For more than a quarter of a century, John Miller and his son, Wade, have worked for the same company. During the past 23 years, they’ve owned Big Creek Construction, one of the most well-known heavy-highway contractors in central Texas.
“Prior to going into business for ourselves, Dad was the president of another organization, and I worked on one of its hot mix crews,” recalled Wade. “He really wanted to go on his own, so we bought out another company.”
With that purchase came four small Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) projects on the books and a staff of nearly 30 people. The Millers say those jobs almost put the company under before it ever really got off the ground.
“The projects were tough, and we struggled building them,” said John. “They could have broken us. Fortunately, we were able to pick up some profitable maintenance jobs the first summer, and those really helped us get established.”
Big Creek Construction has continued to build since. Today, the firm primarily specializes in large TxDOT undertakings in a territory that encompasses roughly 25,000 square miles around its home base of Waco. With a staff of approximately 650, it self-performs nearly every aspect of a project, including pavement removal, subbase preparation and paving. John is Big Creek’s Chief Executive Officer and Wade serves as President. Rounding out the management team is Wade’s brother Mark, who is Vice President, and Chief Financial Officer Chris Wolfe.
Name, location changes
Despite gaining a firm business foothold early on, the Millers, who resided in Waco, were missing a place to call their own, as well as a unique name for their business.
“We operated under the previous name for about a year,” Wade explained. “Those early projects were in the Bryan/College Station area, so we drove back and forth every day from Waco, which is nearly 90 minutes one way. Each drive took us across Big Creek. Anybody who knows it can tell you that, depending on rainfall, it’s either a trickle or a raging ocean. Feast or famine, kind of like how road construction can be. Dad thought Big Creek Construction was a fitting name for the company.”
Big Creek lies just north of Calvert, which is approximately halfway between Waco and the Bryan/College Station area. The Millers bought a place near there and used it as a base of operations for about four years.
“Our early focus was maintenance, rehab and patching,” said Wade. “Around 2000, we took on a road project that included dirt, structures and a lot of asphalt paving, and the transition to larger state jobs started. We added more highly skilled staff who could handle the various scopes of work. It was the springboard to what we have become.”
The project was close to Waco and led to the company’s full relocation near the Millers’ home. Big Creek Construction bought 180 acres down the road in Lorena, where it constructed office, shop and yard facilities as well as asphalt and ready-mix plants.
Additionally, the Millers started a second company, BC Materials, which produces concrete, asphalt and aggregates for Big Creek Construction and is a retailer to outside customers from multiple plants and quarries.
“With Big Creek, we typically handle state projects up to about $65 million as a general contractor,” John noted. “We sub to other contractors on larger projects, offering them services such as paving. BC Materials supplies them with hot mix, subbase and other materials.”
Good combination of equipment, service
Big Creek Construction recently began a nearly two-year, $64 million project on OSR Highway near Bryan. It involves removing the existing pavement and subbase, then cutting subgrade to a new profile. Once that’s complete, crews rebuild the subbase with existing soils, new flex base and a foamed asphalt process that incorporates those materials with powdered cement, hot oil and water.
The construction firm is using WIRTGEN WR 250i and WR 240i cold recycler/stabilizers as the main machines in the foaming process. In addition, it utilizes WIRTGEN GROUP products, including a Streumaster binding-agent spreader to put down the cement and HAMM rollers to compact the subbase to complete the task.
“The foamed asphalt process creates a very strong, long-lasting base,” stated Ryan “Alaska” McGlinchy, Superintendent of Foamed Asphalt, who noted that the project includes seven new precast bridges that Big Creek is building off-site and “wheeling” into place to replace the old structures. “The recyclers make the process fast and efficient. They also give us versatility because we use them for traditional stabilizing and reclaiming as well.
“Across the board, the WIRTGEN GROUP products are solid performers,” he added. “For example, we have WIRTGEN mills that we’ve used for several years, some of which have more than 10,000 hours.”
Big Creek Construction acquired its WIRTGEN GROUP products from Kirby-Smith Machinery, most recently working with Waco-based Territory Manager Trey McNeel and Key Account Product Specialist Gary Corley. They have also helped the Millers add Komatsu motor graders, wheel loaders and excavators to Big Creek’s fleet and wheel loaders to BC Materials’ operations.
“Komatsu became our main brand of production machines because they are productive and reliable,” said Wade. “We have used excavators and loaders for several years and recently transitioned to the motor graders, which our operators really like because Komatsu graders have the steering wheel and traditional controls.”
John added that the equipment Kirby-Smith carries is excellent, but its service plays a big role in purchasing decisions for both Big Creek and BC Materials.
“Gary, Trey and Kirby-Smith in general are fantastic to work with,” John said. “They took the time to get to know our needs and applications in order to best match the machinery to them. For example, how we use loaders in the field versus our plants and quarries is very different. They understand that and helped us put the right pieces into their respective places so that we get maximum production. They also worked to set us up to do foamed bit asphalt, which is a unique application that not many other contractors are doing.
“Kirby-Smith’s new branch in Waco is great for us and other contractors in the area,” John continued. “It provides faster access to parts and service, which minimizes downtime. We believe it will further strengthen our relationship.”
New generation, solid long-term outlook
The Millers’ long days of hard work – up to 18 hours in the early years – paid off for Big Creek Construction. It was more than simply their dedication that made the company, and ultimately BC Materials, successful, according to Wade.
“Our staff deserves a world of credit,” he shared. “We have built a nucleus of really good folks who care and are willing to go the extra mile to get projects done right, on time and on budget. Many have been with us long term, and there are even multiple generations of families who work here. Now, we have a third generation of our family involved with the addition of my son, Kade, who recently came on full time, which is a tremendous source of pride.”
With millions in TxDOT funding committed for approximately the next decade, there will be ample projects for the Millers and their staff to work on for the future.
“The outlook is promising, and as TxDOT work continues to grow, we’re in a position to expand with it,” said Wade. “I can see Big Creek potentially employing 1,000 people in the next five years because of the workload that’s going to be happening around us.”
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