SEI Overcomes Winter Challenges For Timely Bismarck Opening
Every project has its challenges. And the mark of a good company is found in how it overcomes them. The Bismarck, North Dakota, Costco Warehouse is a good example.
For starters, let’s talk about winter. From mid-November through mid-April, soil conditions make soil and foundation work difficult. When the ground freezes down to four feet, it’s hard to pour concrete.
So when SEI got the Bismarck assignment in Fall, 2019, we had to act quickly. We deployed teams to the job site, getting the initial work done before the brutal North Dakota winter set in. What’s more, unexpected soil conditions required additional structural fill. A flurry of activity in late 2019 meant a head start on construction when warmer temperatures returned.
In North Dakota, the ground doesn’t fully thaw until early May. With a late August deadline, that meant managing personnel, equipment, and materials with clockwork precision. According to Brian Weatherford, Project Manager, “It was nerve wracking with a lot of material moved onto the site in a hurry, doing so in the most economical and time-efficient way. We weighed our options out and tried to mitigate the cost issues as well as the time frame issues.”
And yet we turned the 155,255 SF finished project over to Costco on time. Because, with SEI, on-time delivery is the most reliable forecast of all.