South Texas Construction News May 2016

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Jack Rice Turner founded Turner/Ramirez Architects in Corpus Christi in 1958, but in 2015-2016 the firm

made some major changes. Although Turner is still involved in the firm, partner Philip Ramirez assumed sole proprietor-ship in 2015 and the office recently moved into a new location. According to Kyle Miller, project ar-chitect, the firm moved to its new loca-tion in mid-February, after completely renovating an office space on Alameda St. “We removed the existing interior and took it down to the shell,” Miller says. The result is a light-filled, airy space with bright primary colors accentuating

the various work areas. There are eight employees, including Ramirez, Turner and Miller, Brian Bienek, project man-ager; Diego Martinez, project manager; and Christina Hunter, Jonathan Gon-zalez and Joseph Mihoin, all interns. “We are growing our employee base because we are a growing firm,” Miller sa-sid. The new location is more efficient, Miller says, although the square footage stayed close to the same. “We design in a studio-type environ-ment,” he says. “We all collaborate on projects. There is an abundance of natu-ral light and the space is longer and more linear.”

Turner/Ramirez Architects is enjoying a lighter, fresher feeling at the new office space.

It was a project that was many years in the making and finally came about as a collaborative and serendipitous meld-

ing of the needs of two different entities. KEDT, Corpus Christi’s public radio and TV stations, needed a new facility and Del Mar College needed state-of-the-art technology for its students pursu-ing careers in radio and television. They joined forces to create a brand new sta-tion adjacent to the college. Teal Construction in Corpus Christi was the general contractor on the $5 mil-lion project that started in September 2014 and finished in December 2015. “A number of years ago we were comparing the future needs of the col-lege and the station,” said Don Dunlap, general manager for KEDT. “We were in a lease situation and needed to get out of it. We have state-of-the-art technology that the college didn’t have. They had this piece of land they had no use for. It

was a win-win situation.” According to Dunlap, the college is charging KEDT $100 per year for the land

and also paid for the parking lot and its infrastructure – a move that saved KEDT about $1 million.

The station project was paid for through a capital campaign, which Dun-lap is happy to report is about 90 percent complete. “We collaborated on the design to meet the needs of both organizations,” Dunlap says. “We will use the college stu-dents as interns.” Tom Gentry was project manager for Teal Construction. Project superinten-dent was Dusty Lacey. The new construction consisted of 15,000-sf of a suspended concrete foun-dation and a structural steel building. The exterior is metal wall panels, fin-ished concrete wall, burnished brick fa-çade trim work, and ACM panels with bright aluminum paneling around the top and front entrance. Inside, half the building is polished concrete floors and the rest is carpet. The

The new facility is a joint effort between KEDT and Del Mar College.

Cheryl Andrews has been general manager at the Corpus Christi branch of RSS (Reinforcing Steel

Supply) almost since it opened. The location opened in spring 2009 and Andrews was recruited and started work on Sept. 16, 2009. She has lived in Corpus Christi on and off since 1957 and built her career in similar industries. She says one of the things she likes about RSS is the family atmosphere and emphasis on teamwork. The Corpus Christi location has 12 employees. “We are all a team in this together,” she says. “We are like a big family. It’s a smaller company and we were the first branch. They gave me free rein to do

RSS employees Roxanne Gonzalez, Justin Vorhees, Becky Freeman, Sandra Gonzalezand Cheryl Andrews greet customers looking for rebar and concrete construction

products in Corpus Christi.

what I needed to do. I loved that.” Andrews says the people who work throughout the company are supportive and helpful. “It’s very nice to have a supportive headquarters to call on when I need help,” she said. “Since we have opened newer branches, we’ve all helped and nurtured those as well.” In the Corpus shop, which sells concrete forming accessories, sells and fabricates rebar and estimates and details, the crew is also a team with a family mentality. “We celebrate births and birthdays,” Andrews says. “We socialize after work

Page 2 South Texas Construction News • May 2016

EAE Construction in Edinburg recently repaved part of the Hildago EMS parking lot – making it easier for responders to get to the scene of an emergency faster, according to

Ebrahim W. Morales, founder of EAE. –cw

Need for speedConstruction News JOB SIGHT

The Terracon team waits to present to the commission for Geotechnical and Materials Testing services at the New Hidalgo County Courthouse on Mar. 31. L-R: Martin Reyes,

Juan M. Borjon, PE, Jorge A. Flores, PG, Stephany Chacon, E.I.T., Stephanie M. Rendon, MBA, Chuck A. Gregory, PE, Alfonso A. Soto, PE, D.GE, F. ASCE –cw

PresentableSubmitted to Construction News

Four HOLT CAT technicians won a state competition and traveled to Little Rock, AR to represent the

heavy equipment dealer in the 2016 Tech Wars, a four-day competition with other Caterpillar heavy equipment dealers. From the Machine Division, Jarrett Payton, field service technician tech 5, San Antonio, took first place at the state level, and Autry Adams, field service technician tech 2, Longview, took sec-ond. From the Power Systems Division, Alan Lindow, shop service technician

tech 6, Longview, took first place at the state level, and Vince Jones, lead techni-cian, Longview, took second. The four state winners participated in three rounds of completion at the lo-cal, regional and state level against 400 of their HOLT CAT peers. This is the first year HOLT CAT competed in Tech Wars, and the company plans to expand the competition in coming years to include its Transport, Ag, Crane, and Electric Pow-er divisions. –mh

Machine Division state contestants L-R: Howard Schram, Steven Pinkerton, Jonathan Morrow, Autry Adams, Jarrett Payton, Grady Trainor, Paul Boubel

Power Systems Division state contestants L-R: Keven Leon, James Pardaen, Vince Jones,Alan Lindow, Ben Gallo, Wade Nagel

Sending their top techs

CONSTRUCTION NEWS

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The South Texas Construction News (ISSN #2327-4670) is published monthly by Construction News Ltd., dba South Texas Construction News, and distributed by mail to construction related companies in the South Texas area. All submissions should be mailed to our editorial offices. We reserve the right to edit any materials submitted. No fees for materials, copy or photographs submitted will be due unless agreed upon in advance in writing. Submissions will be published at our discretion on a space-available basis. Construction News, Ltd., dba South Texas Construction News, will not be liable for errors in copy or in advertisements beyond the actual cost of space occupied by the error. Publisher reserves the right to reject any advertisement at any time.

