Page 75 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong

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RENTAL: EARTHMOVING WHY OWN WHEN YOU CAN RENT?
Over Labor Day 2007, CC Myers had a $40 million contract on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay bridge to remove and replace a 350-foot section of the upper deck, east of the Yerba Buena Tunnel. It was the first time the bridge had been completely shut down since the Loma Prieta earthquake
in 1989. But first, demolition subcontractor Silverado Construction had fifty hours to break up the 6,500-ton steel-and-concrete slab and haul it off-site. They already had a number of their own excavators out on the bridge as part of ongoing demolition work. But they needed more. “We started discussing what they would need for the project months in advance,” says Tom Lum, Peterson rental representative at the time. “The rental business is a pretty bottom-line business, but these guys know we back up everything we say. They know we’ll take care of them.” Silverado ended up renting nine machines from Peterson for the three-day weekend, in- cluding several large Cat excavators with hammers or shears, four Cat wheel loaders, and a Cat track loader. They also had Peterson techs on-site for round-the-clock support. Just in case. “This job was so time-critical they could not afford to not have somebody there. Any downtime would have impacted the job.”
While Silverado was busy ripping, crushing, and hauling away big chunks of roadbed, CC Myers crews were antsy on the sidelines, gearing up for their own job. They had started construction of the new road section months earlier, over on a platform just south of the bridge. That night just before midnight, as Silverado finished up, CC Myers began inching the 350-foot slab into place on special tracks. The football-field-size piece fit into the gap like a drawer sliding home. It took two hours, instead of the expected fifteen, and the job ultimately finished eleven hours ahead of schedule, surprising everyone. “All Peterson’s rental equipment worked great, which was no surprise to us,” says Lum. “That’s why Silverado rents from Peterson. They know we maintain our equipment. And, they know there won’t be any surprises.”
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