Silver Bridge Excavating and Forsite Environmental Solutions: Strengthening Local Delivery With National Capability

Gallipolis, Ohio

Silver Bridge Excavating, a heavy civil construction company based in Gallipolis, Ohio, has merged with Forsite Environmental Solutions, a national environmental construction firm with more than 24 years of experience in complex, environmentally sensitive projects. Silver Bridge will continue operating under its own name, now as Silver Bridge, Powered by Forsite.

The merger brings together two organizations built on different strengths. Silver Bridge has spent years establishing itself as a trusted heavy civil contractor in the Ohio Valley, with deep local relationships and a workforce drawn largely from the region. Forsite brings national experience in coal combustion residual (CCR) remediation, power plant asset retirement, and long term environmental liability management, along with the project management depth and financial backing of a larger organization.

To lead the combined team’s local operations, Forsite named Kevin Harshberger, President and COO of Forsite Environmental Solutions. Harshberger brings more than 30 years of heavy civil construction experience in the region. He also spent ten years working with members of Forsite’s leadership team in a previous role, before the two companies had any formal relationship.

Alongside him, Brett Boothe leads day to day field execution. Boothe is one of Silver Bridge’s founding owners and the Gallia County Engineer, a role that gives the combined team direct, longstanding relationships with local decision makers across the region.

Silver Bridge had built its reputation the hard way, through consistent, reliable field execution, a strong safety record, and relationships with customers and communities across Gallia and Meigs Counties. But two of the company’s four founding partners were approaching retirement, and there was no transition plan in place to replace them and keep the business moving forward.

At the same time, Silver Bridge was facing project opportunities that outgrew what it could take on alone. The scale of equipment and staffing required, for CCR and power plant environmental work specifically, was more than the company had ever needed to field on its own.

Key challenges included:

• Solving a succession problem for retiring ownership without selling the company outright or disrupting its identity in the community
• Preserving the trust Silver Bridge had built with customers, employees, and local government while adding the structure and backing of a larger organization
• Building the capacity, in equipment, staffing, and project management, needed to compete for larger and more complex environmental construction work
• Combining a national environmental firm and a regional, family owned business into a single operating structure without either side losing what made it valuable

Forsite and Silver Bridge already knew each other before the merger. Kevin Harshberger had worked alongside Silver Bridge for years through a former employer, and knew the company’s owners, its people, and its reputation firsthand. When Forsite decided to build its own self performing heavy civil capability, Harshberger began exploring potential partners in the region, and Silver Bridge was the natural first call: Harshberger had previously partners with the company successfully, and that early success built the working relationship these new discussions started from.

Those conversations covered a lot of ground, including succession. One of Silver Bridge’s owners had no clear plan for what would happen to the business once he retired, and merging with Forsite offered a way to keep the business, and its people, running under the same roof rather than selling to an outside buyer.

But what ultimately made the case for merging was the range of work the two companies could take on together. Silver Bridge’s field execution and local relationships, combined with Forsite’s project management depth, environmental expertise, and financial backing, gave both organizations a path to bigger, more complex projects than either could pursue alone.

Silver Bridge brings proven field execution and a hometown delivery style built over years of hands on work in the Ohio Valley. Brett Boothe’s role as Gallia County Engineer gives the combined team direct relationships with local decision makers, from council members to county commissioners.

Forsite brings CCR and environmental construction expertise, project management depth, and the financial backing of a 24 plus year organization. It also brings established relationships with major power plant owners in the region.

Forsite and Silver Bridge sent the same message to customers, employees, and vendors: the relationship continues. All current Silver Bridge employees retained their positions, pay, benefits, and reporting structure, with improved benefits options. The same leadership stayed in place.

As part of the merger, Forsite Environmental Solutions is relocating its headquarters to Dayton, Ohio.

“Forsite is committed to continuing the great work that Silver Bridge has started, while creating additional opportunities that support the local craft and managerial talent that makes the Ohio Valley region the absolute best source of human capital in the country. Forsite is a ‘cards face up’ company, and we are committed to being as transparent and open as the good hearted, hard working, compassionate people I was born and raised with. Moving our headquarters to Ohio is symbolic of Forsite’s commitment to the region.”
— Kevin Harshberger

Shortly after the merger closed, Silver Bridge and Forsite were awarded a significant heavy civil and environmental construction contract at the Gavin Power Plant, one of the largest coal fired power plants in the country. The project marked Forsite’s first fully self-performed construction effort of this scale.

Silver Bridge had already worked at Gavin for years, with Brett Boothe as the company’s lead point of contact. That continuity carried into the new contract, which is held in Silver Bridge’s name despite the added scale and backing that came with the merger.

“I want the plant to know that there is no project that is too big or too complicated for us to successfully complete. The plant can depend on us and know we will provide a safe and quality project for them. We will always respond and take care of them.”
— Brett Boothe

• Silver Bridge continues to operate under its own name, as Silver Bridge Excavating, Powered by Forsite, with all employees retaining their positions, pay, benefits, and reporting structure.
• Original Silver Bridge leadership remains in place running day to day operations, now supported by Forsite’s project management resources and financial backing.
• Forsite Environmental Solutions is relocating its corporate headquarters to Dayton, Ohio, reinforcing a long term commitment to the region.
• The combined organization secured its first major project win at the Gavin Power Plant shortly after the merger closed, standing up a self-performing turnkey company with construction capabilities where none had existed before.

More importantly, the merger reinforced a shared belief behind both companies: growth works best when it strengthens what’s already there instead of replacing it.

This merger gives Silver Bridge and Forsite a working model for growth: a national environmental firm adding capability to a trusted regional operator, without absorbing it.

Demand for CCR construction, landfill closure, and power plant asset retirement work is growing across the Ohio Valley and beyond. The combined organization is positioned to compete for more of that work, backed by the same local leadership that built Silver Bridge’s reputation in the first place.

For other companies wondering how to plan for succession, or grow without losing what made them trusted in their community, this merger offers a working example. Two organizations combined their strengths, shared ownership of the outcome, and kept the team already doing the work fully in place.