Ruskin Construction is a full-service general contractor for land- and marine-based infrastructure projects.

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Andrew Purdey founded Ruskin Construction in 1989 in Ruskin, Canada. The company has since developed into a professional construction team with a diverse top-tier client base.

Purdey says Ruskin’s capacity to deliver a project to the owner with control over each phase of the work eliminates interface risk and provides certainty of successful project delivery. Starting out as a foundation contractor taking on the riskiest part of the project, Ruskin has evolved into a full-service general contractor for land- and marine-based infrastructure projects. Purdey recently spoke with Construction Today about his company’s full scale of services.

Construction Today: What distinguishes Ruskin’s work from its competitors?
Andrew Purdey: Even though we started out as a specialized foundation contractor, we have expanded our services to provide a broader scale of offerings to our clients over a larger geographical area. Ruskin is successfully executing projects in its western domestic market as well as offshore markets in Asia, the Caribbean and Mexico.

Many of our domestic clients are taking Ruskin with them to offshore projects to ensure project success.

I also believe our company has a culture of passion to execute a project successfully. Clients are our partners. Our work force is equally our partner; we work to ensure we all share the same vision.

All of our staff are professionals and committed to what we’re doing. We’re a long-term player – that attitude is carried on throughout the people we’ve hired and trained.

We had a project in Vietnam last year where we were under a tight timeline. We had to work right through Christmas. If that isn’t passion to execute a job I don’t know what is. No money can buy that.

CT: Tell us about a project of which you are proud.
AP: A few years ago, a shortline railway company called my home number on a Sunday morning after two of their train bridge structures washed out during peak flood conditions. By Monday night, we had a full crew mobilized from 500 miles away. In seven days, we rebuilt a 250-foot main span structure and fabricated a 120-foot jump span, with trains operational again within nine days of the occurrence. That, to me, was an incredible feat of delivery in a remote location. We relied on our alliances with fabricators and engineers to ensure the project was given the highest 24/7 priority.

Logistically, getting the material and crew on site, and working with the construction team and owner to a successful, accident-free outcome was a milestone demonstrating [our] capacity to deliver.

CT: How do you find quality people?
AP: Most of the time they find us. It’s no secret to success, if you treat people with respect, you’ll get the same back.

CT: How do you train your workers?
AP: Our work crews are cross-trained within groups of five or six people. They can be put together any place in our operation and successfully complete the job. The people are adaptable and can perform a multitude of tasks. Cross-training our employees – giving them the skill sets to do all of the tasks required to execute one of our core projects – allows us to be as efficient on the global stage as we are on the domestic stage.

CT: How would you describe your position within the industry?
AP: We’re successful domestically and we fully expect to expand that capacity by slowly building our client base in foreign jurisdictions.

Ruskin has grown substantially from inception. Our focus has always been on the quality delivery of our projects.

Our growth has been driven by our ability to achieve success and to deliver projects in the current economy. The opportunities are substantial, but we control our growth.

CT: What are some recent developments?
AP: We are currently working with several clients in different countries and endeavoring to add services and capacity that will bring value. We at Ruskin understand the economic food chain; we need to provide the best service to ensure the long-term success of our business. Understanding what our clients needs are and working with them to minimize risk and ensure success are fundamental to longevity in this industry.