Morris-Shea says its long-term employees are one of its greatest strengths.

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In one of the most trying eras in the history of the construction industry, Irondale, Ala.-based Morris-Shea Bridge Co. has still managed to have one of its best years yet. Raking in $125 million for its work on several high-profile and large industrial projects, 2009 has proven that Morris-Shea Bridge Co. maintains its position as one of the largest and most successful foundation contractors in the United States.   

Morris-Shea can point to many reasons for this success. The company self-performs nearly all of its work, ensuring a superior level of quality on every job it takes on. The company maintains in-house engineering and design capabilities, a sophisticated site investigation and exploration department and its seasoned staff’s approach to projects ensures that Morris-Shea will maintain its impeccable track record for quality and safety, which play a vital role in the company’s procurement of select industrial projects. Morris-Shea employs an aggressive business development department that actively pursues job leads and obtains work for the company.

Thanks to the company’s forward-thinking, it is established in numerous regions in North America and the Caribbean. The company is headquartered in Alabama but its also has operations in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It also maintains engineering and marketing offices in Orlando, Las Vegas, Savannah, New Jersey and Trinidad. Morris-Shea regularly performs work throughout the United States, including Hawaii and the Virgin Islands, Jamaica and Trinidad — enabling it to continually take on the right projects wherever they may pop up. The company retains a talented core group of employees willing to travel long distances and lend the Morris-Shea touch to projects.

Continuous Evolution
Vice President Richard Shea’s father Dick Shea and a partner founded Morris-Shea Bridge Co. in 1969, focusing primarily on highway and bridge construction. In the mid-’80s, Dick Shea bought his partner out and began taking on large industrial projects for EPC contractors – primarily piling and deep excavation projects – along with associated concrete work. The company has always been strong in the design/build sector, which it still prefers to this day, Shea notes. In the early ’90s, Morris-Shea began to focus on deep foundation drilling; and has since evolved into one of the largest and most successful deep foundations specialist in the United States. The company’s acquisition of the rights to the patented pile system called DeWaal Piles in 1992 catapulted this status.    

Richard Shea began his tenure with the company in 1992, he says. “The company was performing approximately $20 million of work in the early ’90s,” he recalls. “We’ve grown as my brothers Bill Shea, [who is] secretary and treasurer and Steve Shea, [who is] vice-president and equipment manager, and I came into the business and helped expand our work area. We now work all over the continental United States and throughout the Caribbean.   

“We will go anywhere as long as it’s for the right project and customer,” Shea adds. “We have a niche that we fit into for certain types of projects, where our design/build capabilities, experience and specialty pile systems provide value to owners, developers and general contractors.” Morris-Shea tends to focus more on industrial projects, many of which are in Puerto Rico. The company’s first project there was in 1999; a large, grassroots powerhouse for Fluor with 4,500 piles.

“That was a very nice project for us, and fortunately, when our work was complete, we were able to pick up more work in Puerto Rico and we haven’t ever left,” Shea says. In fact, Morris-Shea is now the largest foundation contractor on the island. Bill Shea runs most of the operations in Puerto Rico, where a large percentage of the company’s volume emerges because of its dominance in that market.   

According to Bill Shea, “New project startups have slowed down over the past year in Puerto Rico, but over the last 10 years it wasn’t abnormal for us to have four to six active jobs and at the same time,” he says. “We are now close to completion of a $40 million design/build, value engineered secant wall and box culvert for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that was located in the active Port of San Juan.”    

Shea notes that the company has worked hard to build a presence in Puerto Rico over the past decade, putting the necessary infrastructure in place to comply with the local labor laws and other unique regulations. Only by gradually establishing itself in Puerto Rico could Morris-Shea continue to reap such rewarding work in the market, he stresses.

Loyal Crew
A loyal base of workers ensures that Morris-Shea’s rigorous safety and quality control standards are executed on all of its projects. Recent, successfully completed commercial projects include a multitude of high-rise buildings in Las Vegas and Hawaii.     

Some of Morris-Shea’s recently completed industrial projects include $34 million worth of refinery piling in Louisiana, Texas and Trinidad, $45 million worth of piling, concrete work, excavation and shoring at a new steel mill in south Alabama, water treatment plants in Southern California and a deep excavation/dewatering project for a paper machine in northern Utah.   

“Due to the fact that such a large percentage of our work is performed on industrial projects, which aren’t visible to the average person, most folks aren’t aware that we work in such a large area,” Shea says. “People tend to incorrectly assume from our name that we are a regional highway contractor, which couldn’t be further from the truth. We are active in over 20 states and several island countries.    

“Granted, we do perform a significant amount of work in the Southeast, but project location isn’t our focus,” he continues. “We search for jobs that fit within our niche and allow us to use our unique abilities to give us an edge over our competition. Most of those opportunities come from our design/build capabilities, specialized equipment, know-how and experience.”    

The company’s manpower size fluctuates from 150 to 400 people, depending on the type of work it has on hand. Morris-Shea does hire new workers from the project location, but only after they pass a thorough screening process, which ensures that they are drug
free and properly trained for their position.  However, Morris-Shea’s operators, foremen, key men and project supervisors are always long-term employees, Shea notes.    

The company believes its people are top-tier, thanks to a thorough training program. These key employees’ presence on jobs ensures a safe project producing a quality product with a smooth delivery, Shea says.  

“We can’t bid work in a location such as northern Utah and expect to hire a bunch of people off the street when we get there,” Shea says. “The guys have to know how to take care of the equipment and to work safely and productively with a high degree of quality control. This is why we take our people with us everywhere we go.” No less than the reputation of the company is at stake, Shea adds. “You’re only as good as your name,” he maintains. “It takes a lifetime to build it and one job to lose it.”

Excelling At Refinery Work
This lesson is exemplified in Morris-Shea’s ability to continually win refinery jobs, which are desirable but highly competitive, Shea notes. “There are many barriers to entry in the refinery sector, so not every Tom, Dick or Harry can bid on that type of work,” he points out. “[Owners] look very hard at your safety record, your references and past performance on other refinery projects, your financial information and then if they like what they see, you will get an opportunity to give them a price. These factors make it very difficult for most companies to break into this industry.    

In an active refinery, one mistake could be deadly and enormously expensive. Thus, refineries are picky about whom they hire, choosing only an “extremely high-quality, reputable firm – someone they know is going to work safe,” Shea says.