Marathon County Highway Commissioner Jim Griesbach and his staff were concerned with finding a longer lasting solution to roadway design and repairs in order to deliver greater value to residents, businesses and visitors.  One particular issue that seemed to recur was settlement at the approach to bridges.  This can be a common problem when, over time, rainwater and melted snow seeps in between the interface of a bridge to roadway and washes out the fine aggregate particles in base course materials.  Once those fines wash away, there can be subsidence or sinking of the pavement and the tell-tale ‘bump’ that drivers feel when they drive over the area.

One such project that grabbed the Commissioner’s attention was in the Town of Day on Highway C, and involved a 1950’s vintage box culvert design located between Old Hwy "C" and Fultz Road.  Griesbach and Marathon County Superintendent, Kristopher Baguhn, took a proactive approach by learning about available solutions that would reduce the likelihood of having to repeat repairs over and over for a more sustainable solution for taxpayers.

Marathon County turned to the expertise of County Materials Corporation, headquartered in Marathon, and their cementitious supplier, Lafarge North America, to suggest best practices.  Charlie Misslin of County Materials worked with Andrea Breen, technical services engineer at Lafarge, to talk about Controlled Low Strength Materials, or CLSM.  The mixture, delivered by ready mix trucks, is flowable when fresh so that it can conform to all small spaces in an area and attain full compaction, an important engineering design element to prevent later sinking of the pavement placed on top of it.

CLSM sets up quickly and is less likely to wash away over time than compacted aggregates, so future repairs are reduced or eliminated. Other benefits of CLSM include the ease of placement in small areas, with no over-excavation beyond the project scope needed, economics of the mix over other solutions, and the local availability and recycled content of the materials, which add to the sustainable aspect of the mix.  The Highway C project, which is utilizing the specialty CLSM mix, began on Monday, May 14, and is expected to open for business by the end of the month.

County Materials is a family-owned, American manufacturing company that offers a diverse line of construction and landscaping products for residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural and municipal project applications. Lafarge has been a lime and cement manufacturer for over a century, and is committed to providing Portland cement and supplemental cementitous materials, technical expertise, and sustainable solutions to the marketplace. For more information, call us at 1-800-289-2569 or log onto www.countymaterials.com.

The Wisconsin Ready Mixed Concrete Association recognized County Materials as the supplier for four winning entries in its 30th Annual 2009 Concrete Design Awards.

The annual program showcases the best uses of ready mixed concrete in Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. A distinguished panel of Wisconsin and Michigan educators and construction professionals determines award winners.

Winning entries included:

Highway 10 River Crossing, Stevens Point - North Central Region Award
County Materials supplied more than 16,829 cubic yards of ready-mix concrete for the massive and challenging project that was completed over a two-year period, including two harsh winter seasons. Also recognized was the engineer Wisconsin Division of Transportation Development, and contractor Zenith Tech, Inc.

Gordon Aluminum Industries, Inc., Schofield - Commercial Award
Gordon Aluminum's contemporary commercial and aluminum manufacturing facility features 1,600 square feet of polished concrete, supplied by County Materials, that was used inside all office areas in place of other flooring materials. County Materials also supplied the ready mix concrete for the adjoining 46,000 sq. ft. plant. Contractors were Norcon Corp. and Lewis Construction; architect was Ghidorzi Companies; and engineer for the project was Nelstruct Engineering.

Gardner Cranberry Cold Storage, Pittsville - Industrial Award
The 250,000 square foot Gardner Cranberry Cold Storage facility employed several new construction techniques to overcome site and timeline challenges. County Materials completed all pours in less than 60 days. Concrete was also placed with laser-guided concrete placers and screeds. Outside the warehouse, the massive 300,000 square foot exterior parking lot and yard was finished with another 6,000 yards of ready mix concrete that was completed in four pours. The project is owned by Badger State Fruit. Contractors were Braun Concrete & Excavating, and Homme's Construction.

Spring Valley Residence - Residential Merit Award
Resembling a Cabella's store front, this private residence features colored and stamped concrete created with ashlar slate and textured stamps for the driveway and a wood plank stamp for the raised patio areas, achieving the homeowner's desired north woods aesthetics. Contractor was Concrete Illusions.

