Penhall Company is excited to announce that we have expanded our technology service operations to three new markets and their surrounding areas: Baton Rouge, Louisiana; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Orlando, Florida. This is part of our ongoing effort to reach customers and clients throughout the United States and Canada. Clients in these new regions will now get to experience first-hand the advanced technology, expert knowledge, and reliable service that Penhall offers. 

Our Sale and Service representatives are ready to leverage Penhall’s technology services to help you complete your next project.

Penhall technology services include:

Private Utility Locating: We’re experts in private utility locating. We employ the latest locating technologies to quickly find and mark underground pipes, gas lines, cable lines, storage tanks and more. 

Concrete Scanning: Our crews use ground penetrating radar to locate materials embedded in concrete. This includes rebar, post-tension cables, pipes and conduits, and voids. We can locate and identify subsurface features with exacting precision. 

Digital X-ray Scanning: When you need a clear, unobstructed image of features embedded in concrete, turn to our digital X-ray scanning technology. Safe and highly effective, digital X-ray imaging is one of the best means of locating and identifying subsurface features in concrete. 

Scarifying & Shaving: We can shave and scarify concrete surfaces to give you the ideal finish. We can smooth concrete, level concrete, create textured concrete, and more. 

Grinding & Grooving: Penhall Company is North America’s largest provider of concrete grinding and grooving. We can grind and grove virtually any surface, from highways and bridge decks to airplane runways and racetracks. 

Bridge Services: We are experts in bridge widening and removal. Our goal is always the same: to ensure the safety of the millions of drivers in some of the most traffic-heavy regions. 

Penhall Company is here for your next construction project.

When you’re in need of a trusted construction partner, contact Penhall. We’re committed to helping you complete your project the right way—safely, efficiently, and on budget.

Visit our Locations Page to see every service region and to get in touch with a local rep!

Concrete Saws

Used to cut concrete, asphalt, brick, and other stone-like materials, concrete saws are the most effective power tool in the concrete cutting industry today. These saws vary in size for numerous situations. Some are small enough to be hand-held, others like the one in the picture above are walk-behind saws while others are attached to a track and some controlled remotely. The type of fueling these saws use range anywhere from hydraulic, gasoline, diesel, and electric motors.

Today, the most popular type of blades attached to these saws are diamond tipped blades which allow for the most efficient and accurate cut. However, a more cost-efficient alternative to diamond tipped blades would be to incorporate the use of abrasive or grinding wheels instead. These grinding wheels are often composed of a steel or aluminum disk with various coarse particle materials bonded to the surface. The drawback to using grinding wheels as opposed to diamond tipped blades is that they will cut less efficiently, in spite of their lower cost.

There are a number of safety rules that come with operating a power tool such as the concrete saw. Because the saw operates by grinding metal against an opposing material, lots of friction is created as a byproduct. As such, the blade can become extremely hot and lots of dust can rise from the cutting. For this reason, a constant water flow is necessary to keep operation of these tools safe. The water simultaneously cools down the blade, preventing it from overheating while keeping the surface of the concrete wet so that the quantity of dust that gets kicked up stays minimal.

Diamond Blades (Grinding wheels)

Diamond blades, while used for “cutting” concrete and other like materials, are not quite blades so much as they are sophisticated grinding wheels. These blades create cuts in the ground by quickly spinning around and grinding the material upon making contact. In order to create a diamond blade, actual diamonds are infused into a metal coating thus creating the blade.

Diamonds are fused into this metal coating through several different methods: electroplating, vacuum brazing, and sintering. Electroplating involves the use of an electrical current to, very simply put, dissolve the metal atoms around the diamonds and plating the metal atoms over the diamonds dissolving into the metal at the same time. Vacuum brazing is different because it does not use an electric current to fuse materials. In this process, diamonds are welded to the outside of the blade, therefore making vacuum-brazed blades a non-metal-diamond mixture. All of the diamonds are on the exterior of the blade. The most common type of diamond blades are those that are sintered. The blade is composed of a steel base and uses metal powder to infuse the blade with diamonds. Sintering is a process by which a material is heated high enough to force material bonding without actually melting the material.

