The traffic at 61st Avenue and Marcella Boulevard in Hobart flowed on Saturday like sockeye salmon flowing upstream to lay their eggs, and that’s exactly how the city wanted it.
The “salmon” — in this case, 140 cement trucks continuously heading into Northwinds Crossing, for those willing to suspend their disbelief — came in three at a time to drop off truckload after truckload of concrete for Lineage Logistics’ 180,000 square-foot rack support cold-storage warehouse. All told, all those trucks seamlessly delivered 700 tons of concrete, which worked out to 850 cubic yards per hour and totaled 9,300 cubic yards made into 24-to-28-inch slabs and set over rebar.
The project was the largest continuous on-grade pour in the country, and the workers had the buttons to prove it.
After the pour’s first eight hours, it was almost kind of boring, and David Scurta, owner of Gilbert, Illinois-based Scurta Cement Construction, and Justin Ozinga, of Mokena, Illinois-based Ozinga Bros. Inc., couldn’t have been happier.
“This isn’t quite as exciting as other projects, but that’s fine,” Ozinga said. “You don’t want a line of trucks waiting around.”
Scurta, Ozinga and a host of other contractors have been coordinating the project for weeks to make it go as smoothly as it did, Ozinga said. And because the weather was nice and clear, they expected the 200 workers on site to get it done by late Saturday afternoon so that when the rain came Sunday, there wouldn’t be any issues.
“Concrete’s not forgiving, but (the city and Linear) had a great plan in place,” said R.J. Burton, vice president with Victory Unlimited Construction out of Fishers, one of the onsite contractors. “There are not many markets here who could pull this off.”
Hobart Mayor Josh Huddlestun agreed.
“This solidifies and validates that Northwest Indiana has contractors who’re skilled and available to pull something like this off,” he said. “This is a big expansion, and I’m happy to have it out here. It’s always good when projects run without a hiccup.”
Hobart Building Official Steve McDermott, who recently joined the city from the Town of Griffith, said he’s been “like a little kid” since taking the job. He too was amazed by the planning it took to get the job done.
“It was incredible to see the symphony of workers, trucks, and equipment all moving in unison with the same goal of finishing the slab in one day. A concrete pour of that magnitude is almost unimaginable,” he said. “They pulled it off all while keeping high standards, everyone involved should be proud. I give credit to Ozinga, Scurto, Viking, and many others for a job well done.”
As for the project’s cost, no one was concerned about it Saturday — at least not yet.
“I don’t know, but it’s a lot,” Scurta, the project’s lead contractor, said with a smile. “But oh yeah, this is fun.”
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
