DBM’s recent work included a $7.5 million rockfall containment project near Sedona, Ariz.

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As a contractor with its own in-house design capabilities, DBM Contractors Inc. can “bring a lot to the table” on each project, Vice President Paul Groneck says. “We can help solve problems, come up with solutions on how to best do the work, and save the owner money,” he declares.

Based in Federal Way, Wash., DBM specializes in heavy civil and specialty geotechnical construction. Founder Donald B. Murphy started in the company in 1949 as a homebuilder. But, when the firm began taking on bridge projects, it grew its range of expertise.

Today, DBM’s capabilities include design/build, drilled foundation support, earth retention, slope stabilization, dewatering and ground improvement projects.
Along with its headquarters in Federal Way, the company has two regional offices in Vista and San Jose, Calif., and serves clients in the western United States.

In addition, “Our customer base is pretty broad,” Business Development Manager Robert Carnevale says. He notes that DBM’s project mix ranges from large, commercial developments to state and government infrastructure work.
After all these years, DBM also has remained a family owned firm, Groneck says.

The Murphy Family L.L.C. retains the majority of ownership in the company today.
This ownership, Groneck says, has nurtured an environment where employees are treated fairly and importance is placed on life outside of work. “In construction, you have a lot of pressure if a job demands [you] to put in long hours,” Groneck says. “We try to remember that people have a family life, too, and it’s as important as the work life.”

Successful Construction
DBM’s recent work has included a $6.2 million emergency road repair project on the Globe-Stafford Highway in Arizona, for the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) and the San Carlos Apache Nation.
For the project, DBM developed a soil nail retaining wall and repaired culverts that were rusting away and collapsing, Groneck says.

To repair the culverts, DBM says its project team fabricated and slip lined three, 13-foot-diameter by 90-foot-long culverts through deteriorated 15-foot-diameter culverts. In addition, the company placed 200 yards of annular grout for each culvert.

Because there was restricted highway access between both sides of the roadway, DBM says the majority of its work was performed from manlifts. In addition, “This work was also complicated by working during potential flash flood Monsoon season and during record-breaking weather of 100-plus degree heat,” it says.

This year, DBM Contractors also completed a $7.5 million rockfall containment project for ADOT in the Oak Creek Canyon, which is located six miles north of Sedona, Ariz. According to Groneck, rocks had a tendency to break free from the canyon’s sides and fall into drainage channels. From the channels, the rocks would enter roadways, presenting a danger to motorists. For ADOT, DBM repaired 350 feet of the roadway and installed two 90-foot-long retaining walls at the bottom of the drainage channels. This created a basin for containing the falling rocks, DBM says.

In addition, the retaining walls were finished with a hand-carved and colored shotcrete, Carnevale says. This allowed the walls to look “like the natural geological formations,” he says.
Initially, ADOT had tried to complete the project in 2004 with a general contractor. However, “There [were] a lot of [specialty] design aspects to the job the contractor wasn’t interested in handling,” Groneck says. “[ADOT] was relieved that we successfully completed the project.”

The company says it also recently finished excavation support for the 1918 Eighth office tower at 8th Avenue and Virginia Street in Seattle.

The $4.2 million project entailed 10,055 lineal feet of drilling to install 124 soldier piles. “The team also drilled 479 tiebacks up to 100 feet long, totaling 31,500 lineal feet, and installed treated wood lagging to provide 46,000 square feet of shored area,” it adds.

Sustaining Quality
Both Groneck and Carnevale are longtime veterans of the construction industry, and have found the work to be satisfying. “We all do this because we like it,” Carnevale asserts. “It’s fun every day.”

In addition, both have appreciation for DBM’s management, which is led by President Tom Armour. “He’s a very personable person and he fits in well with the family company atmosphere,” Groneck says. “People respect him and he’s good to deal with.”

Carnevale adds that Armour puts a premium on adding good people to DBM, and offering continual growth opportunities to its longtime employees.
In the past two years, DBM Contractors has enjoyed substantial growth as it has opened its regional locations in California, Groneck says. “We’re going to try to sustain that trend,” he says.

However, “It’s important to do it in a controlled manner where we don’t get ourselves in trouble,” Groneck asserts. “I think that’s one of our primary goals, [to grow] while maintaining our quality of work.