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Thompson Tractor > Heavy Equipment > Customer Stories
Brassfield and Gorrie 
 
 
  B&G Widens I-65 
  Construction company Brasfield and Gorrie has begun widening approximately 4.6 miles of Interstate 65 in Montgomery from Hwy. 80/Selma Hwy. to the Alabama River Bridge. They began the project in July, 2007, and are expected to complete it by fall 2009. ALDOT has given the construction company a deadline of October 15, 2009, to complete the job.
 
  The roadway will be widened on roadways and bridges from 4 lanes to 6 lanes of traffic from Hwy. 80 to the I-85 interchange and will include widening three bridges from the I-85 interchange to the Alabama River Bridge. B&G will be widening a total of 14 bridges (7 set - 1 preset and 6 steel), jacking eight bridges (4 sets), widening and repaving 10 ramps, widening mainline shoulders, 3.5 additional lanes added in
the median (grading, storm drainage, paving and barrier walls), rubblizing and pavement overlay existing mainline roadway and installation of new roadway lighting and signals. They also will be rebuilding ramps at South Blvd., Edgemont Ave.and Fairview Ave.
 
  B&G is utilizing approximately 10 Caterpillar® machines (including a 328D LCR, D5G and a CS533E with pad foot kit) on site and a subcontractor is using six Cat® machines for this project. Brasfield and Gorrie is employing between 60-100 people on site including their subcontractors. By summer 2008, two critical phases of the project will be broken into two 23-day periods. During these 3-week segments, the traffic will be redirected to the newly constructed median, while the concrete is rubblized and the bridges are jacked. All the ramps will be shut down during these 23 days so they can complete the work between ramps. Northbound is a 23-day job and Southbound is a 23- day project, there are heavy penalties for finishing this portion of the project late. By the time this project is complete, B&G will have employed over 200 people.
 
  Charlie Stevens has worked with Brasfield and Gorrie throughout the beginning stages of this project. Along with the machines purchased by B & G, they are also renting two Cat 321C LCR’s and a Cat 303 and 304 Mini Excavator. This type of work, where space and safety are at a premium, makes the compact radius machines ideal. This is where the 321C LCR and the 328D LCR come into play. The 321C and 328D LCR models have minimal tail swing over the tracks, allowing workers to do the job without having to worry about swinging into traffic or barrier walls. In the words of Jerry Underwood, superintendent on the job, “We get big machine production with little machine space requirements.”
 
  Established in 1921 as the Thomas C. Brasfield Company, the Brasfield & Gorrie known today was formed in 1964, when founder Miller Gorrie purchased Brasfield’s construction assets. Since then, B&G has grown steadily, opening full-service Atlanta and Orlando offices in 1985, and then adding Raleigh and Nashville in 1998. In 2007, Brasfield & Gorrie added an office in Jacksonville, Florida.
 
  Today the company includes 25 divisions that focus on specific, specialized construction markets. They are one of the largest privately held contracting firms in the nation. B&G were ranked 28th among the nation’s “Top 400 Contractors” in 2006 by Engineering New-Record.