Dry-Bulk and Industrial Supply Construction in Port Lavaca and Calhoun County

Remote plant sites reward builders who plan the haul as carefully as the building. Calhoun County has some of the largest chemical and plastics complexes on the coast, and the warehouses, dry-bulk sheds and contractor yards that serve them sit at the end of two-lane roads, away from the big metro supply chains. We build storage and supply buildings in Port Lavaca, Point Comfort and Seadrift, where materials, crews and equipment all have a long way to travel and the schedule has to reflect it.

The industrial base is large. A July 2017 Victoria Economic Development Corporation article reported that Formosa Plastics Corp. Texas was investing $5 billion in a plant expansion at Point Comfort, adding about 800 acres in Jackson County to bring the plant to 2,300 acres, and that the company had 2,066 full-time employees and 922 full-time contract staff in Calhoun County, according to a company spokesman. Dow's Seadrift Operations page says its site began operations in 1954 as a Union Carbide facility, spans about 4,700 acres, employs more than 1,200 people and includes nine production plants, eight owned by Dow and one owned by Braskem.

Those plants buy packaging, spares and services every day, and the buildings that hold them are what we put up.

Dry-bulk sheds, spares warehouses and contractor yards

The Calhoun Port Authority states that its Point Comfort dry bulk dock is 700 feet long with a current depth of 38 feet, and that its liquid product piers have a 38-foot current depth with a 47-foot design depth, all measured at Mean Lower Low Water. Dry bulk calls for a covered storage building with push walls, a floor that tolerates loader traffic and a conveyor or truck loading arrangement. We build such sheds with concrete walls to the push height, a roof that keeps material dry and ventilation to control dust.

Spares warehouses and contractor yards are conventional, but the yard is bigger than the building and the pavement is thicker. Our industrial concrete floors and site utilities package work form the base for each.

Fire protection deserves its own line. A shed full of dry material and a warehouse full of packaging carry different fire loads, and the insurer for a plant vendor will have its own view. We bring the sprinkler designer into the first set of drawings, price water supply and a fire pump early where the municipal main is far away, and confirm the access roads that a fire truck needs to reach every side of the building.

Tide, wind and low ground

A National Hurricane Center update dated August 26, 2017 reported that a NOAA tide gauge at Port Lavaca recently measured a water level of 6.2 feet above Mean Higher High Water. For a builder this is a reminder that parts of this shoreline are low and that water can rise well above normal tide. We check the parcel elevation and the flood zone at the beginning, set the finished floor above the mapped elevation and avoid putting critical equipment on the ground floor.

On a dry-bulk building, we also think about how water would enter and where the material would go if it did. Sealed footings, raised thresholds and grades that drain away from the building are low-cost features that protect the stored goods. The Freeport and Victoria pages describe two nearby markets where the same questions apply in different forms.

Getting crews and materials to a remote site

The Calhoun Port Authority's directions route traffic from Victoria on US 87 south to Port Lavaca, then onto Texas 35 toward Point Comfort. That is a modest road network for oversize loads, panel deliveries and concrete trucks, so we coordinate deliveries with county and state requirements and plan haul times to avoid peak plant shift changes.

We also bring more of the workforce planning into the schedule. Remote sites often require crews to travel, and lodging near the plants can be tight when a turnaround is underway. We plan around those periods or schedule the critical work ahead of them. The ability to hold the schedule is worth more to many plant vendors than a lower price.

Plant vendors and the people who supply them

The Formosa article reported that the expansion would add about 140 permanent jobs in Jackson County and 200 in Calhoun County, and that the plant paid about 33 percent of the taxes in Calhoun County. The fiscal weight of the plants means the vendors who serve them are stable, long-term tenants. They include packaging, pallet and chemical-handling suppliers, contract warehousing firms and electrical and mechanical contractors.

These tenants fit the profile of manufacturing distribution more than retail. Their buildings are plain, durable and sized to inventory rather than to an image. We keep the design simple and focus the budget on the slab, the roof, the docks and the yard.

Premiums for distance and lessons for pricing

The extra cost of a remote building is not in the structure itself but in mobilization, travel time, equipment rental and material delivery. We separate those items in the estimate so an owner can see what the location costs and what the building costs. Where the program allows, we reduce on-site labor by using prefabricated components such as metal wall panels and precast elements.

Developers comparing locations may also want the Corpus Christi page, which describes a larger market with more subcontractors nearby, and the speculative warehouse shell page, which explains the risks and rewards of building ahead of a tenant in a smaller market.

Send the plant schedule

Tell us the material, the throughput and the plant dates you have to meet, and we will return a building concept with a haul plan and a schedule.

Common Questions

Is it better to build a dry-bulk shed or a conventional warehouse?

If the material is loose and moves by loader, a bulk shed with push walls is correct. If it is bagged or palletized, a conventional warehouse is more flexible and easier to reuse. We ask about the material, the handling equipment and the throughput before recommending either.

How does remote location affect cost?

Travel, mobilization and delivery costs rise, and the labor pool is smaller. We show these items separately and look for ways to prefabricate or schedule around plant turnarounds.

How do you handle tide and surge risk?

We set the finished floor above the mapped flood elevation, raise sensitive equipment and design drainage to move water away from the building. We use the best available flood information for each parcel.

Can I build a spec building here?

It is possible, but the market is smaller and the tenants are tied to a few large plants. We usually recommend a build-to-suit or a pre-lease for the first building and a phased site plan for later ones.

How do oversize deliveries get to the site?

Over the area highways, with permits and escorts where needed. We plan the route and timing with the state and county, and we schedule deliveries away from shift changes.

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