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South Texas Construction News • May 2016 Page 3

It’s time to redevelop middle management development

Andy Ray, PrincipalPFK TexasHouston, TX

Recently, I polled a group of 200 execu-tives and owners of mid-market com-

panies. The question was this, “How many of you have a formal development program for your middle managers?” Only two people, or one percent of the group, acknowledged such a program. It should be no surprise then that when this same group of executives was asked if their middle managers had driv-en a significant and sustainable result into their businesses in the last 90 days, the answer was a collective sigh and a frustrated, “no.” The performance dis-connect here is clear - executives and owners are consistently dissatisfied with their middle management’s ability to change business results in a meaningful way, and yet there is little being done programmatically to change that dissat-isfaction. This performance disconnect is oc-curring while “millennials,” the most edu-cated generation to hit the workforce in the history of our nation, are rapidly back filling the middle management ranks be-ing vacated by baby boomers that are hitting retirement age at the rate of 11,000 people a day (a demographic trend that will continue through 2030). Executive and ownership’s reflexive response to this performance disconnect is to blame the millennials for the charac-teristics that define that generation. This shortcut prescription for middle man-agement underperformance is a misread, and we are long overdue for a reframing of the discussion. Hiring smart people and hoping they will “figure it out” is not middle management development. And yet, that is the predominant middle man-agement development methodology used in mid-market companies today. The root of the frustration between ex-ecutives and the middle managers that are trying to keep them happy is not gen-erational; it is developmental. Mastery in middle management, (the ability to create a significant and sus-tainable results change), is developed the same way mastery in music, or golf, or carpentry is mastered: through a broad range of experiences over time. The path to middle management mas-

tery, then, is not so much about explor-ing an unending supply of domain knowledge, but rather digging in and working through real business results change challenges in a tactile way. “Applied Development” is the pro-grammatic response to this managerial challenge that delivers both a high ROI to the sponsoring business and a path to mastery for the middle manager that par-ticipates in it. In an “Applied Develop-ment” model, middle managers journey toward mastery through solving real per-formance challenges in the business they are in in repetitive iterations over time. A successful “Applied Management Development” program rests on four pil-lars: 1) Guidance: Senior peer guidance is critical in any middle management devel-opment program. This is where real tacti-cal knowledge transfer can occur. 2) Technique: Lean, Six Sigma, and Design Thinking are all techniques that today’s middle managers need in their problem solving toolkit and “Applied Management Development” supplies training in these techniques. 3) Structure: Real deliverables in tight timeframes assure that develop-ment cycles deliver a sustainable ROI to the sponsoring company. 4) Practice: Applied development creates a framework for middle manag-ers to practice their craft repetitively and in different types of management chal-lenge scenarios. It is not a one-time fix but, rather, a change in management process. Taken together as a programmatic approach, the four pillars of “Applied Management Development” deliver mid-dle management capability improve-ment that can drive sustainable and meaningful change into a business in as little as 90-days, and change the way middle managers work forever.

Andy Ray is a principal with the Entre-preneurial Advisory Service Practice at PKF Texas. Contact him at (713) 860-1400 or [email protected].

Lighting the wayConstruction News ON LOCATION

FSG (Facility Solutions Group) employees Gabriel Plata and Chris McRae are ready to help customers with their lighting, electrical, energy, technology and signs needs in

Corpus Christi. –cw

Summit it upConstruction News ON LOCATION

Barry Tuttle, operations manager, Tinna Williams and Ryan Duren were celebrating Tinna’s birthday last month at Summit Electrical Supply in Corpus Christi. –cw


Round-UpHeldenfeld’s Enter-prises Inc. has re-cently hired Paul Elrod as general manager oversee-ing manufacturing and project delivery operations for HEI’s San Marcos and Corpus Christi pre-cast concrete plants. Elrod attended Col-orado School of Mines for mechanical engineering, earned a CPSCM from Uni-versity of Houston and formally trained in Lean through the Toyota Production Plans in Bartlett, IL. He was previously di-rector of operations for Senior Flexonics Pathway and director for Lutheran Social Services Inc.

OSHA adopts new rule toprotect workers fromRespirable Crystalline Silica

Stan GregoryInsuricaSan Antonio, TX

Most people in the construction in-dustry are familiar with silica dust.

This is the dust that is produced when drilling or cutting certain materials, such as concrete or stone. The negative effects of this dust have been well documented since the 1930s, but OSHA’s previous ex-posure limits did not adequately protect workers. This much needed new rule will curb silicosis, lung cancer, chronic ob-structive pulmonary disease, and kidney disease in America's workers by limiting their exposure to respirable crystalline silica. The new rule has separate stan-dards for construction and general indus-tries. OSHA estimates about 2.3 million workers face exposure to silica dust at work, including 2 million construction workers and 300,000 workers in manu-facturing facilities, foundries, and energy production. It is estimated that the new rule will save more than 600 lives and 900 new cases of silicosis annually. In addition to this fantastic improvement, OSHA also estimates that the new rule will provide a financial benefit of about $7.7 billion per year. In addition to reducing the allowable exposure limit for silica dust, the rule in-cludes employer requirements such as limiting worker exposure through work practices and engineering controls, pro-viding respiratory protection when con-trols are insufficient, training workers, limiting their access to high exposure ar-eas, and providing medical exams to highly exposed workers. Most employers can limit harmful dust exposure by using equipment that is widely available – generally using water to keep dust from getting into the air or a ventilation system to remove it from the air. OSHA is also providing additional as-sistance through their free on-site con-sulting services for small businesses. As this rule goes into effect, specific materi-

als will be made available directly from OSHA. Insurance Pro Tip: many insurance carriers offer compliance and testing ser-vices for construction clients. Most of the time, you have to ask for these services directly, so check with your insurance car-rier to see if any free services are avail-able. OSHA defines the key provisions of this new rule as follows: • Reduces the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for respirable crystalline silica to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over an 8-hour shift. • Requires employers to: use engi-neering controls (such as water or venti-lation) to limit worker exposure to the PEL; provide respirators when engineer-ing controls cannot adequately limit ex-posure; limit worker access to high expo-sure areas; develop a written exposure control plan, offer medical exams to highly exposed workers, and train work-ers on silica risks and how to limit expo-sures. • Provides medical exams to monitor highly exposed workers and gives them information about their lung health. • Provides flexibility to help employ-ers — especially small businesses — pro-tect workers from silica exposure. The compliance schedule for this rule will begin to take effect on Jun. 23, 2016. Businesses involved in the con-struction industry will have one year to become fully compliant. General indus-tries will have two years. Stan Gregory is a Safety and Risk Con-sultant and a leader on INSURICA’s Risk Management team. He has more than three decades of experience working with loss control, safety planning, and risk man-agement for clients within the construction and energy industries. He can be reached at 210-805-5915 or [email protected].

