Concrete Products covers the issues that attract producers of ready mixed and manufactured concrete focusing on equipment and material technology, market development and management topics.
Issue link: http://concrete.epubxp.com/i/821154
36 • May 2017 www.concreteproducts.com FEATURE MIXER TRUCKS For West Oahu Aggregate Co. (WOA), Honolulu, Hawaii, the transition to producing and delivering its own concrete product was a simple decision. Starting in 1993 as an aggregate producer, the company has diversified into several related businesses, including recycled rock, concrete and asphalt; disposal and recycling of municipal, con- struction and demolition waste; and, supplying on-road and off-road diesel. "Moving from crushing and recycling to waste removal and demolition to concrete production and delivery just felt natural to us," says WOA owner Georgette Silva. A Honolulu affiliate company, Pineridge Farms, Inc., complements WOA's business through construction trucking and heavy hauling. It offers aggregate hauling, trucking of asphalt paving materials and lowboy trailers for heavy equipment transport. When a strong com- mercial market put concrete in short supply for WOA projects, the vertically integrated company did what came natural: Diversify into ready mixed production. "We purchased a 200-yard-per-hour portable concrete batch plant a couple of years ago to produce concrete for our own projects," notes Silva. "It also gave us the potential to sell concrete to other contractors." While the plant offered internal sourcing capability, WOA needed a way to differentiate itself from the island's saturated ready mixed concrete market in order to successfully sell material to other com- panies. Despite the island state's relatively small geographical area, notes Terex Advance District Sales Manager Scott Kutz, "There are 13 ready mix companies operating in Hawaii." FRONT DISCHARGE ADVANTAGE For WOA, the primary market for its concrete product was the pri- vate sector, specifically housing. The plant purchased to produce concrete wouldn't necessarily give the company a significant advan- tage over other operators. However, how the concrete made it to the jobsite, navigated the island's rugged terrain and discharged its loads would. Prior to WOA entering the ready mixed concrete business, Hawaii was entirely a rear discharge mixer truck market. Therefore, all of the producers operating in Oahu relied solely on this truck design to deliver concrete to every corner of the island for both commercial and private customers. Yet island terrain, as Silva discovered, was not necessarily conducive for rear discharge trucks to efficiently deliver concrete to all customers. The Oahu Island was formed by two former shield volcano moun- tain ranges. The Wai'anae range on the west and Ko'olau range to the east run parallel to each other and flank a broad valley, where the majority of the island cities are located. The rugged Wia'anae mountain range rises more than 4,000 feet above sea level, while the highest peak of the Ko'olau is 3,150 ft. With the plant's Honolulu location positioned to the west of the Ko'olau range, trucks carrying WOA's concrete product to cities like Kaneohe and Kailua on the east side of the mountain had two choices. "They could drive on highways built over the steep mountain incline or go around the flat land route, which adds approximately an hour to the trip," explains Kutz. Delivery Differentiation West Oahu Aggregate brings front discharge trucks to a crowded Aloha State market Since Hawaii follows the Federal Bridge Formula for axle configuration, WOA went with the six-axle Terex truck that offers an extended 391-in. front to rear axle span with the tag axle lowered. Continued on page 38