For 51 years, Wichita has been the hub of Professional Engineering Consultants (PEC)’s Field Services Department. The department’s reach is now expanding. In April 2024, PEC Field Services will have a second location based in Topeka, Kansas. This addition will increase the ability to serve our communities better, work more efficiently, and continue to bring the best expertise to current and future clients.

Topeka Field Services will offer the exact same services as Wichita Field Services: geotechnical services, inspection, materials testing, survey engineering and more. The new location for our field services expansion was chosen to both serve current clients more holistically as well as further PEC’s reach.

“We were looking for a location that would be best suited to serve clients north of I-70 in Kansas and our Missouri clients. We potentially want to move into Nebraska and Iowa as well,” said Bob Henthorne, VP Geotechnical, who will initially lead the new office.

The benefits of this addition are many. “Proximity to the work is a huge benefit; we’re able to be on-site a lot sooner,” Henthorne said. “Also, there are savings for the client because we can avoid heavier mobilization charges. With the lab at the new building in Topeka, we won’t have to ship the samples to Wichita for analysis. If there are questions or we need to run out to a project site as it’s being built, we’re right there.”

The new 6900 SQ FT lab and office shares a property line with our Topeka PEC Office. Patrick Younkin in Wichita Field Services has been working on our new Topeka Field Services building and lab since September 2023. He normally leads the testing lab in Wichita Field Services but is helping get our new Topeka lab up and running.

With Field Services expanding its reach, PEC professionals will gain additional knowledge through testing materials from other areas in the country. “We may run the same test, but new material from other regions may react differently. For example, clay in Nebraska, how much more does it consolidate compared to clay in south central Kansas? I’m very excited to see what gets brought into that lab,” said Younkin.

Topeka Field Services opens in April 2024.