(Image source: Needpix)

A diamond core drill is a cylindrically shaped drill bit at the end of an electrically powered handle. The tip of the drill is embedded with diamonds so as to grind down the material in a quick, time-and-cost-efficient manner.

Diamond core drilling is the method of using a high-speed power drill to remove a cylindrical block of material from a larger body.

Whether it’s concrete, asphalt, brick, or other masonry materials, diamond core drilling is the most effective way to remove a core. Because core drilling does not detrimentally cause vibration damage to or impact the surrounding structure, it is safe and particularly effective for making electrical, plumbing, and HVAC installation openings.

A variety of drill sizes make it easier to perform a job. There are many types of drills that can be used for core drilling, but there are three types that are most common:

• Small, lightweight, hand-held drills that can drill up to three inches in diameter. In terms of appearance, these would look very much like large shop drills.
• Medium-duty drills, which can drill holes ranging from one to eight inches in diameter using a 15 to 18 amp electric motor.
• Heavy-duty drills, which are far larger with an 18 to 20 amp electric, pneumatic or hydraulic motor and are normally used for thick, heavily reinforced structures and drilling particularly deep cores. Usually, anything larger than a hand drill will require a water-cooling system in order to ensure that the drill does not overheat or get too hot.

Repetitive stress and strain on concrete leads to a constant deterioration in the quality of concrete. This can mean the creation of potholes, cracks in the concrete and general rough patches that may appear in the pavement: all of which are dangerous for driving. Additionally, these dangers are detrimental to the quality of the concrete over time, and in order to preserve it while maintaining a certain level of safety, concrete pavement preservation techniques have been developed and diamond grinding is among them. Other techniques include road slab stabilization, dowel bar retrofit, joint and crack sealing, cross stitching longitudinal cracks, and both full and partial depth repair. Diamond grinding, however, restores smoothness in rideability by removing imperfections in the concrete that are created during construction or natural wear by automobile use over the concrete.

Profile grinding helps prevent cyclical loading, a key cause of pavement deterioration.

The California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) reports that the average lifespan of diamond ground pavement is roughly 17 years. However, one of the main causes for concrete deterioration is cyclical loading. Large trucks ride across bumps and dips in the road and end up bouncing on their suspension vertically, causing dynamic loading. The increased weight caused by the bouncing in dynamic loading results in higher impact stress on the pavement and lower shelf-life for the road itself. Smooth surfaces consequently help prevent dynamic loading, keeping the average lifespan of pavement just a little bit higher.

Diamond grinding removes a thin layer from paved surfaces, producing a grooved surface with superior wear tolerance, longevity, and surface friction.

The process of diamond grinding requires that a thin layer of hardened concrete and asphalt pavement at the surface be removed with diamond saw blades. These blades are placed closely together and are run over the concrete at a standardized distance in order to cut consistent grooves in the concrete leaving a flat surface with a slight, longitudinal texture. A portion of the Interstate 10 in California was the first highway to receive this treatment was in 1965. By 1965, the highway was 19 years old and since then has been ground twice more. As 60 years after its construction can prove, diamond grinding definitively improves the longevity of highway pavement.

While diamond grinding is primarily used to smooth out pavement to make ride ability more manageable, this process solves a myriad of other problems. There are plenty of problems that can arise in aged and traveled highway pavement. Just a few of the many problems are faults at joints and cracks, unacceptable noise levels, and slab warping caused by construction curling and moisture gradient. Though these are just a few of the many different concrete defects, each can be solved or alleviated through diamond grinding. While this is done on highways, diamond grinding can also be provided to automobile manufacturers in order to conduct tests on new models as well as tire test tracks to examine how effective tires will be on different types of pavements.

Probably the greatest benefit to diamond grinding is its profound ability to reduce accidents. Because the macrotexture has increased, water drains far better at the tire-pavement intersection and improves friction in wetter environments. Because diamond-ground surfaces have a longitudinal texture pattern, a high level of directional stability and reduced possibility of hydroplaning. Diamond ground surfaces are therefore much safer than ground otherwise treated, particularly for automobiles with wearing tires.

