In order to handle the tight quarters and limited work areas these projects often present, Preston Pipelines has relied on the multi-faceted capabilities of their inventory of compact machinery.

Preston Pipelines, Inc. [PPI] is currently working on a number of such projects. One of these is the construction of a new golf course and club house located in Los Altos Hills, CA. Preston Pipelines is responsible for all of the trench work and the installation of utilities to the course’s new club house that is currently under construction. On this project, trees were a major factor for PPI bringing in their compact excavators in order to accomplish much of the work. “We had to run the utilities from the roadway, across a bridge and up to the club house,” said Rich Lewis, General Superintendent for PPI. “There was a limited amount of room to work at the construction site. We had to take into consideration a number of trees on the site when planning and executing the project. There were environmental concerns as well since you just couldn’t remove the trees or cut branches in order to get the equipment in to perform the job.”

On the country club project, PPI is using a Kobelco 50SR and an 80 SR as well as a Caterpillar 304 mini-excavator. “The Kobelco machines are great to use in these types of situations for a number of reasons,” said Rich. “They have a zero radius and an off-set boom feature that allows you to dig a straight line trench off-set from the center line of the machine.” The project will take about six weeks to complete. Approximately 5,000 cubic yards of material is being excavated and PPI will have dug approximately 6,000 feet of trenches for their utility installations.

(Left) PPI’s Kobelco SR 50 working in a tight work space, minimizing damage to the streets, trees and roots. (Right) Preston Pipelines, Inc. using their Kobelco SR 80 to compact a neat trench.

PPI has a number of on-going projects at Stanford University where they have utilized their compact machinery as well. “PPI has had a strong working relationship with the University for some 15 years,” said Rich. “We have handled projects involving parking garages, student housing, faculty housing that include installing new sanitary sewers, water and fire lines, as well as your standard utility installation. Because we are working between existing buildings and must deal with the logistics of both vehicle and pedestrian traffic, we frequently use our compact excavators on these projects.”

Another recent project the company found their compact machinery indispensable on, was the Park Avenue project for the San Jose Water Company.  PPI had to install a 20” water main down the main avenue of a sensitive residential area. Once again with a limited work area and other restrictions, PPI decided to use the Kobelco 50 to lay the pipe. The street on which the work was being conducted ran directly through an affluent neighborhood, so PPI needed to address issues such as noise level and accessibility, as well as those of general construction.

“The 50 is a quiet machine,” Rich explained. “It has rubber tracks and is light-weight and this greatly reduces the trauma to the street. It is also a very mobile machine that allows for easy access to the site. It has a 360 degree boom that worked extremely well and allowed us to pick up the pipe and lay it.”

Preston Pipelines, Inc. had humble beginnings. The company was started in 1970 by Dee Preston, who began his company as a one man backhoe operation. The company’s focus was on the installation of irrigation systems for the agriculture industry in the South Bay area. Over the years, Dee built his company on simple concepts of service, integrity, and quality.

These are still the primary principles the company continues to incorporate in their mission on every project they are involved with.

PPI’s Kobelco SR 80 and crew, excavating the mainline and minimizing damage to the street.

Dee’s son, Mike, worked with his father during summer vacations while attending high school. Mike learned all aspects of the business through first hand experience. After graduating from high school and now working full time for PPI, Mike took over the company’s field management in 1977. At the time, PPI only had five full-time employees. Mike saw that the way to ensure a steady growth for the company was to establish strong working relationships with the company’s clients. Mike continued the business practices his father had taught him; to deal with people honestly, and provide them with the finest work possible. With the construction boom in the Silicon Valley and adjacent areas in the 80’s, PPI began to expand their operations into public works and commercial projects as well. The company now handles projects installing utilities including power, communications, sewer, gas, storm drains, domestic water and fire water. Their customer base includes major Public Works entities, such as San Jose Water Company, El Dorado Irrigation District, the City and County of Sacramento.

They also have long standing relationships with the Santa Clara School District, Stanford University as well as more than a dozen Community Colleges in the Bay area.

Mike Preston assumed ownership of the company in the late 80’s when his father retired. Over the past fifteen years, PPI has grown considerably. They now have a field staff of some 220 employees and an office staff totaling 50. The company has a strong inventory of 40 excavators, 35 wheel loaders, and 40 backhoes.  PPI purchases their equipment from Tri- West Tractor, Peterson Equipment, and  Pape Equipment.

In addition to the company’s original offices in the South Bay area of San Francisco, they now have a branch office in Sacramento and Lathrop, CA, as well. To this day, PPI remains a family owned and run company. “Mike’s philosophy is to incorporate the idea of a family business into every aspect of the company,” said Rich.

By doing so, PPI has not only been able to build strong and lasting relationships with their client base, but they have also been fortunate to build a strong core of key personnel. Some of the foremen working for the company have been there for three decades. Most of the supervisors have at least ten years in with the company. Rich Lewis has been with PPI for fifteen years.

Even with good employee relationships, PPI continues to face some of the same challenges that many construction companies currently face, such as finding qualified workers to handle the numerous projects.

“With construction being seasonal there are times when finding and maintaining quality personnel can be a challenge,” said Rich. “We are fortunate though that we have been able to build that core group of qualified personnel over the years.”

The challenges are exactly what Rich Lewis thrives on. “When you complete a project successfully there is a great deal of satisfaction knowing that you did it right,” said Rich. “I enjoy the challenges of construction. Planning and trying to determine the best way to handle each particular project with its own set of challenges is what it’s all about.”

Preston Pipeline, Inc. was born out of the concept of service, integrity and quality. After thirty-six years it remains a company that welcomes the challenge and is committed to doing the project right. Cc

(Above) Jumbo Coffelt, Equipment Superintendent, Preston Pipelines, Inc. (Above Middle) Rich Lewis, General Superintendent, Preston Pipelines, Inc. (Right from L to R) Bill London, Operator, Preston Pipelines, Inc. and Mark Streller, Foreman on the site.