HUGHES, TEC TAKE ON TOUGH JOBS WITH SPECIALIZED MACHINES

When you see the trucks and machines for Mobile, Ala.based Hughes Plumbing and Utility Contractors Inc rolling from site to site along the Gulf Coast, what comes to mind is another plumbing and underground utility installation job. The second thought and question that probably comes to mind is why are the machines so big for this type of work?

Preston W. Hughes III, owner of Hughes Plumbing and Utility Contractors, has been on a rapid rise in the size and scope of his jobs from the company’s inception in 1996. Starting from a small-scaled company, Hughes has built up his operation and now has subsidiary companies that complement his current projects.

Partnering with a reliable equipment distributor has been an important role in the company’s growth. Hughes choice has continued to be Tractor & Equipment Company (TEC).

With ongoing projects at McDuffie Island Coal Terminal and Pinto Island, Ala., Hughes currently is utilizing a pair of Komatsu machines on some rather specialized work for the Alabama State Port Authority. One of the machines is a fairly new Komatsu PC 290LC machine with a Wilco Manufacturing amphibious undercarriage and a Young Corporation long reach boom/stick configuration with a 1.25 cu. yd. bucket. Not your average machine for a plumbing and utilities company.

The other Komatsu machine on the site is a tried-and-true PC 300LC that Hughes has owned for more than 15 years and that has been working in a tough environment with an Add-A-Boot stick extension and a 72 in. bucked for material stock piling.

On this site, coal is offloaded from rail cars onto ship containers. The coal dust and small particles that fall to the ground and gather near the rail lines eventually washes into various areas on the island from storm water and is periodi-

Louisiana-based Wilco Manufacturing installed the undercarriage and made this machine an amphibious Komatsu.

cally pumped into designated holding ponds. The coal eventually settles out of the storm water and is removed from the ponds to be stock piled, dried, processed, then eventually sold as an alternative source of fuel.

The other phase of stockpiling and removal of material is for dredge management on the islands. The dredge material management areas (DMMA) are created from the dredged material that is pumped from the port into this area. This includes soil and any other materials that have washed into the port and have essentially raised the bottom of the river. With many of the container ships coming into port and drafting at 50 ft., depth has to be monitored very closely.

Hughes started working with the Port Authority in 2019 at its Pinto Island facility removing and hauling away its

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