AWARDS
Durr Receives Top Construction Honors
HARAHAN, LA (December 8, 2008) – On Friday, December 5, Durr Heavy Construction, LLC was one of twenty companies recognized at the South Central Construction magazine’s Best of 2008 Awards luncheon.
Held an each year, this event serves as the most preeminent event in the local construction industry. Over 47 projects were presented for review with the top 34 receiving honors.
This year, Durr Heavy Construction received honors for three of its projects in Louisiana. The Bass Pro Shops in Denham Springs project received Best Infrastructure Project in Louisiana, the National Guard’s Readiness Center in Covington received the Award of Excellence in Civil Projects and the WWL New Guy Wire Foundations in Barataria received the Award of Excellence in Infrastructure Projects.
“These three projects presented numerous challenges and opportunities for us to exceed expectations,” Freddy Yoder, COO and President of Durr Heavy Construction. “None of this could have been achieved without the hard work and dedication of our outstanding employees.”
The Bass Pro Shops project was lead under the direction of Vice President of North Shore Operations, Jason Manson. This project was unique in that the 74 acre site was home to four General Contractors, including Durr. This required a strong communication plan with each General Contractor and coordination of construction schedules.
Durr acted as a subcontractor on the National Guard’s Covington Readiness Center to Citadel Builders, LLC with Manson as Project Manager. The scope of work included demolition and removal of most buildings on the military site and all site work including underground utilities and parking lots. During excavation, an unknown grave site was uncovered thus halting all construction until the remains could be identified and removed by the military.
The most unique project was the WWL New Guy Wire Foundations in the swamps of Barataria, lead under the direction of Vice President of South Shore Operations, Richard Mire. During Hurricane Katrina, the existing foundations were lifted out of the ground causing the radio towers to be unstable. Durr was charged with building a road through the swamps that cranes and cement trucks could use to build the new 84-ton foundations. All work was completed while maintaining the integrity of the ecological system in the area.
The Louisiana awards voting was conducted in Baton Rouge by the following construction and design judges: Barry Lacy and Richey Charoenpap, both of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development; Charles Currier of BASF; Ann Ellis of Milton Womack Contractor; Wesley Gifford of Woodrow Wilson Construction Co.; Robert McKinney and Gordon Brooks, both of the University of Louisiana – Lafayette; and Tom Sofranko of the Louisiana State University.
The judges based their decisions on the following criteria: solutions to challenges, project management, construction innovation, client service and safety.
Durr Receives Top Construction Honors
HARAHAN, LA (November 5, 2008) – On Wednesday, November 5, Durr Heavy Construction, LLC was one of seventeen construction companies recognized at the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Excellence in Construction (EIC) and STEP Award banquet.
Held an each year at Chateau County Club in Kenner, this event serves as the most preeminent event in the local construction industry. Over 30 projects were presented for review with the top 16 receiving top honors.
This year, Durr Heavy Construction received top honors for three of its projects in Louisiana: Bass Pro Shops in Denham Springs, National Guard’s Readiness Center in Covington and the WWL New Guy Wire Foundations in Barataria.
“These three projects presented numerous challenges and opportunities for us to exceed expectations,” Freddy Yoder, COO and President of Durr Heavy Construction. “None of this could have been achieved without the hard work and dedication of our outstanding employees.”
The Bass Pro Shops project was lead under the direction of Vice President of North Shore Operations, Jason Manson. This project was unique in that the 74 acre site was home to four General Contractors, including Durr. This required a strong communication plan with each General Contractor and coordination of construction schedules.
Durr acted as a subcontractor on the National Guard’s Covington Readiness Center to Citadel Builders, LLC. The scope of work included demolition and removal of most buildings on the military site and all site work including underground utilities and parking lots. During excavation, an unknown grave site was uncovered thus halting all construction until the remains could be identified and removed by the military.
The most unique project was the WWL New Guy Wire Foundations in the swamps of Barataria. During Hurricane Katrina, the existing foundations were lifted out of the ground causing the radio towers to be unstable. Durr was charged with building a road through the swamps that cranes and cement trucks could use to build the new 84-ton foundations. All while maintaining the integrity of the ecological system in the area.
In addition to the EIC awards, Durr also received ABC’s highest award for safety, the Platinum Safety Training and Evaluation Process (STEP) award. This award evaluates 20 key elements of a contractor’s safety program and recognized those that meet and exceed safety standards on an annual basis.
Durr Ranked in CityBusiness Best Places to Work Awards
NEW ORLEANS, LA (December 14, 2007) – New Orleans CityBusiness released the names of the honorees for its fifth annual Best Places to Work special publication and event.
After receiving nominations from companies, CityBusiness selected 35 honorees in the large business category and 15 honorees in the small business category. Companies were selected based on how well they treated their employees and were judged in categories including salary, benefits, vacation time, bonus perks and in-house development.
All companies were honored at an awards event on Friday, December 14, at the downtown Sheraton Hotel. At this award ceremony, Durr Heavy Construction, LLC was ranked the 25th Best Place to Work for large companies. This is the second year in a row that Durr received recognition by CityBusiness.
"It is nice to be recognized for taking care of those make our company successful, our team members," said Freddy Yoder, president, Durr Heavy Construction.
"Without the great 100+ team members that come in day after day to get the job done," Yoder said, "Durr would never be able to accomplish as much as we have over the years."
Durr Heavy Construction, LLC is a family-owned and operated construction company specializing in demolition, site preparation and underground utility installation. Established in 1955 by Edward C. Durr, Sr. as E.C. Durr Contractor as a way to supplement his daily farm business, Durr Heavy Construction has seen revenues grow to over $80 million annually. Presently, the company is welcoming the third generation into the family business and it is proud of the fact that its growth and its success has not changed the fundamental principles that Edward Durr instilled in his company over 50 years ago.
Durr receives ABC S.T.E.P. awards
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) recognized Durr once again for its outstanding safety program. For the fourth consecutive year, Durr received the Gold Level S.T.E.P. Award. As a 1999 bonus, Durr was one of only two Bayou Chapter members to receive the impressive Platinum Level Award.
The Safety Training and Evaluation Process (S.T.E.P.) program evaluates 20 key elements of a contractor's safety program. The evaluation is performed independently by each company and then submitted to ABC. By conducting this evaluation, contractors can identify the strengths and weaknesses of their safety program and can formulate plans to improve, thus working towards the goal of zero jobsite accidents. Durr has been successful in these regards, being awarded the Gold Level S.T.E.P. for '96, '97, '98 and '99.
The chance to capture the Platinum Award was only granted to those that were awarded Gold in '97 and '98. This level required applicants to provide information that supported their self-evaluation score, such as OSHA Logs and statements from insurers. It is only from the select group of Platinum level recipients that ABC National will select its National Safety Award winners. Congratulations and thanks goes out to all Durr employees who strive to make safety their top priority.
Durr Recognized by GNOBR
St. Thomas Project Wins Award
On December 6th, the Greater New Orleans Business Roundtable awarded Durr Heavy Construction with one of its Construction Industry Effectiveness Awards.
Durr's St. Thomas Demolition Project was chosen because Durr, working as a primary contractor, worked with Historic Restoration Incorporated and the Housing Authority of New Orleans to remove the existing 157 buildings that consisted of 1,359 units. In addition to the building demolition, Durr also completed the removal of over 3,000 linear feet of underground piping and over 400,000 square feet of concrete paving.
Three other projects were honored at the twelfth annual CICE awards.