Practical tips for limitingdiscovery costs in construction litigation

Jessica NeufeldMunsch Hardt Kopf & HarrDallas, TX

Litigation isn't the first thing on the mind of most con-struction companies when considering their informa-

tion technology infrastructure. However, how an organi-zation stores and manages its data can have a major impact on the overall cost of com-plying with preservation obligations related to lawsuits.

When litigation arises, parties are obligated to take good faith and reason-able measures to preserve unique data potentially relevant to the case. For the construction industry, this can range from emails and other forms of commu-nication, to CAD, scheduling and ac-counting files, as well as hard copies of the plans and specifications, RFIs and submittals. There are several ways a company can structure data to limit discovery costs without adversely affecting its business functions. Below are some practical data management suggestions construction companies should consider implement-ing to limit potential discovery costs:Avoid storing data on individual com-puter hard drives If each employee stores work on their individual computer hard drive, when it comes time to preserve and col-lect in litigation, relevant data may need to be collected from each computer sep-arately. This is a time- and labor-intensive process that also will likely result in a sub-stantial amount of duplicate data. This results in more data to cull through when it comes time to review and produce to the opposing party, which means greater discovery costs for the company. In contrast, if employees maintain their work on a shared server, preserva-tion and collection of that data can likely be performed just once on that server. This benefits the company by keeping collection costs down, limiting the chance of spoliation (the more individual collec-tions you need to perform, the greater the chance of technical issues or that rel-evant data is missed) and streamlining the review and production process. Though it is still best practice to inter-view key employees to determine wheth-er they’ve saved work on their individual hard drives, having a policy in place in-structing employees not to do so, and which the company can back up with regular compliance audits, will help to fur-ther ensure it can rely on shared storage locations for litigation data collections.Utilize an email archive An email archiving system captures email content in a central location, while storing and indexing the emails for easy searchablity in the future. This type of

product enables a company to reasonably limit the amount of email storage per user while providing employees quick and easy access to archived material. Maintaining a centralized and search-able database of company emails makes it easier to isolate, preserve and collect the emails of key employees when litiga-tion arises. In addition, it enables more consistent preservation by centralizing the process instead of relying on individ-ual users to manage their email archives themselves.Be mindful of electronic communica-tions, beyond emails Do employees utilize instant mes-saging software or text messaging? These forms of electronic communica-tion have value for companies as they en-able employees to communicate effi-ciently with colleagues, clients or cus-tomers, which can be crucial in the field. At the same time, they each generate ad-ditional potentially relevant data that may need to be produced in litigation. In addition, especially with respect to mo-bile technologies, they may pose unique security risks. Prior to implementing such tools, weigh the value of their use with the po-tential for related litigation costs. Bring IT, legal and other relevant stakeholders to the table for an informed analysis. Fur-thermore, develop policies regarding use and retention of this data to help mitigate discovery costs. If these technologies are already in use, it is not too late to consider revisions to current policies and proto-cols to minimize discovery costs and im-prove data security. Jessica Neufeld practices general com-mercial litigation with a significant focus on construction litigation and counseling on behalf of contractors, developers and de-sign professionals. She has both defended and asserted claims of breach of contract, negligence, professional negligence, DTPA, fraud and mechanic's liens foreclosure. Jes-sica is also a member of Munsch Hardt's eDiscovery task force. In that capacity, she advises clients and other attorneys on cost-effective and defensible strategies for the preservation, collection, processing, review and production of electronic information. [email protected] www.munsch.com

SubmissionsThis is a section for brief company

announcements of new or recently promoted personnel, free of charge

as space allows. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Email with “Round-Up” in the subject

line (w/digital photo, if available)by the 15th of any month, for the

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Great day on the waterSubmitted to Construction News

Associated Builders and Contractors

Texas Coastal Bend Chapter President Kathy Burnette

caught and released 29 redfish in Port

O’Connor recently. Yippee! –cw

Forked tongueSubmitted to Construction News

StephanieRendon,

clientdevelopment specialist atTerracon in

Pharr, attended a Rio Grande Valley Vipers basketball game on Mar. 26 and got a selfie with the Viper’s

mascot. –cw

Spring FishingStrategies!!by Capt. Steve Schultz

Sponsored by:Waypoint Marine, Majek Boats, Evinrude Outboards, E-Z Bel Construction, Power Pole Shallow Water Anchor, Aggregate

Haulers, ForEverlast Hunting and Fishing Products, MirrOlure, and

Columbia Sportswear.

As we approach the month of May, every one of my clients has been asking the same questions. “Is it

croaker season, or do you have croakers yet?” Well, as I write this column, croak-ers have not been really available on a regular day-to-day basis. A couple of the marinas have flown the bright yellow flag for several days, but most of the baits have been small and weak from the high winds and the transporting of these frag-ile fin fish. I got my hands on a few dozen last week and they were hand picked at one of the local marinas. I must say that it didn’t take long to put together a decent box once we located the right rock in Baf-

fin holding the larger fish. Some may ar-gue that it’s to early to start using these highly sought after summer baits that usually don’t show up till the first of May, but I beg to differ. Don’t get me wrong,

I’ve had some great days in the last few months using lures and shrimp under a popping cork. I think if you’re in the right place at the right time, and you’re a good fisherman, you will catch fish.

Ben Davis, San Antonio, caught this 26-inch Speckled trout south of Baffin Bay usingshrimp under a popping cork while fishing with Steve Schultz Outdoors.