In addition to the benefits aplenty to diamond profile grinding, it does not improve pavement’s fatigue life in a significant way. The slab thickness is diminished only slightly and does not do much for extending the carrying capacity for a pavement. A slab may be ground at least three times while still adding traffic carrying ability. Since a diamond-ground surface is dry a large majority of the time, freeze-thaw issues are avoided and will not add any conditions, weather-related or otherwise, that would reduce pavement durability.

(Image source: Max Andrey, Pexels)

Airport runway grooving might not be something the average traveler notices, but this engineering innovation has revolutionized aviation safety over the past several decades. When aircraft land on wet runways, the risk of hydroplaning—where tires lose contact with the pavement due to water—becomes a serious concern. Runway grooving addresses this challenge with a surprisingly simple yet highly effective solution. But what exactly is this technique, and why has it become standard practice at airports worldwide?

What Is Airport Runway Grooving?
Airport runway grooving is a specialized pavement treatment process that involves cutting narrow, evenly spaced channels across runway surfaces. These precisely engineered grooves create drainage paths that quickly channel water away from beneath aircraft tires during wet conditions, significantly improving traction and reducing hydroplaning risks.

The standard groove configuration, as established by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), consists of cuts that are ¼-inch (6mm) wide and ¼-inch deep, spaced at 1½-inch (38mm) intervals across the runway surface. These dimensions have been scientifically determined to provide optimal water evacuation while maintaining the structural integrity of the pavement.

As John Sharratt, a runway safety expert, explains: “Those small grooves make a tremendous difference. They can reduce stopping distances by up to 30% in wet conditions—that’s the difference between a safe landing and a potential runway excursion.”

The Science Behind Runway Grooving

How Hydroplaning Occurs
To understand why grooving works, we first need to understand the problem it solves. Hydroplaning happens when a layer of water builds up between an aircraft’s tires and the runway surface. This water layer creates a barrier that prevents direct contact between rubber and pavement, essentially causing the aircraft to “float” on a thin film of water.

There are three main types of hydroplaning that can affect aircraft:

1. Dynamic hydroplaning: Occurs when water depth exceeds 0.1 inches and tire pressure can’t displace water quickly enough
2. Viscous hydroplaning: Happens even on slightly damp surfaces when a thin film of water combines with runway contaminants
3. Reverted rubber hydroplaning: Results when tires lock during heavy braking, creating steam that lifts the tire from the pavement

How Grooving Prevents Hydroplaning
Runway grooves work through several mechanisms:

• Water evacuation: The grooves provide channels for water to escape from beneath tires
• Increased surface area: The edges of the grooves create additional contact points for tires
• Pressure release: Grooves reduce hydrodynamic pressure that builds up in front of moving tires
• Texture enhancement: The grooved surface provides better macrotexture for tire grip

The History of Runway Grooving

The development of runway grooving represents a fascinating chapter in aviation safety history. The technique emerged in the 1960s as a response to a growing problem: the introduction of larger, faster jet aircraft coincided with an increase in hydroplaning-related incidents.

NASA researchers at Langley Research Center, led by engineer Thomas Yager, conducted pioneering studies on tire-pavement interactions. Their experiments revealed that cutting transverse grooves into runway surfaces dramatically improved wet-weather performance. By 1967, Washington National Airport (now Reagan National) became the first commercial airport to implement runway grooving.

The results were immediate and compelling. Accident rates on wet runways dropped significantly, leading the FAA to gradually adopt grooving as a standard safety measure. Today, virtually all major commercial airports worldwide incorporate some form of runway grooving.

The Grooving Process: How It’s Done

Creating these precision grooves requires specialized equipment and expertise.
Companies like Penhall, with decades of experience in concrete cutting and grooving, employ purpose-built machines equipped with diamond-tipped saw blades to create these critical safety features.

