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Restoring Greenfield Village
One of Henry Ford’s more famous quotes is “Coming
together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and
working together is success.” Those words are an apt
description for the recent efforts by Michigan contractors
and The Henry Ford to renovate Greenfield Village, a 90-acre
outdoor museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
The village is part of a historical site founded by auto pioneer
Henry Ford in 1929 and now managed by The Henry Ford.
The site also includes the Henry Ford Museum, the refurbished
Ford Motor Company Rouge auto plant, an IMAX theatre, the
Benson Ford Research Center, and the Henry Ford Academy.
“Greenfield Village needed massive renovations,” explains
Wendy Metros, Director of Media Relations at The Henry Ford.
“We had to restore the 75-year-old infrastructure, which was
antiquated. We had sewer problems and electrical problems.”
Members of the Associated Underground Contractors (AUC),
Michigan’s heavy construction association, along with Ajax,
came together to donate their time, resources, and engineering
expertise — at cost — to rebuild what has become known as
“America’s Hometown.”
“We recognized the importance of Greenfield Village and its
historical significance, and we wanted to be sure that the community
at large was able to come and discover what America
was like over the past 300 years,” says Clarence Jones, the
Ajax Estimator on the project.
For Ajax, it was just another example of the company’s long
tradition of helping in Michigan when the occasion arises.
According to Tim Hay, Ajax’s Construction Manager for the
job, the company paved the village’s service drive and secondary
roads, a main road outside the entrance, and a number of
small parking lots.
“The service road was a little more than a mile long,” he says.
“We milled off three inches of the old asphalt, and another
contractor graded it and prepared it for paving. We then
installed a leveling course, but we left the road like that so
construction traffic could use it. Finally, at the end of the
project, we installed a new four-inch asphalt covering.”
The two-mile main entry road required milling off the old
asphalt, a leveling course, and four inches of new asphalt.
The parking lots, suitable for parking approximately
300 vehicles each, were graded for proper drainage, leveled,
and topped with three inches of asphalt.
As the new asphalt was put down, Ajax checked to make
sure the density of mat was correct and the asphalt properly
compacted. “It is a quality-control measure we do to make
sure everything is right,” Hay says. “If you don’t get full
compaction of the asphalt, it will deteriorate a lot quicker.”
All told, Ajax placed more than 14,000 tons of its 1100L,
20AA asphalt mix. The roads and parking lots at Greenfield
Village won’t need repair again for at least 12 years.
Rapid Response Teams
Greenfield Village originally wanted construction to take place
in stages over two or three years, but AUC proposed closing
the village for a time and completing all the work at once.
Accordingly, the village was shut in October 2002 and then
re-opened when the restoration was finished by June 2003.
Most of Ajax’s work at Greenfield Village took place over six
weeks in April and May 2003. Because as many as 12 other
contractors were involved in the renovations, Ajax often had
to juggle crews and equipment, waiting for the other necessary
repairs on sewers, water lines, and electrical lines to be done
before paving could begin. Hay spent many hours at the site,
working with the other subcontractors, trying to anticipate just
when his crews would be needed.
“Still, I’d be on day-three of another job, and I’d be called and
told we were needed for two days at the village. I’d have to
move my crews and equipment there, pave, then move them
back to the original job,” he explains.
“We just had to be very flexible,” Jones adds. “But we made
the commitment, and we lived up to it.”
An engineer, hired by the village, reviewed costs each day to
make sure they were in line with the budget. “We worked
with an inspector at the end of every day, reviewing how
many hours we worked and what materials were used,” says
Hay. “At the end of each week, we’d discuss equipment moves
and any extra costs. It allowed the village to gauge just how
much money it was spending.”
Ajax-Manufactured Asphalt
All the asphalt used at Greenfield Village was manufactured at
the Ajax Inkster plant because of its proximity to the project.
“Asphalt is a time-sensitive material,” explains Jones. “It comes
out of the plant at a certain temperature, and the further it’s
trucked, the more heat you lose.” Having asphalt at the right
temperature is critical because it makes it easier to compact.
“You need the temperature up to get proper compactions
because without proper compaction, the pavement deteriorates
quicker,” Jones adds.
In fact, all the asphalt Ajax supplies to any job undergoes a
series of internal quality checks to make sure it is properly
mixed and at the right temperature before it leaves the plant.
The company has nine asphalt plants in southeastern Michigan
and can supply any project with the right asphalt quickly.
Contractor Wall of Fame
To show its appreciation to everyone who helped in the
renovation, Greenfield Village erected a “Contractor Wall of
Fame” just outside the main entrance. It features the names
of all the companies and workers who contributed to the project.
“When you go out there now, you can take your children
up to the wall and show them your name and your company’s
name and explain your involvement in this historic project,”
says Jones.
Before it reopened to the public, Greenfield Village also staged
a special night for contractors and their families to visit and see
its attractions, which included riding in authentic Model Ts,
visiting Thomas Edison’s laboratory and the Liberty Craftworks,
and strolling the working farms and Railroad Junction.
“We were proud to be part of this project,” says Jones. “It was
challenging because we had to juggle schedules, but in the end
it was very satisfying.” |
