Feb 18 2014
HEADWATERS INCORPORATED, the nation’s largest manager and marketer of Coal Combustion Products (“CCPs”), supplied high quality fly ash to achieve a 25% portland cement substitution rate for a Los Angeles construction project that set a new world record for largest continuous pour of concrete by volume.
Crews last weekend placed 21,200 cubic yards of concrete for the foundation of the Wilshire Grand building in downtown Los Angeles. A fleet of more than 200 trucks made 2,120 trips over 19 hours to place the concrete. At 1,100 feet in height, the Wilshire Grand building will become the tallest building west of the Mississippi River when it is completed in 2016.
News stories about the record-setting concrete project can be found here http://lat.ms/1eIGLia. Headwaters also supplied all of the fly ash used in the project that previously held the concrete record – the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.
“It is always exciting to participate in landmark construction projects like the Wilshire Grand,” said Bill Gehrmann, President of Headwaters Resources. “California is one of the nation’s largest users of coal fly ash for projects that range from roads, bridges and dams to buildings both large and small. Project developers use fly ash both for its environmental benefits and to improve the performance of concrete.”
Fly ash makes concrete more durable by decreasing its permeability. Fly ash also helps mitigate the heat of cement hydration in large concrete structures like the Wilshire Grand foundation. Environmental benefits include conservation of energy, water and natural resources, as well as significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by displacing the manufacturing of cement.
The 1,800 tons of fly ash supplied to concrete producer California Portland Concrete for use in the Wilshire Grand foundation originated at power plants in Utah and Arizona. Headwaters operates a major distribution terminal in Pomona, California, to supply ash for Southern California projects.
“This high profile project comes on the heels of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency once again affirming its support for using fly ash in concrete,” said Gehrmann. “EPA recently released a rigorous study that showed fly ash use in concrete is completely safe and the agency reiterated its belief that fly ash concrete offers significant opportunities to advance sustainability.”