SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 13, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Central Concrete Supply Co., Inc., a business unit of U.S. Concrete, Inc. (Nasdaq:USCR), and the leader in delivering low-CO2 concrete to the San Francisco Bay Area, announced that it received the Northern California & Western Nevada Chapter American Concrete Institute (ACI) Award for Outstanding Construction, Structural Category, at an ACI event held last night. This award recognized the work performed by Central Concrete and concrete contractor Joseph J. Albanese, Inc., along with general contractor Turner Construction Company and various design team members, for Stanford University's Bing Concert Hall.
Team members for the Stanford University Bing Concert Hall included:
Ready Mix Supplier: Central Concrete Supply Co., Inc.
Concrete Contractor: Joseph J. Albanese, Inc.
General Contractor: Turner Construction Company
Structural Engineer: Degenkolb Engineers
Civil Engineer: Wilsey Ham
Architect: Ennead Architects
The Northern California & Western Nevada Chapter ACI Awards Ceremony and Dinner were held in Pleasanton, Calif. Awards Chair Rich Vance, Lehigh Southwest Cement Co., hosted the event. Accepting the award on behalf of Central Concrete was Dave Perry, vice president of sales and marketing. Speakers included Dave Perry, Central Concrete Supply Co., Inc.; Stephen Coates, Turner Construction Company; and Chris Zynda, Joseph J. Albanese, Inc.
Stanford's Bing Concert Hall, which opened on January 11, 2013, has won numerous awards for its distinct design. The hall's unique ovoid form evolved from discussions with acoustician Yasu Toyota. One of the key objectives was to accommodate unamplified musical performances. To achieve that goal, Ennead Architects designed a tilted oval ceiling canopy suspended 47 feet above the centrally located stage, creating a lower reverberation and richer, fuller sound. In addition, concrete "sails," with their convex shapes dispersing the sound, enable the audience to hear sounds coming from more than one direction.
Central Concrete supplied 7,500 cubic yards of concrete for the project, and the low-CO2 mixes selected reduced the overall carbon footprint for the construction project by just over one million pounds.
"Central was honored to supply our low-CO2 concrete for this landmark project and to work with such a strong team of technical designers and contractors," said Jeff Davis, vice president and general manager, Central Concrete. "Audience members will be impressed by the remarkable use of concrete in the Bing Concert Hall, in particular the stationary concrete walls that look like billowing sails."
"Due to the Stanford Bing Concert Hall's architecture and acoustic requirements, concrete was the only solution for its main structural features," said Stephen T. Coates, P.E. Turner Construction Company. "The aggressive schedule and sophisticated architecture required impeccable quality control. Joseph J. Albanese, Inc. and Central Concrete rose to the challenge at every step of the way."
Stanford Bing Concert Hall's elliptical shell shape, along with its intricate secondary structural system that supports the sails and cloud acoustical panels, presented one-of-a-kind challenges for concrete contractor Joseph J. Albanese, Inc. To create the 12-inch thick concrete hall enclosure, with its round radius, Joseph J. Albanese, Inc. developed a single-sided curved forming system with a PVC clip screed rail using a process called wet-mix shotcrete. This process allowed the concrete contractor to meet the tight 1/8 inch in 10 feet tolerance. In fact, scans of the project revealed that the building was within ½ inch of location off GPS.
"Designers and builders, often marvel at the project's complexity and ask, 'how did they do that?'," said Chris Zynda, shotcrete manager, Joseph J. Albanese, Inc. "We addressed the difficult requirements with a team effort, led by our superintendent and foreman. Our forming and shotcrete crews — including finishers, laborers, and ACI-certified nozzlemen — each brought high degrees of qualifications and experience when constructing the Bing Concert Hall."
Emphasizing further the importance that Joseph J. Albanese, Inc. placed on teamwork throughout the difficult build, CEO and President John Albanese, stated, "I'm proud of the way our team rose to the challenge presented by the Bing Concert Hall and confronted it head on. That mentality has been the foundation of our company's success for more than 58 years."
About Central Concrete
Central Concrete Supply Co., Inc., a business unit of U.S. Concrete, Inc. (Nasdaq:USCR), has been serving the San Francisco Bay Area for more than 60 years. The company is recognized for engineering higher-performing concrete than traditional concrete while significantly lowering carbon footprints with its low-C02 mixes.
Unlike traditional concrete, Central Concrete's standard mixes deliver 50% or greater cement replacement materials, thereby significantly reducing the carbon footprint of the project under construction. Central Concrete is recognized for supplying its low-CO2 mixes to numerous San Francisco Bay Area signature projects, including the Cathedral of Christ the Light Church, Oakland; California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco (world's greenest museum); NASA Ames Sustainability Base, Mountain View (greenest federal building in the U.S.); David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Los Altos (largest net-zero private office building in Calif.); the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission headquarters (San Francisco's greenest office building); the new Santa Clara San Francisco 49ers stadium; and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
With 12 locations in the San Francisco Bay Area, Central Concrete offers multiple points of service to meet the diverse operational needs of its customers. For more information, visit www.centralconcrete.com.
About U.S. Concrete
U.S. Concrete services the construction industry in several major markets in the United States through its two business segments: ready-mixed concrete and aggregate products. The Company has 105 fixed and 10 portable ready-mixed concrete plants and seven producing aggregates facilities. During 2012, U.S. Concrete produced approximately 4.8 million cubic yards of ready-mixed concrete and approximately 3.3 million tons of aggregates. For more information about U.S. Concrete, visit www.us-concrete.com.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains various forward-looking statements and information that are based on management's belief, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any obligation to update these statements and cautions you not to rely unduly on them. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding: the stability of the business; ready-mix backlog; ability to maintain our cost structure and the improvements achieved during our restructuring; ability to maximize liquidity, monitor fixed costs, manage variable costs, control capital spending and monitor working capital usage; and the adequacy of current liquidity. Although U.S. Concrete believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that those expectations will prove to have been correct. Such statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, among other matters: general and regional economic conditions; the level of activity in the construction industry; the ability of U.S. Concrete to complete acquisitions and to effectively integrate the operations of acquired companies; development of adequate management infrastructure; departure of key personnel; access to labor; union disruption; competitive factors; government regulations; exposure to environmental and other liabilities; the cyclical and seasonal nature of U.S. Concrete's business; adverse weather conditions; the availability and pricing of raw materials; the availability of refinancing alternatives; and general risks related to the industry and markets in which U.S. Concrete operates. Should one or more of these risks materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results or outcomes may vary materially from those expected. These risks, as well as others, are discussed in greater detail in U.S. Concrete's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including U.S. Concrete's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012 and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.