ABC Honors Award Winning Firms, Projects

From craft championships to safety excellence, Texas firms topped several lists of ABC award winners.

Five Texas Firms Place in ABC National Craft Championships

The Associated Builders and Contractors announced the winners in its 2008 National Craft Championships competition.

A field of 135 craft professionals competed in 11 different areas. Competitors took a two-hour written exam and competed in daylong hands-on craft projects.

Texas winners include a silver award in the fire sprinkler category, which went to Ron Christopher McKnight of Firetrol Protection Systems Inc. of Dallas. A gold award in millwright went to Kerry Melton of RPM Services Inc. of Iowa Colony. Joseph Nutt of The Shaw Group Inc. of Houston took a silver award in the millwright category. Addison M. Greenway of Fluor Corp. of Irving took a gold award in welding. And Curtis Compton of Zachry Construction Corp. of San Antonio took a silver award in welding.

ABC Recognizes National Safety Excellence, Top Construction Projects. The Associated Builders and Contractors recognized presented the 18th annual Excellence in Construction and National Safety Excellence awards during celebration at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.

Among the safety winners are Texas firms Leonard Contracting Inc. of San Antonio and Zachry Plant Services of Victoria, general contractor; G.R. Birdwell Construction of Houston and Triple “S” Industrial Corp. of Lumberton, heavy/civil engineering contractor; and Big D Metalworks of Dallas, specialty contractor.

Among the excellence award winners were Texas firms KPost Co. of Dallas for the University of Texas-Dallas Natural Science and Engineering Research Building in Richardson for exterior. PageSoutherlandPage of Dallas was the architect.

For interior, Baker Drywall of Dallas won for the Our Children’s House at Baylor in Dallas. The architect was PageSoutherlandPage.

For mechanical-commercial under $2 million, TDIndustries of Houston won for its work on Westway Park in Houston for client/owner Satterfield & Pontikes of Houston. The architect/engineer was Kirksey and DBR Engineering, both of Houston.

In the mechanical over $10 million category, DynaTen Corp. of Fort Worth won for the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Residences in Dallas. HKS of Dallas was the architect.

In the other specialty construction category, Haley-Greer of Dallas was the general contractor for the Mosaic in Dallas, designed by Merriman Associates/Architects of Dallas.

Middleman Construction Co. of San Antonio won in the commercial $10 to $25 >> million category for the La Arcata Development in San Antonio. Architects were MDN Architects of San Antonio and RKP Architects of Austin.

In the $25 to $99 million commercial category, SpawGlass of San Antonio won for the McAllen Convention Center. The architect was Gignac and Associates of Corpus Christi.

For the health care under $5 million category, contractor Austin Commercial of Dallas won for the Special Care Nursery at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas. Architects were HKS and CCRD Partners, both of Dallas.

For health care $10 to $25 million, Gilbane Building Co. of Houston won for the Children’s Medical Center of Dallas Ambulatory Care Center-Pavilion Renovations. Dallas-based HKS Inc was the architect.

Austin-based Hensel Phelps Construction Co. won the $15 to $25 million industrial category for the DART Service and Inspection Facility Expansion Phase II. Architect/engineer was Halff Associates of Richardson.

Performance Contractors of Freeport won the $55 to $99 million industrial category for the MTBV P/P Splitter IV Project ISBL/OSBL in Mount Belvieu. S&B Engineers & Constructors Ltd. of Houston was the engineer.

For the infrastructure/heavy category, Fort Worth-based AUI Contractors won for the BNSF Intermodal Facility Expansion in Haslet Architect/engineer was Multatech of Dallas.

Adolfson & Peterson Construction of Richardson won the institutional under $5 million category for the Head Start of Greater Dallas at Brookhaven College. The architect was T. Howard & Associates of Dallas.

For $10 to $25 million institutional, American Constructors LP of Austin won for the Rooster Springs Elementary School. Fields & Associates of Austin was the architect.

For mega-projects more than $100 million, White Construction Co. of Austin won for the Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas in Austin. Architect/engineer was Karlsberger Architecture of Columbus, Ohio.

