Rock Solid Stabilization & Reclamation

Rock Solid Stabilization & Reclamation (Rock Solid) celebrates its five-year anniversary in 2012, though its history dates back much farther. Jonathan Pease founded Rock Solid in 2007 as a solo venture after working his way through the family’s site development contracting firm, having witnessed firsthand the tangible need for reliable, experienced soil stabilization and pavement reclamation experts. Rock Solid maintains a loyal client following in markets across the Midwest, bringing unparalleled expertise and an ingrained commitment to professional integrity that ensures the final product exceeds expectations.

“We pride ourselves on providing the best service at a competitive price because we simply go above and beyond what is needed to get the job done,” asserts Jonathan Pease, founder and president of Rock Solid. Rock Solid employs a team of roughly 50 professionals based out of its headquarters in Ringwood, Ill. This team allows the company to work with clients in either a prime contracting or subcontracting capacity, leveraging a teamwork ethic to see the project completed as promised.

Rock Solid provides the gamut of site stabilization and pavement reclamation services. The Rock Solid professionals stress the benefits of soil stabilization efforts over undercutting, which requires the complete removal of materials to be replaced with aggregate. Soil stabilization requires less material and less time to complete than undercutting, and soil stabilization also contributes points toward the LEED rating system.

Stronger, Faster, More Efficient

Whether using cement, lime, fly ash or other stabilizing agents, Rock Solid goes straight to the source for its supply. Rock Solid then transports it to the site, mixes the product into the soil or road bed and compacts it, allowing crews to begin aggregate work within as little as 24 hours.

Rock Solid professionals are on hand to consult with clients when pavement reclamation presents the better option. The crews are well-versed in traditional methods of site development and pavement rehabilitation, but the technology and techniques of pavement reclamation have been refined over the years so as to be equally as effective and less wasteful.

The team is equipped to perform soil stabilization and modification, full-depth reclamation, cold in-place recycling (CIR), asphalt pulverization and cement-treated base (CTB) work. CIR takes place on the spot without any heat at all, pulverizing the uppermost layer of pavement, which is then mixed with an asphalt rejuvenator such as emulsion or foamed asphalt and repaved. Similarly, CTB relies on a mixture of cement, water and graded aggregate, and provides an outstanding base course for a thin surface layer such as chip seal or micro surface.

Rock Solid also maintains a fleet of vehicles and equipment that can be repurposed for traditional site development work. The fleet includes state-of-the-art pulverizers, compactors, site spreaders, water tanks, rollers, lowboys and tankers, ensuring work progresses no matter the weather.

Even so, Rock Solid often leads clients to draw the conclusion that soil stabilization and pavement reclamation is the best bet. The company maintains that its services have helped clients save between 25 and 75 percent. Rock Solid has accumulated a portfolio of completed projects for both public- and private-sector clients. The company has built a number of access roads, highways, parking lots, airport runways, building pads and temporary roads that exceed client’s needs.

Building for Tomorrow

In the process, Rock Solid forged a number of strong relationships with other subcontractors, who Rock Solid will call when the amount of work spreads the in-house team a little thin. The company tries to keep a competitive edge by keeping as much of the work performed by in-house professionals as possible and fulfilling its goal of being a turnkey operation. However, the team at Rock Solid isn’t about to sacrifice the success of a project and its schedule for lack of manpower.

“It’s a give and take,” expands Pease. “There are going to be times when we need to bring in outside labor or trucking and then there are times when we’re being called in to boost manpower on a project, so relationships are very important in this business.”

One of Rock Solids’ earliest projects was located at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. The team helped perform soil drying and modification by spreading over 70,000 tons of Class C Fly Ash for LaFarge N.A. to a portion of the site’s North Side in 2007. Since that project, Rock Solid continues to stabilize and modify Chicago O’Hare International Airport soil, utilizing over 80,000 tons of LKD for three general contractors on four different projects.

Rock Solid also landed a contract to help with the second phase of construction at BP’s Flat Ridge II Wind Farm in Kansas, covering Harper, Bingman and Barber Counties. Rock Solid previously lent its expertise to the construction of access roads and public road improvements (FDR) for 13 wind farms across the country, including wind farms as far north as the Buffalo Ridge II Wind Farm in White, S.D., or as far south as the Trinity Hills Wind Farm in Olney, Texas.

The Flat Ridge II Wind Farm will be the largest in Kansas once completed, representing a major investment in alternative energy for consumers, adding 419 megawatts of power – enough to power 125,00 homes, by BP’s estimates.

The company also finished work in 2012 building a new 20-mile stretch of I-69 in Indiana. It seems that no matter where the work arises, Rock Solid will put its expertise to work so clients save money and time building critically important infrastructure, without ever sacrificing on quality or long-term performance. Always working to a proactive end, Rock Solid Stabilization & Reclamation is sure to have continued success for years to come.