Fishing pressure will increase dra-matically now and as the summer pro-gresses, I have not seen too many busy weeks on the water this season as of yet, but I’m sure they are right around the cor-ner. Late spring and summer months are very busy on the water. Tournaments will be starting this month and you can bet there will be one every weekend from May thru September. It is very important to stay focused in our conservation ef-forts. Keeping enough fish to eat is not a crime by any means, but stacking fish into your deep freeze to be forgotten about and discarded later because of freezer burn is a no-no. We rarely keep and fish over the 25-inch mark unless its survival is hopeless. These larger sows are carrying eggs ready to spawn and re-plenish our ecosystem for the future, so please do your part with these conserva-tion needs. Nuff said!! For the next few month my plan is to continue running south into Baffin Bay and sometimes further south. The rocks in the middle of the bay have been hold-ing good numbers of solid fish. Shore-lines with surface bait activity will also not go un-fished! Target thigh deep wa-ters while wading throwing large surface plugs early and switching to slow sinking lures or plastics as your action slows. If your choice is live bait, anchor or drift fish with live shrimp under a popping cork over deeper rocks and sand areas for specks and reds. Summer schedule is filling quickly but fall dates are still available. Don’t wait until the last minute to book your dates. To schedule your next bay fishing trip give Capt. Steve Schultz a call or text at 361-813-3716 or 361-334-3105 or e-mail him at [email protected]. Good luck and Good Fishing.


Half or Full Day Fishing Trips

All Bait, Tackle & EquipmentFurnished

Your catch Filleted andBagged for You

Furnish your TPWD FishingLicense & Refreshments,

and WE DO THE REST!

Ken Milam Guide Service(325) 379-2051

www.striperfever.com

Ken Milam’s Fishing LineSince 1981, Ken Milam has been guiding fishing trips for striped bass on Lake Buchanan in the Texas Hill Country,. You can hear Ken on radio on Saturday and Sunday mornings, 6-8

AM on AM 1300, The Zone – Austin, or http://www.am1300the zone.com

When Lake Buchanan started ris-ing last summer we were just happy to have our lake back.

We had no idea that it would be a lake so unlike the lake the drought took away. After the long dry years the lake bed grew up so many large trees that we now have a lake that takes a while to learn to navigate and fish. The lower part of Lake Buchanan is pretty much unchanged. There are more willows in the backs of the creeks that make bass and crappie fishing more fun, but other than that it is not much different. Upper Lake Buchan-an though is a whole different lake. From the Hi-Line and Canyon of the Eagles area up there is still heavy growth of willow trees that grew to 20–30 ft. high along the river banks when the lake was dry. It is these trees that have changed every-thing.

It is now possible to tie your boat up and fish under a cool shady canopy of willow trees in the middle of the lake on the upper end. In many places the trees are too thick to get through and really hard to see through. You have to just fol-low along the narrow forks of the river channel and ease your way along. Even if you are familiar with Lake Buchanan you need to allow yourself some extra time to learn to navigate and do your best not to be on the water after dark. Use your GPS to help you keep your bearings because I can tell you from experience, out in those willows it is possible know where you are and be completely lost at the same time!The nice thing about the willows is that they tend to gentle down the lake some-what. They break the brisk winds that Buchanan is known for and smooth out

the waves. Even better than that, the wil-lows provide habitat for just about ev-erything that slithers, flies and swims. You can see the handiwork of the many beavers that we have now and even catch a glimpse of one basking in the sun. Be careful of the wasps that favor the willows to nest in though. It is worth a trip to the willows because much of the flood debris is still hung up in the willow thickets providing a double whammy of cover for fish to hide and feed in and op-portunities for anglers to catch them. We have seen some really nice size and num-bers of crappie, bass and catfish being brought in, and our charter trips are yielding good steady limits of solid fish.

Just last week a lady came fishing with us on her 60th birthday with friends and caught the new lake record hybrid bass for Lake Buchanan! Sally Nicholas caught one 26 inches long and 7.9 pounds! What a way to celebrate!

This “new” Lake Buchanan makes us all feel like celebrating! Grab some friends and come see us!

Happy New Lake!

Sally Nicholas caught a record hybrid. Beaver in the willows

Through the willows


Team Turner on the move again

Terracon acquires BES

Terracon recently announced it has acquired Building Exterior Solutions LLC (BES) of Texas. Terracon is a pro-

vider of environmental, facilities, geotech-nical, and materials engineering services with many locations throughout Texas. Terracon will retain BES’ 20-plus em-ployees and offices in the Houston, Dal-las, Austin and San Antonio areas. Founded in 2008, with the experience of professionals from architectural, engi-neering, and construction industries, BES provides investigation, evaluation, and construction solutions for exterior build-ing systems. BES’ experience resolving ex-isting building enclosure problems and developing new integrated building en-closure designs reinforces Terracon’s facili-ties capabilities and strengthens the firm’s ability to service clients across the country. “BES adds significant bench strength to our building enclosure practice and we are excited to have them join Terracon’s Facilities Division,” said David Gaboury, PE, president and CEO of Terracon. “The depth of their expertise allows us to fur-ther demonstrate our commitment to bringing even greater value to our clients.” The BES staff includes licensed engi-neers and certified roof and waterproof-ing consultants who provide design for new facilities or rehabilitation of existing building enclosures that exhibit distress, deterioration, and air and/or water infil-tration. BES clients include owners, devel-opers, architects, contractors, and organi-zations such as Kirksey, Memorial Her-mann, Lincoln Properties, and Gensler. BES operates as Building Exterior So-lutions, A Terracon Company, as of the Jan.

31 closing. “Terracon is well-known in the market-place and gives BES clients the benefit of an expanded network of resources and capa-bilities,” said Jerry Abendroth, BES presi-dent. “The facilities services capabilities of our firms align perfectly, enhancing our ability to serve clients across the country.” The acquisition strengthens Terra-con’s Texas presence as BES joins a net-work of more than a dozen offices in the state. Engineering News-Record ranks Ter-racon as the third largest General Building design firm in Texas and Louisiana, and 11th on the Top Texas Design Firms list. Terracon is an employee-owned engi-neering consulting firm with more than 3,500 employees providing services from more than 150 offices in 42 states. Terracon currently ranks 35th on Engineering News-Record’s list of Top 500 Design Firms. –cw

David Gaboury

Diamond Eight Industries, Santa Rosa, TX, is busy doing the site work for a new Cane’s Restaurant in Weslaco. –cw

PreparationConstruction News JOB SIGHT

On Ap. 2, Team Turner Corpus Christi participated in the Walk MS 2016. The Team Turner partici-

pants raised $1,198 for MS by having a chopped beef sandwich plate sale. –cw

Tiny Team Turner Kids, L-R: Grace Deanda, child of John Deanda, Fabrication Division

