Large-scale utility infrastructure projects demand careful planning, efficient execution, and the ability to adapt to constantly changing jobsite conditions. On the Pine View HOA Sewer Project in Gardnerville, Nevada, Aspen Developers was tasked with installing miles of new sewer infrastructure along an active highway corridor, where construction access needed to move alongside the work from start to finish.
Founded in 2003, Aspen Developers is a heavy civil contractor serving Northern Nevada and Northern California. Specializing in earthwork, grading, underground utilities, road construction, and other critical infrastructure projects, the company has built a reputation for delivering complex civil work safely, efficiently, and on schedule. With its own yards, equipment fleet, and experienced crews, Aspen has the flexibility to manage multiple active projects while adapting to the unique demands of each jobsite.
Pine View Estates is a subdivision of roughly 220 homes tucked into the Pine Nut Mountains south of Gardnerville, Nevada. For years, the community relied on its own small wastewater treatment facility and individual septic systems, managed by an all-volunteer homeowners association. When that aging treatment system began to fail, it raised concerns about groundwater quality and highlighted the need for a long-term solution.
Backed by federal and state infrastructure funding, the project is connecting Pine View Estates to the regional Minden-Gardnerville Sanitation District, replacing the aging septic system with a modern gravity sewer and force main network.
Delivering that connection required extensive underground utility construction. Aspen Developers broke ground in the summer of 2025 and began installing a new gravity sewer and force main system to carry the community's wastewater to the district. The scope includes approximately 12,000 linear feet of gravity sewer and roughly 16,000 linear feet of force main, with the alignment extending across roughly five miles and running parallel to US Highway 395. Along the way, crews connect the subdivision to the regional wastewater system while transitioning away from the existing septic infrastructure. For the residents of Pine View Estates, the project provides a long-term wastewater solution supported by the regional sanitation district. For Aspen, it means executing precise underground utility work over five miles of highway corridor while keeping the adjacent public roadway clean and safe.
That corridor is the reason trackout control became a defining logistical question on this job. Unlike a traditional building site with a single fixed footprint, a linear utility project of this length is constantly on the move. As crews complete one section of the alignment, construction advances down the corridor, and the point where equipment and trucks enter and exit the site moves with it. Because Pine View stretched roughly five miles along US Highway 395, there was no single permanent construction entrance. Crews instead needed a series of temporary access points onto the highway, each one serving the work only until construction moved far enough down the alignment to require the next.
Handled the traditional way, that meant building a fresh rock entrance every two to three weeks. Each temporary aggregate entrance cost approximately $1,500 to construct and, over the course of the project, Aspen Developers would have needed approximately eight separate access entrances as work progressed down the five-mile corridor. While individual rock entrances are relatively inexpensive, repeatedly building and removing them significantly increased material, labor, and equipment costs.
For Project Manager Brian Graham, FODS Trackout Control Mats were a better fit for a moving corridor because the mats could be relocated rather than rebuilt. Instead of constructing and abandoning a new rock entrance every few weeks, crews could lift the same mats and redeploy them at the next access point. Rather than focusing solely on the upfront purchase cost, Graham's team evaluated the total cost over the life of the project. Reduced labor, less equipment time, eliminated aggregate purchases, faster deployment, and the flexibility to keep pace with a moving corridor all pointed to the same conclusion.
In practice, the project ran on approximately five FODS mats reused across roughly eight separate access entrances. Each time construction reached a point that called for a new entrance, crews picked up the mats, moved them down the corridor, and reinstalled them, so the same mats that controlled trackout at the first access point were still doing the job at the eighth.
The benefits became apparent almost immediately as crews began relocating the same set of mats instead of rebuilding temporary rock entrances. Reusing a single set of mats eliminated recurring aggregate purchases and the repeated install-and-remove cycle associated with temporary rock entrances. The benefits extended beyond cost savings to labor and logistics. Constructing a rock entrance means calling a quarry, ordering material, scheduling trucks, and coordinating deliveries every few weeks; relocating a mat means loading it, driving it down the road, and dropping it in place. That simplicity kept the project moving on its own schedule rather than a supplier's, and it removed a recurring draw on crews and equipment that could stay focused on the underground work.
Two additional benefits surfaced along the way. The first was appearance. Because the work sat in plain view alongside US Highway 395 and drew regular inspection from Nevada DOT personnel, the clean, uniform look of the FODS entrances made a noticeably better impression than muddy aggregate approaches, and it strengthened Aspen's presentation during BMP and SWPPP inspections. The second was visibility and safety. The bright yellow mats made each access point easy to pick out against the surrounding terrain, helped truck drivers locate entrances, and gave drivers more time to line up their approach instead of making last-minute turning decisions along an active highway.
As Graham described it, "The mats are really easy to use. If we need to move ahead to another location, we simply pick them up, move them, and put them back down. It simplifies our process and gives us flexibility." The logistical relief was a recurring theme: "Instead of worrying about ordering rock, calling the pit, and coordinating trucks, we simply move the mats," he said.
Across five miles of active highway corridor, FODS Trackout Control Mats gave Aspen Developers a reusable, flexible alternative to a job that would otherwise have meant repeatedly building and removing temporary rock entrances as construction advanced. One set of mats served eight access points, held down recurring aggregate and equipment costs, and presented a cleaner, safer, more professional face along a route closely watched by state inspectors. Aspen owns its FODS Trackout Control Mats, and after the Pine View HOA Sewer Project was complete, the same set was immediately redeployed to another active project. FODS Trackout Control Mats have a lifespan of 10+ years and can be reused across multiple different projects. Rather than becoming a one-time expense like a traditional rock entrance, the same FODS Trackout Control Mats continue delivering value from one project to the next, demonstrating the long-term return on investment of a reusable trackout control solution.
