‘Billy Goats Gruff’ Take Toll On V&G Bridge Team
(3rd Quarter 2007)

Most heavy/highway construction crews have dealt with it all—weather delays, safety concerns, last-minute change orders. But not many have to deal with a herd of livestock running wild on the job site. That distinction belongs to the project team on Vecellio & Grogan’s Corridor H bridge project in Moorefield, WV.

Crews on the 2,200-foot-long bridge project have found themselves contending with a herd of 300 hungry goats that have eaten everything from paperwork to wires under the job trailer.

The goats are constrained to one side of the job site at this stage of construction, but once all the steel is in place, it’s just a matter of time before the Billy Goats Gruff own both sides of the ridge.

The West Virginia DOT has provided extra fencing to try to keep the job site goat-free, but their efforts have met with only minimal success.

Despite being “goated” to frustration, the project team has shown some softness for the herd; several team members have saved a few goats that got their heads stuck in the right-of-way fence.

Kidding aside, the team has shown great perseverance in light of the unusual challenge. In fact, the project is progressing right on schedule, with pier cap construction and post-tensioning work underway. Girder erection begins in October.