Category Archives: Construction News

When Should I Hire a Potholing Contractor?

Potholing has become a popular service that is used as a preliminary measure in many residential and commercial construction projects. If you want to minimize any risks and unwanted expenses during a construction or renovation project, you will do well to hire a dependable hydrovac or vacuum truck service for the job and detect all your underground utility lines as soon as possible.

potholing

How Potholing Works

Potholing is an essential service that can save construction experts and contractors a lot of trouble in the long run. The process of potholing is used to figure out where certain underground utility lines might be located and to determine where foundations can safely be laid, additional utility lines can be placed, or old utility systems have to be removed from.

In most instances, potholing uses either vacuum or hydro excavation methods to achieve its goal. Potholing experts bring in a vacuum truck or a hydrovac truck and use it to create small holes into the pavement or soil, as required, to find and identify utility lines such as water mains, gas pipes and TV and internet cables that might have been driven underneath your property.

Through the use of potholing, you can ensure that only minimal damage to the infrastructure is done, which can easily be fixed. The holes created during the process are relatively small and deep enough to detect where the utility lines go. If excavation in the area is not needed, the holes can easily be filled up with soil and sealed off without causing further issues.

Why Potholing Services Might Be Needed

Potholing is first of all required to solve problems that would otherwise require costly and damaging drilling procedures. Rather than digging a large hole using conventional excavation systems – or worse, shovels – you can minimize the damage to the soil and the environment by simply using a hydrovac service or a vacuum truck. Moreover, through the use of these tools, you can also prevent damage to surrounding trees and bushes which may have extended their root systems to the areas where you have to dig.

Potholing is primarily utilized during construction projects to determine where it’s safe to excavate and where the project needs to be modified to account for various underground utilities. For instance, it’s possible that some utility lines were not documented, and that they might run not far underneath the area where you want to dig to build a new foundation for a future commercial building. Starting to dig without accounting for the underground utility lines can be a costly and dangerous risk. The damage done to the utility lines will have to be paid for, and if the damaged pipes carry natural gas, it can be extremely dangerous for you and the workers you hire.

Potholing services use minimal damage to the ground on your property to safely detect any utility lines, establish the layout of the lines and pipes underneath your property and adjust the plans for your new constructions accordingly. Time and money can be saved, and in some cases severe injuries and property damage can be averted. All you need to do is call in your local experts to bring a hydrovac or vacuum truck and get the job done as soon as possible.

How Colorado Springs Land Surveyors Can Help

We Can Help Surveyors Construction Colorado springs

The services provided by land surveyors Colorado Springs offers are essential for many types of real estate transactions as well as for small-scale and large building and research projects of many types. Here are some of the ways that Colorado Spring land surveyors can help your project move forward.

Marking and Documenting Legal Property Boundaries

One of the most common tasks that land surveyors are hired for is the marking and recording of site limits. If you want to buy or to sell land in or around Colorado Springs, you might need an expert to confirm the correctness of existing markings or to perform the marking on previously unmarked land. While performing the measurements, land surveyors use advanced devices and the Global Positioning System to delimit plots of lands with a high level of accuracy. They also use Geographic Information Systems to present their measurements on maps and charts.

Surveys for Engineering and Construction Purposes

Another important service provided by land surveyors is to determine the exact location of the buildings and roads to be construction on a particular plot of land and to determine the proper depth of the foundations for the structures to be built. These activities might also include the surveying of the grade of the roads to be built.

Topographic Surveys

Topographic surveys are very important for architects and engineers who need accurate data about the contours of the terrain they will work with. In these projects, the specialist uses various tools and devices to determine the elevations on and around the plot of land. These surveys are carried out to record the terrain relief as well as the elevations of the roads and of the other structures on the property, such as canals and any other vertical irregularities.

Flood Elevation Surveys

This special type of survey verifies the elevation of a structure on a property, such as a building, relative to the ground level and it is essential for engineers to make sure that their work is in compliance with local floodplain management regulations. These surveys are also frequently used by insurance companies to determine the insurance premiums for a particular policy based on the flood risks associated with the property to be insured.

Surveys for Building Permits

Whether you are planning to get a new build, to add a deck to your existing building or to make any other additions to your existing building, the permitting documentation that you submit might need to include a survey performed by a licensed professional that complies with the requirements regarding the document format and the information to be included. Building permits are issued by the authorities only following the detailed review of the submitted documentation, including the survey.

Collaborations with Other Professionals

Land surveyors often collaborate with other professionals involved in building and research projects, such as cartographers, civil engineers, architects, construction inspectors, hydrologists, landscape architects and geographers. Many of these collaborations are not standard services, requiring land surveyors to make use of their vast knowledge of advanced technologies and procedures.

Why Use Expert Safety Staffing Companies?

