MILLER Newsletter 2015 Final with cream Small

IDENTIFY, AIM, EXECUTE
DRIVEN TO BE THE BEST
GTA Sales
Miller takes part in PanAm
Games Construction
In July 2015 over 7,000 athletes from
across North, South and Latin Americans
will descend upon the Greater Toronto
and Hamilton Areas to take part in the
17th Pan American Games. As part of the
TO2015 bid the organizing committee
committed to spending over $700 million
in construction of venues and housing
facilities. In 2014 Miller was fortunate
enough to take part in the construction
of two of these world class facilities.
Miller Assists in Building a Golf Course
In 2013 & 2014 Miller has been very fortunate to be part of the new
Par 70, 6,645 yard golf course that is being constructed in Aurora by
Lebovic. This course will be the backdrop for multiple country estate
homes. Miller’s involvement in the project is multifold including:
asphalt paving of the parking lot & subdivision roads, supplying the
mulches for the various landscaping requirements and providing
aggregates & blends for the construction of the golf course. In the
highly competitive GTA
market it has been a
pleasure to deal with a
developer that choose
the quality products
and services that Miller
provides.
The Town of Ajax, east of Toronto, is home to the
newly constructed President’s Choice Ajax Pan Am
Ballpark. Two of the six fields were reconstructed
to meet the International Baseball Federation
standards, which are very similar to the Major
League Baseball standards. Miller’s part of the
reconstruction was to supply the root zone mix (a
blend of non-calcareous sand and sphagnum peat)
from the McClellan pit south of Gravenhurst. The
root zone blend is the layer that is directly below
the sod. The purpose of the root zone is to allow
for the fast drainage of surface water, from rail falls,
while at the same time holding enough moisture
to promote healthy sod growth. Upon construction
completion the fields became two of the top ten
baseball fields in all of Canada.
As a result of the PanAm Games Ajax is also home to two new artificial turf soccer fields. The two fields, located beside the Ajax
Community Centre in Monarch Park, are designed and constructed to meet the stringent Fédération Internationale de Football
Association (FIFA) 1 Star rating. An integral part of the turf design is the aggregate base. The materials specified in the aggregate
base, are not standard/common to the civil construction market. Miller, through its Brechin quarry, was able to produce a product
that met these project specific requirements. Miller is now one of only a handful of aggregate suppliers in Southern Ontario that
can produce material for use under FIFA turf fields.
One of Many Projects from Start to Finish
When Premier Bulk Carriers decided to build a new facility in Gormley, ON, they did not need to
look any further than Miller. Rockwood General Contractors were contracted to construct the project,
including a 10000 sq. ft. office and maintenance building with parking and outside storage. A
longtime customer of Miller Concrete, Greg Crozier secured the ready mix supply for the foundations
and slab on grade. During a monthly marketing meeting of divisional sales people, organized
by Peter Crocker, Manager, Business Development, the group identified this project as an opportunity
to supply additional services. A plan was put into action. Sal Catania, Manager-Private
Works, proceeded to quote the paving package. The sites’ proximity to our Richmond Hill asphalt
plant and aggregate
yard translated into
an order for 5000MT
of recycled concrete
and 2000 MT of
grindings, purchased
FOB during
a time of severe
trucking shortages.
During excavation,
Rockwood was required
to haul over
2500 cu. yards of
GTA Sales
clean top soil off site. Miller Compost Sales and Marketing representative, Jon Durzi , previously reported to the Marketing Group
that they were seeking a supply top soil for soil blending. The result was a close and convenient source of raw material for retail
triple mixes and a contractor relieved of potentially costly haulage and dumping fees.
The value of shared information among different divisions at Miller meant that we were able to promote multiple product lines
and services, to more clients, than we could have accomplished separately.
Brechin Quarry - With the completion of the multi-year contract for the expansion of Hwy 404, it was time
to move on to new and exciting challenges. The eastward expansion of 407 ETR has provided a home for much of the resources
freed-up with the completion of Hwy 404. Brennan Construction is utilizing a wide-range of products including granulars, clear
stone and gabion in their various worksites throughout the project. We are also supplying hot mix aggregates to Brennan Paving
(Whitby Office) for this contract which got underway in late 2014 with 2015 promising to be a very busy year for mainline paving
on this job. Along with our internal
deliveries to Brennan, we are also supplying
a number of external companies
with a wide range of products for
paving and construction.
2014 marked one of the toughest
years in recent memory with respect
to the availability of trucks/brokers.
A combination of sheer volume of
work in the GTA and lack of expanded
trucking fleets/new entrants resulted
in high demand and low supply of
trucks to get our aggregates materials
from our sources to the market. With
one quarry and three aggregate yards servicing the eastern half of the GTA, Miller was well positioned to minimize its exposure to
the trucking shortage. As the sales team continued to secure work, the dispatch team was coordinating on how to use the trucking
resources to the fullest. Multiple projects that would have been delivered quarry direct by tri-axle were now being serviced by
tri-axles out of the yards. The projects serviced out of the yards ranged from parking lot construction to subdivision construction
to major infrastructure upgrades. Base on the projects that still need to be completed and the tenders that are scheduled for the
next few years it appears that Miller’s GTA aggregate yards are going to continue becoming a more valuable asset in Miller’s aggregate
sales arsenal.
This year also saw a number of new products brought on-line. To do this requires a tremendous amount of teamwork and dedication
on the part of Sales, Operations, Quality Control and the Aurora Research Laboratory. It is precisely this teamwork and
dedication that will ensure we remain “only the best”.
34 MILLER / McASPHALT NEWSLETTER 2015 EDITION
MILLER / McASPHALT NEWSLETTER 2015 EDITION
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