A contingent of the Weeks Marine Houston team hosted PDCA at their offices; standing in the photo were (L-R) Lars Olsen, Mario Wong, Hiram Olvera, Arun Bhalaik, and Chantel George. This was one of several visits to Texas members' offices PDCA made in April. In addition to meeting remarkable, deep foundations professionals at each company, we often encountered interesting displays and/or relics that caught our attention. See the following photos which show some of our unique findings:
Piling, Inc. in Texas City is as unique of a contractor's office as you will find. Founded in 1931 by Eulies Nunez, the company has been family run ever since. Fourth generation family member and current President Kristian Dietel reads a back-issue of PileDriver at his late grandfather's desk. He is surrounded by artifacts from all over the world that Jack Godard collected during his extensive travels. The second-generation owner (shown in the painting on the left) operated the business from 1940-1980, a period of significant growth both in the business and in the coastal Texas region. Randy Dietel is Kristian's dad and current Piling, Inc. CEO. He is a former PDCA President.
(L-R) Civil Engineer Arjin Dogan and newly appointed Director of Business Development Erica Ferens welcome us to JD Fields & Co. Houston office in the award-winning Wortham Tower.
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(L-R) Mac Rotan, Anson Moore, Matt Paradeaux at Apex Steel Pipe pose under the boldly displayed Arkansas Razerback, one of many Hog relics found at company HQ.
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(L-R) Paul Stoll, George Smith, Pablo Cerda, John Miles showed us around the facilities and grounds at Pileco, Inc.
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The company moved into its brand new, Conroe-based headquarters in early 2022.
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On display at their new office is this model of a fictitious jobsite created by longtime friend and former employee Bardo Cuellar.
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(L-R) Noel Gibbings, Chris Barberi walked us around the home office at Flexicore of Texas; in addition to heightened PC/PS concrete pile production, the team was preparing for the annual company crawfish boil marking its 70th anniversary!
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Notable at Flexicore was art displayed at the facility. This impressionistic painting of a rainbow trout hangs above President Kathy Dockery's desk. Q/C dept. supervisor Alvin Bateman painted this and nearly 12 other works on display at the company.
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 (L-R) Pascal Bayle, Charley Jewett shared exciting developments at Pipe & Tube Supplies, including the recent addition of new SVP David Toups (not pictured). |
 A custom-made, company smoker greets all visitors and feeds the Pipe & Tube Supplies team for various staff functions. |
 Not only did fabrication manager Alex Trevino build the cooker, he is also the official company pitmaster! |
 Amy Cristiani (L) serves on the PDCA Communications Committee, in addition to fulfilling her marketing duties which support Mark Hunter (R) and the team at THI Pipe and Piling. |
 During our visit to the Katy, TX pipe supplier, we noticed a signed/framed Brian Urlacher football jersey dating back to his days as a student athlete at University of New Mexico; Hunter, too played football for the Lobos and proudly displays the memorabilia of the famous alum and NFL superstar. |
 Mason Construction hosted PDCA at their Beaumont offices. The team is in the early stages of a significant expansion of a Port Arthur facility that will one day produce sustainable aviation fuel. The project is one of the first initiatives made possible by the federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). |
 Eric Lincoln at American Pole & Timber is widely known for distribution of timber pilings, notably the 'gun barrel' poles he supplied for a Saudi Arabia project in 2018. He explained to us that his diversified his inventory includes a popular new piling product from Shoreline Plastics (pictured). |
 Returning member Julius Taylor (L) of Taylor Marine Construction, Inc. recently moved to a new office in San Leon, TX. When we visited, he was still unpacking his belongings, including two mounted and framed news articles about his company, that published in PileDriver magazine several years ago. |
