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Terra Construction Group, headquartered in St. Petersburg, FL, is one of the largest site preparation companies in the state. Its three subsidiaries — Terra Excavating, Inc. and Central Florida Excavating & Fill Dirt, Inc., both in St. Petersburg, and David Barron Land Development, Inc. in Fort Myers — perform work in full-service civil site excavation, underground utilities, heavy earthmoving, clearing and grading, infrastructure, sewerage systems, roads, highways, parking lots and demolition.

After 36 years in business, Terra has earned a reputation as a “bail-out” contractor — the one that gets the job done when no one else can. It has become very adept at handling difficult or complex projects, delivering effective solutions to its clients.

One such project was the $18 million Old Palm Golf and Country Club in Jupiter, FL, which included grading and site preparation for 300 acres, as well as digging and lining 16 lakes. Terra managed to finish the project close to schedule, despite four hurricanes that hit the area during construction in 2004.

“We were forced to pump a lot more water than planned,” says Lowell Whittum, Terra’s director of field operations. “At one point we had 71 different 12-in. pumps running on that site. It was the largest and most challenging project I’ve ever been involved in.”

“Our crews in the field are second to none, so we get a lot of difficult jobs,” adds Lorie Waldrop, general manager for Terra’s St. Petersburg operations. “Terra is awarded these jobs because of our capability to execute them, and because of the way we work with our clients.”