ForConstructionPros.com

When Superior Bowen Asphalt bid the Economy Parking Project at Kansas City's International Airport (KCI), the contractor knew it was going to have to rely heavily on its subcontractors and the engineer to get the job done right and in a tight 18-month schedule.

Formed by the merger of Bowen Construction Co. and Superior Asphalt Co. five years ago, Superior Bowen Asphalt employs 300 people and operates seven hot mix asphalt plants, all in the Kansas City area. A paving and milling contractor, Superior Bowen generally works as a subcontractor on this type of project.

"We concentrate on paving and cold milling for a broad range of commercial, residential, or public agency projects," says Bob Jewett, estimator and project manager for the airport parking lot project. "We are the prime contractor only on jobs where the asphalt paving work is the dominant item, otherwise we are a subcontractor. The reason we got this job is because we did the general contracting as well."

But that meant coordinating a broad variety of work among the owner, KCI; the engineer, SK Design Group; and a number of subcontractors. It is that coordination, combined with a well-designed project, and quality paving efforts that earned a Quality in Construction Award from the National Asphalt Pavement Association.

A complex job

KCI is laid out with three separate terminals, A, B, and C. Originally one parking lot served all terminals with a bus route connecting the parking to the terminals. The problem was that anyone departing from Terminal C had to ride the bus and wait out stops at terminals A and B before getting to his destination. Under the new plan each terminal has its own parking lot with a bus route connecting that parking lot to its appropriate terminal.