12 | A G Hoffman Civil REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Up for the challenge in Southland A G Hoffman Civil offers site assessment, survey, design solutions, and providing a proposal to install an engineered product, with quotations covering building consents, supply and installation costs and certification. T T Russell Fredric With its seven-decade history, and a fleet of equipment painted maroon and gold, A G Hoffman has long been as recognisable as the jerseys of Southland’s provincial rugby team. A new iteration of the company, A G Hoffman Civil, is the result of a new business partnership formed in August 2022 between Chris Parkes and brothers Grant and Dale Hoffman, when Chris purchased a 50% holding in AG Hoffman Ltd. This partnership was the first step in a succession plan for Grant and Dale to ease into retirement when Chris became managing director. AG Hoffman Ltd originated as a farm drainage company, Grey & Hoffman, after Grant and Dale’s father, Gordon, initially formed a partnership in 1952 with Ross Grey. Having purchased their first machine, a new Ruston Bucyrus 10-RB dragline excavator, the new business prospered, and the excavator was paid off in 18 months, Grant says. “They decided to split the business amicably and to continue contracting as sole traders. In June 1962, AG Hoffman Ltd was formed.” Gordon Hoffman changed the business’s direction to undertaking civil drainage contracts with Invercargill City Council, initially, and then expanded into subdivisions and industrial site works. “The business grew quickly after he picked up many major contracts at Tiwai Point with the construction of the new Tiwai aluminum smelter. We became a major contractor in the Southland area,” Grant says. However, as a result of increasing competition from local authorities establishing separate preferential civil contracting companies in the 1980s and 1990s, the business evolved to focus more on specialist design and installation of civil works. Because of this, A G Hoffman Civil today is a preferred contractor to some significant companies, including Ballance, Alliance, Exxon Mobil, PowerNet, SpaceOps NZ , which has a satellite ground station at Awarua near Invercargill, and water and wastewater specialist, Marshall Projects. “We also undertake deep foundation construction work, including engineered hard-fill foundations undertaken in difficult locations. These projects can be difficult, often in situations where we have to contend with high water tables in hazardous conditions and where health and safety is paramount. Other design-and-build projects include stock underpasses, farm access bridges, truck wash pads, and effluent discharge to sewer outfall drainage. A G Hoffman Civil offers site assessment, survey, design solutions, and providing a proposal to install an engineered product, with quotations covering building consents, supply and installation costs and certification. In a project undertaken in bluff for Exxon Mobil, A G Hoffman extended the underground steel pipeline on Foreshore Road that delivers fuel from Southport’s newly upgraded port facility to the Bluff Exxon Mobil fuel storage terminal. The contract involved installing multiple trench protection shields to protect people working in difficult conditions, and required a highly skilled team of employees to achieve the successful outcome, Chris says. The 300mm diameter steel pipeline was installed 2.5 metres deep along Foreshore Rd and was laid under multiple underground services, fed into the trench in 12-metre lengths, and had to be welded in-situ, which was undertaken by E Type Engineering. “High tide was 600mm above the pipeline and 15 metres from the sea, so we had to deal with sea water infiltration flooding the trench,” Chris says. “This was a challenging and technically difficult contract where we worked outside in very exposed and cold conditions over the winter months of 2023.” Walker Murdoch Law Family • Property • Business • Commercial • Wills & Trusts • Estates Walker Murdoch Law. Where you matter 03 214 0777 | maildesk@wmlaw.co.nz | www.wmlaw.co.nz mmca.co.nz We’ll help you build a smarter, better business. Chartered Accountants | Business Advisors We’re proud to support businesses like AG Hoffman Ltd.
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