Crawford Renovation CEO Named Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist

Ben Crawford, CEO of Houston-based Crawford Renovation, was a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2008 Award. He was a regional winner for the Houston & Gulf Coast Area.

The program recognizes entrepreneurs who demonstrate success in the areas of innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Crawford was selected from about 400 nominations by an independent panel.

Regional award winners are eligible for consideration for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year national program. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the overall national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award winner, will be announced at the annual awards gala on Nov. 15.

Texans Named Distinguished Members of Civil Engineers Society

Three Texans were among 11 civil engineers named as distinguished members of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the society’s highest accolade.

The new distinguished members will be inducted Nov. 6 at ASCE’s annual conference.

Among the 2008 distinguished members are James D. “Don” Murff, Jerry R. Rogers, and C. Michael Walton. Murff is an industry consultant and visiting professor at Texas A&M University in College Station. Rogers is a professor at the University of Houston. Walton is a professor of civil engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.

BakerTriangle Purchases Palo Verde Drywall

Mesquite-based BakerTriangle purchased Palo Verde Drywall of Phoenix, Ariz. It will be a sixth location for BakerTriangle, which has offices in five Texas cities

Houston American Subcontractor Association Names Exec. Director

Anna Farris joined the American Subcontractors Association-Houston Chapter as executive director.

Farris has more than 15 years experience with construction industry trade issues at the local, state and federal level. Most recently, she served as the government affairs coordinator for the Associated Builders and Contractors of Houston.

Austin AIA Presents Design, Honor Awards

The recently presented 2008 AIA Austin Honor Awards included individual awards and the 2008 Design Awards Competition.

Tom Hatch was presented with the John V. Nyfeler FAIA Community Service Award; Stephen Oliver was awarded the Young Architectural Professional; George Adams took the Edwin Waller Award for Public Architecture; Limbacher and Godfrey Architects won the Firm Achievement Award; and Susan Welker won the President’s Award.

AIA Austin reviewed 68 entries and made the following honor awards selections: Mell Lawrence Architects for concrete studio and M.J. Neal Architects for pilates studio.

Citations of Honor went to Dick Clark Architecture for the 04 Lofts; Miro Rivera Architects for the Residence 1414 renovation; and PageSoutherlandPage for the U.S. Courthouse at Alpine.

Merit Awards were presented to FAB Architecture for the Capps’ Loft and Mell Lawrence Architects for Watersmark 35.

Atlantic Industrial Acquired by The Brock Group

Houston-based The Brock Group acquired Columbia, Md.-based Atlantic Industrial Inc.

Atlantic’s operating subsidiaries, Atlantic Scaffolding in LaPorte and Atlantic Plant Services in Joliet, Ill., will continue under the leadership of Craig Kaple and Darryl Schimeck, respectively. Kaple and Schimeck will report to Michael McGinnis, president of The Brock Group.

Skanska Expands Houston Office

Skanska USA Building Inc. expanded its Houston office in the Galleria area. Skanska has operated in the Greater Houston Area for more than eight years on projects including Reliant Stadium. The office is working on projects in Harris, Fort Bend and nearby counties.

Design Professionals Hone Craft With Sandcastle Contest

The AIA SandCastle Committee, led by Joe Powers with Powers Brown Architecture, announced the winners from the stage. Haynes Whaley Associates was named the 2008 “Golden Bucket” winner.

Architects, engineers and design professionals from across Texas met in Galveston to compete in one of the world’s largest sand castle competitions.

The Houston Chapter of the AIA hosts the annual event. More than 80 teams competed for the Golden Bucket award, which went to Haynes Whaley Associates.

Bartlett Cocke Makes Management Changes

San Antonio-based Bartlett Cocke General Contractors took another step in its planned leadership transition announcing that Duane Pozza will remain chairman of the employee-owned company but will turn over the title and responsibilities of CEO to Randy Pawelek, a 27-year employee of Bartlett Cocke. Pawelek will serve as president and CEO.

Harry Moeller has been promoted to executive vice president. Moeller will be responsible for estimating, marketing, human resources and accounting. Tally “T.J.” Rogers has been promoted to vice president of estimating. Nathan Olson is being promoted to division manager of special projects.