Successful contractors often have a sweet spot – a type of project in which they excel because of past experience. For Woodburn-based Triplett Wellman Contractors, one of those sweet spots is the elementary school.

Triplett Wellman has at least seven such projects ongoing right now in Oregon and Washington, including one north of the Columbia River, in central Vancouver. The firm, with Darryl Giorgini serving as superintendent, is building a replacement for aged Walnut Grove Elementary School.

The project is being paid for with money from a $458 million Vancouver Public Schools bond approved by voters in February 2017. Construction is taking place on the same property, slightly east of the existing building that was constructed in 1952.

Bassetti Architects‘ design calls for a two-story building with three distinct wings.

As of Thursday, crews with Nutter Excavating were continuing to excavate foundation footings on the west end of the site, while operators of heavier machinery performed grading and other site work on the east side. In the middle of the site, a three-person crew from Piper Mechanical continued below-grade installation of wastewater lines, while another crew from Prairie Electric installed conduit.

“Right now we’re working our way out with the footings,” Giorgini said. “We did the perimeter, then the electrical underground and plumbing underground went in because the starting depth on the plumbing is deeper than your footings.”

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