Safety is crucial at any workplace. Your employees have the right to work in conditions that will not damage their health, using tools and equipment that will not malfunction causing severe accidents. To ensure that companies comply with these rules, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires them to hire a safety specialist.

How Can You Find a Safety Specialist?

Businesses can post job ads looking for safety specialists, analyze the incoming resumes and make a hiring decision. But this is not as simple as it appears. You have to know what kind of skills and experience you are looking for.

Each industry has its own set of safety codes and standards. They are very detailed, thus, a safety specialist will choose to become an expert in a specific industry. The more specialized they are, the higher their salary expectations are. In most cases, your company does not need a full time safety specialist. Thus, hiring one is not justified.

The Alternative: Finding an Expert Safety Staffing Company

Whenever businesses need an expert in a specific field on a temporary basis, the solution can be found at staffing agencies. These companies hire only the best safety experts, and allocate them to work for various clients.

Each expert knows how many hours per week they must allocate to each customer and what type of tasks they are supposed to perform. They are not hindered by performing administrative tasks (as the staffing agency has a support team for them), thus the entire time is spent focusing 100% on their specific activity.

safety staffing companies

Reasons to Consider Hiring an Expert Safety Staffing Company

Most of the companies who outsource their safety activity to staffing agencies chose this option because:

  1. They Can Access Various Specialties

In some cases, you need safety specialists from various fields. For instance, when building a facility for the food industry, your company needs to meet both construction industry safety standards and food industry safety standards.

A staffing agency will allocate relevant experts, who will work for you for the necessary duration of time and during the exact phase of the project when their input is needed.

  1. They Do Not Want to Burden Their HR Budget

As explained above, a company does not need a safety expert all the time. Their role is to create and/or optimize your safety procedures, offer assistance during special occasions and confirm that your company is meeting the safety standards, as required.

This is not a daily, 9 to 5 activity. Thus, hiring a full time employee is not financially justified.

  1. Make Sure that the Expert Has Up to Date Knowledge

Safety codes and standards change over time. Safety staffing companies will make sure that all their employees receive ongoing training in order to apply the standards in force required by the law.

Such training is specialized and expensive, thus not all the businesses afford to procure it for their safety employees.

  1. Get an Unbiased Look at Your Safety Procedures

Hiring a safety specialist from outside your company is beneficial in terms of optimizing your safety standards. An internal employee may suffer from a bias they are not aware of and tend to be lax in applying these procedures. This is a sure path to a labor accident that will cost your business money and loss of reputation.

Security Issues that Many Business Do Not Think About

Many business owners or managers do not think about all the security issues, so it is very important to answer the question, “Why do you think you need a surveillance system?”

Of course, almost everyone knows that video surveillance means recording activities and events, but a modern video system can do more than just storing information about the potential unfortunate events that would disrupt your business.

Along with technological advances in the field, the benefits and uses of such equipment have become almost unlimited, and the truth is that the right system will save your business time and money. Five years ago, most CCTV systems were used to combat theft, violence or sabotage. But in recent years, businesses have changed the way cameras are used.

commercial security systems Denver

The benefits of commercial security systems Denver businesses use can also reveal security issues that you may not have thought of before. Here they are.

  1. You can motivate your staff to provide high quality service and discourage improper behavior.
  2. You can recover the investment by reducing losses and eliminating waste (fuels, materials, spare parts, warehousing etc.).
  3. Surveillance cameras do not fall asleep and offer a fair and comprehensive point of view. A person may be confused and perhaps not always in the right place at the right time, but a surveillance system will provide a complete insight.
  4. One of the security issues of a business is dealing with potential theft or criminal intentions. Surveillance cameras can drastically discourage offenders or potential acts of violence, vandalism or any other unpleasant event, through their simple presence.
  5. You can eliminate unsubstantiated customer complaints. If you have a commercial business, you are most likely used to meet those customers who claim to have paid when they actually did not, or those who have requested something and now claim to have received something else and make a huge scene about it. Such inconveniences can be solved very fast with quick access to video recordings.
  6. You can relax and still be in control of your business, even in the moments when you are out of the office or when you have too many work points.
  7. Systems now come with microphones and speakers for both-way audio communication. By pressing a button, you can interact directly with your employees from a distance, while looking at them.
  8. You can lighten the disputes between employees. Discussions and misunderstandings between employees are eliminated very quickly with video evidence.
  9. Continuous and real-time monitoring. You can provide access to the surveillance system by attaching TVs, monitors etc.
  10. You can store records for as long as you wish and use them efficiently. With a properly implemented system, you will have access to recordings by various filtering methods: by time and date, event, motion detection etc.
  11. Remote monitoring. By connecting the system to the Internet, access to surveillance cameras can be granted to authorized persons: tour managers, directors etc. Access can be made via phone, PC, laptop, or tablet.
  12. More than just access control, a surveillance system also monitors the space around the building and other areas such as the parking lot.