Safety; Daniel Pena, Ariana Pena, Bianca Pena and Nadia Pena, children of Wendy

Pena, Turner Billing department; Miles Scott (stroller), son of Marissa Mendez

Fabrication division; and Santi Pena, son of Patricia Livas, Corporate Procurement

Oscar Pena, Patricia Livas and son,Santi Pena

Team Turner participants: Oscar Pena, Turner Construction; Deborah Ramos, Turner Construction; Patricia Livas and family, Turner Corporate Procurement; Mayra Romero Garcia,

Turner Construction; Wendy Pena and family, Turner Billing; John Deanda and daughter, Fabrication Division Safety; Martin Mata, Fabrication division; Joshua Barnett, Fabrication

division; Julie Leija, Turner Security; and Daniel Naranjo, Fabrication division

Nothing mini about this birthday

Construction News publishers Buddy and Reesa Doebbler wished a happy birthday to Dolly, one of their miniature horses, who turned 10 years old on Apr. 24.

This memory was captured when she was celebrating turning 1 month old. –mh


John and Biby DykemaOwners

Dykema ArchitectsCorpus Christi

(Interview with Biby Dykema)

Bibiana “Biby” Dykema was one of six siblings born in a family with parents who had strong convic-

tions and progressive attitudes. As a girl growing up, Biby was drawn to the arts and realized in high school that that attraction and her father’s cho-sen field of architecture actually went hand in hand. In a day when she and only a few other females were freshmen in the in-coming class of architecture students at the University of Texas in Austin, Biby has seen many changes in the construction field – and has recently been able to re-lease some of her creative energy in a new way, as one of the founders and the main designer of Curri – a line of tunics and jewelry made in India.

Your childhood sounds very interest-ing. Tell me about it. I grew up in Corpus Christi, the mid-dle child of six children. My father, James M. Bright, was an architect. My father and mother leaned strong-ly towards helping the underdog. They were very philanthropic. Mom took a bus to Washington D.C. when I was in middle school to protest the Vietnam War - she got tear-gassed! My parents were liberal and lived their convictions. If someone was in need, they could be called on. My younger brother was adopted and he is Afro American. It was illegal in Texas at the time. It was very unusual in the late 60s. They wanted to adopt a baby. They al-ready had five kids, but they wanted one more. The agency said all they had are Hispanic and Afro American children and my parents said, “We don’t care.” When we got to adoption court, the judge looked it up and said, “You know this is illegal,” but they overrode it. We had a great childhood because of that very principled, very artistic atmo-sphere. They had a lot of artist friends. Early on, mom was a receptionist at Richard Colley Architects in Corpus Chris-

ti and dad was with O’Neil Ford in San Antonio. The two firms had a joint project and dad came to Corpus Christi and met my mom.

How did you decide you wanted to pursue architecture? I don’t know that I knew early on, but I was very creative. I think I figured it out in junior high school. By high school, I knew and started taking drafting classes.

Did any other siblings follow your dad into architecture? No. My older sister is a ballet dancer, she is the head of a dance academy in Winston-Salem, N.C. My younger sister is a Realtor in Austin. One brother is a law-yer in Corpus Christi and my youngest brother works for Don Strange Catering in Austin. One brother passed away.

Tell me about Arcosanti. I finished high school early and ap-plied to work in Arcosanti in Arizona. It was started by Italian architect Paolo Soleri and his wife, Colly. Arcosanti is an educational organization devoted to the support of Soleri's noted architectural and urban planning research. I worked in construction there for three months. I was the youngest person to have attended the program. It was amazing. They are still building it. The idea was you build on unusable land and you save the fertile land for farming and produc-tion.

That’s really incredibe. What did you do next? From there, I went to UT Architecture School. My entering class at school was 80-90 students and only a few females. I was the only female that graduated with my class. Now at UT it’s 51% female. Many females don’t go into architec-ture because they are not good at math, but it is so little of what you do. It’s a shame that people have that perception. Now, you take a math for architects. You are better off being creative and open minded than having math skills. Now I’m on the advisory council to the school. Twice a year, I meet with stu-dents and fundraise and brainstorm about the architecture department at the school. I’ve been doing that since 1995.

Tell me about meeting John. Because there were so many men and so few females at school, it was awk-ward. I just kind of ignored the men. The summer I met him, we had a couple of classes together. I would sit at the front and never turn around to look at the back. One day I left class and I was walking back to the architecture depart-ment and he kept yelling, “Hey you!.” I didn’t turn around and finally he yelled, “Hey you in the pink pants!” I was wear-ing painter pants that I had died bright pink, so I turned around! We dated a cou-ple of years and got married.

How did John end up at UT? John got his undergrad at the Uni-versity of Pennsylvania and was getting his graduate degree at UT. He’s from Michigan originally. He may have stayed in Austin be-cause Austin was booming at that time, but the opportunity to work for my dad was too great for either of us to pass up. In architecture, you intern for three years and then take the exam. I had already de-cided I was going to intern with my dad. After our internship, we had devel-oped clients and decided to stay in Cor-pus Christi. We’ve done great here – lots of cli-ents, lots of friends.

Tell me about your dad. Well, he is retired now, but he started with Christian, Bright and Pennington in the 1950s, then became Bright Associ-ates, then Bright and Dykema and now it is Dykema. John and I practiced with him for years. I joined the firm in 1980 and John

in 1981 when we got married. We are celebrating 36 years of mar-riage this year.

What is the main focus of Dykema Ar-chitects? We have a very diversified portfolio. We have a big range from commercial to residential. John and I are the principal designers and our partner is Josh Seahorn.

You have two sons, right? Yes. My oldest son is John “Russel” Dykema III. He is 30 and will graduate from medical school at UT Southwestern in Dal-las as a doctor June 1. His fiancee will also be a doctor. He will be a psychiatrist and she will be a pediatric cardiologist. My younger son is James Bright Dykema, 27. He runs my import company, Curri. He runs all the importing, shipping, inventory, website (curristyle.com) and more. It’s getting to be a bigger and big-ger job. Neither one was interested in archi-tecture, although they are both really cre-ative. James writes beautifully and speaks Japanese. Russel speaks Spanish fluently. James graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio with a degree in Interna-tional Studies and a minor in Japanese. He was working there when I mentioned to him that this new business was really taking off and I was going to need some-one to help. He said he might be inter-ested.

