The Midtown Express team played host to one of five national Safety Week kick-off events. Executives from Kiewit, Austin Industries and the Texas Dept. of Transportation were on hand to talk about the power of safe choices and to tour the project. The team was encouraged to finish the project with a strong safety mind-set. The Midtown Express is being constructed by SouthGate Constructors, a joint venture between Kiewit Infrastructure South Co. and Austin Bridge & Road. The project widens and rebuilds SH 114, SH 183 and Loop 12 between Tarrant and Dallas counties, with construction scheduled to be complete in late 2018.



On a March 23 site visit to the Midlothian Balancing Reservoir (MBR), the project team marked the occasion with a fried chicken lunch inside a 120-in.-dia outlet pipe—thus reenacting a 1927 photo of a banquet inside an Amarillo storm sewer that adorns the office of  Freese and Nichols. The MBR is a 450-million-gallon, three-cell reservoir located on a high point south of Midlothian in the Integrated Pipeline (IPL) system. Freese and Nichols led the reservoir design team, along with consultants from Nathan D. Maier, while Black & Veatch provided design services for the yard pipe. Thalle Midlothian Partners began construction on the MBR at the end of 2014. The reservoir is expected to begin service this summer.



McCarthy Building Cos. held the 18th annual McCarthy Dallas Charity Golf Classic on May 11 at The Tribute Golf Club in The Colony, Texas. McCarthy hosted more than 130 golfers, the biggest tournament in event history. Participants raised $55,000 to benefit Mi Escuelita Preschool of Dallas through sponsorships, raffles, on-course games and a donation by McCarthy. This year, Mi Escuelita Preschool will grow from five to 10 locations across the Dallas area.

Pictured, from left: Joe Jouvenal, McCarthy Southern region senior vice president of operations; Kurt Knebel, McCarthy Southern region executive vice president of operations; Gayle Nave, CEO of Mi Escuelita; Ray Sedey, McCarthy Southern region president; Charlie Buescher, McCarthy Southern region vice president of business development; Tom Valant, McCarthy COO; and Mike Schulte, McCarthy vice president of finance.



PBK Houston competed in the 10th Annual IIDA Product Runway, a competition where design teams are challenged to create a runway style look made entirely out of special materials such as upholstery, ceramic tile and even furniture parts and pieces. This year’s theme was “Meet Me at the Met,” and each team was given a specific high-fashion designer to look to for inspiration for their own couture creations. PBK was assigned Rei Kawakubo, a Japanese fashion designer in Tokyo and Paris. Jakilyn Jensen modeled the PBK team’s design, which was created using tile, vinyl and furniture upholstery. Additional team members included Kathy Pflughoeft, Brittany Spann, Duraiya Khan, Ashley Kolar and Morgan Velez. This year, PBK took home the award for crowd favorite.