 

 

The Benefits Offered by Customized Steel Buildings

Customized Steel Buildings

Steel buildings offer unparalleled versatility in terms of design as well as in terms of intended usage – whether the building will be used as a residential building, as an industrial, commercial or health facility, customized metal buildings come with extraordinary benefits offered by no other type of construction – here are some of the most important features that make steel buildings so popular these days.

Affordability

Perhaps the biggest perk of using steel for customized construction. Steel is not only among the strongest construction materials available today, but also one of the most affordable ones. The savings come from the convenient price of steel as well as from the shortened construction process – steel buildings are prefabricated at the manufacturer’s facility, assembled in the factory for testing, then they are dismantled and transported to the buyer’s property and assembled again. The preliminary testing assembly makes sure that all the components of the building fit into place perfectly, therefore the final assembly is quick and can be completed based on the instructions provided by the manufacturer, without having to use special tools or special know-how. The buyer will have to make sure a suitable foundation is built for the steel construction, but even so, the entire construction process can be completed in a few weeks, even in the case of large buildings.

Intended Usage

Steel buildings can be used in any industry, for any application – here are some of the most common areas:

  • Retail outlets;
  • Offices;
  • Hospitals;
  • Schools;
  • Community centers, churches, arenas;
  • Garages, auto repair shops and hangars;
  • Production and storage facilities;
  • Silos and barns;
  • Any type of outbuilding.

Endless Customization and Design Options

When they were first introduced, steel buildings used to look like large, square boxes. This is no longer the case – modern manufacturing technologies can accommodate any design, classic or contemporary, simple or elaborate alike. With modern siding and finishing options available, steel buildings can be made to resemble brick-and-mortar construction, they can be painted in any color and textured coating varieties are also available for an even more sophisticated appearance.

Steel buildings also offer the designer freedom when it comes to choosing the openings and the accessories for the construction – any type of window, skylight, door can be used.

Strength and Durability

Steel buildings are also appreciated for their resistance to the elements and for their long lifespan. Steel is resistant to any kind of pest attacks, such as termites or other rodents and they are also able to withstand any weather, even the strongest seismic movements, the highest winds associated with storms, hurricanes and tornadoes, heavy rain and snow. Metal being a non-combusting material, steel buildings offer enhanced protection against fire.

Steel buildings require very little maintenance – the materials used are rust-proof and corrosion-resistant, so all that building owners are required to do maintenance-wise is a detailed, yearly inspection of the components, including the roof and some painting or minor repairs if necessary. Most steel buildings come with warranties of over 30-50 years, so with these modern building solutions, the owners can be sure that their steel buildings will be among their most durable and most attractive assets.

Air Knife Excavation in Denver – How Local Builders can Benefit from this Efficient, Modern Technology

Services providing air knife excavation in Denver offer efficient and safe alternatives to conventional digging methods. The powerful, modern equipment that these service providers use for excavation are able to loosen and then break the surface of the soil, to penetrate the soil exactly to the desired depth, to drill the hole of the dimensions specified in the construction blueprint and to extract the loosened dirt with the help of vacuum, but efficiency and accuracy are not the only benefits of using these state-of-the-art tools – here are some more.

Increased Safety

Air knife excavation increases construction site safety in many ways. Air knife technology protects the utilities underneath the surface, thus making sure that the pipes underneath the surface will not be damaged during the excavation process. The equipment is relatively easy to use and completely safe for the machine operators as well, further increasing on-site job safety.

Efficiency and Minimized Disruption

Air knife equipment uses a stream of powerful, concentrated air to dig into the ground and strong vacuum for removing the soil and putting it directly into a tank. The process is very quick and leaves behind no soil and debris that needs to be removed by hand after the excavation is complete, features that make air knife excavation not only very quick and very efficient, but also guarantee that disruption is kept to minimum on the job site.

Versatility

Air knife excavation machines are available in many different sizes, which makes the technology suitable for digging holes of any size, from very small to very large. If the hole you need to dig is small, you can use a small, portable unit for the excavation, while large construction sites can benefit from the power and efficiency of large excavation units.

Air knife units can be used not only for excavation purposes – they are suitable for various soil management and landscaping projects as well. The machines are very useful not only if you need to excavate the place for a building foundation, but also if you want to de-compact the surface layer of the soil to allow tree roots to breathe better or if you want to remove the surface layer from a larger area to replace it with new soil for improved fertility.

Cost-Efficiency

Air knife excavation reduces construction and landscaping costs by reducing the number of work hours necessary for completing the job – the company that you hire for the process will deliver the equipment to the building site and they will also send experienced technicians who will operate the equipment in an efficient and professional manner, then they will take care of the removal of the equipment from the job site after completion.

The companies that deal with air knife excavation in Denver offer a wide range of excavation machines, giving building contractors and individual clients access to the most modern excavation tools available today and the peace of mind that the digging will be done safely and it will require less time than with traditional methods.