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CONSTRUCTION
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The Industry’s Newspaper Page 5
www.constructionnews.net H (210) 308-5800 H Volume 15 H Number 6 H JUNE 2018
Building up a teardown
Concrete from Wimberley
Building Abatement Demolition (BAD) Company Inc.’s Jud Stringer
The Myers Concrete Construction team.
J
ud Stringer owns a construction company, yet he doesn’t have the “building gene” his father, uncles and cousins do. “Most of my family members are master carpenters. There isn’t anything they couldn’t build, but I don’t necessarily have the ability to build a doghouse!” Stringer explains. “I’ve tried it and it doesn’t work out very well; I’m not sure why. I learned at a young age that building was not for me.” However, tearing down buildings was. At age 17, Stringer began doing asbestos abatement and demolition. It was only meant to be a summer job, but the solid wage and freedom made it too attractive to quit. A few years later, he began working for Austin-based abate-
ment and demolition company Southwest Constructors and earned his supervisor’s license in 1995. He then joined Basic Industries for seven years, first as a supervisor before moving up to division manager. When a merger threatened his job security, Stringer established Building Abatement Demolition (BAD) Company Inc. in 2008 and worked hard to overcome the ramping-up recession. “It was a rough row to hoe for a solid three to four years, and then it got better,” he says. “Now, we stride pretty well. We’ve hit our plateau to where we are comfortable doing what we have and we know our limits.” continued on Page 16
N
estled in the beautiful Texas hill country, a small concrete contractor with a big reputation calls Wimberley home. In the late ‘70s, Randy Myers worked for various homebuilders while in high school. It was during that time the young Randy saw the need for a concrete contractor in the Wimberley area. After graduating high school, he started up his own concrete company, Myers Concrete Construction. But home building didn’t spark his interest in construction. No, his interest was sparked years ago as a young boy. Raised by a single-mom, Myers’s grandfather, who worked in construction, would take him to work with him. It was the experiences with his grandpa
where he learned to love the industry and found his niche. Since 1977, Myers Concrete Construction has been doing concrete work, asphalt and excavation. While the company’s excavation is in conjunction with the concrete and asphalt work they perform, they also perform excavation for ranch roads. In the early days, Charlene Myers, president of Myers Concrete recalls, “we used to do a lot of low water crossings and dams. We don’t do much of that anymore, but early on, Myers did a lot of that in Wimberley.” The company has come a long way since the early days. Today, Myers Concrete can be seen on jobsites from Austin continued on Page 16
Luxury with garden-style appeal
T
he Hilton chain of hotels has introduced another luxury hotel to Austin, the Hilton Garden Inn, Austin Airport. Located just three miles from the airport and five miles from downtown Austin, this modern style hotel is a welcomed feature to the Texas hill country. Built on the philosophy of open communication and partnering with clients rather than being adversarial, McComb Construction Company Inc. was the perfect fit for the construction of the new 92,000sf facility. Construction was completed in 20 months at a cost of $13.8 million. Constructed of structural and light gauge steel with structural concrete at each floor, the 149-room hotel offers a full bar for its guests, banquet and kitchen facilities, business center, convenience shop, guest laundry facility, garden grille, fitness center, sparkling outdoor pool, patio and fire pit. Hilton Garden Inn Austin Airport is
Hilton Garden Inn Austin Airport located at 7610 John Glenn Way.
not the typical prototype Hilton Garden Inn. The owner and architect added many custom features to make this the premier property to be near the airport. “When we broke ground at the beginning of 2016, it started raining and we didn’t think it would ever stop. We had over 24 in. of rain in the first six months of the project. Just prior to breaking ground, we decided to completely redesign the foundation system from a drilled-pier, slab-on-grade to a driven steel pile, elevated structural steel slab. This required several months to re-engineer and resubmit to the City of Austin for re-review of our permit,” said Keith McComb, owner and president of McComb Construction. Keith McComb also acted as Sr. Project Manager alongside Project Manager Daniel Landeros. Together, they worked closely with JC Crowdus & Associates, the project’s architectural firm to overcome obstacles and maintain the luster continued on Page 16