For over 62 years, Branch has believed in its people – and it’s the cornerstone of the company’s success.
“It’s always been that way,” said Drew Johnson, Branch vice president of North Carolina operations. “You get the right people, train them well, and they become part of the mission. Good, smart people deliver the results you expect.”
Since Branch’s founding in 1963, the company has focused its efforts on building the infrastructure and critical needs in the community – highways and civil construction, general contracting and building, and mechanical, plumbing, and electrical. “The pride we feel when we complete a project in our communities is immeasurable,” Drew said. “Whether it’s a road, school, or hospital, we go home at the end of each day knowing that we made our community a better place to live.”
Branch’s civil construction division performs extensive private and public works, with its primary clients being the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the Virginia Department of Transportation. “We’ve managed complex and multi-year infrastructure efforts on many high-profile projects,” Drew said.
“We’ve managed complex and multi-year infrastructure efforts on many high-profile projects.”
I-295 Fayetteville Outer Loop
The $130M design-build of the I-295 Fayetteville Outer loop, a Branch joint venture with Balfour Beatty, kicked off in 2017 and was hampered by utility delays and ROW issues at the outset. Once those issues were amicably resolved, the project dealt with hurricanes, especially in 2024. “Our employee-owners didn’t blink on any challenge. We simply handled the challenge and asked, ‘what’s next?’ We kept the project moving regardless of the issues.”
The good working relationship developed in the initial states of the project led to NCDOT to amend the contract in 2021 to include the I-95 Interchange improvements and the widening of four miles of I-95.
“By integrating the I-95 work into our I-295 project, NCDOT prevented interface issues between its I-95 widening program and the new I-295 roadway, while expediting work on I-95,” said Brian Quinlan, president of Branch’s civil division.
Drew also emphasized the efficiency gains from this approach. “If we had built the interchange as it was envisioned in the 2017 RFP, the state would have spent a lot of money redoing work when they widened I-95,” he said. “By integrating the process in one project, we reduced the cost and helped push the I-95 corridor forward more quickly.”
The I-95/I-295 Interchange was recently made fully operational, and the entire project will wrap up within the next six months.
“They’ve been working toward this opening for a long time,” Drew said. “It’s been a great job. Even with all the unusual and usual construction hiccups, we stayed on time and delivered.”
Adjacent sections of I-295 Fayetteville Outer Loop
Another significant project for Branch is the adjacent section of the I-295 Fayetteville Outer Loop. This $162 million hard-bid job abuts the west end of the I-295 design-build job. It will close the last gap to complete the new outer loop.
Branch is on track to open the new roadway in early Fall 2025. “We hope to earn the early completion bonus,” Drew said. “The project included over a million and a half cubic yards of schedule-critical borrow material, which went very well because we were able to locate and develop a borrow source on a property adjacent to the alignment.”
Triangle Expressway
Branch has also been heavily involved in building the new Triangle Expressway (I-540) near Raleigh.
Working in a design-build joint venture with Flatiron, they recently opened two new sections of the toll road southeast of Raleigh.
“There were hurdles to overcome — like when a truck hit one of the toll gantries just weeks before the ribbon cutting. We solved that one by installing a temporary gantry,” Drew said. “It’s critical to deliver on time for Turnpike projects because collecting tolls quickly affects loan ratings and funding for the state.”
Together, these 540 sections represent nearly half a billion dollars in infrastructure work. Much of the roadway and bridgework has already been accepted, and toll collections have begun.
In a separate design-build contract with the toll authority, Branch, in a joint venture with ST Wooten, is in the first year of $290 million contract to the east of Raleigh that is the last section of the new roadway.
Another current hard bid project is a particularly complex widening job in Wilkesboro that features over 22,000 LF of new waterline and 25,000 LF of new storm drainage.
“The sequencing is very complicated for upgrading 10 miles of existing roadway,” Brian said. “The job had 12 or 13 phases, but the team has done a great job integrating phases to reduce the number of traffic shifts, which helps both construction and the traveling public.”
The project involves managing traffic in a busy commercial area. “It’s going well,” Drew said. “It’s a messy widening job. The DOT has been flexible in making revisions as needed, and that’s helped a lot.”
Rebuilding Western North Carolina in Yancey County
After Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina, Branch was instrumental in coordinating the response and rebuilding of Yancey and Mitchell counties.
The devastation from Hurricane Helene is estimated to have caused $5 billion in infrastructure damage in the region. Between FEMA, the Department of Transportation, and other agencies, recovery efforts are ongoing.
Under an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with the North Carolina Department of Transportation, Branch is playing a crucial role in the rebuilding efforts. In the months following the storm, Branch built five miles of a rudimentary road in place of US19W along the Cane River. The effort involved using recovered roadway debris and rock from the riverbed to create a temporary road for residents and emergency vehicles to use.
As a follow-on to the emergency work, Branch was chosen by NCDOT for a progressive design-build project to rebuild an 11 mile stretch of US19W. While Branch waits for key engineering and design work, its crews continue to remove debris from the river and improve the safety and serviceability of the temporary roadway.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done in Western North Carolina,” Brian said. “We are proud of our employee-owners who are working so hard to rebuild the region. They saw the devastation up close and, for them, it’s personal. They want to see their communities restored.”
While there’s still a lot of work to be done, Branch remains committed to helping the residents recovering from the devastation. “Getting temporary structures up was just the first step,” Drew said. “Permanent rebuilds will take years, and we’re committed to helping.”
Branch Focuses on Smart Growth
“Branch has always been focused on smart growth,” Brian said. “We work hard to match up our commitments with our capabilities. As an ESOP, part of that philosophy is having an ownership mentality. We try to think about things in the long term. We want our employee-owners to point to landmark projects decades from now and tell their children and grandchildren ‘I helped build that.’”
From a modest firm in the 1963 to a diversified, employee-owned powerhouse, Branch has built more than highways and bridges — Branch has built a culture of resilience, teamwork, and excellence that will carry them well into the future.
