The old expression “making hay while the sun shines” has a firm basis in reality, especially in farm country.
And when winter comes to central Alberta, getting much done outdoors becomes difficult, which is why the folks at Bashaw Concrete got busy earlier this year on their new automated concrete plant a block east of their existing plant.
Working on the project during the warmer months – it’s operational now, with a few last finishing touches required on the building – has allowed them to increase the efficiency of their ready mix concrete operations.
Getting your load to you quickly
When you order concrete for delivery for your own commercial, farm or residential project, you’ll even more precisely get what you pay for, and potentially more quickly, says Dorene Hay, Bashaw Concrete owner.
“This allows us to be a lot more precise with our batching, and with more efficiency and speed,” she says. “We were still using the portable batching plant my dad Mel put in in the 1970s, which was all manual, right down to the cement scale. We couldn’t load fast enough, but now with computer-controlled scales for the cement and water, we can now do a few extra loads in a day.” They’ve gone from taking about 10 minutes to load a full concrete mixer to under four minutes!
Truck storage also added
The ability to keep six mixer trucks warmer in winter, along with the ready-mix material, was another key part of the new plant, Dorene says. While the winter months see less outdoor projects that require concrete, the company remains poised to deliver ready mix for those and the many indoor projects on the go around central Alberta.
Family, staff part of construction crew
The company started by Mel Hay in 1963 has transformed with Dorene at the helm managing all day-to-day operations for over 20 years now. Sons Dylan and Dallas in key positions and being groomed to take over in the future with experienced help coming from long time employee and Uncle Ron King.
All of them played roles in building the new plant, as did other employees.
Ron did welding on the project, including on the ingenious natural gas-fired dry-steam system that keeps the rock and sand mixture from freezing; Dallas, a civil engineer, drew up plans for the plant and heavy-duty mechanic Dylan helped out on the mechanical side of things.
Keeping things local
Big fans of supporting the local and region economies, Bashaw Concrete chose to use local contractors and subcontractors to build the new plant – most are long-time valued customers, Dorene says – including the electrical and plumbing work. The main batching machinery is manufactured in Alberta, and much of the supplies and materials used were locally or regionally sourced.
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To inquire about the services and products available through Bashaw Concrete, call them at 780-372-3854 or visit them online at bashawconcrete.com. You can also keep up on the concrete news on their Facebook page.
