Taking A Broader View

Heavy civil contractor Swalling General Contractors expands to vertical, commercial work

By David A. James

hen it comes to building heavy civil structures, Swalling General Contractors is one of the newest and one of the oldest companies serving those needs in Alaska.

“My grandfather started the original entity in January of 1947,” says Paul Swalling, one of three partners in an enterprise with roots stretching back more than seventy-five years. “We wanted to maintain the legacy and recognition that my grandfather started.”

This iteration of Swalling General Contractors began in 2016 when Swalling joined Brian Van Abel and Steve Rowe in buying Swalling Construction Company, which had been in Swalling’s family since its founding. The company had developed a solid reputation for building and bridge construction while overseen first by Swalling’s grandfather, A.C. Swalling, and then under Mike Swalling, Swalling’s uncle.

The original company worked predominantly in the heavy civil field, but Swalling says the subtle name change signals the wish of the new owners to expand into other areas of construction.

“I had a lot of the bridge-building and pile-driving sort of heavy civil structure background, and we didn’t want to lose that focus,” Swalling says of his own years in the company while his uncle ran it. “Both Brian and Steve had a little more background in both the vertical and commercial venue of the industry.”

Van Abel says all three men were born within a year of each other and had reached a place in their careers where they were looking for a new challenge. Van Abel and Swalling have been friends since first grade. Van Abel was working as a project manager for another firm that built large vertical structures when he met Rowe. When Mike was preparing to sell his company and retire, Van Abel says, “Paul and I were talking, and Steve and I had been talking, and we all met and said, ‘What do you think about this?’”

Van Abel has a construction and project management background, while Rowe is a carpenter by trade who worked his way into the safety field. Along with Swalling, they took the plunge in 2016, buying the company and rebranding it while looking for new areas for growth.

An overhead view of a Swalling crew building a bridge at Portage Creek #1 on the Seward Highway.

Photo provided by Johnathan Tymick, Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities

“The first year we talked about starting up the company, we thought we’d start really slow,” Rowe says. “That was in 2016.”

A slow start didn’t materialize; the amount of work the company was able to capture right out of the gate exceeded expectations.

“It definitely grew faster than any of us anticipated,” Van Abel says. “It was significantly more than we were anticipating.”

One of their first jobs was an upgrade for the Alaska Railroad, replacing piers on a bridge near Ferry, north of Healy.

“It was a real catapult into 2018’s growth,” Van Abel says, calling it a “transformative moment.”

Swalling says it was a complex job that proved to the new owners that they could do just about anything. It was a two-year project that was accomplished without a rail shutdown.

Another big job was replacing five bridges on the Seward Highway near Portage.

“We had to build temporary bridges for public access as well,” Rowe says. “So, to build five bridges, we had to remove and replace thirteen, including the temporary structures.”

The crew completed the work on schedule.

That sort of effort has attracted notice. Chong Kim, a project engineer with the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, says, “I have worked with Swalling on several bridge construction projects for the past several years. Recently, they were the subcontractor for the Dowling and Seward Highway Interchange project. My experience with Swalling has been very pleasant. They are easy to work with, from the management to the foremen and workers. They are confident and knowledgeable, with great company-wide resources. Partnering with the prime contractor and Swalling contributed to the success of the project.”

The three partners that operate Swalling General Contractors: (from left) Steve Rowe, Brian Van Abel, and Paul Swalling.

Photo provided by Swalling General Contractors

Swalling General Contractors also built the new water treatment plant in Kotzebue, and Nome’s first slab-on-grade foundation for a new operations building.

Swalling credits the company’s success to its crews, which he describes as the “best of the best,” as well as to his and his partners’ vision, which has helped them take an established name in Alaska and make it new again.

“It’s always been a family-run company,” he says, “but all of a sudden it went from one owner pushing to three owners pushing and trying to prove ourselves and make a name.”