Adapting to the needs of the customer, Vecellio & Grogan successfully bid the site development work for a Virginia coal-fired power plant that was still coming off the drawing board. As a result, the contractual relationship of the company to the $16.5 million project near Virginia City remained a work in progress for some time.

“This was actually a bit unique, bidding with just a conceptual state of plans,” said Rick Hertzer, Chief Engineer for the division. “We knew the job was going to have some changes in it, but so far it has worked out.”

Project owner Dominion Virginia Power hesitated to contract a final design until all legislative permits for the hybrid plant were issued, then put the project on a fast track. Hertzer calls the resulting hurry-up contractual arrangement “sort of halfway between design-bid-build and design-build.” V&G’s contract is with engineering firm Shaw Group, Inc.

Approximately 3.1 million cu. yds. of dirt, including 750,000 yds. of rock requiring blasting, will be moved on the job before its Labor Day completion. The site is mostly an abandoned strip mine in a Wise County valley, but some clearing of trees was also necessary.

The bulk of V&G’s work is concentrated in two areas on the 150-acre site. The plant’s main power-up buildings will be located in one spot, while coal storage will take up most of a second area. Routine earthmoving primarily involves a Cat 992G wheel loader filling Cat 777 end dump trucks. In more confined areas of the project, Cat 385 excavators will dump into Cat 740 articulated trucks. Some storm drains will be built, but no water or sewer infrastructure work is anticipated.

V&G got off to a good start on the project, with a second shift added once things opened up, Hertzer said.