What is Curri? It is an import business and it’s two things. I design tunics and have them made out of Indian silks and block prints and we have a group that sews them for us. We have them made in India and then shipped here. We have a jewelry line that I design and we have those made in Jaipur, India.

Tell me about how Curri got started. Curri started four years ago. It all started with a pair of shoes! I was inter-viewing, along with four other firms, to renovate the Best Western Marina Grand on Shoreline Blvd. The owners are Ashvin and Shital Patel, father and son. I had these shoes on, they are really fun, they have little skulls on them. Shital saw my shoes and said, even though they liked what I had presented to them for the renovation and would have hired Dykema anyway, the shoes really sealed the deal! While working with them on the ren-ovation, I mentioned how difficult it is sometimes to find the textiles I need for my designs in the U.S. They invited me to their home in Ahmedabad, India and said I could find that kind of material and items I was look-ing for there. And from there, you started designing tunics and jewelry? Yes! I started researching India and realized they have very good tailors. On the first visit, I had 10 tunics made.

We went to Jaipur to find stones and jewelry items. When I got home, I sold everything in a week – just by word of mouth.

And now the business is really taking off, right? Yes. We first started doing trunk shows in homes in Austin and Washing-ton D.C. We started having Christmas shows, then we got into stores in Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Dallas. We are in Julian Gold, Sloan Hall and we are looking for a company to help us with marketing. Our inventory comes into a ware-house here in Corpus Christi where my son is in charge.

The Patels are your business partners? Yes. We go to India twice a year. No-one speaks English, the Patels translate. Being a female and not speaking the lan-guage, I couldn’t get in the door without them. It’s not tourist stuff. None of us have business degrees. We all work fulltime at other jobs where we are business people. We just did this and we became successful. We have an unusual business model because there is no middle man. It was very serendipitous for us all. I was at a point in my career where I could take a chance and Ashvin was at a point where he thought it would be fun to do something different. It was just the perfect time. People who know me are not surprised. It’s not that different from what I’ve been doing all along.

How has Curri changed the lives of the people you work with in India? Our tailor’s whole business has changed because of our business. Our jewelry manufacturer wanted to break into the American market so they did that through Curri. The people are so warm and em-bracing. We are not there to beat them down in price and they know that. My construction background comes in very handy – I’ve worked with subs and vendors all my life and I know that they have families to support just like I do. I re-spect that and honor that. I believe that is why I have such good relationships in business. Empathy really carries you a long way.

Where is your favorite place you have traveled to? I love Rome. I love Italy. The people are fantastic. You walk down the streets of Rome and you are surrounded by an-cient architecture. The people who live there walk past those buildings every day.

Who would you buy a beer for? My mom, even though she didn’t drink beer. My mother was the greatest and anyone that knew her would tell you that. –cw

Biby and John Dykema. Biby is wearing a tunic and some examples of the jewelry items one can find at curristyle.com and in local stores.


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HVAC & Plumbing

It’s all in the tilt wallLuis Higadera, General ManagerNOVIDESASan Antonio, TX

While construction companies and owners search for ways to stream-

line the building process, save on costs, and create sustainable and energy effi-cient designs, Luis Higadera, NOVIDESA, believes that insulated concrete tilt wall can help achieve all of these goals. “The benefit is that you have three steps in one,” explains Higadera. “Once you lift your panels, you have your con-crete, your metal stud and your insula-tion, and as a system, it’s more cost effec-tive than conventional construction.” By doing these three steps in one, Higadera says the panels save costs on labor, concrete and steel. In conventional

construction, once a concrete tilt wall is lifted, a subcontractor will put in the in-sulation and another subcontractor will put in the metal stud. Combining these three steps in one panel makes it less ex-pensive to install and more energy effi-cient in the long run. With expanded polystyrene (EPS) providing the insulation in these panels, they provide protection from hot and cold, and they mean lower electricity bills for the end user. Using the index that measures the heat transmission resis-tance of the wall, the R-value of the insu-lated concrete tilt wall is 20. Higadera cites the 2015 International Building Code as requiring continuous insulation with an R-value of 7 1/2, and points out that the panels exceed the code-required R-value by more than dou-ble. He also says that using conventional construction, if the builder or owner wants more insulation, will add to the cost of construction. In this sense, the NOVIDESA system is the same cost but has an R-value of 20. When the 2015 code was implement-ed, NOVIDESA came to San Antonio be-

cause the panels presented a convenient way to meet and exceed the code, Higa-dera explains. “The 2015 code requires a continu-ous insulation, and all of our products give you a continuous insulation,” he says. “What it means to have a continu-ous insulated wall with the R-value that we have is that you’re going to have a lower [electricity] bill on your building.” Another point Higadera makes is that the wall will be less thick than it would be in conventional construction, creating more space inside. The insulated concrete tilt wall will be 9 inches if you would use it in place of a 5 1/4-inch con-ventional concrete tilt wall. But as anoth-er benefit to having three pieces of the process in one, he says that when you add the metal stud and insulation to that conventional construction, the wall will be thicker than 9 inches. The insulated concrete tilt wall pan-els have been used for more than 20 years, he says, and NOVIDESA has been using them in Mexico and in the Rio Grande Valley, but this kind of panel is used across the world. The panels are

manufactured in Mexico, but the tech-nology was engineered in Italy. When NOVIDESA started in 2006, Hi-gadera recalls having to convince cus-tomers of the benefits, but as the years have passed, he observes that insulated concrete tilt wall is becoming more pop-ular because of its advantages, especially under the 2015 code. One example of the product’s use is a recent project in San Antonio with MD Construction, a concrete contractor, where NOVIDESA supplied insulated con-crete tilt wall for a retail commercial building on Potranco Road. Higadera es-timates that nine panels used in the build totaled about 5,000sf and were done in two-and-a-half days. NOVIDESA started in the Rio Grande Valley, and since arriving in San Antonio, Hi-gadera has worked with Diego Rodriguez, owner of MD Construction, on supplying materials for jobs. Higadera notes that Ro-driguez was the first subcontractor in the San Antonio area to be trained to work with the insulated concrete tilt wall. –mh

Economy strong, but labor shortage a stressor

Lance Halfmann, Vice-PresidentConScape Inc.Fort Worth, TX

What are the “hot button” issues in the industry?

