Made in Woodland.
That’s what the new San Francisco 49ers stadium in Santa Clara will read upon completion, eyed in time for the 2014 NFL season.
By the end of January, just before the 49ers go to the Super Bowl in New Orleans, the upper bowl of the stadium will be complete with 1,442 panels of precast concrete made at Clark Pacific’s Woodland plant, or about 70 percent of the project. The West Sacramento-based concrete manufacturer was awarded the football team’s stadium contract at the end of March.
“Overall, (general contractors) Turner/Devcon and the 49ers are extremely happy with Clark Pacific’s performance to date,” said Marketing Director Thomas Ketron. “The panels look great and erection has been going very smoothly.”
“By February, production of the 40 million pounds of concrete will be complete,” Ketron said, “and Clark Pacific will gear up to begin the stadium’s lower bowl and field level starting in June. The field seating will be the lowest in NFL stadiums,” Ketron said.
“We’re very happy with the quality of employees from the Woodland area [working on the project],” Ketron said. “They’ve done such a great job on the 49ers stadium. They can be proud of that. We have a monument.”
At the peak of production, Clark Pacific hired around 115 workers for the job. Many have moved on to other company projects, including a parking structure for Stanford University’s Medical Center.
The $1.2 billion, 68,500-seat stadium will feature 2,000 panels, more than a mile of steps and 580 stories from ground to rooftop. Each concrete panel ranges from 20 to 40 feet in length and weigh up to 35,000 pounds – a bit more heavy than an average school bus. Clark Pacific workers install 20 panels per night on average.
Clark Pacific opened its Woodland facility in July 2008 at the former site of the Spreckels Sugar Mill plant, a sugar processing company that closed down in 2002. The property is located at County Road 18C and Highway 113, north of Woodland.
“We’re still super happy to be part of the Woodland community,” Ketron said. “We’re proud to call Woodland home.”
City and county officials are just as happy to have Clark Pacific plants in West Sacramento and Woodland. In July, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors approved the company’s Woodland expansion from 90 acres to around 143.
The company broke ground last week. When complete, the plant will be the largest industrial development by acreage in unincorporated Yolo County.
“[Officials have] just been doing an outstanding job working with us to get our permits done and get this expansion project off to a great start,” Ketron said.
“An additional 200 local workers will be hired this summer,” the spokesman confirmed. As part of the growth, “Clark Pacific will erect one of the largest indoor production facilities for precast concrete in the country, the length of two football fields,” Ketron said.
“We’re very happy with the expansion we’re able to have here. It’s a contribution we can all be proud of,” said Ketron.
Posted by the Daily Democrat News by Elizabeth Kalfsbeek
