Stories from the Job Site

A John Deere 450D Excavator fills a load on the Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago Illinois.

By any standard, it's an awesome highway reconstruction project and about as high profile as it gets. For starters it creates an 11-mile traffic snarl, and nothing raises the ire of commuters (and taxpayers) like a monumental traffic jam. To complete the project on schedule, contractors must race day and night for two years rebuilding the 14-lane Dan Ryan Expressway. At full capacity, the Dan Ryan carries 300,000 vehicles daily through the heart of the city's South Side. Valued at approximately $600 million, it ranks among the nation’s largest construction projects.

Traffic must be staged and work zones must be formed. Access to the construction site is limited. The existing 15-inch-thick section of asphalt and concrete pavement must be removed, recycled, and replaced. Replacement lanes will be rebuilt and an additional lane will be added in each direction. When completed, the new Dan Ryan will be safer, less congested, and designed to avoid lane flooding in inclement weather.

"Performing beautifully"
On the initial $142-million Dan Ryan construction package, Walsh Construction Company, the project's general contractor, subcontracted the removal of concrete and asphalt to ROHAR Trucking Inc., a minority subcontractor. ROHAR partnered with John Deere to acquire an initial 16-piece fleet including loaders, dozers, and excavators involved in nearly every phase of pavement removal, recycling, and base reconstruction. ROHAR leased the project’s John Deere equipment from West Side Tractor, the local Deere equipment dealer.

"The project is going beautifully," says Roland Harper, president of ROHAR. "We couldn't ask for anything any better than this John Deere equipment. It's like they used to say about Timex® watches, they take a licking and keep on ticking. This equipment is very durable and rugged."

"It’s a tough project," says Dan Walsh, Jr., corporate equipment manager for Walsh. "ROHAR is double-shifting six days a week, so we can see how well this equipment holds up under extremely long hours.

"We need zero downtime, and we're getting it. The John Deere equipment is performing beautifully, and we're right on schedule. The John Deere dealer is supporting the equipment very well. If anything needs maintenance, it gets covered very quickly."

Two new John Deere 844J Loaders are playing critical roles in the project, says Pete Pena, project superintendent for ROHAR. Not only are the big 8.1-cubic-yard loaders maintaining stockpiles of crushed concrete and recycled asphalt, they also load out trucks taking processed material back to the job for base construction.

Can’t beat fun at the ol’ ballpark. A John Deere dozer levels the grade on the Dan Ryan Expressway behind U.S. Cellular Field, the home of the world champion Chicago White Sox baseball team.

"We can load a truck every two minutes, so we get 25 to 30 trucks per hour with two-pass loading," Pena says. "The 844J Loaders run about 18 to 20 hours a day, and except for a couple of minor problems, they've done very well for us. They maintain the crushed concrete stockpile, which is a vital role. If we can't get stone to the job, we can’t place asphalt or concrete, and there would be no production. They're very nice machines."

On the grade, John Deere excavators form a pavement-removal train. The fleet includes six 450C LC units and a brand-new 450D LC. Using a "frost tooth," one excavator rakes reinforcing steel out of the broken concrete. Next, another excavator uses a grapple to compress the rebar into balls for scrap. John Deere dozers including three 850J units and one 750J push recycled pavement to the excavators, level up the grade, and maintain the recycled pavement stockpiles. ROHAR's contract calls for removing 450,000 cubic yards of recycled pavement and earth.

"We remove the pavement with either the 450D LC Excavator or a 450C LC fitted with a 72-inch bucket," says Pena. "We can load a truck every two to three minutes, and we’re running 40 to 50 trucks per shift. Due to project logistics we have to remove about 200 loads within a 20-hour working period with one excavator. That's tough to do, because of limited access to and from the jobsite.

On-site, Dan Pena, equipment operator for ROHAR, picks up and loads crushed concrete with the John Deere 450D LC Excavator. "This is the best backhoe I’ve ever been on," says Pena. "It’s got a lot of power, and the hydraulics are smooth. I can move a lot of material with this machine."

ROHAR has seven 450-sized excavators on the job. "All seven 45 metric-ton excavators are interchangeable, except only one is equipped with the fitting for the grapple," says Pete Pena, Sr. "Given the number of hours these Deere 450 Excavators are working, we're putting them to the test. Overall, they’re performing very well."

Pete Pena, Jr., equipment operator for ROHAR, is excavating four feet down to sub-grade with a
John Deere 450C LC Excavator. "I can load a truck in 45 seconds with three-pass loading," says Pena. "This machine is smooth, and it’s fast."

Earlier this spring, ROHAR Trucking fitted two John Deere 330C LC Excavators with hammers to break bedrock for storm-sewer placement. "We put them to the test, and overall they've done well," says Pete Pena, Sr.

Dozers with GPS
When the recycled pavement has been removed and new sewers have been installed, John Deere dozers equipped with Global Positioning Systems (GPS) level the grade to design elevation. ROHAR's dozers include three 850J units and one 750J Dozer.

The new Dan Ryan road base consists of 24 inches of crushed concrete, or in some cases 12 inches of crushed concrete and 12 inches of recycled asphalt, all compacted into place. Base material is trucked to the site and spread in one-foot lifts. Then John Deere dozers charge into action to spread the crushed concrete and recycled asphalt.

"We spread the rock to grade using the GPS guidance system," says Pete Pena, Sr. "We don't use traditional lathe or stakes to guide the process. The GPS system saves us a lot of time."

One town that won’t let you down
Officials at Walsh and ROHAR — and the operators at the Dan Ryan reconstruction project — agree that Deere equipment has a lot in common with our nation’s second city. It won’t let you down.

Perhaps Russ Devereux summed it up best when he leaned out of the cab of his 750J LGP Dozer and said, "I've run (competitors) machines, and I think John Deere's the best."

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