Allan Myers ranked by ENR #2 largest highway building contractor on their top 400 Contractor list
ENR Magazine released the Top 400 Contractor list for 2023. In addition to the list of top contractors in the country, ENR ranks the top contractors by sector.
The listings have ranked Allan Myers in a number of categories, including one at the top of Transportation.
Transportation includes rankings with highways, bridges, ports, rail, and airports. The company has been named the 2nd largest Highway building contractor in the country.
Joint Venture in Maryland Relieves Congestion
Allan Myers, partnering with Wagman Heavy Civil, is more than 50% complete on the $196 million project for the Maryland Transportation Authority’s (MDTA) I-95 ETL Northbound Extension.
This joint venture project is reconstructing I-95 and MD 152 to relieve congestion and improve travel along the I-95 corridor. The project began in fall 2021.
The anticipated completion date of this high-profile project is fall 2024. Plans for the full interchange reconstruction include replacing the MD 152 bridge to accommodate two Express Toll Lanes (ETLs) and four general purpose lanes in each direction. The project will also permanently remove Old Mountain Bridge and the existing Park & Ride lot. Other improvements include signage, stormwater management, and landscaping.
Read more about the I-95 ETL project and our joint venture partnership in the latest Footprints magazine.
Myers Largest Pennsylvania Job Makes Progress
Allan Myers' largest job on-record in Pennsylvania began work in July 2023.
The $214 million job on the Pennsylvania Turnpike will transform the existing four-lane roadway with a 10-foot median and a 12-foot shoulder to a new six-lane roadway with a 26-foot median and 12-foot shoulders. Five miles will be widened in Chester County at the Downingtown Interchange (MP 312) east to the Valley Hill Road (MP 316) to accommodate the additional lanes.
The project completed Stage 1 with the median reconstruction work and moved fully into Stage 2 in mid-October.
“So far the project is going smoothly,” Senior Project Manager Adam Bisher said.“We have the right people on the job to deliver a successful project.”
There are also three bridges within the job that will be removed and replaced. Other facets of the job include adding 11 retaining walls, lengthening of culverts, construction of sound barriers, and the construction of stormwater management facilities and other drainage improvements.
This project is part of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s statewide total reconstruction initiative, which entails rebuilding sections of the 60-year-old turnpike. The new roadway design meets current interstate design standards, keeps up with traffic demands and will provide a safer and more efficient travel experience.
For more information on the progress of the project, visit Milepost 312-316 Design and Construction Details (paturnpike.com).
Benefits to Warm Mix Asphalt
Allan Myers mixes about 5 million tons of asphalt each year for internal and external customers. At that volume, safe working conditions and eco-friendly factors are always top of mind. An alternative that is addressing both of those challenges is the use of warm mix asphalt instead of the traditional hot mix.
Allan Myers was among the first to use this style of mix and states such as Delaware and Pennsylvania are requiring it on job sites.
There are several environmental benefits to using warm mix. Some benefits include the decreased amount of natural gas, which reduces the carbon footprint, and less smoke and dust are produced, providing better and safer working conditions at the production plant and on site.
“This saves energy and makes the mix denser for compacting and better overall performance,” said Tim Peffer, Director of Asphalt Quality Control.
The warm mix can be combined with reclaimed asphalt pavement without compromising the quality of the mix. This helps in recycling and reusing existing asphalt, making the process more sustainable.
This mix can also be compacted at 200 degrees out in the field and the density is improved at a lower temperature, which improves the overall pavement performance and increases the longevity. The mix can be hauled longer distances without stiffening and the chemical additives improve the workability at cooler temperatures.
Allan Myers Builds Hope Through Playset
In July 2023, a group of Allan Myers employees built a play set for Jaxson, a 5-year-old currently fighting leukemia, in his own Chesterfield, Va., backyard.
Allan Myers teamed up with the organization Roc Solid Foundation who provides backyard playsets to kids fighting cancer during treatment. Their mission is to bring back play into these family’s daily lives. When a child is diagnosed with cancer, the first thing taken away is the opportunity to play. Normal family activities are replaced with doctor’s appointments and treatments that leave kids with weak immune systems – and often the inability to interact in public.