It seems like the problem for contrac-tors across the board is a shortage of qualified labor, because the work is defi-nitely there – it’s been there for two years – but the labor is the issue. I think right now, with there being so much commercial work available, some-times your eyes get bigger than your stomach and you take on more work, or you get more work because everybody is spread so thin. A lot of times you take on jobs and the schedule is demanding and your labor force is so short you find your-self behind the eight ball before the job starts. What we’ve learned to do is to back off and take the work that we think we can handle so that we’re able to properly man our projects. I don’t want our cus-tomers upset with us or to think we’re not capable. We know the job, we know what we’re capable of and so we’re not going to extend beyond our means. We want to maintain quality and not just take on more than we can handle. I’ve heard that from many people, that there is so much good work out there that you almost have to rein your-

self in and not get overextended, be-cause then you’re into overtime hours and labor, which will eat up your profit margin.

How would you describe the state of the construction industry in general terms? I’ve been with ConScape 15 years, and business is as good as I have ever seen it. My dad, Charles Halfmann, who has been in this industry 48 years, said he’s only seen one other time that was comparable to this as far as the quality of work that’s available. There’s definitely an increase in busi-ness. As I said, we’re trying to stay level in what we can do. It’s awfully tempting to bid a lot of work but I have to temper that enthusiasm.

How is this increase affecting your company and how you conduct busi-ness? We’ve increased our labor and we’ve increased the pay of our employees, which is good for them, too. We’ve con-centrated on our margins and have been able to pick the work that suits us better. We don’t have to chase work that we’re

not suited for, and that’s what we’re lean-ing towards.

Have there been any recent changes in legislation affecting the concrete industry relating to transportation or the environment? I think change has been more local; with the increase in the amount of truck traffic, the Redi Mix suppliers are more conscious of the weight of their trucks going down the road; they seem to get stopped a lot [by police officers]. They have to be careful and conscious that they’re not overloading their trucks be-cause that could become a hazard. As far as legislation pertaining to us directly, nothing drastic has been hap-pening. All that has really affected us is the labor shortage.

What are the cost increases relating to your industry? Thank goodness fuel has leveled off. It has helped our bottom line, just with our day-to-day travels. I would say the general price increase as opposed to two

years ago, by roughly 20-35%, is in labor, and 25-35% in material. Rebar has been steady and forming material has been good. Concrete has been the increase that we’ve seen the most, along with la-bor.

What do you think is on the horizon for your industry? What we are looking for is anything equipment-wise that can reduce labor cost because of the shortage right now. We try to make sure that we are up to par on that. We’d like to keep that equipment running so we’re not working our labor too much; we’re more productive and more efficient that way. In our industry, pretty much every-thing is labor-driven, and we’re dependent on quality people. We’re just trying to re-tain what we have. Anything that will take care of our people is what we’re concen-trating on. If they’re happy, we’re happy.

ConScape Inc. in Fort Worth offers pav-ing, tilt wall panels, foundations and stamped concrete. –mjm


Association CalendarContent submitted by Associations to Construction News

ABC- Tx. Mid CoastAssociated Builders & Contractors

May 4: Member and Young Professionals Social at Victoria Country Club starting at 5:30pm. For more information, contact Kristi at 361-572-0299

AGC- Rio Grande Valley

Associated General Contractors

May 6: 2016 Spring Fundraising Golf Tournament at Palm View Golf Course in McAllen.Call (956) 423-4091 for more information.

AIA - Corpus ChristiAmerican Institute of Architects

May 17: Chapter meeting at Water Street Seafood Company, 309 N. Water St. Cor-pus Christi. 5:30pm Social, 6pm presenta-tion and meeting sponsor: BPI / Ameri-can Olean Program: AODSI6, Advanced Ceramic Tile Methods, Standards and Ma-

terials 1LU / HSW, NCIDQ, HDA Present-er: Tracy Robertson. RSVP to [email protected] or (361) 887-2124. Dinner is free to architects, associ-ates and allied members. Interns are $5 and other guests are $20 May 24: Lunch Time CEU at Silverado Smokehouse, 4522 Weber Rd., Corpus Christi. Sponsor: SmartVent. Present-er: Ryan Werda. Cost: $5/AIA Members, AIA Associate Members and AIA Corpus Christi Allied Members. Guests $8. RSVP: (361) 887-2124 or [email protected]

SCTMCSafety Council of the Texas Mid-Coast

May 3-5: OSHA 3115, Fall ProtectionMay 10-13: OSHA 3095, Electrical Stan-dards. To enroll in any of these classes, go directly to UTA OSHA Education Cen-ter, https://web-ded.uta.edu/wconnect/CourseStatus.awp?&Course=oshhom

continued from Page 1 — New day, new digs

continued from Page 1 —Steel style

continued from Page 1 — For the public good

Terracon’s Jorge A.

Flores, PG, (Pharr office

manager)presents

Lupe Lealwith his10-Year

Appreciation Award. –cw

AppreciatedSubmitted to Construction News

Once on the south side of Corpus Christi, the new location is now closer to the bayside. “It’s a lot more centralized in town,” Miller said. “It’s more visible and more convenient for clients and employees.” Miller said the firm is focusing most of its efforts on Corpus Christi and grow-ing the community. “We still work all over South Texas and the United States, as well,” he says. “However, currently our bread and but-ter is local commercial projects.” Some recent projects include a new

workforce development center at Del Mar College West Campus, a 48,000-sf, $14.5 million project; Kleberg Bank new executive headquarters; Salvation Army New Center of Hope; and a Harley David-son retail outlet in Laredo. The firm’s new location is already hosting events, including a recent Amer-ican Institute of Architects Corpus Chris-ti Chapter political advocacy event. Mill-er says at some point there will be an event to signify the opening of the new digs. –cw

front reception lobby is di-vided into radio and TV and there is a wing on building mostly for radio production and control and four sound rooms, along with a music library, space for news an-nouncers, a central meet-ing room and a central equipment room that houses big racks of elec-tronics and equipment that ties it all together, Gentry said. “The biggest room in there is the TV studio,” Gen-try said. “It houses all their TV cameras and production equipment.” The studio has supporting rooms, with audio and production control, and TV and editing rooms, which also work as sound rooms. The studio is very highly rated for sound. There are double walls with an in-sulated concrete roof. “There is all kinds of insulation in the walls and on top of the walls,” Gentry says. “You walk in there and you think there’s something funny going on with your head because there is no sound.” Other areas include prop storage ar-eas, restrooms, accounting and office space. One unique feature of the project is an outdoor performance plaza. It con-sists of a courtyard in the front with an exterior stage and a provision for pro-jecting videos onto the wall. Dykema Architects was the project architect and Biby Dykema, who has been active on the station’s board in the past, said she and husband John Dyke-ma visited plenty of pubic radio and TV stations to see what features worked the best. “Station management knew what they needed,” she says. “John and I toured other stations all over Texas so we confirmed what they needed. Del Mar was delightful to work with.” Josh Seahorn, partner at Dykema Architects, was the Dykema project man-ager. Challenges on the project consisted of several things, Gentry says.

