Frank Coluccio Construction Company
It’s a balancing act that all established businesses face: How can a companyexpand and change with the times without giving up the values that have helpedto solidify its reputation? While this may prove to be quite a challenge forothers, the executives of Frank Coluccio Construction Co. (FCCC) have perseveredand achieved success.
Frank Coluccio founded his company in 1955. Todayhe is its president, with sons Joe, Nick and Franco holding vice presidentpositions. The company has many years of experience in a variety of undergrounddisciplines, including tunnels, sewers, water mains and communication and powerducting systems. With the rising need for microtunneling applications, FCCC hasadditionally established itself as one of the best companies in the business.
“From our experience constructing the larger tunnels, microtunnelingseemed to be a good fit,” says Frank Coluccio. “We accordingly targetedmicrotunneling projects to bid and procure.”
“The industry demand forthese types of projects has grown throughout North America. We recognized thatour experience lent itself well to implementing the newer microtunnelingtechnology. This obviously presented an expansion opportunity in a very selectwork discipline,” says Nick Coluccio. “Even though it’s higher-risk work, we’reno stranger to it and consider it to be a very viable market for years tocome.”
From the Ground Up
FCCC originallystarted as a small regional company, taking jobs primarily in the Seattle area.However, it soon expanded to become one of the largest underground utilitycontractors in the Pacific Northwest. From there, the company has successfullycompleted projects in Alaska, Hawaii and other places across the United States.“Since our work is specialized, we have to seek out the jobs,” explainsFrank.
As its list of successful projects grew, so did its reputation forexpertise and reliability. With about 90 percent of its work being performed forthe public sector, references, word of mouth and reputation became FCCC’s ticketto growth and success. “When you get a little further afield, you have to relyon somebody to be mentioning your name,” says Joe Coluccio. “We probablyexpanded in part due to references by owners, but probably more so by consultantreferrals. The owners rely a lot upon the recommendations of their consultants.However, with most of the consultants operating nationwide, they are in thebetter position to understand relative performance across a wider range ofprojects in this specialized market.”
Another component that theColuccios attribute to their company’s success is its many years of experience.“I believe that 52 years of experience pretty much says it all,” says NickColuccio. “If you can survive in this industry for 52 years, that’s a monumentalfeat in itself, especially in a diverse yet higher-risk industry. We take onopen-cut work, conventional tunnel work, marine work, pipe-jack work,microtunnel work, shaft work — you name it, we take it on as part of our scopeof work if we feel it is within our area of expertise.”
A company’slongevity, however, means nothing if its employees are not themselvesexperienced. “We’ve had people in our corporation who have been here for 30, 35,40 years,” says Nick Coluccio. “We certainly promote a family environment,because many of the foremen, superintendents and project managers bring in theirown kids to the company as they come up through the ranks. It builds a strongteam, and teamwork is really what it’s all about in this organization.”
Coming up through the ranks is a strong theme for FCCC, starting withthe owners themselves. “All of us started from the bottom — my dad [Frank]started at the age of 13 maintaining tunnel lanterns; every aspect of this workethic he has instilled in his kids,” says Nick Coluccio. “We all had to get outthere to sweep the shop and wash trucks from day one and advance through theranks. I really think that going through the motions yourself goes a long waytowards gaining an appreciation for the difficulty of this work and a commitmentand respect to do it right.”
Between Rocks and Hard Places
FrankColuccio Construction has also distinguished itself by tackling some ratherdifficult projects throughout the United States, including severalmicrotunneling projects in Hawaii. According to Franco Coluccio, the country’s50th state is also a hotbed for microtunneling activity.
“Hawaii ispretty much exploding due to the fact that the infrastructure there is ratheraged at this point in time,” he says. “Due to the population outgrowing theaging systems, they are having major renovations and upgrades to most of theirsystems.”
Due to its unique geology, as well as its ecology and history,microtunneling in Hawaii can pose unique challenges. “The tricky part aboutHawaii, which tends to get very expensive and very risky, is that due to thenatural formation of the island chain, you have many grades and degradations ofrock, as well as a high water table,” explains Franco Coluccio. “The best way toapproach these projects is through a very conservative effort, which includes alot of foresight, preplanning and networking with local resources.
“We’vebeen fortunate to have had a lot of local experience. We’ve had projects goingin Hawaii, not just for trenchless but for conventional excavation and pipelinework for almost 30 years now. Geographically, we have been through a lot of thedifferent regions, so through some firsthand knowledge of some of thesesite-specific areas, at least we can put our best guess forward. Over there itcan very often be a can of worms, anywhere you start digging. It can be veryengaging over there, because of the matrix of the soils and how it can change.It’s very challenging.”
