Railroad Construction company celebrates 90 years

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor

Railroad Construction Company has grown significantly in its 90 years. The company still embraces the values established at conception and remains a strong, family-owned business.

Ninety years ago, Railroad Construction Company, Inc. (RCC), was established by Joseph Daloisio, Sr., as a track services company serving the East Coast. Since then, the company has grown into a large general contracting business with experience in all areas of track construction and civil construction. Services include excavation, grading, site work, utility installation, structural concrete, building fit-out, station construction and rehabilitation, bridge construction and rehabilitation, roadway construction and railroad track transit and intermodal installation and maintenance.

{ besps}May16_RCC{/besps}{besps_c}0|1_RCC.jpg| RCC constructed an entirely new branch of NJ Transit, including stations, tracks, structures and signals to serve the new Meadowlands Sports Complex.{/besps_c}{besps_c}0|2_RCC.jpg| Cooper’s Point Railroad Relocation.{/besps_c}{besps_c}0|3_RCC.jpg| PATH Harrison Car Maintenance Facility project.{/besps_c}

“The success of RCC can only be measured by the collective success we share as a team following the same mission: To deliver quality construction and engineering services to our customers with professionalism and integrity while providing opportunity to our co-workers, security for their families and sharing our resources to benefit others,” explained Al Daloisio, president of RCC. “RCC began as a small family business and is now run by a family of co-workers, strong in dedication and diverse in character. The longevity and success of RCC is rooted in the company’s motto: Safety, quality, productivity and having fun.”

Al Daloisio, Jr., says part of the company’s success is because of its mission to share resources to benefit others and is exhibited by the ongoing effort by donating to local charity groups including Eva’s Village, Oasis Haven for Women and Children, Paterson Boys and Girls Club, Habitat for Humanity, several animal rescue organizations and many other groups.

“We have built strong relationships with local unions and have found these partnerships to be a key element to our success,” he said. “For the past 90 years, we have been supported and assisted by many subcontractors, vendors and joint venture partners. We feel we have been fortunate to find a circle of people that thrive as a team to fulfill our mission and the company today is dedicated to providing the same service and quality on which it was founded.”

History

Joseph Daloisio, Sr., left his job with the Erie Railroad Company in 1926 after recognizing that there was need and an opportunity to maintain the private side tracks that were not the responsibility of the railroads. He grew and developed RCC by providing service as a contractor dedicated to on-time completion of projects. Al Daloisio, Sr., joined his father in 1927 and took over the reigns of RCC in 1941 with the help of his brother, Tony, sister, Mary Daloisio Falcione and her husband, Tony Falcione.

RCC operated out of a small office next to the Daloisio home on Summer Street in Paterson, N.J., and a customer base was established through hard work and dedication to quality and service. The company notes that at that time, a “big job” for constructing a complete new siding was in the magnitude of $2,000. In 1942, property was purchased and RCC moved to its current Grove Street location in Paterson, N.J.

During the first 15 years of operation, RCC would not bid any project with a value more than $10,000. In 1941, a project for Todd Shipyards in Brooklyn, N.Y., for $25,000 marked the beginning of a move into larger projects and company growth. As the company grew, RCC expanded beyond rail work and into excavation, drainage and site work.

By the 1950s, RCC had grown to expand its service area further from its northern New Jersey home. While continuing to serve the customers around Paterson, larger projects took the company out to Hershey, Pa., and down to Camden, N.J., for the Cooper’s Point Railroad Relocation beneath the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. Joseph Daloisio, Jr., officially joined the company after college and service in Army Corp. of Engineers in 1956.

As contracts began to grow, so did the company. By 1970, RCC was performing work for the Hunts Point Terminal in Bronx, N.Y., for a contract price of $507,412. RCC was incorporated in 1979 and in 1983, after working with his father for many years, Al Daloisio, Jr., took over as president.

RCC notes that in the 80s the company really began to evolve by developing the Civil Division, taking on more diverse projects and entering into the heavy-highway sector as a general contractor.

“This allowed us to self-perform all aspects of a track installation project, including heavy earthwork, excavation, drainage, bridge, road and utility work,” noted Al Daloisio. “This is what set us apart from the competition then and still does, in many ways today as we have started or purchased separate companies that do building work (RCC Builders & Developers, Inc.) steel fabrication and erection (RCC Fabricators, Inc.) and electrical work (Beach Electric Company, Inc.).”

The first large public project for RCC was in 1980 – a $6-million contract to install more than 22 miles of continuous welded rail for New Jersey Transit Newark City Subway. RCC formed its first joint venture with Hess Brothers to complete the Port Authority Trans Hudson (PATH) Harrison Car Maintenance Facility, working alongside Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor on a daily basis.

The 1990s saw an increased focus on highway and civil projects. Jointly with its Electric Group, RCC performed the installation of E-Z Pass on all tollbooths of the New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway and Atlantic City Expressway. Still maintaining its trackwork core, RCC’s geographical expansion took the company into Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia as the track division performed track installations for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Mid City E Direct Fixation Tunnel trackage and floating slab double crossover and Greenbelt Yard construction, as well as Baltimore’s MTA light-rail system serving Linthicum, Maryland.

The new millennium saw continued diversification and presented particular challenges.

Immediately following the tragedy of September 11, 2001, RCC co-workers volunteered in a search and rescue mission at the World Trade Center, working around the clock from September 11 to September 15. At the same time, other co-workers were working 24 hours a day designing and installing a concrete plug in the PATH Tunnels to keep the remaining PATH system from flooding.

RCC joined forces with J. Fletcher Creamer & Son, Inc., and Joseph M. Sanzari, Inc., to form a Tri-Venture on a contract in excess of $125 million to successfully construct an entirely new branch of NJ Transit, including stations, tracks, structures and signals to serve the new Meadowlands Sports Complex.

Shortly after Hurricane Sandy in 2012, RCC redesigned and replaced the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey existing Greenville Yard Float Bridge requiring its team to use cranes on barges and self-perform pile driving.

With joint venture partner, Iron Bridge Constructors, managing partner RCC recently completed the $100 million Benjamin Franklin Bridge and Track rehabilitation project for Delaware River Port Authority and Port Authority Transit Corporation.

Today, RCC has performed work in more than 15 states for a myriad of private and public owners on projects ranging in value from a few thousand dollars to more than $100 million.

Future

Originally established to provide New Jersey and New York area industries with railroad track construction and maintenance services, today, RCC has the capability to maintain and construct roadways, bridges, buildings, utility systems and rail facilities. The company has recently added an office in Philadelphia, Pa., to focus on providing civil and track maintenance services. With that office, the Eatontown, N.J., materials yard and the Edison, N.J., warehouse and equipment facility, RCC says the company is well positioned to serve customers throughout the region.

“We strive to maintain a family atmosphere to ensure that each and every customer receives the personal attention required to produce a successful project,” explained Al Daloisio, Jr. “As long as we remain true to the values in which RCC was founded, we will continue to thrive and look forward to celebrating our 100th anniversary and beyond.

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