Lakeshore Concrete to add about 35 jobs with construction of third plant

Lakeshore Concrete is using the construction of a new plant in Essex County to demonstrate the advantages and advancements made in the industry while incorporating some high-tech features in the facility to substantially reduce its carbon footprint.

The multimillion-dollar investment will result in about 30 to 35 new jobs and is scheduled to become operational in early 2025.

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“The plant in Amherstburg (7120 North Side Road) is a pre-mixed plant,” said John Vanderwerf, who co-owns Lakeshore Concrete, Lake Erie Concrete Supply and Jay Dee Concrete Forming with his brother Joe.

“Most plants in Ontario and North America are dry mix plants. The trucks mix the contents.

“Now, the trucks will be basically agitators. This will give us better consistency and quality and will reduce our carbon emissions.”

Between the Lakeshore plant in Tecumseh and the Lake Erie facility in Leamington, the company can produce about 200 metres of concrete per hour. The new plant will match or slightly exceed that combined production.

“With the new employment coming and the growing population in (Windsor/Essex County), we feel there’s reason to be optimistic about this area and that’s why we’re investing now,” said Vanderwerf, whose company poured the bulk of the slabs for the NextStar Energy Solutions battery plant.

“We don’t need all that capacity now, but we want to be ready for the growing demand that is coming with people needing places to live.”

Vanderwerf said by locating the plant in Amherstburg, it also gives the company good geographical coverage of Essex County.

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“With ready-mix concrete, you need to pour within one to 1-½ hours,” said Vanderwerf said. “We can’t be located here and serve London nor do you want to have trucks making 45-minute drives around the county and having 20 minutes to pour.

“With the three plants, we’re no more than 20-25 minutes from any place in Essex County. The new plant’s production is also very quick.”

While increased availability of concrete will be welcomed by builders, Vanderwerf doesn’t feel the new plant will have much impact on the pace of home construction.

“Delays in getting concrete poured hasn’t been the issue that’s impacting how quickly housing gets built,” Vanderwerf said.

Vanderwerf said he’s still waiting to get the final calculations on the environmental benefits and specifically how many tons of carbon will be eliminated by the plant’s modern technology and construction materials.

The biggest elimination of carbon will result from the concrete being mixed by the new plant’s electric motors rather than being mixed in the trucks’ drums by diesel-powered engines.

“Those truck engines are going at a high degree of revolutions to mix the concrete, so we’ll reduce our emissions significantly there,” said Vanderwerf, who confirmed the family-run business is financing the expansion without any public incentives or tax dollars.

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“With the trucks serving as just agitators, we’ll extend the life of those drums as well.”

Vanderwerf said the plant will use manufactured walls of reinforced concrete that requires no steel, which will also produce environmental benefits.

A 500-ton crane was onsite Monday and Tuesday to lift the 25-by-30-foot concrete panels in place to form the sidewalls of the plant. Each panel weighs 80,000 pounds or 36,287 kilograms.

The 13-inch thick concrete walls sandwich a layer of insulation in the middle making the structure more energy efficient while greatly reducing sound.

“The cost is comparable to using steel, but the advantage is in the energy efficiency of the building,” Vanderwerf said. “You have an uninterrupted thermal break from the roof to the footings in the ground.”

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