The grooving process typically follows these steps:

1. Surface preparation: The runway is thoroughly cleaned to remove debris and contaminants
2. Layout marking: Precise measurements ensure consistent groove spacing
3. Cutting operation: Specialized grooving machines cut thousands of parallel grooves across the runway
4. Cleanup and inspection: Debris is removed, and grooves are inspected for proper dimensions
5. Final testing: Friction testing confirms the improved performance of the grooved surface

Benefits Beyond Hydroplaning Prevention

While preventing hydroplaning is the primary purpose of runway grooving, this technique offers several additional benefits:

Enhanced Braking Performance
Grooved runways provide better friction coefficients in all weather conditions. This improved traction translates to shorter stopping distances, which is particularly valuable at airports with shorter runways or challenging approach paths.
Reduced Rubber Buildup
Aircraft tires deposit rubber on runways during landings, gradually reducing surface friction. Grooves help mitigate this problem by:

• Providing spaces for rubber particles to collect without affecting the entire surface
• Making rubber removal maintenance more effective
• Extending the time between required rubber removal operations

Improved Water Runoff and Drainage
Beyond preventing hydroplaning, grooves improve overall runway drainage, which:

• Reduces standing water that can damage pavement over time
• Minimizes splash and spray that can affect visibility
• Helps prevent ice formation in colder climates

Extended Pavement Life
By efficiently channeling water away from the surface, grooves help protect the pavement structure from water infiltration and freeze-thaw damage, potentially extending runway lifespan by years.

Maintenance Considerations for Grooved Runways

Like any infrastructure element, grooved runways require ongoing maintenance to ensure continued effectiveness:

Rubber Removal
Aircraft landings deposit significant amounts of rubber in touchdown zones. This rubber gradually fills grooves, reducing their effectiveness. Regular rubber removal operations using:

• High-pressure water blasting
• Chemical treatments
• Mechanical grinding

These methods restore groove functionality and maintain proper friction characteristics.

Re-grooving
Over time, grooves can wear down due to:

• Normal wear from aircraft operations
• Maintenance activities like snow removal
• Pavement expansion and contraction

When groove dimensions fall below minimum standards (typically when 40% of grooves in a 1,500-foot section are less than 1/8 inch in depth), re-grooving becomes necessary to restore safety performance.

Inspection Programs
Regular inspection of groove dimensions using:

• Laser profiling equipment
• Manual depth gauges
• Friction testing vehicles

These tools help airport operators monitor groove condition and plan maintenance activities.

The Cost-Benefit Analysis of Runway Grooving

While installing runway grooves represents a significant investment, the safety benefits far outweigh the costs. A typical grooving project might cost between $2-5 per square foot, depending on pavement type and local conditions.

However, these costs are offset by:

• Reduced accident risk and associated liability
• Extended pavement life due to improved drainage
• Fewer weather-related delays and diversions
• Decreased maintenance requirements for rubber removal

The Unseen Safety Feature That Saves Lives

Airport runway grooving represents one of aviation’s most successful yet least visible safety innovations. These precisely engineered channels have prevented countless incidents and saved lives through a remarkably simple concept: giving water somewhere to go.

The next time you experience a smooth landing on a rain-soaked runway, remember that those invisible grooves beneath your aircraft are working hard to keep you safe. For airports and aviation authorities worldwide, runway grooving isn’t just a safety feature—it’s an essential component of modern air travel infrastructure.

For concrete professionals like Penhall who create these critical safety features, runway grooving represents the perfect intersection of precision engineering and practical safety solutions. Through careful cutting and maintenance of these grooves, they help ensure that even in the most challenging weather conditions, aircraft can land safely day after day.

So what makes airport runway grooving so important? It’s the perfect example of how sometimes, the most significant safety innovations are the ones passengers never see or think about—until they’re needed most.

Concrete is one of the most commonly used construction materials in the world. Wherever there is any inkling of infrastructure, one can almost always find concrete there as well. Not all concrete is the same, however. Understanding these different types is crucial for selecting the right material for specific construction projects, ensuring optimal durability, strength, and cost-effectiveness. There are various types of concrete that exist in the world for numerous uses. One of the oldest concrete recipes from the Romans was a mix of volcanic ash and hydrated lime. But it has been a few centuries since then; in that time, concrete has developed and has become both advanced and increasingly diverse.

