PDCA CONTRACTOR MEMBER
Hal Jones Contractor
This bridge and marine contractor and longtime PDCA
member serves the southeastern United States with its
experienced workforce of superintendents, foreman,
equipment operators and heavy construction workers
By Lisa Kopochinski
Formed 23 years ago in Jacksonville,
Fla., PDCA member company Hal
Jones Contractor is a bridge and
marine contractor with extensive experience
in heavy construction in the southeastern
United States. Hal Jones Contractor
took another step forward in its development
when in early 2018, it became division
of Vecellio & Grogan Inc., a heavy/highway
contractor that was established in 1938.
Servicing both governmental and private
clients and having performed work
for the Jacksonville Port Authority, City
of Jacksonville, Florida Department of
Transportation (FDOT), US Navy, US Coast
Guard and several private developers, Hal
Jones Contractor prides itself on having
a well-maintained equipment fleet, with
cranes up to 275 tons, barges up to 150 feet
long and 55 feet wide, and pile hammers up
to 88,000 ft. lbs.
“We have 56 employees and one main
location in downtown Jacksonville,” said
Hal Jones Contractor project manager
Greg Tolbert. “Our office is located across
the street from our waterfront yard on the
St. John’s River. Greg Bedenbaugh is our
current president, and Paul Kirkland is our
vice president.”
For the most part, Hal Jones Contractor
serves the North Florida area around
Jacksonville, but “we also do a fair amount
of projects all around Florida and Southern
Georgia for some of our powerline and
railroad customers, and have gone as far
as Guantanamo Bay, Cuba working for the
Navy,” said Tolbert.
“We own 15 cranes in all – crawlers plus
all terrain – and most are Kobelco or Link-
Belt. We have a variety of dirt equipment,
excavators, backhoes and wheel loaders.
We also have vibratory hammers for large
steel sheet pile, as well as very small ones
for vinyl sheets, and diesel impact hammers
for concrete and steel pile.”
Many impressive projects
The company has been involved in numerous
impressive projects over the past two
decades. One of these is a project where
the team drove a 54-inch diameter, up
to 140 feet long, concrete cylinder pile
for the I-95 bridge over Trout River in
Jacksonville for the Florida Department of
Transportation in 2006.
“We drove the pile from our barges, as
well as temporary trestle,” said Tolbert. “We
also recently completed a small floating
dock job that incorporated a handicapaccessible
kayak launch. The floating dock
is secured by three 24-inch concrete pile,
with two more driven under a concrete cap
to support the gangway along the existing
downtown Riverwalk. These piles were
installed through an extremely hard layer of
rock over 10 feet thick.”
Another project Tolbert says the team
is proud of the ongoing restoration of the
Jacksonville Beach Pier.
“We are currently driving steel pipe piles
to support a temporary trestle that will
allow our cranes access along the existing
pier and out over the ocean to drive the new
concrete piles. We are also driving concrete
foundation pile for a liquefied natural gas
(LNG) facility that is adding more tanks.”
When asked what differentiates Hal
Jones Contractor from its competitors,
Tolbert doesn’t hesitate.
“Our size matched with our capability
makes us unique. We have the equipment
and talented workforce to take on large
multimillion-dollar jobs, yet we are small
and nimble enough to handle a steady
flow of smaller work that our local customers
need.”
He adds that the company has also
remained successful by developing positive
relationships with owners and clients by
being honest and providing the best product
for the money.
Wrapping up the Kayak Launch floating dock in downtown
Jacksonville. The piles are 24 inches by 50 feet.
www.piledrivers.org PILEDRIVER | 35
/www.piledrivers.org
