C. M. Peich, Inc.
Where Experience And Diversification
Have Certainly Made A Difference
By David Gallagher
Chris Peich has been working around construction since he was just a kid. He started working for his father at 13 and continued on in the family business until the age of 20. His father is a general engineering contractor that specializes in sewer, water and storm drain work. He has a very successful business that has been serving Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties for more than 35 years. In 1993, Chris decided to move on from the family business in order to broaden his horizons and took a job with Kiewit Granite working on the San Joaquin Toll Road. He remained on with Kiewit Granite until 1996 when he made the move to work on the Eastern Transportation Corridor for the FCI Sukut Joint Venture. Here Chris worked his way to the title of foreman and remained on in that position until FCI created a new division - FCI North in Northern California. Chris was offered and accepted a new position as superintendent working on three major jobs in the Sacramento Valley for the new venture. After a little over two years, Chris and his family decided that Northern California did not really suit their lifestyle and decided to move back to Southern California. Chris took a job working in the estimating office in Santa Ana going after major design/build projects around the United States. After around a year and a half, the decision was made to close the Santa Ana office and move it to Colorado. Chris and his family were not interested in relocating again and so Chris made the decision to go out on his own. His solo career began with one Hitachi excavator, which he used to launch his new operated equipment rental business. Six months later, he added another Hitachi excavator along with two additional operators. In addition to this Chris had been performing small underground projects ever since receiving his contractors license back in 1993. Chris Peich’s plate was full and his business was going well. His former employer even called and asked if he would be willing to do some consulting work, which Chris agreed to perform as well. The business continued to grow this way for the next three years with C. M. Peich adding machinery to their fleet and continuing to perform small underground projects as well as continuing to consult.
| (Below) C. M. Peich uses a Volvo EC290 Excavator to load a portion of the stockpile into a Vermeer HG6000 Horizontal Grinder. |
 |
Then in the fall of 2004, C. M. Peich, Inc. was awarded their first real major contract. They were awarded the job as low bidder which called for the clearing of approximately 12 miles of freeway on SR 22 in Orange County. This $400 million design/build project called for the widening of some 11 miles of freeway on SR 22 including the installation of car pool lanes, widening of bridges and installation of new ramps. C. M. Peich, Inc. was sub-contracted to go in and clear approximately 3,000 + eucalyptus trees ranging from 40 to 100 feet tall. They were also required to clear around 160 acres of brush and ice plant. The $1.7 million clearing job started at the 55/22 Interchange and continued on down the SR 22 all the way to the 405 freeway. It was necessary to clear from the existing edge of the road to the edge of the right of way and sometimes even past this point if a new right of way had been built to accommodate the new freeway. Chris Peich, President, C. M. Peich, Inc. explains, “The first call of action was to send the tree toppers into a particular area ahead of the machinery. This involved several two-man crews; one in the tree with a groundsman below. This job was sub-contracted to Leonard Chaidez of Certified Tree Care. This professional crew of three two-man teams would climb into a tree with a chainsaw, tied off and safe of course, and begin to execute controlled drops of tree limbs. The idea was to completely de-limb and cut the tree down to approximately 20 feet being ever mindful and careful not to damage any personal property, freeway walls, utilities and of course motorists who continued to travel on SR 22. Following these tree crews were our excavators that would make use of the remaining 20-foot leverage and simply topple each tree, roots and all. We would then load the trees into end dumps and take them to central stockpile areas where they would be sized down for processing. Once enough material was collected, we would then bring in the Vermeer HG6000 horizontal grinder and begin chipping. The material was ground and processed into specific Caltrans specifications and then turned several times within a 15-day period in order to achieve a 56-degree Celsius reading, which is required for proper curing. In all approximately 36,000 yards of wood chip mulch will be created.” Chris went on to explain that after the curing process, the job would then be taken over by the landscape contractor who is responsible for spreading the newly processed wood chip mulch three inches deep over approximately 120 acres. This however will not take place for at least 9 months. C. M. Peich’s part of the contract began in November 2004 and will be completed by the end of June 2005.
