Primco builds excavator fleet for road & bridge construction
Founded in 1968, Primco Inc. of Fort Wayne, Indiana has served its community for more than 50 years. Originally formed as a small, family-owned bridge contracting company, Primco now employs more than 135 people, and in addition to bridge construction and rehabilitation, Primco also specializes in concrete paving, structural concrete work, as well as general commercial concrete and site development.
“My father started the business with another gentleman back in 1968, and we have grown from a bridge crew company to road and bridge,” says Todd Fredrick, president, Primco, Inc. “We do heavy highway, foundation work, sheeting work, piling and concrete road building—anything to do with that, any concrete along with that.”
An Excavator for Every Task
Primco relies on a fleet of several CASE D Series excavators in both standard and minimum-swing configurations for tight road and bridge work. With up to 17 crews operating on any given day, Primco outfits all of their excavators with thumbs, quick-couplers and auxiliary hydraulics packages so that they’re all capable of performing in a variety of applications as efficiently as possible.
“We are not gentle at all on excavators,” Fredrick says. “They're really set up for heavy-duty removal in any size.”
CASE D Series excavators have been built to achieve faster cycle times, improved control/responsiveness and greater fuel efficiency. Each features an electronically controlled hydraulic pump and larger control and solenoid valves that boost breakout forces, increase lifting strength and improve responsiveness. These features combine with the CASE Intelligent Hydraulic System and its four integrated control systems to make the best use of the machine’s hydraulic power and momentum, resulting in added strength and fuel efficiency.
“If we buy an excavator, whether it's a CX210D or a CX245D, we'll put a thumb on it, we'll put a coupler system on it, and we will outfit it with all the hydraulics to run all those pieces. So we don't have to worry about moving the special ones around,” Fredrick explains.
For tighter road and bridgework where they may be working alongside traffic and other obstacles, Primco will deploy either a CASE CX145D SR or CX245D SR minimum swing radius excavator.
“I will tell you that if you talk to any of my guys, they are going to tell you that the CX145D SR and the CX245D SR are the best bridge building excavators on the market today,” Fredrick says.
Hometown Pride
Fredrick attributes Primco’s continued growth and success to staying local. They decided a long time ago that they would strive to grow within their community, and that develops a sense of trust and reliability with their customers. Ultimately, it comes down to operating an honest, reliable business, and investing in the right people. “We have a lot of high quality people, and probably invest as much as we do in the people as we do the equipment. And if we invest in good equipment, it takes care of the good people.”
Editor's Note: Scranton Gillette Communications and the SGC Infrastructure Group are not liable for the accuracy, efficacy and validity of the claims made in this piece. The views expressed in this content do not reflect the position of the Roads & Bridges' Editorial Team.
