A TRIO OF BOBCAT MACHINES AND ATTACHMENTS HELPS TRANSFORM AN EYESORE INTO A NEW LANDMARK
At the water’s edge of one of the oldest settlements in the United States, Pensacola Bay, Fla., has welcomed visitors to its port by sea for more than fi ve centuries. After construction of a sprawling waterfront development, the city is now drawing visitors by land, and Bobcat®
equipment helped pave the way with an extensive streetscape remodel.
MUSCLE FOR STUNNING STREETSCAPE Wallace Company’s Bobcat E42 compact excavator and T870 compact track loader, along with an MT55 mini track loader, formed a powerful compact welcome committee to beautify a road-narrowing project and build impressive pedestrian paver plazas to greet visitors at the new Vince Whibbs Sr. Community Maritime Park.
The seaside destination became a reality when the City of Pensacola purchased and remediated the bay area’s formerly polluted industrial fuel storage site. That transformation laid the groundwork for a spectacular 27.5-acre mixed- use development featuring a 5,000-plus-seat multi-use stadium that is also home to the Blue Wahoos, Pensacola’s new minor league baseball team — Double-A affi liate of the Cincinnati Reds. Other anchors include a conference/ education center, retail space and a large public park and amphitheater overlooking the ocean.
Bordered on the north by historic Main Street, the four-lane roadway that once whisked drivers past a weed-infested fi eld, underwent its own facelift. Architects redesigned a fi ve-block stretch of the thoroughfare to create a lush two- lane boulevard with a spacious green median and 10-foot wide sidewalks serving as a gateway into the park. After years of dreaming, debating and planning, only a 75-day window remained before the Blue Wahoos’ ceremonial fi rst pitch of its inaugural season opener.
DIGGING ON DEADLINE The scope of the project for Wallace Company included landscaping with trees, shrubs and bushes, installing a drip irrigation system, burying electrical conduit for street lighting and hardscaping three entryway plazas. Assessing the challenging timeframe, Wallace Company Vice President, Victor Wallace, reassured himself he had the right equipment to meet the deadline.
TOP: A Bobcat mini track loader with 36-inch auger attachment dug holes for the new trees. BOTTOM: Wallace’s E42 compact excavator dug trenches for new utilities.
24 WorkSaver | FALL 2012
The Bobcat E42 dug a series of 36-inch deep trenches to bury multiple utilities and plant vegetation. Using a slim bucket, the operator could carefully maneuver around shallow fi ber-optic trunk lines that feed downtown. The