Georgia pipeline contractor Latex Construction is known for its reliability, and says it earned this reputation through quality work.
Latex Construction Co.’s dedication to quality, safety and the environment sets it apart from other mainline pipeline construction contractors in the industry, says Eddie Davis, manager of business development, safety and compliance. The Conyers, Ga.-based company brings more than 60 years of experience to its projects and thereby boasts a level of expertise that most of its competitors do not have, he explains.
“Latex ranks six or seven out of the top-10 union pipeline contractors in the United States, and we’re the only one that’s still privately owned,” Davis notes. Latex Construction’s staff of 30 seasoned professionals bolsters its expertise, he says, and the fact that most have been with the company for 20-plus years is a testament to its reliability.
Founded in 1946, “Latex Construction has more than [60] years of exceptional pipeline building experience, making it an industry leader in providing construction services that provide for on-time and on-target projects,” the company says.
Throughout the decades, Latex Construction diversified its service scope to include large-diameter, cross-country transmission pipelines; hydrostatic testing; meter and regulatory stations; fabricated assemblies and facilities rehabilitation. Its bread and butter continues to be pipeline construction, predominantly with pipes that are 16 inches in diameter or larger, Davis says.
Investing in Quality
With a Dun and Bradstreet rating of AAAA1, Latex Construction says it enjoys one of the largest bonding capacities in its industry. In addition, the company owns and maintains a large fleet of heavy construction equipment at its headquarters. This includes backhoes, bulldozers, pickup trucks, tractor-trailers, pipe layers and pipe-bending machinery. “In the past few years, we’ve had the opportunity to invest in some newer machines,” Davis notes.
This was a smart move on the company’s part because it literally pays to purchase new equipment at the right place and at the right time, he says. “When there is not a lot of work going on out there, you try to purchase the machines before it gets to a point where you have to pay premium dollars because you know you’re going to need them,” Davis says.
Safety Comes First
After successfully completing the Rocky Express pipeline project for Kinder Morgan in February 2008, Latex Construction was invited to work on a pipeline project in Louisiana the following month. The project called for 132 miles of 42-inch pipe, 15 miles of which were constructed from a lay barge in the middle of Lake Sabine.
“It was probably about six to eight feet deep, and the pipe had to be about eight feet below the bottom of the bed of the lake,” Davis says. “That was a big challenge because you could not access the first 35 miles without a boat, so we had to have specialized people put a barge together for us to work off.”
To make matters worse, hurricanes Gustav and Ike visited the site. “These two storms set us back, and we’ve had several million dollars of equipment damage and loss,” Davis continues. “But, luckily, there was no damage to the line itself that could not be repaired prior to installation. We had an evacuation plan already in place, and it worked just like we had planned it out.”
Latex Construction has “a very good safety program in place,” Davis adds. “If you look at our records, incident rates, lost-time rates and workers’ compensation, they are significantly better than the industry standard, and I think a lot of it has to do with training – getting employees actively involved in a safety program instead of just looking at the numbers,” Davis says. “We want our people to take ownership of our safety program.”
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