AMHERST (June 26, 2008) –As energy prices rise and sustainability moves to the forefront of homeowners’ minds, the ideas behind the homebuilding of Gimme Shelter Construction are enjoying a revival. County Materials’ concrete lies at the heart of many of Gimme Shelter’s homes, most of which are designed with ready-mix flooring.

“We mostly do walls and floors with concrete,” said Jim McKnight, who with Mark Klein founded Gimme Shelter in 1987. “And sometimes thin floors, to allow for radiant heat. Concrete makes heating more efficient, especially in the summer where you can really cut costs; heating, cooling, comfort, that’s our measuring stick.”

“The really unique thing they do is use ready-mix as a finished floor,” said Judah Haas of Alchemy Concrete in Stevens Point, who does most of Gimme Shelter’s concrete work. This includes decorative stamping and color staining to create stunning effects and lend a dramatic new appearance to any room.

Gimme Shelter builds masonry heaters in a number of homes, an age-old technology given new life by its nature of slow heating and slow radiation, which makes use of County Materials’ fire brick. Masonry heaters can then be covered by any number of County Materials’ veneer options – including concrete brick, natural or manufactured stone, or County Stone® masonry units – depending on the homeowner’s desired motif.

Sustainable-home ideas were displayed at the Midwest Renewable Energy Association energy fair held in Custer. Concrete building ideas were also on display at the Wausau Area Builders Association 2008 Parade of Homes, June 20-22. More information on concrete building ideas, including Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs) is available from County Materials.

When the ribbon is cut, it will fall to a floor of concrete. When visitors tour the $20 million facility, First Wausau Tower at First and Scott streets, they will tread on the material that serves as the backbone to it all.

About 8,000 total cubic yards of locally produced high-strength concrete, from County Materials, form each of the 11 stories, as well as the I-shaped sheer wall that runs up the core of the building. That’s more than the 6,000 cubic yards that County Materials supplied to the McCleary Bridge on 17th Street, and is enough to fill the infield at Athletic Park to a height of 26 feet.

“We had to anticipate with each lift; and pour, lift, strip and jump (to the next floor),” said Dan Carl, who oversaw the concrete pours for Miron Construction, one of the building’s initial tenants. “We always tried to stay two floors ahead of the steel work going on behind us. So we needed trucks there about every 10-15 minutes, and County Materials was able to do that.”

Some 80 percent of the building’s space has been leased, and its first tenants already have moved in. With its adjustable, open concept, window views are available to most of those inside. While those who happened to pass the construction site were able to check on the progress of the project with their own eyes, Miron Construction kept a visual record with a Webcam trained on the site at http://mironconst.oxblue.com/cam1/.

County Materials operates 30 locations serving the Midwest. The family-owned, American manufacturing company is an industry leader and a diversified supplier of construction and landscaping products for residential, commercial, industrial and municipal project applications.
For more information, call us at 1-800-289-2569.

Marawood Construction Services of Marshfield, and Lewis Construction of Schofield, poured more than 4,000 cubic yards of concrete from nearby County Materials for the exterior and interior surfaces of Mid-State Trucking Services. Mid-State won a Concrete Design Award from the Wisconsin Ready Mixed Concrete Association for its 25,800-square-foot facility, on the south side of US 29 just west of Wausau.

Stevens Point, Wis. (March 14, 2007) – Mid-State Trucking Services has rolled to honors from the Wisconsin Ready Mixed Concrete Association. The WRMCA bestowed a 2006 Concrete Design Award on the Wausau company, which was nominated by County Materials, in January at SentryWorld in Stevens Point.

County Materials supplied nearly 4,000 cubic yards of ready-mix concrete for the 25,800-square-foot office-and-maintenance facility. It sits on a 3.5-acre lot along Highway 29 on the west side of Wausau. The 28th annual competition showcases the best uses of ready-mix concrete in Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Just when Ben Vance of Marawood Construction Services and Steve Lewis of Lewis Construction thought they had figured out all the logistics needed to get hustling on the tight schedule required by the company, they made a startling discovery once work began on the site.

