Rites of spring

There's nothing quite like a soft spring breeze carrying the song of the pile driver.

From a distance, with the windows closed, all you can hear is the rattle and bang of metal on metal. But walk outside and get a little closer, and you can actually feel the ground vibrate and hear the crunch of concrete as it gives way to another underground pipeline.

Take a walk in any neighborhood, drive down practically any street, and you'll hear the reverse beeps of dump trucks, smell fresh mulch or new blacktop and see your industry coming to life.

These are the sights and sounds of spring, and when people talk about rebirth and reawakening during this season, they're not just speaking of plants and hibernating bears.

Construction companies are juggling full slates of projects. Some will pass from start to finish with no one but the project team noticing. Others are so big that they threaten to suck dry the work force in their region. Some will just get done, while others will earn awards and accolades throughout the industry.

Wisconsin Builder held a Top Projects awards ceremony on April 21 to honor 20 of the best jobs completed in 2003. Those were the jobs that did more than simply reach completion. Those were the project teams that used a combination of willpower, ingenuity and good fortune to reach the heights of their profession. That was our way of honoring the elite projects and their crews while closing the book on the last construction season.

Now, we're opening a new book and trying to see what this season has in store for the industry. There's no guarantee that any of the Big Gigs of 2004 will translate into Top Projects. Really, there aren't many guarantees at all in the construction industry.

But you just can't help but feel the potential as an orchestra of heavy machinery playing background to the gunfire solos of jackhammers tunes up for our annual spring dance.

- Chris Thompson