Tom Brakefield Opens Up About the Plant Work Sector and his Love for ’Bama.
In Birmingham, the cradle of ductile iron pipe, there’s a tavern. In this tavern, I’ve met up many times with Tom Brakefield, my mentor, over my last thirty years in the waterworks industry. Tom is a plant work veteran, having worked this sector for over 60 years. We spoke last month about the evolution of the Plant Work market, and the differences between when he started and the landscape today. Below is my takeaway from our conversation…
A ‘Newbie’ at US Pipe
A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Tom began his career in US Pipe’s mailroom in 1963, at age 19. He moved to sales two years later, eventually rising to the position of Vice President of Sales. Unlike the market today, all plant work piping was then sold to contractors and municipalities and shipments were made via railcar. Things moved slowly: Building out loads could take up to 30 weeks of lead time. In those days, ACIPCO was the leader in plant work, with US Pipe a distant second.
Tom notes that a pivotal moment occurred in 1986, when Curtis Estes opened C&B Piping. C&B Piping proved to be a model of turnkey fabrication and effectively changed the face of plant work as we know it. By the late 90s, plant work was booming across the US. More independent fabricators joined the field and much of the supply side shifted to focus on distribution. Around the same time, import fittings changed the game. Increased product availability enabled the plant work sector to really take off, with projects getting turned around with much shorter lead times.
The Role of the National Association of Pipe Fabricators
The National Association of Pipe Fabricators was founded in 1977. This industry association, which then consisted of independent fabricators, focused on unifying standards to ensure uniformity of fit and function. Today, the organization’s mission remains the same, but through industry mergers and acquisitions the number of members been concentrated into the “Big Three, US Pipe, McWane and American, and half a dozen independents. In 2024, we saw a notable acquisition with American (a direct-to-distributor fabricator) buying C&B Piping (both a direct-to-contractor, and a speciality fabricator to contractors). The impact of this acquisition is yet to play out.
Urban Sprawl Drives Market Growth
Tom explained that the growth of the suburbs has been a key driver in the growth of the Plant Work sector. As people moved out of the cities, so the pressure on municipalities’ water systems has increased. COVID caused another uptick in this demographic shift. Urban sprawl is continuing to exert pressure on water infrastructure.
The American Iron and Steel Act Presents an Opportunity
Both Presidents Trump and Biden have made the upgrading of essential infrastructure a key talking point. The American Iron and Steel Act (AIS) represents a huge opportunity for both fabricators and the waterworks industry as whole. Some $960bn has been allocated by government to AIS projects. Furthermore, according to one soon-to-be-published source, the ductile iron pipe market in the treatment plant sector will be worth about $600m in 2025 and is expected to grow at a rate of 5% annually over the next 10 years. At SIGMA, we’ve been building a dedicated plant work team to capitalize on this opportunity, which we believe is intrinsic to our own future growth.
Tom’s Passion for Alabama Football
Tom retired after 40 years at US Pipe. Equaling, if not surpassing, his enthusiasm for the waterworks industry is Tom’s passion for Alabama Football. Tom grew up a fan of the Crimson Tide and attended his first game in 1957 at Legion Field where he saw Alabama play Tennessee. He still has the program and ticket from that game. Starting with that keepsake, Tom has amassed an unrivaled collection of Alabama memorabilia. Through the years, he was able to put together his prized collection: the ticket stubs from nearly every Alabama game ever played! Today, Tom has donated nearly all of his extensive collection to the Paul Bear Bryant Museum and the Hoole Special Collections at the Gorgas Library where it shares space with other Southern gems such as original Harper Lee manuscripts!
Tom sees big things in store for plant work in the coming years and is cautiously optimistic about the future of Alabama Football!