‘Dozer Day’ turns construction disruption into kids festival

Faced with major downtown roadwork in the village of Ridgeway, Ont., local businesses turned the disruption into a festival centred around general contractor Alfred Beam Excavating Ltd. of Fort Erie.

Faced with major downtown roadwork in the village of Ridgeway, Ont., local businesses turned the disruption into a festival centred around general contractor Alfred Beam Excavating Ltd. of Fort Erie.

The Dozer Day event, held July 31st, created a construction-themed party that attracted as many as 500 children and their parents to the area.

Ada Sherk, owner of Cover to Cover Books and member of the Ridgeway Business Improvement Area, said the idea was inspired by a similar event held in Uxbridge last year.

“We asked the people at Beam if they would make their equipment available for the kids and they agreed immediately,” she said.

The contractor sent out a dump truck, bulldozer, two excavators and a loader, along with six workers to assist with the event.

“We built ramps out of compacted stone to let the kids climb onto the equipment,” said Tom Stack, financial controller with the company. “The kids got to beep the horns and have their pictures taken sitting in the equipment buckets. We also supplied two loads of sand with prizes hidden in them for the kids to dig into. We take this equipment for granted because we’re around it all the time, but it means a lot to the kids — and even to some adults.”

The first 50 kids to arrive received free toy construction helmets, which entitled their parents to receive 10 per cent discounts at local shops.

Construction staff members were also on hand to answer adults’ questions about the progress of the $6.3-million Ridge Road project, which spans about 1.7 kilometres.

“This is pretty major road construction, across the road from storefront to storefront,” noted Stack.

“It involves completely remaking the street and laying in new utilities.”

A bed of rock underlies the first section of the roadway — the same bedrock that supports the footings of some of the business establishments.

“In some sections you have the gas main lying right on top of the rock,” he said.

“For part of the road, we’re literally hoe-ramming the rock before we can dig it out and lay the pipe. We’re working in tight quarters and sometimes we have to hoe-ram right to the front doorstep of a building.”

The project broke ground at the end of April, and is scheduled for substantial completion by the end of 2010.