Texas &amp; Louisiana On the Scene: December 2019

Texas & Louisiana On the Scene: December 2019

In celebration of Careers in Construction Month, ABC Pelican, along with 60 construction and industry companies and businesses, recently hosted about 1,000 high school students from across south Louisiana at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center to learn about the career possibilities in construction.

*PHOTO COURTESY ABC PELICAN*

HNTB Corp. recently donated its collection of Congress Avenue Bridge photos to the Austin History Center.

*PHOTO COURTESY HNTB CORP.*

The Lemoine | Manhattan team gathered on Oct. 10 at Lafayette Regional Airport to celebrate the topping out of the new Lafayette terminal and supporting infrastructure project.

*PHOTO COURTESY LEMOINE | MANHATTAN*

CobbFendley's can sculpture of Rafiki from “The Lion King” took home the Structural Ingenuity award from Canstruction Houston this year.

*PHOTO COURTESY COBBFENDLEY*

In celebration of Careers in Construction Month, ABC Pelican, along with 60 construction and industry companies and businesses, recently hosted about 1,000 high school students from across south Louisiana at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center to learn about the career possibilities in construction. This was the largest Build Your Future Day that ABC Pelican has hosted in its chapter history.

Sarah Varner (far left) with Brown and Root Industrial Services represented her company at the event. Varner, a third-generation construction worker, showed students from Maurepas High School a pipefitting demonstration.

The educational event included approximately 60 construction-related demonstrations and exhibits. Ninth through 12th grade students safely interacted with various pieces of heavy equipment and simulators in order to understand how the equipment functions. They also viewed power tool demonstrations.

Several local contractors also set up onsite performance verification trailers to show students the various components of working in the electrical, instrumentation and pipefitting fields.

Louisiana currently has the fifth highest demand for craft professionals, according to ABC Pelican, making it critical for the industry to recruit the next generation of craft professionals.

HNTB Corp. recently donated its collection of Congress Avenue Bridge photos to the Austin History Center. The photos were presented by Michelle Dippel (at left), HNTB’s vice president and South and Central Texas office leader. HNTB’s founder, Ernest Howard, was among those who designed the bridge in 1910.

The concrete arch bridge had been known as the Congress Avenue Bridge until 2006, when it was renamed the Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge in honor of the late Texas governor.

The Lemoine | Manhattan team gathered on Oct. 10 at Lafayette Regional Airport to celebrate the topping out of the new Lafayette terminal and supporting infrastructure project. The new terminal, a $90-million investment, will drastically expand airport operations and is expected to increase passenger services 40% by 2025.

The ceremonial topping out beam was signed by Lemoine | Manhattan team members, Lafayette Regional Airport leadership and regional officials. The beam, being raised in a stairwell space of the terminal, will be left exposed in celebration of all who worked to transform the airport’s vision into reality.

CobbFendley's can sculpture of Rafiki from “The Lion King” took home the Structural Ingenuity award from Canstruction Houston this year. CobbFendley’s team used more than 5,000 cans to build Rafki and his sun wall. The rest of the can structures were displayed at the George R. Brown Convention Center through Nov. 17, after which all the cans were taken down and donated to the Houston Food Bank.