Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 29 J U LY 2 7 , 2 0 2 0 R E A L E S T A T E / C O N S T R U C T I O N / E N G I N E E R I N G at was part of the new architec- tural process. Architects usually spend most of their time at their office, but Piper's team was right there, designing. "We'd do a sketch at 5 p.m. and at 6 a.m. the next morning they'd be building it," he says. When it was clear the massive cli- mate control machinery wasn't going to arrive on time, they leased machines, which will be removed when the pur- chased ones arrive. Normally, the Maine Turnpike does not permit wide loads on sum- mer weekends, but when a load of 80-foot trusses were on their way up on Memorial Day weekend, Peter Mills, director of the Maine Turnpike Authority, gave the OK for the trucks to proceed. French says Mills, in a state police car, met the trucks at the New Hampshire border and escorted them to Westbrook. When they arrived on Bradley Drive, workers took them right off the trucks and installed them that day. Taking care of people While some big projects with a tight deadline might operate around the clock, French says people do better and safer work if they get some rest. "You can run a jobsite around the clock and have 200 people and be 50% effective, but you wanted to be 100% effective from day one," he says. ey had 12-hour shifts, and never wavered from that game plan. "It proved true," he says. With more than 100,000 hours of work there were no injuries. "I never saw anyone let their guard down," he says. at went for COVID-19 safety too. Precautions included mask-wearing, hand-washing stations, temperature checks and more. e company had a small outbreak at its Scarborough proj- ect site, but not in Westbrook. The big picture Despite his certainty that it could be done, French says, "ere were a few nights I went home and said, 'What did I get myself into?'" But the day he talked to Mainebiz, he could relax. e certificate of occu- pancy came the afternoon before, two months to the day after Landry/French arrived at 5 Bradley Drive. e construction team was finally able to unpack and install equipment that had to wait for the certificate. A few rooms down, dozens of Abbott trainees were having their first session. ere's still a second phase of the project left to do, but Landry/ French hit its deadline and Abbott will shortly be producing more rapid COVID-19 tests. As the pandemic ramped up and the need for tests increased, the pressure grew. But French says those involved were also energized by the fact they were part of the effort to combat the pandemic. "ey saw the big picture," he says. Piper says he can't think of anything he'd do differently. French, though he's still processing, can't either. A week before, the company that he'd founded with Denis Landry had marked its 10th anniversary. French says they look back with pride at every project they build. ey've had some notable ones, most recently the Bill and Joan Alfond Commons, in Waterville, which has won awards and is already a landmark on the city's Main Street. But the Abbott project, inside a big box of a building among a lot of other nondescript boxes, is special. He says it's testament to the company's staff, and the team, which stayed focused on what had to be done. "is is a career-defining project for us," French says. "It gave us self- confidence and showed what we can accomplish. "I was confident we could do it. I never doubted we could do it." Maureen Milliken, Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached at mmilliken @ mainebiz.biz S PONS OR S MAINEBIZ .BIZ/PODCAST S LISTEN NOW New podcasts will be released every other Monday via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, third party podcast apps, and on mainebiz.biz. podcasts The way we do business can change in a moment. This podcast series will feature conversations with Maine business owners who found their life, their business, or their world suddenly upended in one day. Changed Everything The Day that L I S T E N T O T H E N E W N E W M A I N E B I Z P O D CA S T S E R I E S P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY F O C U S Landry/French Construction workers build assembly rooms at Abbott Laboratories in Westbrook.

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