Concrete sets up business to tune of $80 billion plus

Concrete it comes in a big truck and it can be placed from the truck or it can be pumped or placed from a wheel barrow.

It can be a wall or a foundation, and it can be fancy or plain.

It can be tilted up, it can be stamped, it can be rolled on, it can be inside a wall and not be seen. It is a part of nearly every construction project.

During 1999, the value of concrete work in the United States is estimated at more than $80 billion. That is expected to be about 12 percent of construction costs, which means there is an estimated $700 billion in construction this year alone. Concrete use is 27 percent for residential buildings, 23 percent for nonresidential buildings and 50 percent for public construction.

There are 74 concrete-related national organizations, 19 international, and 48 states with concrete-related organizations. We are everywhere! Your local organization is the Concrete Promotion Council of the Ozarks, representing 30 area ready-mix producers, cement manufacturers, concrete contractors, testing engineers, concrete product manufacturers and suppliers to these companies.

We can provide information on new uses of concrete or how to improve concrete placement. The president of the council is Jane Martin of Dredging Inc., dba Scott's Concrete, No. 1 Gobbler Road, Camdenton, 65020, 573-346-2450.

She can set up a program for you about concrete, help you locate a contractor or ready-mix producer for your project, or provide printed or video information about quality concrete.

We think of concrete as hard and very durable. That it is. Are concrete products better today than yesterday? Yes! Our industry is dedicated to research and development of new admixtures and new products to serve our community and the world, and the decorative concrete industry has grown more than 3600 percent since 1990.

Will it be better tomorrow? We certainly are working to make it so.

(The preceding article was prepared on behalf of the Concrete Promotion Council of the Ozarks by M. Elise Crain, marketing manager of Increte of the Ozarks.)