Dec. 13, 2021

This paid piece is sponsored by Concrete Materials.

There are so many concrete trucks at the Sanford Sports Complex construction site, the general contractor half-jokes the area could use a stoplight.

“It’s like a small city out there,” said Matt Hohn, vice president of construction operations for Mammoth Sports Construction.

“There’s a concrete truck or 10 out there every day along with all of their other trucks hauling rock.”

He estimates that since work began earlier this year, there have been no fewer than 2,500 truck trips between the nearby Concrete Materials quarry and the Sports Complex, where 18 turfed fields for baseball, softball, soccer and more are getting prepared for play.

“They’ve been awesome. Dealing with everybody over there has been really easy, and it’s about as smooth as something like this can go,” Hohn said. “And we’ve had a ton of concrete to do.”

The job literally is measured in tons, beginning with raw aggregate that was specially blended by Concrete Materials for the project.

“We worked with our quality control lab and got that put together to meet the specifications,” said Jeff Thompson, aggregate sales manager.

“We’ve been blending and trucking materials ever since.”

Concrete Materials’ ability to produce the custom blend is a differentiator, Hohn said.

“Everything under the turf are base layers and drainage layers, and it’s hard to find the right material in this state, so they blended the materials for us to meet the specifications,” he said.

“If we didn’t have that, I don’t know what we would have done. Get our own plant and get the two kinds of materials we need and blend them? So it’s been awesome to have them do that for us and have it readily available and blended ahead of time. When we call and need it, they’ve got it, and that’s something a lot of folks don’t do.”

The project already has involved 18,000 tons of base stone, 6,000 tons of finish stone for the top layer and 64,000 tons of quartzite gravel for the subbase.

So it’s exceptionally helpful that it’s a quick trip between the Concrete Materials quarry in northwest Sioux Falls and the Sports Complex.

“It’s a stone’s throw from our quarry, so it’s worked out really well,” Thompson said. “Having our quarry sit right there with the expansion of Sioux Falls to the west and northwest and even out to Tea on the south side, it’s a huge advantage for the city to have a supplier of Ready Mix and asphalt aggregates sitting right there on a major interstate system. It contains costs big-time.”

Now, the project is shifting from the custom aggregate blend to concrete work. There’s 201,000 square feet of site work in concrete, plus 17,000 lineal feet of curb and gutter for the parking lot and an additional 21,483 lineal feet of curb around all the fields.

“It’s more concrete than a large commercial building,” said Jim Simunek, Ready Mix manager. “It’s comparable to a small heavy-highway project when you include parking lots and sidewalk and a lot of beautification of the area. It’s going to be pretty awesome when it’s done.”

Concrete is being used throughout the project as stem walls to hold in aggregate, for backstops around walls where the grandstand goes, in sidewalks, parking lots, curb and gutter, and the mounds on the fields.

“And the aggregate below acts like a bucket to help drain them, so you can play after rain earlier than on a normal field,” Simunek said.

“Having our quarry so close to the project definitely helps keep it on track. You’ve probably heard about the national shortage of truck drivers, and for us, being this close helps in many ways, including because we don’t need as many drivers and we can assign others we have to take care of other projects.”

The proximity is “a total game changer,” agreed Troy Giegling, vice president of business development for Sanford Sports.

“We’re seeing all of the Concrete Materials trucks going back and forth. It’s the ability to get you a load in minutes compared to hours. For us, the name of the game is getting things done right and in a timely manager. Concrete is one of the most important things to our project, and this really expedites it.”

What’s next

The goal is to have baseball and softball fields ready for play by summer, followed by soccer in late summer.

For Simunek, there’s a little extra incentive to keep work on track. His two sons play baseball, and he serves as vice president of the Harrisburg Baseball Association, “and we’ve rented that facility for a tournament in June,” he said.

“This complex is going to be a big draw to all the surrounding states, and there are a lot of people who want to see it, so it’s really exciting to be part of.”

Thompson, too, feels a personal connection to his work.

“There’s nothing in the area like this, and for us to be part of it is something we’re super proud of,” he said. “I have young boys, so as they’re into sports, it’s going to be really cool to tell them we put that material in there and I worked on that job and help build these roads. It’s just a really cool thing to be part of.”

When it’s all done, the Sanford Sports Complex truly will be a 360-day-a-year facility, Giegling said.

“It really makes the Sports Complex a destination, and the way these fields are constructed is going to be huge for shoulder seasons. When snow is melting and most fields are unplayable or a rainy season causes major issues, you’re not going to see that put a stop to play nearly as much out here.”

Hohn plans to keep working through winter on related buildings, including all three of the concession and restrooms buildings, along with the ticketing building and entry structures.

“We’ve got blankets and ground-thaw machines to help us through the winter months when it’s tolerable.”

And the concrete trucks will keep rolling too.

“Our contractors always have glowing remarks for Concrete Materials and their professionalism and efficiency,” Giegling said. “The work out here has been immaculate. It’s something like I’ve never seen before, and I can’t wait for our community to see it.”