D&J’s Civil Construction
What do you get when you combine two hardworking Irishmen, over 40 years of industry experience and half a dozen Kobelco excavators? The answer is Darren and James – the two top characters behind D&J’s Civil Construction. These lads are a polished construction outfit working out of the greater Brisbane region, providing all aspects of sewer, storm and water pipeline construction; live connections; and concrete works on several civil projects across Queensland and northern NSW.
Darren O’Mahony and James Horgan are the company directors of D&J’s Civil Construction Pty Ltd. EEM had the opportunity to make an onsite visit to the D&J’s lads near Yatla in Queensland to check out their latest Kobelco machine in full flight and have a good chat about the growth of the business in recent years.
A PROVEN SITE MANAGEMENT AND SUPERVISORY TEAM
The D&J’s Civil Construction projects include residential and commercial subdivisions and high-rise developments. D&J’s has been working hard and developed an excellent proven site management and supervisory team, with an experienced workforce and a reliable fleet of Kobelco plant and various other equipment. It’s been a willingness to provide innovative solutions to enable time and cost saving measures that has seen the D&J’s team rise and successfully undertake projects both on a large and small scale.
It was a wet and gloomy day for a site visit with plenty of mud dominating the site that was being prepared for a large industrial set up. Both Darren and James were ripping in, despite the conditions, and when watching them work around each other preparing the ground for pipe work and drainage, it was clear these boys have built up some impressive skills both in and out of their Kobelco machines.
When chatting with the lads about the growth opportunity that has opened for D&J’s, they shared, “We are 100 per cent committed to maintaining the highest standards of quality and provide timely, honest and reliable service delivering better outcomes for all stakeholders and rewarding opportunities for our people. Our hard-working team of operators are at the heart of our operation. We are lucky to have operators with skills in the machines and knowledge of the industry, which contribute highly to the success of our projects.”
BRISVEGAS AND KOBELCO
The D&J’s Civil Construction team have been working with BrisVegas and Kobelco since 2020 and over that time has purchased six machines including 2 x SK140SRLC-7s, SK500XDLC, SK380SRLC, SK140SRLC-5 and an SK235SR-2 with a blade.
When scratching the surface about the features that have seen the team’s appreciation and trust for the Kobelco product grow so substantially over this time, James said, “The obvious features that jump out as business owners is the fuel efficiency and reliability. The Kobelco machines are very productive onsite. The fact that we also receive error notifications in real time when our operators are hard at work is a big advantage because it gives us the opportunity to fix potential problems straight away to prevent major issues occurring. This peace of mind allows us to focus our energies and time to other aspects of our business. The Kobelco home screen remote manager is excellent and gives us the ability to see many features of the machine when you are not physically on site.”
James continued, “From an operational perspective our fleet of Kobelcos have great breakout digging power, which given the varied types of work we undertake and the varied types of ground we work in is extremely important. Our operators love sitting in the Kobelco cabs – the comfort of the combined elements of the cabin, from the seat to the low noise and vibration, to the AC on hot Queensland days all contribute to a very positive operator experience.”
POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS
The two Irishmen’s relationship as directors seemed as well balanced, efficient and inspired as that of the BrisVegas and Kobelco partnership. When the conversation moved to the relationship with BrisVegas and their sales rep Matt Thorne, Darren shared, “It’s been a positive relationship and experience with the BrisVegas team. They have always been very efficient in booking in services in a timely manner. The services are completed around our working schedule to the best of their ability, which helps us reduce downtime for the machine on site. This is a huge benefit for us and our productivity.
“Matt has been a pleasure to deal with. He is extremely knowledgeable about the product range and really understands what we as a company are seeking when investing in new equipment. Our ability to openly communicate our needs and Matt’s understanding of both the industry and the Kobelco product range have been the backbone of our relationship.”
It seems like James and Darren have their eyes and goals set on a bright future up there in Brisbane. Given the depth of their expertise and ever-growing Kobelco fleet, they are set to make the most out of every opportunity that presents itself and exceed their client expectations along the way.
Written by: Earthmoving Equipment Magazine
