TxDOT Awards Freeway Contract; Overpass Will Improve Safety and Provide Access to TPCO Pipe Plant Site Near Gregory

April 12, 2011

Construction work will begin soon on a new overpass and freeway improvements that will enhance safety and provide better access to the proposed $1 billion TPCO America Corp. plant at Gregory.

In March the Texas Department of Transportation awarded an $11.9 million contract to Haas-Anderson Construction for the overpass and extension of the State Highway 35 freeway at Gregory. The project will include improvements at the SH 35 intersection with FM 136 including U-Turn lanes under the freeway. This intersection already handles a significant volume of heavy truck traffic and will be used by trucks going to and from the TPCO facility.

The project will include a overpass/underpass at the intersection of SH 35 and FM 136 and will provide access improvements to the 252 acres that are the site of the proposed $1 billion TPCO America Corp. plant. Highway access to the plant site from State Highway 361 is blocked by a Union Pacific rail yard which will also provide rail service to TPCO. All truck and employee traffic will enter and exit from the SH 35 frontage road. The new underpass at FM 136 will allow traffic to U-turn and get back to US 181 heading either to Corpus Christi or to the northwest.

>Contractors build new frontage road for SH 35 in June 2011

Representatives of TPCO America Corp. are continuing to work with the Water District on alternatives for providing water to the company's proposed mini mill and seamless steel pipe manufacturing operation.

Don Roach, District assistant general manager, told the Water District Board of Directors that options being considered include an expansion of the District's Plant C microfiltration capacity to accommodate TPCO's water requirements.

A 4 million gallon per day (Mgd) expansion of Plant C to serve municipal customers has been underway for the past 18 months and is now substantially complete. Plant C now has a capacity of 16 Mgd and is designed so that it can be incrementally expanded up to 40 Mgd.

In 2010 TPCO America won approval of a required state air quality permit for its proposed pipe plant. Company representatives have indicated that initial site preparation construction may start during 2011. The company announced plans for the plant in 2009.

TPCO America is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tianjin Pipe (Group) Corp. which is one of the world’s largest seamless steel pipe manufacturers.  The Gregory plant would be TPCO’s first facility in North America and would be built to serve oil & gas exploration and production markets in the Americas and West Africa.  Recycled scrap steel would be delivered to the plant for processing.  The mini mill would melt down the scrap using an electric arc furnace to produce steel for the pipe production operation.

The Water District has a long history of working with industrial water users and provides various grades of treated water and untreated water to industrial customers under long-term contract. Water rates are set by the District Board of Directors based on the cost of production and delivery. Industrial customers pay the full cost of producing and delivering the grade of water they require.

>Contractors install new drainage structures on the west side of SH 35 in June 2011.