Volunteers from Allan Myers and Roc Solid constructed the two-story playset and surrounding landscape. The playset included swings, a slide, and rock-climbing wall. Allan Myers donated the playset that was assembled. After just a few hours, the playset was completed and revealed to Jaxson and his family.
The new backyard playset provides a safe place to play for Jaxson and his two older siblings while escaping the reality of fighting cancer and creating happy memories together.
Team Member Spotlight
Domenic Marino, Senior Project Manager
Domenic Marino has been around construction his entire life as his grandparents and dad were in the home building industry. “I grew up around it,” he said. “As a kid, you could find me sitting in the cab of an excavator.”
After learning and seeing the scale of heavy civil construction, he knew that is what he wanted to do and pursued a construction management degree from Drexel University, in Pennsylvania.
While at Drexel, he visited with Allan Myers at a career fair and had the opportunity to meet CEO Ross Myers. A few months after graduating, he started as a paving field engineer and has only moved his way up in the company over the last 10 years.
He hit the ground running that first summer in paving and then wanted to learn the cost side of the business and spent time in accounting that winter.
Domenic requested to be put on our Pennsylvania Turnpike project in 2014 and saw that to completion three years later. He quickly advanced and was promoted to Project Manager and tasked to lead three highway projects totaling $130 million.
“The growth opportunities here are fantastic,” Domenic said. “Our support and commitment to safety are second to none.”
While in Pennsylvania, he was heavily involved with his alma mater with recruiting and teaching. He taught Introduction to Heavy Civil Construction because he saw a need to introduce students to heavy civil while in college. It is also important for him to develop his own project teams with coaching and mentoring.
In March 2023, he moved his family from Pennsylvania to southern Virginia to lead a new team on the Norfolk Segment 1A job on Interstate 64 in Virginia.
The $163 million high profile project for the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is the largest solo design-build job the company has won. “I was asked to take on this project based on my experience,” Domenic said. “It all appealed to me. I like design-build work and this area is the fastest growing market with a lot of opportunity.”
“It’s a heavily congested corridor and I’m most excited to prove we can successfully construct a job like this,” he added.
The project scope includes repurposing I-64 in both directions in Norfolk. The three existing general-purpose lanes and shoulders will be converted to one part-time, high-occupancy shoulder Express Lane and three lanes for a total of two miles. The project started this fall and is scheduled for completion in early 2026.
Rebecca Logan, Driver
A billboard in Williamsburg, Va., was the sign Rebecca Logan needed that led her to a fulfilling career at Allan Myers.
The ‘Now Hiring’ billboard prompted her to call a company she knew nothing about and inquire about open driver positions, a skill she had from years of experience.
She could not relocate to Richmond, Va., where the jobs were at that time but a year later, the Chesapeake, Va., native was working as a driver at Myers’ newly opened Chesapeake asphalt plant.
“I can’t express enough how much of my heart is with this company,” Rebecca said. “I can’t see myself at another company or see myself in another job.”
For the last six years, Rebecca has been driving crash trucks, water trucks, and dump trucks to and from Allan Myers construction and paving sites throughout the Hampton Roads region. She treats her truck and even her parking spot as her home away from home.
Three years ago, she decided to make it more like home by planting a flower bed behind her parking spot.
“Allan Myers planted a seed in me and in a flower bed, you plant seeds and wait for the harvest to grow,” she explained. “I was a seed the company took a chance on, and I have grown with them. They have harvested me to who I am today.”
She hopes her flowers, decorations, and little extra touches provide a positive outlook to the other drivers and employees and hopes others will add to it or create their own.
Rebecca considers the people at Allan Myers her family. Even on her days off, she is often seen working on her flower bed or washing her truck.
“It’s just who I am,” she said. “I am home when I am here, and I love Allan Myers for the company and what they give us.”
Senior Interns Turned Professionals
Allan Myers had 80 interns during summer 2023, including 35 rising seniors. At the end of the program, 29 of those rising seniors accepted full-time offers to return upon graduation to a variety of positions in engineering, safety, or accounting.