Our story today takes us to South Texas.

In late 1980, Valero Energy Corporation invited H. B. Zachry Company to join with Saber Energy, Inc., a Valero partner, to build a state-of-the-art refinery in Corpus Christi. This refinery was not only the biggest one the company had ever built, it was also the biggest residual oil refinery in the U.S. at that time, and one of very few such refineries in the world.

The site was vast at 250 acres – equivalent to 200 football fields. The cracking tower (which breaks long-chain hydrocarbons into more useful shorter ones) was 285 feet tall. The job required 51,000 cubic yards of concrete, 6,500 tons of structural steel, 655,000 feet of pipe, and more than 3,300,000 feet of cable. Logistics were nightmarish, and schedules were tight. The project was nevertheless completed on time, 24 months after the original project invitation, and it signaled a giant step forward in refinery construction.

Since then the company has expanded into many other areas, but refineries remain a key part of the overall business.