Commercial & Industrial Concrete

Loading Docks & Dock Aprons
in Houston, TX

Heavy-duty dock aprons, dock and pit walls, leveler pits and dolly pads for Houston warehouses and distribution yards. High-psi, doweled and thickened at the edge, formed and poured by our own crews.

Get a Free Estimate

Crew raking and screeding a pumped concrete slab over rebar and vapor barrier beside a steel building frame in Houston

23Years Pouring Concrete

640Slabs & Pads Poured

1.2MSq. Ft. of Flatwork

98%Repeat & Referral

Service Overview

Dock Aprons Built for Houston Truck Traffic

The dock apron carries the heaviest loads on your whole site. Trailer landing gear drives point loads into a few square inches. Jockey trucks brake and turn in the same spot all day. A thin slab on Houston's expansive clay spalls and potholes at the dock face within a year or two. Jimenes Construction pours dock aprons built for that punishment, with a thicker, high-psi, doweled slab engineered for clay that moves. Our own crews form, set steel, drill and pour every job, and we have poured docks on Houston ground for 23 years.

That thicker slab gets a thickened edge at the dock, a higher-strength mix, and doweled joints that move the load across the crack instead of letting one panel drop. Our own crew forms, sets steel, drills and pours, so the apron, the pit walls and the approach slab all get built by the same hands on the same mobilization. On big yards the apron ties straight into our parking lot and commercial paving work so the whole truck court drains and wears as one job.

This is warehouse and distribution work, and Houston has a lot of it along the Ship Channel and the Grand Parkway. We have poured aprons, equipment pads and pits on that ground for 23 years, and we know it moves. Pair the apron with trench and slot drains and the dock stays dry through a 52-inch rain year.

Dock Work at a Glance

Self-performed crews, never brokered
Aprons, pit walls, leveler pits, dolly pads
4,000 to 5,000 psi heavy-duty mixes
Thickened edges at the dock face
Doweled joints for load transfer
Third-party inspection coordination

Coverage

Loading Dock Concrete We Pour

Every piece of the dock is its own detail. We crew, form and pour all six in house.

Dock Aprons & Approach Slabs

Heavy-duty aprons and approach slabs where trailers stage and back in, thickened at the dock edge and sloped to drain away from the building.

Dock & Pit Walls

Cast-in-place dock walls, pit walls and curb angles with the steel embeds and bumpers set to the dock leveler and seal drawings.

Leveler Pits

Formed pits for hydraulic and mechanical levelers, poured to the manufacturer template with the frame anchors cast in and the floor pitched to drain.

Dolly Pads & Trailer Stands

Thickened pads that carry parked trailer landing gear and dolly wheels without punching through, placed where trailers drop in the yard.

Truck Court & Heavy Flatwork

Reinforced truck court slabs and turning lanes built for loaded rigs and jockey trucks, tied into the apron and the paving.

Doweled Joints & Repairs

Doweled construction and contraction joints, thickened edges and full-depth apron replacement where an old slab has spalled at the dock.

Our Process

Our Dock Apron Process

Five steps, the same on one dock door and on a thirty-door distribution yard. Call (832) 576-3278 to start at step one.

01
Site Walk & Truck Loads
We walk the dock, count the doors, and check trailer type, jockey-truck traffic and where water sits before we set slab thickness and mix.
02
Engineered Estimate
A line-item quote tied to the plan: slab thickness, thickened-edge detail, psi, dowel and rebar spec, subgrade and drainage each on their own line.
03
Permit, Subgrade & Forms
Permit pulled with City of Houston or Harris County, subgrade cut and compacted, pit and wall forms set, dock elevation checked against the building.
04
Steel, Dowels & Inspection
Rebar and dowel baskets set over the vapor retarder, leveler and bumper embeds placed to the template, then the pre-pour inspection on site.
05
Pour, Joints & Sign-Off
One continuous pour, vibrated and hard-troweled. Joints sawn on time, cure applied, embeds checked, and the closeout package handed over.

Timeline

How Long Does a Dock Apron Take?

Real ranges from our own job records, from mobilization to final sign-off.

Project Type	Typical Size	Duration
Single dock apron repair or replacement	1 - 2 doors	3 - 7 Days
Dock apron with pit and leveler	2 - 4 doors	1 - 2 Weeks
Multi-door apron and dock walls	6 - 12 doors	2 - 4 Weeks
Dolly pads and trailer stands	Yard placement	1 - 2 Weeks
Full truck court and apron package	20,000 - 60,000 sq ft	4 - 8 Weeks

Engineering & Compliance

Materials, Methods & Code Compliance

A dock apron lives on point loads and clay that moves. We detail it for both, off the soil report and your truck counts.

