The new $30 million Lafarge North America state-of-the-art cement distribution terminal that opened in June in Detroit is the cornerstone of Springwells Industrial Park, an 80-acre brownfield redevelopment site on the Detroit River and a major part of Detroit's economic revitalization.
The company transferred operations from its aging cement plant in downtown Detroit, which is being demolished to make way for an expansion of the city's Tricentennial State Park and Harbor, a key element in the city's plans to redevelop the downtown waterfront and attract new investment.

George Jackson, president and chief executive officer of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., praised Lafarge's role in the city's construction boom where $1.64 billion in construction projects were under way at the close of 2004.

"Lafarge has given the city a win-win-win — access to the east riverfront along the Detroit Riverwalk, a waterfront industrial park and new economic development in southwest Detroit," Jackson said.

The facility features state-of-the art environmental controls and virtually dust-free operation, and will reduce loading times for cement trucks and enhance the firm's ability to supply environmentally friendly blended cements to the region.

Alexis Langlois, president of Lafarge Cement Great Lakes Region, said this terminal is designed with the future of cement in mind.

"The industry is moving away from a commodity orientation in favor of specialized blends that can offer better performance and greater environmental benefits," Langlois said. "With this terminal, we can create precisely proportioned and fully blended products to meet virtually any specification. At the same time, customers are looking for efficiencies in transport and handling."

The new distribution center includes North America's largest cement silo, a state-of-the-art facility that fully automates blending and truck-loading operations.

The silo was built in just 14 days, using an estimated 7,000 yards of concrete. The concrete was placed in a continuous pour using slip-form molds, creating a strong monolithic structure. The silo also contains four precast columns made of Lafarge's Ductal ultra-high-strength material.
More than 180 feet high and 95 feet in diameter, it incorporates 11 compartments to store a variety of specialized materials. These materials can be blended online and delivered directly to trucks or stored in the silo. This capability allows Lafarge to deliver fully blended, accurately proportioned cements on demand, including high-performance ternary and quarternary blends.

Three bulk loading bays and covered truck scales allow year-round truck loading, unaffected by inclement weather. The cement and cementitious materials are loaded through a fully automated delivery system, reducing loading time for customers' trucks.

Order processing is completely automated. A communication system links the driver with the control bay. Drivers never have to leave their trucks.
In addition to the silo, the new terminal also features a new high-speed vessel receiving system for faster unloading of barges and ships. It also includes a 35,000-square-foot packaged-product warehouse, where a high-speed packaging and palletizing operation can produce up to 2,500 bags per hour.

Lafarge North America, which rang up $3.7 billion in sales last year, is the United States and Canada's largest diversified supplier of construction materials such as cement, ready-mixed concrete, gypsum wallboard, aggregates, asphalt and concrete products.