Freeport Welding & Fabricating Inc.
Freeport Welding & Fabricating Inc. was founded in 1958 and has been operated under its present management since 1974. Roy Yates is president and chief operating officer, and Danny Yates — a 1986 graduate of Rice University — is vice president (VP) and VP of Engineering.
The company originally operated from a small shop on the East End of Freeport, Texas, near Port Freeport. In 2000, Freeport Welding constructed and moved into a new facility on a 26-acre tract on the north side of the Old Brazos River, but is still centrally located in the Brazosport industrial area. The new shop was designed and built by Freeport Welding specifically as an ASME pressure vessel and API tank shop, with increased overhead crane capacity, taller and wider fabrication bays, and railroad rails through all three bays so as to enable the movement of large fabricated items outside to be painted. The new location has also given the company the ability to ship vessels by barge and rail.
When originally constructed, the new shop was 300 feet long and 200 feet wide. In 2006, it was lengthened to 600 feet, and in 2008 to 700 feet. In 2012, a 200-foot-by- 200-foot receiving building was added.
According to Freeport Welding President Roy Yates, in 2012 the company’s sales set a record of $37.6 million, approximately 15 percent of which was “hot,” turnaround-type work for plants all over the U.S. Yates went on to say Freeport Welding is an industry leader for this type of work because “we generally work 24/7/365, we stock a large supply of plate, have two large burning tables capable of cutting 3-inch-thick alloy plate, can roll 4-inch-thick plate, bend 1-inch plate and have over 700 qualified welding procedures (WPS). So we don’t have to go out for much, which helps if you’re working Saturday on a job that’s due Sunday.”
The company holds “U,” “U2,” “R,” and “NB” code stamps and has extensive quality control procedures in place to make sure all code, customer and internal requirements are met. Danny Yates, Professional Engineer (PE), oversees the Engineering and Drafting departments, all of which is done in-house.
For more information, visit www.free weld.com or call (979) 233-0121.
