EULESS, Texas, Nov. 5, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eastern Concrete Materials, Inc., a business unit of U.S. Concrete, Inc. (Nasdaq:USCR), has been awarded and begun delivering the land-supplied ready-mix concrete for the three-mile long New Tappan Zee Bridge. The new bridge crosses the Hudson River at one of its widest points and will replace the deteriorating, congested, and expensive-to-maintain Governor Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge. The existing bridge opened to traffic nearly 60 years ago and carries more than 138,000 metropolitan New York area commuters between New York's Rockland and Westchester counties every day.
In January of this year, in an innovative departure from the traditional process used to design and build roads and bridges, The New York State Thruway Authority issued a notice to proceed with the design and construction of the new eight-lane bridge to Eastern's customer, design-builder Tappan Zee Constructors (TZC). The design-build process is a streamlined approach to construction that saves time and money over the traditional design-bid-build approach.
The new bridge, constructed of low maintenance "100-year life concrete", will be the widest bridge of its length in the world and will have eight traffic lanes, a bike and pedestrian walkway, and provisions for a rail transit installation.
The TZC team, comprised of Fluor Enterprises, Inc., American Bridge Company, Granite Construction Northeast, Inc., and Traylor Bros., Inc., and their engineering consultant HDR, was selected from among a field of two other design-build teams that competed for the work.
TZC's $3.1 billion proposal for a sinuous, cable-stayed, dual-span, twin bridge was chosen not only for its low initial cost and long-term maintenance cost, but also because TZC's design and construction process posed the least disruption to the ecology of the Hudson River while satisfying other requirements for schedule, function, appearance and reduced maintenance. The bridge's landmark design has already received international acclaim for its unique and pleasingly-lit angled main-span towers.
Construction and opening of the new bridge, together with demolition of the old bridge, will proceed in phases with final completion scheduled for 2017.
About Eastern
Eastern Concrete Materials, Inc., a business unit of U.S. Concrete, Inc. (Nasdaq:USCR), operates 17 ready-mix plants in New Jersey and New York and is the largest supplier of ready-mix concrete in the Northern New Jersey-New York City metropolitan area. The company also supplies sand, stone, and gravel from its three quarries in New Jersey to ready-mix, asphalt producer, government and contractor customers. Eastern's ready-mix product line, built on U.S. Concrete's EF Technology® platform of more sustainable concrete mix designs, includes a suite of proprietary and branded products to improve the appearance, productivity and performance of concrete work. The company's portfolio of projects includes the area's largest and tallest buildings, best-known monuments and biggest roadways and bridges. For more information about Eastern, visit http://www.us-concrete.com/usc_eastern_concrete.asp.
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.