ForConstructionPros.com

A fenced in jobsite that limits the work area can be quite a challenge to a telehandler operator. Add in cranes scattered about the site, and trucks moving in and out of the work area, and it can become a nightmare. Overcoming such challenges in order to efficiently deliver bricks, mortar and other supplies where needed requires both skill and a highly maneuverable machine.

Such have been the conditions encountered on the Delnor Hospital expansion project, situated in the burgeoning countryside of Geneva, IL, just 50 miles west of downtown Chicago. The three-story addition will add 100,000 sq. ft. of building space to the existing 313,100-sq.-ft. facility. It will house 52 private patient rooms and provide more space for outpatient and support services.

“Things get to be a zoo around this jobsite at times,” admits Tom Tokarz, foreman for J and E Duff, Inc., the masonry contractor working on the addition. “Throughout the day, many trucks are entering and leaving the jobsite, often at the same time. That makes it a real challenge for a telehandler operator to weave between the moving trucks to deliver supplies to the masons.”

Long history with telehandlers

Since 1936, J and E Duff, Inc. has been laying bricks in Chicago and the surrounding area. The company started by building Chicago-style bungalows. Today, it builds multi-residential, commercial and institutional buildings, including condominiums, churches, townhomes, schools, fire departments, shops, shopping malls, medical centers and hospitals.

Telehandlers were nonexistent when Duff’s masons mortared their first bricks into place in 1936. When they were introduced as a labor-saving device in the late 1970s, Duff was one of the first to try the new machine. The first telehandler the company bought was a Lull model. Because it proved to be so reliable and maneuverable, it is the only brand of telehandler Duff has purchased since, says Richard Lauber, president.