Modern Concrete

Most commonly, regular concrete is created by mixing Portland cement with both an aggregate and water-chemical mixtures. Portland cement serves as the primary binding agent, while aggregates (which can include sand, gravel, or crushed stone) provide volume and structural stability. The water-cement ratio is crucial, as it directly impacts the concrete’s strength and workability. Often times, cement and concrete are incorrectly interchanged: concrete is the hard, rock-like substance that is so frequently seen in urbanized areas. Cement is an ingredient, the powder, used in the creation of concrete. It is the most-produced material on Earth and will continue to be so long as there is a need to create, rebuild, or improve infrastructure.

Key Properties of Standard Concrete:

• Compressive Strength: Typically 2,500-5,000 psi (17-34 MPa)
• Tensile Strength: Relatively low, about 10% of compressive strength
• Common Applications: Foundations, sidewalks, floors, basic structural elements
• Advantages: Cost-effective, versatile, readily available
• Limitations: Requires reinforcement for tensile loads, susceptible to cracking

High-Strength Concrete

High-strength concrete is different from normal-strength concrete in the amount of force it can resist without breaking. The American Concrete Institute differentiates high-strength from normal-strength at a compressive strength of over 6,000 psi (pounds square inch). In addition to varying the proportions of the materials used in normal-strength concrete, silica fume (a byproduct of silicon metal production that acts as a pozzolanic admixture) is added to the mixture in order to strengthen the bond between the cement and the aggregate. However, this admixture causes the cement to hydrate much faster, meaning that it dries quicker than usual. In order to keep consistent the balance between workability and strength, a superplasticizer (a type of high-range water-reducing admixture) is added to high-strength concrete. This slows down the chemical reaction between the cement and water, allowing for workers to place the concrete at a more effective pace.

Key Properties and Applications:

• Compressive Strength: 6,000-15,000 psi (41-103 MPa)
• Common Applications: High-rise buildings, bridges, heavy-load bearing structures
• Advantages: Allows for smaller structural elements, greater durability, reduced maintenance
• Limitations: Higher cost, requires precise mix design and quality control

High-Performance Concrete (HPC)

High-performance concrete, in contrast to high-strength concrete, is not necessarily known for its compressive resistance. While high-performance concrete can include a high compressive strength, other characteristics used to define “high performance” are the ease of placement without affecting strength, long-term mechanical properties, toughness, and longevity in various weather conditions among others.

HPC is engineered to deliver specific performance characteristics beyond standard strength requirements. These may include:

• Enhanced Durability: Resistance to freeze-thaw cycles, chemical attack, and abrasion
• Low Permeability: Reduced water and chloride ion penetration
• Controlled Shrinkage: Minimized cracking during curing
• Common Applications: Marine structures, bridges, parking structures, and environments with harsh exposure conditions
• Composition: Often includes supplementary cementitious materials like fly ash, slag cement, or silica fume

Ultra High-Performance Concrete

This type of concrete is more often than not pre-mixed in bags because of the numerous ingredients needed to make it. It includes Portland cement, silica fume, quartz flour, and fine silica sand. However, high-range water reducers, water, and other steel or organic fibers are used to increase the strength of the mixture. Ultra-high performance concrete is particularly durable because of the combination of fine powders. Other types of concrete normally need a steel rebar or reinforcing to retain the intended structure, but UHPC is generally self-placing in addition to its incredible compressive strength of up to 29,000 psi. Its post-cracking longevity is one of UHPC’s strong points because even after this concrete cracks, it still is able to maintain structural integrity with an impressive tensile strength of 725 psi.

Key Properties of UHPC

• Compressive Strength: 17,000-29,000 psi (120-200 MPa)
• Tensile Strength: Approximately 725 psi (5 MPa)
• Durability: Exceptional resistance to environmental degradation
• Common Applications: Bridge connections, architectural elements, thin structural members, blast-resistant structures
• Advantages: Reduced section sizes, exceptional durability, minimal maintenance requirements
• Limitations: Significantly higher cost, specialized mixing and placement procedures

Stamped Concrete

Stamped concrete is another type of concrete that is very commonly used. Often seen in parking lots, pavements, or other like high-traffic areas, stamped concrete has more of an architectural application. Once concrete has been laid, a kind of mold can be placed on top of, or stamped, onto the hardening concrete to create the appearance of natural stone. Once the floor has been hardened, it will likely be sealed to increase the longevity of the dried mixture.

