One hundred years ago, a young carpenter named Ernest E. Poole began to construct farmhouses, schools and retail shops throughout Saskatchewan, creating what would one day become the largest contracting firm in Canada.
Since its humble beginnings in 1906, Poole Construction Co. Ltd.—which would later be known simply as PCL—has grown to operate 27 locations across Canada and the U.S., and focuses its work in three major market sectors: commercial building, industrial and civil infrastructure.
In 1977, the Poole family sold PCL to its employees and moved its corporate headquarters to Edmonton, Canada, and has experienced substantial growth ever since. “We’re a very diverse organization,” Shaun Yancey, regional vice president for PCL, told Roads & Bridges. “We work in three market sectors, and in each of those market sectors we’re fairly diverse.”
In the U.S. alone, the company is currently in the midst of a wide range of projects, including a hospital in Colorado Springs, a water-treatment plant in Albuquerque, N.M., the expansion of the SeaWorld Adventure Park in Orlando, Fla., the widening of I-95 in Lake Park, Fla., and a large expansion on the Atlantis Hotel in the Bahamas. All of the projects on which PCL is currently working are in excess of $50 to $60 million, according to Yancey.
From buildings to bridges
While PCL covers an array of contracting projects, and has a construction volume over $4 billion, only about 15% to 20% of its business is dedicated to road and bridge work. Commercial building consumes the largest portion of its work, making up 65% to 70% of its business, according to Yancey.
With its civil constructors office located in Tampa, Fla., more than half of PCL’s infrastructure work is done for the Florida Department of Transportation, according to Dave Whaley, director of business development. PCL has recently completed several major highway and bridge projects in Florida, including the $200 million, five-mile-long, elevated, reversible-lane Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway in Tampa.
The Crosstown Expressway required the construction of 3,032 concrete segments that would make up the five miles of segmental bridges that comprise the expressway. Over 120,000 cu yd of concrete was used to cast the segments. The biggest challenge was constructing five miles of a 60-ft-wide bridge within a 40-ft-wide median on an active expressway.
The Ringling Causeway design-build bridge in Sarasota, Fla., is another recently completed project that proved to be quite a challenge. The design-build contract consisted of constructing a new precast segmental bridge structure spanning over Sarasota Bay. The structure is 3,100 ft long and 106 ft wide.
The bridge was composed of a single box structure that was erected in halves, making it one of the widest single-box segmental bridges in North America. The substructure was composed of single hollow-box substructures supported on 9-ft-diam. caissons.
According to Whaley, the size of the structure—with its 300-ft spans—and the fact that it had to be constructed over water, made this project especially difficult. To combat the challenge posed by size, “the use of a specialized precast section was incorporated into the design,” Whaley told Roads & Bridges. “It was a design-build job, so we had the opportunity to change some of the details. That made it easier to put in place.”
PCL does both construction and reconstruction work, but according to Whaley, the company does more construction jobs because it has the ability to self-perform its work. “We do our own pylon installation and assembly and erection of all the structural steel, precast and cast-in-place concrete,” he said. PCL will often use subcontractors on roadway projects they may not have equipment available for, such as paving, signage, striping or lighting.
Whichever project PCL is working on at the time, the company always takes advantage of the recycling opportunities made available to them, “anything from salvaging and recycling paper to structural steel or miscellaneous iron that may be taken out of an existing bridge,” Whaley said. In some coastal areas, there are artificial reef programs in which PCL will participate, “There are a lot of locations where people are requesting material be placed under water so it creates artificial fish reefs and habitats,” said Whaley.
One for all
With 2006 marking the centennial of PCL’s existence in the contracting market, much of the company’s success, according to Yancey, can be attributed to the fact that it is a family-orientated organization and that it is 100% employee owned. “Currently, we’re up to 2,400 employees and 1,800 of those are shareholders in the company, so everybody benefits from the company’s success,” Yancey said. “As a result of that, people take [PCL] very seriously; it’s not the company, it’s our company.”
According to Yancey, the company’s greatest growth has come in the years after it was turned over to its employees. However, the company has experienced especially significant growth in the last four to five years, he added.
Whaley agreed that the construction market has expanded in recent years, and he expects this to continue—for the time being. “For the next few years, the market seems to be very buoyant,” he said. “There seems to be an awful lot of commercial construction going on, which is driving more civil infrastructure work as well. It’s going to be a very busy market for the next three to five years. Commercial does, from time to time, seem to get overbuilt, so it seems to go through a cycle of highs and lows depending on which area of the company you’re working in.”
As PCL continues to thrive as a successful contracting company, it’s guiding principal remains social responsibility and giving back to the community. PCL donates thousands of dollars and countless hours of personal time to its community each year. In 2005, the company donated $690,786 to 126 different organizations across the U.S. PCL also is a strong supporter of the United Way, and has received the Champion of Hope award—the United Way’s highest honor—for the past four years.
In addition to being recognized for its efforts in community service, PCL was named one of Fortune magazine’s “Top 100 Companies to Work For.” The company also is on the 50 Best Employers in Canada list and is a platinum member of the 50 Best Managed Companies in Canada program.
Above and beyond
Staying at the top of its industry for the past century also is attributed to knowledgeable employees who are always at the forefront of technology. “We believe learning never ends, so we’re constantly challenging our people to continue their growth and development,” said Yancey. PCL requires its employees to obtain at least 36 hours of ongoing professional development education each year, and according to Yancey, about 85% to 90% of the employees comply with this goal.
In commemoration of the company’s 100th anniversary, a Centennial Learning Centre (CLC) was built at the PCL Business Park in Edmonton. The CLC is a tribute to PCL’s past, present and future generations, and houses the PCL College of Construction, a facility that focuses on continual education.
As PCL embarks on its second century of contracting, it looks forward to expanding within the U.S., where there is still a lot of room to grow, said Yancey. “We’re looking for continued growth,” he said, “but at the same time, we want to maintain our corporate values and our culture, and we want to continue to offer more opportunities to all of our people while being true to ourselves.”
