Continental Cement pours $32M into Buffalo plant

BUFFALO, Iowa – Continental Cement Company LLC unveiled the first of a pair of $30 million-plus investments headed to the longtime cement plant here during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday, March 20.  Continental Cement, a subsidiary of Summit Materials Inc., celebrated the completion of a $30 million cement storage dome at its Davenport facility, located […]

BUFFALO, Iowa – Continental Cement Company LLC unveiled the first of a pair of $30 million-plus investments headed to the longtime cement plant here during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday, March 20.  Continental Cement, a subsidiary of Summit Materials Inc., celebrated the completion of a $30 million cement storage dome at its Davenport facility, located at 301 Front St., Buffalo. Company officials told dozens of customers, employees and business and community leaders gathered there that the new structure is the largest cement storage dome in North America.  “We’re long-term investors in Iowa, this investment solidifies that commitment and strengthens our commitment,” Continental Cement President David Loomes told reporters before the ribbon-cutting with the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce. “The board of directors of Summit Materials approved this investment realizing the capability of the team and our commitment to the great state of Iowa.” 

According to Mr. Loomes, the dome has now been commissioned, is operational and can hold 125,000 tons of cement powder, “which is the equivalent of 5,000 truckloads of cement.”  During formal remarks, Plant Manager Brett Imsland thanked his team and the project’s contractors for bringing the project “from concept to reality.” And most importantly, he said, it was done safely. “We’re now 434 days without a lost-time accident.”  Continental Cement, based in Chesterfield, Missouri, acquired the former Davenport Cement plant from previous owner LaFarge North America in 2015. It is a leading provider of cement with another plant in Hannibal, Missouri, and nine distribution terminals along the Mississippi River between Minneapolis and New Orleans. The company began producing cement in 1903 in Hannibal. Its parent, Summit Materials, supplies aggregates, cement, ready-mix concrete and asphalt in the United States and British Columbia, Canada.  Anne Noonan, CEO of the Denver, Colorado-based Summit Materials, also was on hand to celebrate the significant investment and the completion of a project about 18 months in the making. “Today’s event is one that would not have happened without all our stakeholders – community stakeholders, our customers, suppliers and our employees,” she told the crowd gathered in a marquee temporarily erected for the event. “A special thank you to the Davenport plant team.”  Both she and Mr. Loomes said the dome’s significant cement storage will replace river barges the plant previously used for winter storage. “It allows us to reduce the amount of barges that we’re storing and provide security of supply for our northern customers in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin,” Ms. Noonan said.   The project “represents our ongoing and significant commitment to the great State of Iowa, the Quad Cities, the City of Buffalo and most importantly, our trusted 119 employees who come to work every day, work tirelessly and safely every day,” she added.  Mr. Loomes said the project also included demolition of a dilapidated structure and construction of a new feed system and related pipeline. 

“We’re a seasonal business so in the winter, we have lower demand and we need to keep the plant running because we’re sold out. So every ton we produce, we sell,” he said. The new storage dome, he added, allows the plant to continue to produce and have safe and efficient storage for the cement powder.  “There’s a great economic equation, we save money by virtue of not having barges on the river …,” he said, adding the couple million dollars in savings “helped justify the investment in the dome.” He added that the work was completed by a largely Quad-Cities-based construction team including cement contractors Mannatt’s Inc. and Hahn Ready-Mix, who also are customers of the plant. The construction team also included Dome Technology, River Cities Engineering Inc., Industrial Steel Erectors, Treiber Construction Co., ES2, FLSmidth, SMP Welding and Tri-City Electric.  Continental and Summit company leaders also revealed plans for further expansion of the Green America Recycling operation at the Buffalo facility. Work is getting underway on that $32 million project, which will allow Continental Cement to replace about 55% of its fossil fuel consumption with non-hazardous waste.  Ms. Noonan said the company is “proud of our industry leadership in being the first cement producer in the United States to convert all our cement plants to lower carbon cement (PLC).”   According to Mr. Loomes, many of the customers – turned suppliers on the project – used the PLC in the concrete for the dome’s construction.  The next investment and project, which will lower the plant’s carbon footprint, is part of the company’s commitment to sustainability and a path to carbon neutrality, he said. “We will use a lot more waste effectively to replace carbon, traditionally coal fuel.” For more on Summit’s ESB commitment at its Continental Cement facility, visit here.