A Pipe Crew Worth Calling

What do you do when you’re working with a new style of pipe, no playbook, and a few surprises waiting underground? In Columbia, Missouri, you call Zach Regan and his crew.

No Playbook 

When Zach learned that his crew would have to tackle the biggest fused pipe that the Columbia location had worked on, he knew it would take teamwork to pull it off.

It started off with a bang — the materials and fittings showed up without the specs the crew needed, so they started making calls. They called local contacts, suppliers, and even took to Google. They were able to adjust, get the right information, and keep moving. 

More Challenges Uncovered 

The crew was then faced with a massive, prefabricated tie-in stretching more than 30 feet long. It was too big for one machine, so two excavator operators worked together while the rest of the crew below guided it into place.  

It’s the kind of moment that could go sideways fast but it didn’t.

“Everything just kind of clicked,” Zach said. “Usually, you have to get on to someone, but this crew knew immediately what I was asking for and what my plan was. They just all clicked.”

Unknown Duct Bank   

While battling rain that kept washing out their trenches, the team came across an unmarked duct bank that seemed to have no way around it.

“Zach explored it and did everything he could,” said Project Manager Kyle Martin. “He and Jordan Morris measured it in the field, taped it out on the ground, and had everything ready to bolt up underneath this unknown utility. Instead of saying, ‘Hey guys, we can’t do it,’ and giving up, they just kept going.”  

Getting through challenges like that takes a crew that trusts each other and a foreman who knows how to bring that out in his people.

Rough Around the Edges, Tight at the Core 

“They may look intimidating, but they’re definitely not,” Kyle Martin said. “They’re the friendly, personable crew.”

A job like this doesn’t come together on one person’s effort alone. Alongside Zach, credit goes to Marcus Waller, Brody Fredrick, Landon Morris, and Noah Whittle — the guys who showed up, adapted on the fly, and worked through every challenge this project threw at them.

This crew has earned a reputation for figuring things out. New pipe? They’ll learn it. Unknown utility? They’ll find a way through it. A job the branch hasn’t done before? Give it to Zach and his crew.

They may be rough around the edges, but when the work gets complicated, they’re the crew you want in the hole.