Stormwater Runoff

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EPA Emissions Requirements for Construction Equipment

Tuesday, April 10th, 2012

In 2004, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set new emissions standards – Tier 4 Standards – for non-road diesel engines. These standards are designed to reduce emissions by as much as 90 percent or more, according to the EPA.

Since 2004, construction equipment manufacturers have been working diligently to meet these Tier 4 standards by developing new, greener solutions including:

  1. Selective catalytic reduction (SCR)
  2. Cooled exhaust gas recirculation (CEGR or EGR)

Many construction equipment manufacturers are using SCR, CEGR or EGR, or a combination of the two to meet Interim Tier 4 standards.

 The Difference Between SCR and CEGR/EGR

-SCR is an after-treatment only system. It creates a chemical reaction by adding diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), transforming the NOx into nitrogen and water, which occurs naturally in the atmosphere.

-In a CEGR system, exhaust gases are cooled and blended with fresh air, then returned into the cylinder. This helps lower combustion temperatures and drastically reduces NOx. However, the cooler combustion temperatures produce higher PM levels, which require an after-treatment diesel particulate filter (DPF) system.

Tier 4 technologies will not add any complexity to the operation of construction machinery. In fact, operators should find it easy to check DEF levels on SCR-equipped machines, and to check the diesel particulate filter on machines featuring the CEGR technology.

If you have any questions about EPA Emissions Regulations (Tier 4) or if you have a construction project that you need completed right the first time, please contact Reliable Contracting by calling 410-987-0313 or visit our website.

Reliable Contracting maintains a reputation as a leader in the construction industry. Our clientele includes builders, developers, individuals and government agencies. With projects ranging in cost from $10,000 to over $10 million, Reliable can be seen working on Maryland’s roads, highways, airports, office parks, shopping centers, hospitals, churches, and residential neighborhoods earning our reputation by providing clients with consistent quality and dedication to their projects.

Reliable Contracting Company serves the following and surrounding Counties: Annapolis, Queen Anne’s, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Calvert, Caroline, Charles, Howard, Prince George, St. Mary’s, Talbot, and Washington D.C.

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter

Sources:

USING A MIX OF EMISSIONS TECHNOLOGIES

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Subsurface Utility Mapping

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012

One of the most critical bits of data needed before any urban or suburban construction project can begin is the whereabouts of underground utilities. Contractors must be aware of water trunk lines, sanitary tap-ins, power lines, and gas line for several reasons.

  1. Contractors need to know where these utilities are in order to tap into them.
  2. Contractors need to know where these utilities are in order to avoid them during excavation and other intrusive construction activities.

If these utilizes are not located before a construction project begins, the results can be extremely damaging and costly.

For precisely measuring underground utilities, several different tools are needed, including:

Metal Detectors: These devices can locate utilities and compute depths by using magnetic field measurements.

Gradiometers: These devices measure magnetic field gradients (changes) instead of total field strength.

Optimal Ranging’s Spar Utility Locator (FieldSens): This new technology computes the effects of ground conductivity and field distortions in real time, combining this information with GPS map utilities in 3D.

Acoustic Technologies: A sensitive acoustic reader is used to read background sounds, such as water flowing. This is perfect for locating leaks or other damage in water lines or other lines with a flow.

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR): This method utilizes radar pulses to image the subsurface, producing a geological cross-section of the soil based on the electrical properties of the ground. GPR uses electromagnetic radiation in the microwave band of the radio spectrum, and detects reflected signals from subsurface features.

As you can see, there are several options available to contractors to help find the locations of subsurface utilities.

If you have any questions about Subsurface Utility Mapping or if you have a construction project that you need completed right the first time, please contact Reliable Contracting by calling 410-987-0313 or visit our website.

Reliable Contracting maintains a reputation as a leader in the construction industry. Our clientele includes builders, developers, individuals and government agencies. With projects ranging in cost from $10,000 to over $10 million, Reliable can be seen working on Maryland’s roads, highways, airports, office parks, shopping centers, hospitals, churches, and residential neighborhoods earning our reputation by providing clients with consistent quality and dedication to their projects.

Reliable Contracting Company serves the following and surrounding Counties: Annapolis, Queen Anne’s, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Calvert, Caroline, Charles, Howard, Prince George, St. Mary’s, Talbot, and Washington D.C.

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter

Sources:

Virtual Stringline: Exploring Subsurface Utility Mapping 

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How Construction Workers Can Stop Storm Water Pollution

Friday, March 30th, 2012

Construction sites can result in the discharge of significant amounts of sediment and other pollutants. Because of this, a well thought out Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) is key in controlling runoff and sediment while also minimizing erosion.