This decorative concrete option offers numerous benefits:

• Aesthetic Versatility: Can mimic the appearance of brick, slate, flagstone, tile, wood, and other materials
• Customization: Available in various colors, patterns, and textures
• Common Applications: Patios, driveways, pool decks, walkways, interior flooring
• Advantages: More economical than natural stone, durable, low maintenance
• Considerations: Requires skilled installation, may need periodic resealing

Self-Consolidating Concrete

Normally, concrete requires a mechanical vibration while being set in order to release excess air that may be in the mixture. Self-consolidating concrete eliminates the need for mechanical consolidation (the vibrations) mainly through its malleable viscosity. Being able to control the flowability and stability, as achieved by using high-range-water-reducing admixtures, allows concrete to be placed quicker. Not only does this save time, but because there is no need for the mechanical consolidation, self-consolidating concrete saves labor, saves money, and makes it easier for workers to fill restricted or hard-to-reach areas.

Key Characteristics:

• Flowability: Exceptional ability to flow and fill formwork without segregation
• Composition: Contains specialized viscosity-modifying admixtures and superplasticizers
• Common Applications: Complex formwork, congested reinforcement areas, architectural concrete
• Advantages: Reduced labor costs, improved surface finish, reduced noise during placement
• Considerations: Higher material cost, requires precise mix design

Shotcrete

Invented by taxidermist Carl Akeley in 1907, the initial dry method for placing shotcrete was by using a compressed air nozzle to shoot dry mix and injecting water through a separate hose at the head of the nozzle while the dry material is hurled toward the wall. The wet-mix shotcrete was developed later in the 1950’s and is only slightly different than the dry-mix shotcrete wherein dry-mix shotcrete involves the continuous feeding of a hopper through which dry mix would shoot through a nozzle and mix at the point of exit. Wet-mix shotcrete, however, involves the use of pre-mixed concrete. The concrete has already been prepared and therefore only involves one pump. The upside to using wet-mix shotcrete is that dry-mix shotcrete creates more waste (excess powder that falls to the floor), more rebound off the wall, and wet-mix shotcrete can place a larger quantity in a smaller amount of time.

Applications and Properties:

• Common Uses: Swimming pools, tunnel linings, slope stabilization, structural repairs, earth retention systems
• Advantages: Can be applied to vertical or overhead surfaces, minimal formwork required
• Compressive Strength: Typically 4,000-7,000 psi (28-48 MPa), but can be engineered for higher strengths
• Considerations: Requires skilled operators, proper technique to minimize rebound and ensure compaction

Limecrete

Also known as lime concrete, limecrete is a type of concrete where instead of using cement in the mix, lime is replaced. Doing so has certain benefits environmentally and health-wise. Environmentally, lime absorbs carbon dioxide as it sets and allows natural products like wood, straw, and hemp to be used as fibers without fear of composting or deterioration since limecrete controls moisture. In terms of health, lime plaster draws moisture out from inside which means that humidity control is more regulated, resulting in mold growth prevention. Furthermore, limewash and lime plasters are non-toxic so they do not contribute to air pollution inside like other paints would.

Key Properties and Benefits:

• Environmental Impact: Lower carbon footprint than Portland cement concrete, carbon sequestration during curing
• Breathability: Allows moisture movement, reducing dampness in buildings
• Compatibility: Ideal for historic building restoration and natural building methods
• Common Applications: Historic renovations, eco-friendly construction, breathable floor systems
• Limitations: Lower strength than conventional concrete, longer curing time

Reinforced Concrete

Reinforced concrete combines standard concrete with steel reinforcement (typically in the form of rebar or mesh) to overcome concrete’s inherent weakness in tension. This combination creates a composite material that can withstand both compressive and tensile forces effectively. The steel reinforcement is strategically placed to resist tensile stresses, while the concrete primarily handles compression.

