Projects · Owner's Representation, Site Development & Prototype Deployment

A selection of work managed by Ashtonco, LLC, on conventional construction and on first-of-a-kind technology, with the same hands-on approach on both.

Conventional construction

Owner's representative and site work

Field observation from site work to opening day, so each project was built to the drawings and to the standard the owner expected.

Covered rail dock at the Kraft Heinz site, Lathrop, CA
Existing rail yard before the spur relocation Rail welding during the spur relocation New track alongside the rail dock

Kraft Heinz · Lathrop, CA

Multi-track rail spur relocation

Relocated a multi-track rail spur tied into the mainline, well over a mile of track, along with site development and a covered rail dock.

Finished on schedule, clearing the way for an 800,000 sf building with multiple rail docks to be built where the old track stood.

Project details →

Aerial view of the new Food 4 Less store, Manteca, CA
Food 4 Less Manteca on opening day

Food 4 Less · Manteca, CA

New 55,000 sf grocery store

Ground-up construction of a 55,000 sf grocery store, from site work through opening day.

Opened on time.

New streets and lots at Watson Ranch, American Canyon, CA
Scrapers grading the Watson Ranch hotel site CAT 657 scraper crossing a new road Graders, dozers and scrapers lined up on site

Watson Ranch · American Canyon, CA

Master-planned community site development

Site development for McGrath Properties' 309-acre master-planned community in Napa County, turning raw fields into large parcels and individual lots, including the hotel site.

Also civil site work in Tracy, CA.

Project details →

New Starbucks drive-thru store, Tracy, CA

Starbucks · Tracy, CA

Ground-up drive-thru store

New drive-thru store, opened on time.

New technology

Field deployment of first-of-a-kind hardware

Taking prototypes from the engineer's drawing to a working installation in the field: fabrication, logistics, test sites and heavy lifts.

Two cranes lifting a Makani ground station into place
Makani offshore test installation Ground station assembly in the fabrication shop Oversize haul of ground station components

Makani, a project within Google

Energy kite ground stations

Managed fabrication, assembly, shipping and installation of ground stations weighing up to 57,000 lbs, at test sites from California to Hawaii to Norway.

A complex, demanding program requiring international travel. Finished ahead of schedule and on budget.

Project details →

eVTOL aircraft rigged between two cranes for a full-scale passenger survivability crash test

Aviation · Airworthiness

eVTOL passenger survivability crash test

Project management in support of airworthiness for passengers, specifically whether passengers survive a crash.

We designed a full-scale test using two cranes, one side-boom loaded, to drop the aircraft into a controlled impact. High-speed cameras recorded the crash, and a crash test dummy fitted with highly sensitive sensors measured the forces passengers would experience.

Offshore wind measurement buoy in the shop before Pacific deployment

Offshore wind

Wind buoy deployment logistics

Identified possible sites and deployment methods at multiple Pacific coast locations, and lined up local labor, vessel hauling, dock support and haul-out services, supporting the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in quantifying deepwater Pacific offshore wind call areas.

Project details →

Prototype rocket on its launch rail at dusk

Space hardware · Confidential client

Rocket prototype test site

Test site setup and support services for a rocket prototype developer.

Hydrogen · Confidential client

Movable hydrogen production

Support services for a developer of lightweight, movable hydrogen production facilities.

Marine

Shipyard project management

Eight-plus years at a Bay Area shipyard, rising from project manager to senior PM and industrial sales program manager.

Crane restepping the mast on the battleship USS Iowa

Bay Area Shipyard

Battleship USS Iowa

Painted the battleship from the waterline to the mast, including sandblasting the 01 deck, and restepped the mast that had been removed so she could fit under a bridge. She is now a museum ship in Los Angeles.

Tug in drydock during hull repair

Bay Area Shipyard

Drydock vessel repair

Hull repair on vessels in drydock.

Crane lifting a new engine into a tug in drydock

Bay Area Shipyard

Tugboat repower

New engines lifted into a tug in drydock.

Before Ashtonco

Where the experience comes from

  • APD Ashton Construction, Oakland (1990–2008): principal of a commercial construction subcontractor, with projects including the Sony Metreon in San Francisco, the Children's Hospital Oakland medical office building and an SFO cargo facility.
  • Bay Area Shipyard (2008–2017): project manager, senior PM and industrial sales program manager.
  • Crowley Maritime, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska: Arctic marine operations at a remote North Slope site: tug and barge maintenance, pumping and sealift support, rising to crew chief.

Ashtonco, LLC · Licensed California General Contractor #1058186 · (510) 773-0622

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