Connecting Texas: Roads and bridges connect us

Even the Romans knew about the importance of roads and bridges, yet most folks today climb into a vehicle and head off to daily destinations without thinking about the pavement underneath them that makes it possible. It’s akin to flipping a light switch or turning on a water faucet. We simply do it.

But there’s much more to it than that, and a new book, Connecting Texas, aims to give the public a better understanding and appreciation of the roads and bridges they use to get from Point A to Point B. Through the stories of road builders, from trade associations to construction workers, and the tales of those who have benefited from our Texan infrastructure, readers will get the bigger picture. And it’s a big picture: Texans drive some 540 million miles every day!

One major player responsible for those roads and bridges is Doug Pitcock, who flirted with bankruptcy a couple times after forming Houston-based Williams Brothers Construction with two partners in 1955. He eventually bought out his partners and built the company into one of the biggest highway construction firms in Texas. He thrived on the adrenaline inherent in the risk-filled business, addicting him to 6- and 7-day workweeks. Pitcock, who remains CEO and chairman at age 91, said, “When you are dealing with big money, you know you have the power at your fingertips to make your company a lot of money or to lose it a lot of money. It’s total stress, and total stress gets addictive.”

Connecting Texas also shares a small slice of the history of the Associated General Contractors of Texas, which represents approximately 85% of the companies that build and maintain Texas roads and bridges. Readers will meet Tracey Schieffer, the only female to serve as president of the male-dominated industry’s trade association. She arrived at AGC of Texas asking what she could do. The guys directed her to sit down and watch. Her response: “You don’t understand. I don’t do that.” She’s a flurry of action. She intends to lead; not follow.

And of course, drivers couldn’t travel Texas roads and bridges without the crews that build them. These men and women transform existing landscape into traffic arteries and tear down old bridges and roads for modern infrastructure. They love their jobs because they can see a tangible outcome of their work, and they know they are improving lives of others. Their interviews in Connecting Texas provide rare insights into the dangerous work that takes place inside thousands of active construction zones across the state. More than 25,000 crashes occur annually inside those zones, with nearly 200 fatalities. The book highlights the stories and messages these crew members want to offer Texas drivers. Additionally, numerous vignettes of ambition, generosity and foresight spotlight the beneficiaries of the ever-expanding Texas road system.

Readers will learn about a young motor-grader who was supposed to help build a modest landing strip on the ranch of then U.S. Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson near Fredericksburg. During a couple of all-night whiskey-drinking sessions, however, LBJ and his buddies began proposing increasing longer lengths for the tarmac. The young motor-grader and other crew members sent by a couple of LBJ’s contractor buddies were eventually instructed to build not the original 2,000-foot landing strip—but a 6,000-foot-long runway.

Texas contractors have long been a generous group willing to extend a hand — whether pitching in to help hurricane victims or raising more than $1 million a year for college scholarships. Connecting Texas chronicles many heartwarming stories, including one about a contractor lending equipment and expertise in the famous 1987 rescue of “Baby Jessica,” who was trapped 20 feet underground in an abandoned backyard well of a Midland home.

Most of us don’t think about our highway system — until we get stuck in traffic or encounter construction projects that reroute flow or reduce lanes. But for the likes of former Houston Astros’ owner Drayton McLane Jr., thinking ahead was key. McLane saw the future decades ago with the coming interstate highway system and convinced his father to relocate the family’s modest food distribution business from rural Texas to Temple, so they could be on the new interstate. He took advantage of the interstate highway system’s ability to move goods more quickly and conveniently, and eventually built a mega-billion-dollar company.

Beyond the heartwarming and culture-changing stories, retired four-star U.S. Army Gen. Tommy Franks connects the importance of our highways to the nation’s military defenses. In the foreword to Connecting Texas, he notes that with Texas’ many military installations, roads remain both non-partisan and vital to the military and civilian health of our society.

Roads have been key to commerce and progress since the Roman Empire centuries ago. They routinely built roads after expanding into new territory. “It hasn’t changed,” Pitcock observes. “You build a road, and everything starts happening. You don’t build a road, it all dies.”

Proceeds from Connecting Texas will help fund college scholarships.