MACHINERY

 

Monday, July 2, 2007

 

Demolition contractor reaches new heights

 

• J. Harper Contractors spends $700,000 on mid- rise demolition equipment to expand into new markets.

 

By TERRY STEPHENS
Special to the journal

 
Maple Valley’s J. Harper Contractors is betting its new seven-story demolition crane will reach not only the tops of mid-rise buildings but new business as well.

 

Stan Kawamoto, co-owner of the minority-owned demolition firm, was tired of turning down increasing calls for high-building removal, so he and business partner Jeff Slotta invested nearly $700,000 in new equipment.

 

They bought a Kobelco 480 excavator with an 80-foot boom that includes a specialty-built pulverizing unit at the business end. The pulverizer was made by Jewell, a Portland company that converts excavators for high-reach demolition work.

 

“That unit allows us to easily clip steel and pulverize concrete quickly, a real advantage in doing tall buildings efficiently to reduce our time on the job. There’s also a safety factor involved. With this unit, we need fewer workers on a site,” Slotta said.

 

Only one or two Puget Sound competitors - which are much larger companies - have equipment with the same capabilities, he said, so the new unit will create an entirely new market for his firm.

A strong market

“Prior to having this machine, which arrived a couple of months ago, we were limited to about three stories with our other equipment,” Slotta said. ‘But we kept getting requests ho do taller buildings and had to turn business away”

 

Not only were they turning down business, but the projects were part of a market growth curve they didn’t want to miss out on.

“The market for demolition work has been very strong over the past few years,” Slotta said. “With new condos going up, and commercial projects expanding into more areas with existing buildings, older structures need to come down. We want to step up and be more competitive on the taller buildings,” he said, noting seven-story structures are one of the largest segments for demolition business.

 

Mid-rise building demolition equipment, commonly based on a 40-ton hydraulic excavator, provides an efficient method for removing structures with a single piece of equipment working from the ground, Slotta said.

 

The new equipment includes a water line on the boom that provides a spray to reduce dust during demolition. It’s also equipped with a television camera at the end of the boom so that the operator can monitor the work area from the cab.

 

The pair also decided to buy a giant LaBounty attachment to handle tough projects that involve steel girders.

 

“This unit’s jaws will shear girders more than 40 inches thick,” Slotta said. “That’s going to be a real advantage for us.”

The ‘little guys’

Since Kawamoto’s background is in production management, he brought Slotta into the business as general manager because of his 30 years in the demolition field and his estimating experience.

 

Kawamoto said his 15-year- old business is a worthy competitor in the demolition market.

 

“We’re small - employing 15 to 25 people, depending on the size of current projects - but we’ve proven we can do the work. That’s what makes the difference,” Kawamoto said. “These are all lump sum bidding contracts so we have to know what we’re doing and how to perform. Basically, all customers are looking for the same thing, a good price for their work - safe work, on- time completion and no batch of change orders that are going to cost them money”

 

That’s how the business has won contracts with clients such as Sound Transit, Gary Merlino Construction, Boeing and Microsoft.

 

“We’re little guys among the giants. The biggest problem we have is getting large contractors or project owners to give us a chance because we’re so small. We struggled for years before - we had a chance to prove ourselves,” Kawamoto said.

 

Over recent years, with five giant excavators equipped with “thumb” buckets for demolition work, numerous trucks and other equipment, J. Harper has played a role in numerous local projects, including the Bright- water Sewage Treatment Plant, Sound Transit’s Everett Commuter Rail Station and Uwajimaya Plaza in Seattle’s International District.

 

Terry Stephens is a freelance business writer based in Arlington. He can be reached by e-mail atfeatures@verizofl.net.

 

 

The Kobelco 480 excavator is equipped with an 80-foot boom to reach the tops of mid-rise buildings.

Photo courtesy of J. Harper Contractors

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