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2006 AGC Pinnacle Award |
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A&K awarded 2006 AGC Pinnacle Award
For Sensitivity to Environment, History or Culture
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| The Newlands Irrigation Project, the first federally funded irrigation project in the nation, has grown into an industry that has contributed considerably to Fallon and the Lahontan Valley. Studies by the University of Nevada at Reno estimate the Newlands Irrigation Project contributes over $90 million annually to the local economy of Fallon and the Lahontan Valley. A&K Earth Movers is proud to be involved in this vitally important industry and the efforts to conserve the limited water resources of Northern Nevada.
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The Soares Ranch, in Fallon, Nevada, is one of eighteen farms and ranches that utilized A&K Earth Movers, Inc., to construct concrete lined irrigation ditches in 2006. This project consisted of 3,500 feet of concrete lined ditch and 23 flow gates. This year A&K Earth Movers completed construction of nearly 30,000 feet of irrigation ditches in the Newlands Irrigation Project. These ditches, when lined with concrete, conserve an estimated 15 to 40% of water, depending upon soil types and length of ditch. The ditches fill quicker and fields are irrigated in a shorter period of time. Water is conserved by preventing seepage into the ground the entire length of the concrete lined irrigation ditch.
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The solution to these weather problems is speed of operation. Immediately following the opening of the trench, the concrete must be poured. The trencher is followed by the slip form and the concrete crew. The form is advanced by a boom truck and the concrete truck is synchronized with the pour. The concrete consistency is critical, too wet of a mix and the slip form will float, too stiff of a mix and the sub grade will be altered by the advancing of the form. Either condition will create an unacceptable pour. As the pour progresses, crew members drop back to install outlet gates and cross ditch gates into the “green” concrete.
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| This orchestration of events involves speed, experience and above all, safety. A&K Earth Movers, having been the prominent concrete ditch lining company in the Lahontan Valley for fifty years has the right combination of these elements.
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