“We got out there and found we had to raise the whole site about 2 feet because of the location of the utilities,” Vance said. “We had two trench drains (inside), so it was critical to get the slope right.”

This was after 1,000 feet of footings and 750 feet of wall already had been poured.

But both Marawood, of Marshfield, and Lewis, of Schofield, finished under deadline. The building features seven triple-deep bays with in-floor heating and drains. It also includes 750 pieces of rebar and a 3,000-square-foot mezzanine that serves as the parts department.

County Materials operates 30 locations serving the Midwest. The family-owned, American company is an industry leader in the manufacture and distribution of concrete block, brick, stone, ready-mix, hollowcore, pipe, pavers, retaining walls and Aggregate Finish products for residential, commercial and municipal construction and landscaping.

For more information, call us at 1-800-289-2569 and ask for a product guide.

STEVENS POINT, Wis. (March 9, 2007) – They reach toward the sky like concrete trees. And in just a few weeks, the 30 piers that dot the path of the emerging U.S. Highway 10 that traverses the Wisconsin River and other low-lying areas north of the city will be connected by massive concrete bridge girders.

A ready-mix truck from County Materials rolls past a pier to its next pour as workers lay the foundation for the new U.S. 10 north of Stevens Point. County Materials will supply more than 15,000 cubic yards of poured concrete for the project, more than twice the amount that comprises the McCleary Bridge between Wausau and Rib Mountain.

But first, workers are braving winter winds and temperatures to measure, pour and test some of the roughly 3,600 cubic yards of County Materials ready-mix concrete that will comprise the footings, piers and pier caps that will support the bridge. County Materials will supply more than 15,000 cubic yards of ready-mix for the entire project. That’s more than twice the 6,000 cubic yards the company supplied for the McCleary Bridge connecting Wausau and Rib Mountain, and it would cover the playing surface of Green Bay’s Lambeau Field to a depth of more than 7 feet.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) is expanding 31 miles of U.S. 10 between Highway 13 near Marshfield to Interstate 39, north of Stevens Point. The new four-lane highway will bypass several small communities, as well as downtown Stevens Point, where U.S. 10 currently runs. Construction began in 2006 and is scheduled to wrap in 2012.

Making workers’ jobs a little easier is an alternate technology employed by County Materials on the project. Maturity testing loggers, computer chips embedded in the concrete, allow testers to hook up a handheld unit to measure the structure’s internal temperature. This helps workers gauge the rate at which the concrete cures, allowing them to accurately measure the pounds per square inch (psi) the concrete can support at any given time. At 2,500 psi, workers can remove the forms, and at 3,500 psi, they can remove the cold-weather protection. For the U.S. 10 project, the final psi will be 4,000.Ü

A tester for County Materials checks the readings of some concrete poured for one of the piers at the new U.S. 10 north of Stevens Point. Embedded microchips help workers more accurately monitor the concrete during the curing process.

Previously, the only method by which contractors could gauge concrete’s curing rate was to pour separate test cylinders alongside a project to replicate the structure. The cylinders, which typically required 10-12 days to cure to approved psi levels, are not true representations of a bridge pour. But with maturity testing, cure rate readings are extremely accurate and can substantially speed up a project.

“It’s an additional tool to determine concrete’s strength,” said Mike Hammitt of County Materials. “It reduces the time contractors need to wait to remove their forms from 10 days to three and a half days. So that benefits the contractors – and ultimately the taxpayer, in that they save so much on time and labor – and the DOT benefits by getting a more accurate record of temperature readings as the concrete cures.”

Maturity testing technology is now being utilized by Lunda Construction and Zenith Tech, Inc., the contractors doing the current Stevens Point and Wausau area bridge projects.

County Materials operates 30 locations serving the Midwest. The family-owned, American company is an industry leader in the manufacture and distribution of concrete block, brick, stone, ready-mix, hollowcore, pipe, pavers, retaining walls and Aggregate Finish products for residential, commercial and municipal construction and landscaping.

For more information, call us at 1-800-289-2569 and ask for a product guide.