FCCC is probably best known in Hawaii for itswork on the Nimitz Highway Reconstructed Sewer Project. Completed in November of2000, the project replaced a badly damaged 50-year-old sewer segment. Originallyslated as an open-cut undertaking, the project was switched to microtunnelingdue to traffic constraints and contaminated soils.
“They had someenvironmentally contaminated areas with old lines that had failed. They had alot of oil in the ground, and the oil sits right on top of the water table. Itwould have been very expensive to do any kind of remedial excavation andconventional type open cut work,” says Franco Coluccio. “The ground was alsounstable. We had to pre-solidify some of those areas; that was one of theirmajor concerns for adequate foundation.”
As with most jobs, the NimitzHighway project had some strict rules and regulations that had to be followed.“For instance, Franco was working in heavily traveled areas of downtownHonolulu. It all had to be done at night; he had restrictions on working hoursand very stringent noise requirements in addition to all the environmentalconcerns with regards to the groundwater and oil,” says Joe Coluccio. “It’spretty challenging, and to say the least, it gets very expensive because you’renot very productive. You’re only working a few hours a day.”
Despitethese obstacles, the project was not only a 0psuccess, but also came in $3million under the owner’s budget due in part to creative value engineeringideas. It also won four awards, including the Grand Award of the AmericanConsulting Engineers Council in 2001.
Moving Up and Branching Out
AlthoughFCCC currently has no plans to expand internationally (with the exception,perhaps, of nearby Canada), the company owners are ready and willing to seek outnew and challenging jobs across the country.
“I think that we willconsider any place in the United States,” says Nick Coluccio. “If we see growthopportunities that could take us to another market, or if we form regionalalliances with other general contractors that need our expertise there, we wouldgo.”
Currently, most of FCCC’s work is based on the West Coast, but it isnow also working on a project near Columbus, Ohio. That project involvesmicrotunneling four river crossings with a 60-in. Permalock casing for a sewerproject.
“Several people told us that this Ohio project couldn’t be donewith microtunneling, because the job had some very severe ground conditions.Yet, we’ve already finished our first drive,” says Nick Coluccio. “The job isvery difficult. The soil conditions are what scared a lot of the othercontractors away. It is the changing and mixed face conditions within the samedrive that presents the challenge. In microtunneling, one of your worst enemiesis frequently changing face conditions. Once you’ve selected your headconfiguration, ground engaging tools and launched, you’re committed. If theground changes from what was anticipated, you may be in trouble. It’s typicallyvery difficult to adapt mid-stream. However on this job, we felt we had theright equipment and the expertise to overcome the expectedchallenges.”
It is a commitment to excellence that drives FCCC to do whatis best for a project, even if it means not bidding on it at all. “When projectscome up for bid, we take several days to study them so we understand the job,and if there are any questions we try to get to the bottom of it and get theanswers before we bid,” says Frank Coluccio. “We do not want to bid on somethingwe don’t know enough about.”
Nick Coluccio agrees. “If it’s not suitedtoward us specifically, we’re not about to put forth the effort to go into aproject that we feel we cannot do to our standards,” he says. “It’s got to be amix that works well for us. We’re not about to tackle any project that comes upif we don’t feel we can give the owner the best job possible.”
But ascountless owners have seen, FCCC commits itself completely to jobs it does win.Judging from the numerous awards and letters of recognition the company hasreceived over the years, its dedication is greatly appreciated.
“It’s aleap of faith for some of these owners to spec this technology if they’ve neverdone microtunneling before. They know it may be expensive, and risky, but onbalance it is the best and maybe in some cases the only solution. They aren’tassured that they’re going to get out at the same price they saw on bid day,”says Joe Coluccio. “Frankly that is one of the marks of a sophisticated ownerwho is willing to share the risk on the uncertainties of a project. Thealternative would force the bidder to include high contingency reserves that maynever be realized and greatly inflate the cost to the owner. Working withqualified contractors and consultants mitigates a lot of the risk. They’repretty appreciative when the job is successful, and it’s proven that they madethe right decision in selecting a qualified construction team and an appropriatetechnology. It’s gratifying to participate in this process whereby we partnerwith the owner and their consultants to find efficient and realistic solutions.Projects that are win-win promote the technology and the industry.”