“Weather was a challenge,” he said. “When we started we were in that big rain event - we had a lot of rain days on the project. “A lot of the sound issues were chal-lenging. It was not typical construction. We all learned a lot.” Designing extremely quiet mechani-cal systems also provided some challeng-es. “They had to be very quiet systems with low air flow,” Gentry says. “Installing large ducts in very confined spaces in the ceilings was really, really tight.” Gentry said that although there was lots of input from many people at the weekly meetings due to all the entities involved, everybody got along great. “Dykema was just fantastic to work with,” he said. “John and Biby and Josh are very cordial and easy to get along with. WKMC Architects [coordinating ar-chitect for Del Mar] was there to make sure we did things right and they did. Del Mar was very easy to work with as well. Don Dunlop is a very nice guy. Everybody involved was very nice to work with.” Gentry said Teal Construction also helped philanthropically by donating la-bor and materials throughout the proj-ect. Teal Construction, based in Houston with offices in Corpus Christi does both pri-vate and public work. The firm does all commercial with schools, auto dealerships, design-build, fire stations, libraries and a small amount of industrial. –cw

The brand new facility offers many upgrades to Corpus Christi’s public radio and television stations.

periodically. We like to do things together.” One of those things coming up is to help one of Andrews favorite charities, Habitat for Humanity, build a home in the local area. Teamwork also plays into the relationship the company has with its customers. “We will help them through their project with whatever they need and not just in sales, but afterwards, as well,” Andrews said.

Potential employees don’t need to have a lot of experience – or any – in the business, as long as they are willing to work and have the right attitude,” Andrews explained. “We look for someone who is energetic, takes pride in their work and wants a job,” she says. “Someone who wants to work as a team because that is what we stress here.” RSS was formed in 1991 and has branches in Austin, Belton, Odessa and Corpus Christi. –cw


AFC Builders in Pharr is framing a new Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers

restaurant in Weslaco. –cw

Raising a Cane’sConstruction News ON LOCATION

The smell of spring

A sunny day and the smell of smoking meat was the fare at the 2016 annual Associated General Con-tractors Rio Grande Valley Chapter’s Fajita Cook-

off and membership mixer Mar. 31 at the AGC headquar-ters in Harlingen. Twenty teams took place in the annual event. Congrats to the winners! –cw

Fajita 1st Place: L&G Concrete Construction People’s Choice: GP7 Construction

Pan de Campo 2nd Place: Terracon Consultants Inc.

Pan de Campo 1st Place: D&J Site Construction Co

Salsa 2nd Place: AD8 South Texas

Chicken 1st Place: United Rentals

Chicken 2nd Place: L&G Concrete Construction

Beans a la Charra 1st Place:NM Construction Co.

Salsa 1st Place: Terracon ConsultantsFajita 2nd Place: Alpha Building Corp.

Beans a la Charra 2nd Place: Camacho Demolition, LLC

HD Supply Waterworks

Raba Kistner

United Rentals

L&R Precast Concrete

Camacho Demolition


Moms of South Texas

On May 8 we celebrate those women who helped shape us into the people we are today –

our mothers and the women who were like mothers to us. After all, we all know that a mom’s hug lasts long after she lets go. We asked people to share photos of their mothers and tell us something she taught them that has helped them by successful. Happy Mother’s Day! –cw

My mother, Marge Huddleston Rode, taught us to live your life as Christ teaches

us with your words, actions and deeds. Submitted by Jennifer Rode Hartman, VCS

Companies, Victoria

This is my husband’s mother, Celia Omana. He calls her “ My Madrecita.” Fernando

Omana says that his mother taught him divine power and to see through the eyes of a person to feel their hearts. Submitted by Darlene Lee Omana, Gill Roofing Co. Inc.,

Corpus Christi

My mom and dad started the company years ago... she had a stroke and it left her paralyzed, but she is still our center.” L-R: Sarah Sagredo-Hammond, Yolanda Sagredo, Roy Sagredo Sr.,

Roy Sagredo Jr. Submitted by Sarah Sagredo-Hammond Atlas Electric, Air Conditioning, Refrigeration & Plumbing Services Inc., Alton

My mom, Christine Rendon, is my best friend. It’s not her words that inspire me as much as her way of life - she has a heart of gold and treats people with sincerity. I try to emulate that. Submitted by Stephanie

Rendon, Terracon, Pharr

On the right: Till this day my mother always says, “Stand

up for what is right.” She taught me to speak up for myself and others, and that

has helped me succeed in life. Pictured, my mother Olga Kiefer (Mimi) with my son, Miles James Scott. Submitted by Marissa

Mendez, Turner Industries, Corpus Christi

My mother, Blanca Gonzalez, a woman of few words, taught me morals and respect

where my success lies today. Submitted by Sylvia Quinones, Terracon, Pharr

My mother, Enriqueta Perez, was a stay-at-home mom, allowing us 15 children to

receive constant, nourishing attention while instilling in us the best family values.

Submitted by Ernestine P. Valadez, Academy Window Coverings, Corpus Christi

My mother, Hazel Lee, is very special. She always supported us in whatever we did, good or bad, she would stand beside us

always and support us in anything we decided to do. Submitted by Darlene Lee

Omana, Gill Roofing Co. Inc., Corpus Christi

My mother, Cindy Dujka, taught me work ethic and how wonderful a mother’s love

is. She’s amazing! Submitted by Kristi Stevenson, ABC Texas Mid-Coast Chapter,

Victoria

Documents

South Texas Construction News May 2016