Longhorn Excavators, Inc. was contracted for the construction of Cefe F. Venezuela Landfill Site Development for the City of Corpus Christi, Texas. Work was started as the city’s other landfill was running out of space.

Scope of Work

The scope of work included:

• Construction of five buildings totalling 14,000 square feet
• Site electrical and utilities
• Roadways 2.8 miles long by 24 feet wide and parking lots 18,000 square feet
• Six miles of drainage channels
• Landfill cell construction
• Concrete outfall structure
• Gas pipeline lowering
• Box culverts and erosions mats
• Wi-Fi tower and communications

Buildings

State-of-the-art scale house billing was sent to city hall with wireless system. Administrative building, crew building, maintenance shop and gate house were built for a long-term life of use. Buildings were constructed with red iron structure with red stone veneer.

Earthwork

Due to the fast schedule, many earthwork activities had to be performed at the same time.

• On-site borrow pit was operated to provide select fill, which Longhorn Excavators constructed.
• Over six miles of major drainage channels were excavated, 2 million cubic yards, to provide drainage using three excavators, 15 40-ton trucks, and four dozers.
• Two feet cut of over-excavation beneath building, roadways and parking lots. Very little challenges if any.
• Top soil placement on channels and landscaped the areas with bermuda grass and 30 trees as specified.
• Landfill cell excavation of 16 acres, 240,000 cubic yards, stockpiled for future use as cover dirt by city.

All these activites were performed simultaneously.

Schedule

This new landfill facility was built “from-scratch” on 3,500 acres of farm land in approximately one year. It was opened before the City’s other landfill was out of space. The site is designed to be usable for the next 100 years.

Challenges and resolutions

The main challenge of this project was meeting the scheduled completion date. By scheduling activities accordingly, we were able to meet the completion without delay.

Subcontractors

We subcontracted Falcon Environmental Lining Systems, Inc. to install over more than 1 million square feet of HSPE 60 million smooth and 36,728 square feet of textured liner. 674,769 double-sided geocomposite 200 mil was also installed at .04 percent of the contract price. BarCom Commercial, Inc. was subcontracted for the construction of site utilities, electrical, plumbing and interior work on buildings (a total of 29 percent of the contract).

We meticulously balanced the earthwork for both this golf course and its adjacent subdivision as part of an extremely ambitious, multifaceted project that required the simultaneous relocation of over one million cubic yards of dirt to achieve the designer’s vision, which included elevated views from residential building sites onto a premier golf course.

Date: October 1999 – June 2001
Cost: $2,477,445.00
Expertise: Golf/Subdivision Construction

The International Boundary and Water Commission chose us to raise a 42-mile section of this existing levee near the Texas-Mexico border, from 23rd Street to FM 1015. We cleared, benched, and imported material and placed it in compacted lifts to meet stringent federal government specifications.

Date: September 2009 – December 2011
Cost: $24,970,624.31
Expertise: Levee Construction

Project Description

Longhorn Excavators, Inc. was contracted for the construction of Ditch “H” Widening for Fort Bend County Levee Improvement District No. 2 and Construction of Control Levee and Tract Five Fill Plan Phase I to serve Fort Bend County Levee Improvement District No. 17, for the improvement of drainage conditions along Oyster Creek and areas surrounding First Colony and Old Sugar Land. The control structure is to divert floodwater from Oyster Creek to Ditch H when the creek rises and to maintain normal levels in the creek when it’s not raining.

Scope of Work

The scope of work included:

• Site preparation of 225 acres
• Stripping, stockpiling and replacement of topsoil
• Excavated 1,543,820 cubic yards of material
• Haul and compact excavated material
• Backslope & ditch interceptor structure. 16,000 LF interceptor ditches ran
  the length of the channel of both sides
• Construction Entry/Exit of washdown area
• Turf establishment

Site Preparation

Excavated over 1,500,000 cubic yards of material from a “live” drainage channel which is forty-four feet (44′) deep at its outfall to the Brazos River. The cross-section of the channel was made up of alternating layers of sands and clays.

Date: June 2004 – December 2005
Cost: $9,698,547.00
Expertise: Multisite Coordination

We turned a closed landfill into a functioning golf course by excavating new and existing borrow pits and then placing the earthen material over the landfill to create an unique recreational experience, leveraging our special expertise to safely complete this golf course overlooking Reliant Stadium and downtown Houston.

Date: December 1999 – December 2002
Cost: $3,918,685.90
Expertise: Golf/Landfill Construction