Each month PCI Mid-Atlantic celebrates a member of our precast community. These companies work collectively to educate stakeholders and specifiers to advance the precast/prestressed concrete industry. Associate suppliers and fabricator companies collaborate to produce and build thousands of precast bridges, buildings, and structures annually.
This month we celebrate Coastal Precast Systems, a leader in highway transportation, ports, and marine construction. With prime locations near the Chesapeake Bay on the Elizabeth River, Cape Charles, VA, and Wilmington, NC—Coastal Precast Systems holds the enviable reputation and ability to service clients up and down the entire east coast, into the Bahamas and Caribbean.
About Coastal Precast Systems
Headquartered along the Intercoastal Waterway in Chesapeake, Virginia, Coastal Precast Systems (CPS) provides high-quality precast highway, rail, and marine construction. The owners of Coastal Precast Systems have over 70 years of experience in the precast concrete industry. CPS has multiple patents and prides itself on its innovative approach to precast solutions while providing the industry’s most efficient service.
CPS stands above your standard supplier of precast. With its professional engineering staff and the ability to provide transportation, it provides a wholly integrated precast package. Thanks to the plant’s ideal location and on-site equipment, CPS efficiently delivers precast and prestressed products via barge or traditional land-based transportation, such as truck or rail.
Image source: https://apeiron-construction.com/nov2022-one-step-ahead/
Project Stand Outs and Successes
CPS takes great pride in its dedicated employees, ensuring a consistent, high-quality customer experience on every project. The entire precast process is performed in house, from design and fabrication to delivery and installation. CPS’ team includes qualified and experienced in-house engineers, drafters, estimators, accountants, CAD operators, project managers, sales personnel, and more.
In an Apeiron Construction article entitled “One Step Ahead,” Dave Neal, Vice President of Sales, explains that working on the Harry W. Nice Bridge in Maryland, a two-and-a-half-mile long bridge connecting Virginia to Maryland, was “high profile.” In addition, the three-and-a-half-mile Marc Basnight Bridge in North Carolina allowed Coastal Precast to demonstrate the entire repertoire of its skills. Neal explains that the bridge is “a combination of segmental and conventional girder construction,” with 284 segments and 400 girders. The project was interesting for Neal regarding the volume of technical skills required; stating, “That bridge was nearly a complete precast structure, similar to the Harry W. Nice Bridge in that sense, from piling, foundation tubs, columns to precast caps and girders.”
CPS recently won a 2023 PCI Design Award – Best Transportation Special Solution for the Key Crossing Reliability Initiative in Baltimore, Maryland. Highlights from this award-winning project include:
- New transmission towers and two miles of high-voltage power lines cross the Patapsco River next to the Francis Scott Key Bridge, improving the reliability of utility delivery for customers.
- The contractor’s innovative use of pile-driving templates enabled the installation of large-diameter piles within tolerance and accelerated construction.
- Precast concrete for all work over water reduced safety risks and shortened the project schedule.
View the design award video below to hear the judge’s thoughts about the effective use of precast components in this unique marine structure.
Employee-Driven Success and Value
CPS employs over 400 people between its three plants and has a complete engineering and drafting department to support the most demanding and complex schedules. In Dave Neal’s words, “We have great people at all three plants and are fortunate to be able to retain a high percentage of employees from year to year.”
CPS roots run deep; the company founder, Paul Ogorchock, remains the owner after 50 years. His father, Jack Ogorchock, started a ready-mix company in 1946, and Paul founded the precast side of the business in the early 1990s. The Ogorchock’s have run a family business in construction-related activities for over 75 years and look to continue far into the future with Paul’s children, Brian and Kristen, both working for the company.
Learn more about Coastal Precast products, projects, and job opportunities by visiting the Coastal Precast Systems website.
