Mapleton Terminal Employees Take on Their Own Construction Project

These employees used their DIY skills to replace catwalks

When employees at the Mapleton, Illinois terminal noticed the catwalks that run along the top of their warehouses were showing their age, they knew they had to act before the situation resulted in an accident.

The catwalks, about 45 feet in the air, were supported by two joists that were installed in the late 1960s. The joist hangers that supported the catwalks on a 20-foot span, appeared rusty and were starting to fail. The Mapleton team invited GROWMARK engineers to create a plan to support what was there and bring it up to modern standards. 

Mapleton Terminal Manager Gary Verardo said they tackled the project in phases. “GROWMARK Construction came in for the first phase when our product bins were half empty, and our employees worked alongside them to replace the first set of catwalks.”

Image 2. Mapleton employees worked as a team to complete the second phase of the catwalk installation project

What makes this project unique is that the terminal employees also have construction skills, so after working alongside GROWMARK Construction for the first phase, they felt confident to take on the second phase themselves.

The second phase happened when the rest of the product bins were empty for the season. The pace went a little slower but resulted in cost savings for what was budgeted for the project. 

Here is a breakdown of the project by the numbers:

• 900 feet of catwalk was upgraded.
• The Mapleton team replaced more than 50 catwalk connections themselves.
• The 50 connections replaced by the Mapleton equated to half a mile of lumber if the boards were stacked end to end. 
• The Mapleton team saved approximately $100,000 in construction expenses by doing the second phase installation themselves.
• The new catwalks are projected to last 50 years.