Not every underground company also is a paving company like Complete Underground LLC. Here's how the rather unusual mix of services came about.

The Virginia company contracted to do some work in a busy section of downtown Richmond. The project involved excavation and installation of fiber optic lines. The catch was that the crew also was expected each day to finish work in any open-trench area, fill it in with earth, compact it and at least temporarily resurface it.

“When we were doing that job, I had to pick up some dump trucks and a roller, so naturally I’m going to offer the service now that I have the equipment,” says company Vice President Timothy Fortson. The roller is a Rol-Mol smooth drum compactor.

Consequently, when the company isn’t working underground, a company crew might be found doing sidewalk repair somewhere or performing a small concrete pour. Fortson can call on the expertise of one of his employees, Rodney “Tomahawk” Bailey, to oversee the work. 

“He has done asphalt work for years. That’s a specialty,” Fortson says. The skill comes in handy. “Sometimes when you run a pneumatic missile under a driveway, it can cause bulging. When that happens, we send out our asphalt guy and he blends it back together.”