Local vendor spotlight: James Construction Group, LLC.

James Construction excavated more than 1 million cubic yards of soil from the Cameron LNG site.

James Construction prepped the site by excavating the clay pit.

There is a famous saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” and neither will Cameron LNG. However, the project is on target for completion by late 2008, thanks in part to the work performed by James Construction Group, LLC. The company, with a Louisiana legacy dating back to 1926, has grown into one of the largest heavy civil contractors in the southern United States with operations in seven Gulf Coast states. Even through the years of growth, James Construction has stayed close to its Louisiana roots with three offices across the state, including one in Southwest Louisiana. In 2005, James Construction was selected as one of the subcontractors to work on Cameron LNG project components including everything from excavation to grading to storm drainage. These work activities required the hiring of about 35 new operators, many of them from Cameron Parish.

The site selected for the Cameron LNG facility was ideal due to its access to the Intracoastal Waterway and position on the Calcasieu Ship Channel. The challenge: much of the site was near marshland. According to Jonas Beatty, project manager at James Construction, the initial groundwork for the project required digging 35 feet below sea level, excavating more than 1 million cubic yards of soil and clay. To put that into perspective, it would take 100,000 dump trucks to haul that much earth – enough to cover 80 full acres, seven feet deep. The excavated soil and clay was placed on the nearby property and marshland southwest of the job site.

Next, the company had to create a solid foundation by filling the area with more than 350,000 tons of crushed stone, 350,000 cubic yards of clay and 265,000 square yards of geogrid, an engineering fabric that creates a bridge over soft soil.

Even though the site preparation was completed in February 2006, James Construction continues to be involved with Cameron LNG, providing support services and earth work when needed. In fact, James Construction won the “Best Infrastructure Project” award from South Central Construction in 2006 for its work at Cameron LNG.