As part of this plan, Best Management Practices or BMPs describe the controls and activities used in storm water pollution prevention. BMPs can be divided into two categories:

  1. Structural BMPs: These include silt fences, sedimentation ponds, erosion control blankets, and temporary or permanent seeding
  2. Nonstructural BMPs: These include picking up trash and debris, sweeping up nearby sidewalks and streets, maintaining equipment, and training site staff on erosion and sediment control practices.

Furthermore, most SWPPPs are more than just suggested practices; they are actually written documents describing each step of a construction sites pollution prevention and implementation. These plans include:

• Descriptions of the site

• Major phases of the planned activity

•Roles and responsibilities of contractors and subcontractors

• Inspection schedules and logs

•A place to document changes and modifications to the construction plans

•Associated storm water pollution prevention activities

The Clean Water Act and Associated Federal Regulations (Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations)

These regulations require all construction site operators performing clearing, grading, and excavating to obtain coverage under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for their storm water discharges.

If you have any questions about Storm Water Runoff and Pollution Prevention or if you have a construction project that you need completed right the first time, please contact Reliable Contracting by calling 410-987-0313 or visit our website.

Reliable Contracting maintains a reputation as a leader in the construction industry. Our clientele includes builders, developers, individuals and government agencies. With projects ranging in cost from $10,000 to over $10 million, Reliable can be seen working on Maryland’s roads, highways, airports, office parks, shopping centers, hospitals, churches, and residential neighborhoods earning our reputation by providing clients with consistent quality and dedication to their projects.

Reliable Contracting Company serves the following and surrounding Counties: Annapolis, Queen Anne’s, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Calvert, Caroline, Charles, Howard, Prince George, St. Mary’s, Talbot, and Washington D.C.

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter

Sources:

Developing Your Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan

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Impacts of Storm Water Runoff

Friday, March 23rd, 2012

Simply put, storm water runoff, which occurs naturally, is rain or snowmelt that flows over land and does not percolate into the soil. Manmade surfaces, such as roads, sidewalks, and parking lots, can greatly alter the natural hydrology of the land by increasing the volume, velocity, and temperature of runoff and by decreasing its infiltration capacity.

  1. In nature, storm water is absorbed by the soil, which acts as a natural filter, removing harmful toxins. Then, the now harmless storm water seeps into streams, ponds, lakes, and underground aquifers.
  2. In urban areas, storm water falls directly on cement and asphalt pavements and has nowhere to filter out harmful contaminants. As a result, those contaminants are washed into waterways without undergoing natural filtration.

This is a very serious problem that can result in severe stream bank erosion, flooding, and the degradation of the biological habitat of these streams.

Other Ways Storm Water Runoff Impacts Us

  • Reducing infiltration can lower ground water levels
  • Reducing infiltration can affect drinking water supplies
  • As storm water runoff moves across surfaces, it picks up trash, debris, and pollutants such as sediment, oil and grease, pesticides and other toxins.
  • Changes in ambient water temperature, sediment, and pollutants from storm water runoff can be detrimental to aquatic life, wildlife, habitat, and human health.

Storm Water Runoff and the Construction Industry

The soil exposed by construction is especially vulnerable to excessive erosion. In fact, runoff from an unstabilized construction site can result in the loss of approximately 35–45 tons of sediment per acre each year (ASCE and WFF, 1992). This excess sediment clouds the water and reduces the amount of sunlight that is able to reach underwater plants, clog fish gills, smother aquatic habitats, etc.

If you have any questions about the Storm Water Runoff or if you have a construction project that you need completed right the first time, please contact Reliable Contracting by calling 410-987-0313 or visit our website. And be sure to check back here next week to learn how construction workers can stop storm water pollution.

Reliable Contracting maintains a reputation as a leader in the construction industry. Our clientele includes builders, developers, individuals and government agencies. With projects ranging in cost from $10,000 to over $10 million, Reliable can be seen working on Maryland’s roads, highways, airports, office parks, shopping centers, hospitals, churches, and residential neighborhoods earning our reputation by providing clients with consistent quality and dedication to their projects.

Reliable Contracting Company serves the following and surrounding Counties: Annapolis, Queen Anne’s, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Calvert, Caroline, Charles, Howard, Prince George, St. Mary’s, Talbot, and Washington D.C.

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter

Sources:

Developing Your Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan

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Posted in Construction Zones, Reliable Contracting, Safety Tips, Storm Water Runoff | No Comments »

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