Local firms work to keep area, state traffic moving smoothly

There's no shiny new building to admire when some construction companies finish a job. Instead, contractors specializing in road construction focus on providing smooth surfaces for the motoring public.

The majority of APAC-Masters Jack-son's business is in asphalt, said Division President Dave Roling.

"We also do concrete construction, including curb and gutter and flat work, and we do some grading applications, but our main emphasis is asphalt pa-ving." Approximately 80 percent of the company's work is with the public sector, he said, with the company's largest customer in that sector being the Mis-souri Department of Transportation.

With 41 divisions in the southeastern and central United States, APAC is the largest asphalt paving and concrete paving contractor in the U.S.

"Our market area is all of southwest Missouri," Roling said. "The greater Springfield area has been the one where we have seen the greatest growth."

Journagan Construction was started in 1950 by Leo Journagan and incorporated in 1961, said John View, treasurer.

"It's been a steady growth," he said. "However, we've noticed our market change."

At first the business consisted of a lot of land-clearing projects for reservoirs, dams and power lines. In the 1970s Journagan Construction began focusing more on road construction, asphalt construction and heavy highway construction, he said.

"As the construction business expanded, opportunities opened for us to ac-quire aggregate manufacturing facilities."

Journagan also began working with underground utilities, which allowed for more year-round work. "We consistently average about 250 employees most of the year," View said. "Our greatest asset is our employees."

The company's annual sales have consistently been between $45 million and $55 million, he said. "We've had steady growth in the Springfield area and in the Branson market."

Journagan Construction is just completing pavement for the new Branson High School, where the general contractor is MECO Systems, and completing the parking lots and access roads for the new Ozark High School. The general contractor for that project is Nabholz Construction, he said.

"We're also building Bluff Drive in Ozark, 17th Street for the city of Ozark, Farm Road 141 for Greene County, and we're just about ready to start the parking lot for the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Republic."

Dean Hartman, owner of Hartman Construction, has been in the business for nearly 40 years. He sold his previous company, Midland Paving, in 1982, and started Hartman Construction in 1984.

The company does primarily road construction, along with utility work, he said. "We basically work for the city, the county, MoDOT and City Utilities."

The company recently completed Grand Street from Campbell Avenue to Kansas Expressway, and Norton Road from National Avenue to Highway 13. "We're just starting Grant from National to Hillcrest High School," Hartman said, "and a two-mile stretch of Route 65 at Bolivar."

"We've grown every year since we've been in business," Hartman said. A major factor in this growth has been the quarter-cent city sales tax, he said, which is renewed every three years. "That's where most of the major street improvement monies have come from."

State level

Statewide it's another story, said Hartman.

"Highway funds are kind of in trouble," he said. "The federal highway de-partment cut back on some of the funds, and the state's in kind of a money crunch because of the economy."

"Over the past few years, the state has issued bonds to build highways," View said. "Those bonds are about to come due, and as debt repayment starts, less revenue will be available for construction," he said. "I think people need to be aware that highway construction isn't going to continue like it has without significant increases in revenue flow. If there are no changes, there won't be new sources of revenue for new construction. The focus will have to be on maintenance of existing infrastructure."

Added Roling, "It's going to go from bad to worse. We do everything possible to bring that to the attention of those in the position to vote for that type of transportation issue. Our transportation infrastructure is paramount."

According to a Jan. 9 press release, Missouri Department of Transportation Director Henry Hungerbeeler called Missouri's transportation situation a "crisis," and said the state's roads and bridges are wearing out faster than they can be repaired. He added that the situation will continue worsening unless the funding outlook changes.

The cost to adequately take care of the existing state road system is $550 milion to 650 million a year, he said, which would leave virtually no money to build new highways or offer other transportation options unless transportation funding becomes greater.

It would take an additional $1 billion a year to meet all Missouri's transportation needs, Hungerbeeler said.

"For the past few years, we have used bond financing successfully to accelerate some much-needed highway and bridge work," he said. "It has resulted in record construction years. But this is not new money. It will have to be paid back with interest. There are some financial issues that must be considered before we determine how much additional bond financing we can afford."

The press release also stated that Missouri's highway system is the na-tion's seventh largest, and the state ranks 46th in revenue per mile to take care of these roads.

A recent nationwide study found that Missouri's pavement conditions are the third worst in the country.

A number of projects are already in the works and will be completed, said Bob Edwards, spokesman for MoDOT's Dis-trict 8 office in Springfield.

"Despite the budget problems facing MoDOT, we are still committed to finishing the four-laning of Highway 13 north of Bolivar, the interchanges at Bolivar, the extension of James River Freeway south of I-44, and the new bridge at Highway 65 and Sunshine," he said.

Safety concerns

Safety concerns are paramount in road construction, said Roling. "Our number one emphasis in conducting the job we have to do is safety," he said, which includes the safety of employees as well as motorists. "Our new employee orientation addresses safety issues, and we have company-wide safety meetings quarterly."

Derick Barnes is the environmental health and safety director for APAC-Masters Jackson. "We're part of the motoring public, and we don't like accidents or delays either," he said. "The better trained our people can be, the more efficiently and safely we can get our work done."

During peak time, the APAC-Masters Jackson division employs about 175, and all employees go through orientation and training regarding the company's safety manual. Foremen and lead men are trained in CPR and first aid.

Anyone driving a company vehicle completes a defensive driving course, and every employee outside the office is required to wear a safety vest and hard hat at all times.

"Our flaggers are certified, too," said Barnes. "The state has just mandated that anybody involved in the stoppage of traffic has to be certified, but all our flaggers have been certified for quite some time."

When employees first arrive at a new site, they are briefed on any hazards, and the locations of first aid kits and fire extinguishers.

"One thing we never do is put production above safety," said Barnes. "If there's a safety issue, we stop that job until the issue is resolved."

The division received awards last year for its lost-time incident rate being below one. "Out of 41 divisions of APAC we are number one in claims costs for fiscal year 2002," Barnes said. "We've gone half a fiscal year and had no fleet accidents, no OSHA or worker's compensation claims, and no lost-time incidents. We take a lot of pride in what we do and keep conscious about what kind of image we convey to the public."

Barnes added that the second week in April is National Work Zone Awareness Week. "A lot of things can happen in a work zone," he said. "People need to be aware of what they're doing, reduce their speed and not talk on their phones."