 |
 |
| (Above, Left to Right) Mike Marsau - Operator, Steve Anderson - Superintendent and Duane Feduska - Operator, C. M. Peich, Inc. |
(Above, Left to Right) Vermeer Rental Manager - Joe Cowl and Grinder Operator - Steve Dennis. |
In many ways, this was a new and unique type of work for C. M. Peich, Inc., but as Chris explains it, “This job was really no different that any other. It was just very important that proper material solution practices were used and that the logistics were all worked out ahead of time. There are only a few companies doing this type of work right now and we thought that we would take a stab at it. It all went off pretty much without a hitch and seemed to work out well for everyone involved. We felt good about keeping this material out of the landfill while at the same time saving time and money by reusing the chipped wood and ground material. We expect to bid on similar jobs in the future.”
According to Chris, having the right equipment and tools for the job was also crucial to a successful and profitable outcome. He worked very closely with A-Ward Attachments out of Auckland, New Zealand who provided C. M. Peich with a variety of specialized tools including: rake grapples, log splitters and wood shears that Chris points out were critical to finishing the job on time and on budget. C. M. Peich also made use of a variety of other equipment including excavators, wheel loaders and backhoes and of course the rental of the Vermeer HG6000 horizontal grinder. Chris elaborates, “Our equipment fleet is mainly Caterpillar with the exception of two Volvo excavators. We rely mainly on Johnson Machinery for our equipment and parts needs. We made particular good use of our rubber tired excavator on the SR 22 project as it saved us quite a bit on transportation costs up and down the freeway.”
 The trees and material on the SR 22 Project were loaded into end dumps and taken to central stockpile areas where they would be sized down for processing.
| |
C. M. Peich, Inc. Capabilities & Service |
| |
|
• Takeoff Services
• Estimating Services
• Engineering Services
• Engineering Consulting Serices
• Design Assistance
• Constructability Reviews
• In Field Investigations
• Specialty or Local Sub-Solicitation
• Trial Testimony
|
| |
Operated Equipment Rental |
| |
|
• Excavators
• Cat M322C
• Volvo 290 W/Hyd Thumb
• Cat 345
• Volvo 460
• Cat 365
• Backhoes
• Cat 430D4X4/Extendahoe/Forks IT
• Cat 446D 4X4/Extendahoe/Forks
• Loaders
• Cat 966
• Cat 950G
• Trench Plates
• 8 X 2 0 – 8 X 10 – Track Cleans
|
| (All Equipment Operated and Maintained) |
|
C. M. Peich, Inc. finished out 2004 with gross revenues of around $3 million and is expected to better that number in 2005. Chris Peich explains the reason for such tremendous growth, “We really could not have accomplished all that we have without all of our operators, laborers and other employees. Everyone gives 110% and that’s what has made the difference. Steve Anderson has been our equipment manager/sales representative since September of 2004. He basically manages the operated equipment rental side of the business and for all intents and purposes ran the SR 22 job for our company. Mario Flores runs the day-to-day operations for the job and is truly an asset to our operation. I really can’t say enough about these two men and what they mean to this company.”
C. M. Peich, Inc. and Chris Peich will continue to consult and provide professional services in the design/build arena. They will also continue to grow their operated equipment rental business as well as to bid on construction projects as long as they are a good fit for their company. As a contractor, C. M. Peich, Inc. has performed projects for companies like: Balfour/Beatty Construction, Ortiz Construction, FCI, Washington/Obayashi. They also performed some utility work on the SR 22 project where they relocated utilities for some of the bridge expansions. In addition they are currently performing a $3.5 million project in the Inland Empire where they are installing 30,000 feet of sewer, water and storm drain. They have also just won a $2.5 million sewer and storm drain bid for the County of Los Angeles where they will be working as a sub to Vance Corporation. Perhaps other construction companies could take a page out of the C. M. Peich, Inc. book where experience and diversification have certainly made a difference. For more information on
C. M. Peich, Inc. you can call them at 909-628-8477 or visit them online at www.cmpeich.com.
|