Key Characteristics:

• Composition: Concrete with embedded steel reinforcement (rebar, mesh, or fibers)
• Strength Properties: High compressive strength from concrete, tensile strength from steel
• Common Applications: Beams, columns, slabs, foundations, bridges, and most structural concrete elements
• Advantages: Versatility, durability, fire resistance, relatively economical
• Considerations: Potential for corrosion of reinforcement if water penetrates to the steel

Pervious Concrete

Pervious (or permeable) concrete is designed specifically to allow water to pass through it, addressing stormwater management concerns and supporting sustainable construction practices. Unlike conventional concrete, it contains little or no sand, creating a network of interconnected voids that allow water to percolate through.

Key Properties:

• Porosity: Typically 15-25% void content
• Permeability: Can drain 3-8 gallons of water per minute per square foot
• Compressive Strength: Usually 2,500-3,500 psi (17-24 MPa)
• Environmental Benefits: Reduces stormwater runoff, recharges groundwater, reduces heat island effect
• Common Applications: Parking lots, low-traffic pavements, sidewalks, driveways
• Limitations: Lower strength than conventional concrete, requires regular maintenance to prevent clogging

Written by Adam Jimerson, Branch Manager – Nashville

In the very early morning of Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020, Nashville and surrounding areas were hit with multiple tornadoes ranging in strength from EF 0 to EF 4 (185 MPH wind strength). As people began to wake up and start their normal work day, Nashvillians quickly realized that the usual normal was gone and a new normal was forming.  By the day’s end, the loss of life was at 25 and many, many others were living among devastation and ruin.  The amount of areas and people affected is baffling.

Andy Mayer, dispatcher in Nashville, was able to utilize his military training ensure all Penhall employees and family members were accounted for.  After we knew employee status, we changed our focus to our customers and their job sites trying to get an idea of potential damage.  There were many road closures due to debris and emergency people working.  On Tuesday, even though our building simply lost power, we were not about to function as normal.  Two crews were sent out to two job sites outside of the affected area.  We were able to spend the time calling on customers outside of Nashville, having conversations with customers who saw damage from the tornadoes, and strategizing best ways to continue to move things forward.   Over the next day and a half, we quickly realized along with citizens all over middle Tennessee that there is much to be done and Penhall, as a group of people, can step in and lend a hand.

After getting the go ahead from our President and CEO, Greg Rice, we devised a plan to bring in the grill to Nashville so that we could serve our community.  Ben McMahan, Branch Manager in Atlanta, was tremendous help.  He and his team went above and beyond.  It seemed impossible to get the grill to Nashville from Orlando, so we were going to put together an arsenal of smaller grills, but Ben refused that option and graciously sent Brad Walker to Orlando to get the grill to Georgia.  After the grill arrived in Forsyth, GA, Ben then sent “Tree” and Jon Huffine up from Atlanta at 3:00 a.m. determined to help us give back to Nashville.

Here in Nashville, Anita Woodall, Office Administrator, worked countless hours shopping for the event, buying supplies and organizing the details of whatever was needed.  Her organizational skills and determination to give back to her life-long community was evident.

The grill arrived at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. Because of the extent of damage in the area and the amount of electrical crews and emergence personnel in the area, we set up in the street. Russ Grub and Berry Thompson, who are scan techs here in Nashville, walked the streets inviting people to come and eat.  After firing up the grill, many first responders, crews, and people now without a home came to eat.  We were able to serve: 20 lbs of BBQ pork, 225 hamburgers, and 350 hot dogs to more than 300 people. Mike Bogle and David Duer, account managers, were able to work the grill and keep everyone feed.  People really came together.  Feeding that many people was incredible, but we also got to interact with people living in and working in that area. For example,  Joe Kemp, Operator for Nashville, served the community by moving boxes, washing machines and dryers, etc.  He even had lent his shoulder for a few to cry on. There were many tears fought and many shed by those of us serving and those we were able to serve.

What an amazing day for the folks at Penhall Nashville!!  We came together as a team and were able to make a change, even if it was only for a few hours.

Huge thanks goes to the following list of people  (in no particular order):