Soils & Site

Geotech report and subgrade read before we quote
Houston clay often shows a plasticity index in the 40s and 50s
Lime or cement treatment and select fill where the report calls for it
Slope, drains and vapor retarder set before the pour

Mix & Materials

4,000 to 5,000 psi heavy-duty mixes
Grade 60 deformed rebar, single or double mat
Smooth dowel bars in baskets at construction joints
Thickened edges and haunches at the dock face

Code & Standards

2021 IBC as adopted by Houston
ACI 302 flatwork and ACI 330 for exterior slabs
PIP and dock leveler templates for embeds and pits
Floodplain finish elevation per Chapter 19 and the county

Inspection & Sign-Off

Pre-pour steel, dowel and embed inspection
Cylinder breaks through the testing lab
Third-party and city inspection scheduling
Closeout package filed at completion

Why Jimenes

Why Choose
Jimenes Construction

One Crew, Apron to Pit

Docks fail at the joint between subs: one crew pours the apron, another the walls, another the pit. We do all of it, so the details line up and the load transfers.

Built for the Loads That Hit It

The apron sees the heaviest point loads on the site. We set thickness, mix and dowels for loaded landing gear and for jockey trucks that turn in the same spot all day.

Inspected Before the Truck Rolls

Slab thickness, dowel baskets, embeds and pit elevation get checked by the inspector first. Problems get fixed while the forms are still open and the dock is still shipping.

Phased to Keep You Shipping

We stage the pours so most of your doors keep running while we work. Line-item pricing, and change orders signed before the work starts.

Credentials

Insurance, Warranty & Sign-Off

Texas does not license concrete contractors, so we send the insurance certificate and the inspection records with every proposal. Here is what a concrete contractor in Houston can actually show you.

Permitted & Inspected City of Houston and Harris County

General Liability $2M per occurrence

Workers’ Comp Full crew coverage

Warranty 10-yr structural, 1-yr workmanship

Where We Work

Our Service Area

Headquartered in Houston and pouring dock aprons across the Greater Houston area, from the Ship Channel and the Port out along the 180-mile Grand Parkway. If you searched for a loading dock contractor near me and landed here, this is the radius we cover. We can walk your dock the same week.

Do not see your town? Call us, we travel for the right project.Check Your Address

Good Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Still not sure? Call and talk to the person who will run your dock pour.

Talk to a Builder

(832) 576-3278

How thick should a concrete dock apron be in Houston?

Most heavy-duty aprons run 8 to 10 inches, thicker than a normal slab, with a thickened edge or haunch at the dock face. The exact number comes off your truck loads and the soil report. We set thickness for landing gear and jockey trucks, then add dowels at the joints so no single panel drops. For the connecting yard slabs, see our parking lot and commercial paving page.

What strength concrete do you use for a loading dock?

We pour dock aprons at 4,000 to 5,000 psi, higher than a standard slab, because the apron takes concentrated wheel and landing-gear loads. The mix, the rebar and the dowels all get sized to the load. Trucks can use the apron once the concrete gains strength, and we hold heavy traffic off until the 28-day mark.

Why do dock aprons crack and spall at the dock face?

Three reasons show up over and over in Houston. One is a slab that was too thin for truck loads. The other two are joints with no dowels, which lets panels drop and break at the edge, and a soft or wet subgrade on clay. Water pooling at the dock speeds all of it up. We fix the cause with a thicker doweled slab, doweled joints and drainage that pulls water off the dock face. For the worn concrete itself, see concrete repair and restoration.

Can you replace a dock apron without shutting the whole dock down?

Usually yes. We phase the pours so most of your doors keep shipping while we work a few at a time. On a busy Houston distribution yard that phasing is half the job. We map the phasing with you up front and put a pour date on each group of doors.

Do you pour leveler pits, dock walls and dolly pads too, or just the apron?

All of it. Our own crew forms the pit to the leveler template and casts in the frame anchors and bumper embeds. The same crew pours the dock and pit walls and sets the dolly pads out in the yard. One crew keeps the elevations and embeds lined up. We often add trench and slot drains and equipment pads on the same mobilization.

Do I need a permit for dock work in Houston?

Commercial site and concrete work needs a permit. Inside the city it comes from the City of Houston, and outside city limits from Harris County Engineering or the county you are in. A floodplain lot sets the finished elevation under Chapter 19 or the county rules, which matters at a low dock. We pull the permit and book the inspections. Texas does not license concrete contractors, so ask for the insurance certificate and inspection records instead. Call (832) 576-3278 and we will walk your dock.