I first visited California for BuildWitt purposes in May of 2018. Construction Equipment Guide paid me to shoot 657 scraper spread building an earthen dam. I couldn’t believe it.
Since I was living with my dad in Arizona, California dirt was only six hours away via my trusty Toyota Camry. Once I saw my first 657 spread, I was hell-bent on chasing more dirt in America’s “Golden State.”
I chased and photographed CA earthmoving operations run by companies like LB3 Enterprises, Graniterock, Quinn Cat, and Turner Mining Group. A typical trip would involve a 2 AM wake-up, a 6-hour drive to the job site, a few hours of drooling over the big dirt, and then the 6-hour drive home. How could I resist the opportunity to check out Hitachi 1200’s and D11 dozers whenever I desired?
All this was before any real pressure of running a business: no payroll, accounting, or cash flow constraints. My biggest worry was making sure I reached the job site before sunrise to create the best images of my life.
Fast forward a few years to the current day…
Lately, I’ve fallen into a creative rut. While business is better than ever, the gth of our company pulled me away from where it started — aimlessly looking at dirt.
If I’m not feeling creative, I’m not operating at 100%. Not only that, but I’ve needed some aimless road time to keep in touch with the industry. If we want to make the Dirt World a better place, we must intimately understand the Dirt World and the challenges it faces.
To solve my creative conundrum, I decided to spend two weeks cruising from San Diego to Sacramento to chase dirt and heavy equipment.
I spent six weeks sketching out the operations and companies I knew of (on fancy 8.5X11 printer paper), contacting the appropriate people, and piecing together a cohesive schedule. Travel’s a skill, and I pooled my collective knowledge into this trip to make it my best.
I wasn’t paid for any of my time or work. I made no promises. I was only there to create the best body of work in my life and meet as many great people in the industry as possible. I did both.
So, what did this California adventure entail?
It all began with Turf Construction, who’s a SoCal underground contractor and also a BuildWitt Partner. They’re doing all the underground utilities work for a beautiful new subdivision north of LA in the hills. Not a bad office view.
Now for two unplanned visits. I shared about my California trip a few days before flying out to LA online, and people offered tours of some wild stuff.
The first was Jorel at SA Recycling, who offered a visit to their scrap yard and export terminal at the Port of Long Beach. Their facility’s centerpiece was a 9,000 horsepower car shredder, so saying no wasn’t an option. Seeing 385’s and 988’s loading trucks full of scrap destined for overseas export was wild.
In the evening (yes, this is all Monday), I went down to Camp Pendleton to visit Cal Fire dozer training, thanks to a firefighter named Mike. They had sixteen fire dozers ranging from D6s to D8s cutting fire breaks on the outer reaches of the enormous marine base long into the night. To see a line of dozers with light bars and guarding cruising across hills in total darkness was an experience I’ll never forget.
Day two… I headed to see David at LA County Sanitation District for a wild tour of their material recovery facility, a transfer station, and landfill. Not only did I see their waste operations, but we toured LA’s newest wastewater tunnel project — a 7-mile 18′ tunnel they’re boring from a treatment plant to the ocean. Not exactly something I see every day.
Next was LB3 Enterprises. Since they’re one of the companies I started with, I had to see their Hitachi 1200 running in the hills of Corona, only a few miles from where I initially saw it. They were stripping for a quarry high above the valley, and the morning light bouncing off the massive excavator and Cat haul trucks was nothing but beautiful.
Another company I had an early relationship with is Quinn Cat. I visit many Cat dealers these days, but there are few dealer branches like Quinn’s City of Industry location. You’ll see 657 scraper repowers, custom waste machines, military machines, and enormous dozers at any time. Neat is an understatement. How could I visit LA without stopping by?
Now for a project I’d visited and shot many times — an enormous residential subdivision in Otay. It’s a notoriously rocky site requiring blasting and large iron to move millions of yards of material. The business in charge of moving the rock is Pinnick, while another BuildWitt Partner, JW Fowler, moves a huge existing waterline.
Even though my morning was cut short by a confusing (the Dirt World can be a strange one) incident, I managed to capture a 6015B posing for the camera in the morning light. Funny enough, I know the operator, Anthony, from previous trips to Cali.
While this only gets us to day four of the twelve-day journey, I’m calling it a day for now. Hopefully, I don’t get too many unsubscribes being this long-winded. Stay tuned for more California adventures!
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