Tim Frazee gave the unofficial signal. Everyone scurried. They had five minutes to clear the area. Some sought the safety of a pile of dirt more than 75 yards to the north; others opted for a higher spot even farther away.

“Blowing three,” crackled a transmitter, marking the official countdown. Frazee, the superintendent of blasting, headed for his truck.

Four minutes later, “Blowing two” came across the transmitter, lingo for warning No. 2.

Frazee’s blue GMC truck sped across the sandy wasteland that will someday be the foundation of Lewiston’s new Wal-Mart distribution center.

One minute later: “All set?” crackled the transmitter. A series of blips responded.

“Fire in the hole, 10-4!”

In the distance, more than two dozen huge rubber mats shot 40 feet into the air. Rubble spewed forth underneath them like fizz overflowing a glass of soda, while clouds of dust billowed into the sky. A muffled rumble could be heard in the distance.

When the air cleared, a pile of rock was all that was left of what had been a hill.

It was just another day, just another blast at the 144-acre work site.

Frazee, of Maine Drilling and Blasting, has overseen more than 100 blasts since the project started in early October. He’ll oversee many more before what’s being called one of the biggest earth-moving projects in Maine’s history is finished.

“I’ve seen blasting projects of comparable size,” said Frazee. “But not as big an earth-moving.”

H.E. Sargent is the general contractor for the site work. When its crews are finished, 1.8 million cubic yards of earth will be rearranged to level the distribution site – more than 138,000 loads in a conventional dump truck.

By comparison, the Maine Turnpike widening project moved 3.37 million cubic yards of earth stretched over more than 30 miles of highway.

The scale of the project is enormous. Wal-Mart is sinking $60 million into the project. About 200 construction workers are on site at any given moment. For the first six weeks, the crews worked night and day.

Nearly 500 people are expected to be employed in the distribution center when it opens.

But for now, progress is measured in cubic yards of earth.

Bill Brackett of Ace Security has been watching that progress from his vantage point at the entrance to the site.

Does he see the landscape change?

“Yup, every 20 minutes.”

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Super-sized project

35-ton off-road rear dump trucks called camels. A conventional dump truck has a carrying capacity of 12-14 cubic yards. The 14 on-site camels carry 25-30 yards each. The cab is connected to the bed with an articulated joint that allows the bed to flip over without taking the cab with it.

8 bulldozers, two of which use GPS systems for grading. Poles in the blades of the two GPS dozers pick up positioning from a satellite. A computer console in the cab of the dozer directs the operator where to move dirt according to the GPS and site blueprints

8,000-gallon water wagon to supress dust. A specialized piece of equipment, the wagon came in from Pennsylvania.

6 excavators,two of which are 345s – the second-largest size made. Each 345 weighs more than 140,000 pounds.

4 loaders, two of which are 980 Cats. The 980s are too large for roadwork

1.8 million: cubic yards of earth moved, about 5.7 trillion pounds

700,000-800,000: yards of earth moved from the site of the dry goods building

60-70: The distance in feet the west side of the site was raised using fill from the dry goods building excavation

0: The amount of earth trucked off site. All the excavated sand, rock and dirt was used to even out the grade of the site, which dropped 100 feet from one end to the other in its original state.

144: acres on site

20: acres covered in footprint of buildings

485,000: square feet in refrigeration building

415,000: square feet in dry goods building

$60 million: Projected cost for total project

$17 million: State and local tax breaks spread over 20 years

$2.7 million: Expected annual state and local tax revenue

$12 million: Payroll

Estimated combined impact of distribution center construction and related work on local economy:

$7.6 million retail

$19.5 million service

$3.7 million wholesale

$.7 million construction