Concrete Strategies Inc.

There is simply no room for error at Concrete Strategies Inc. (CSI) The company was founded in 2005 and quickly established itself as a reliable, full-service concrete contracting operation with a knowledgeable and experienced team of professionals who simply get the job done right. Quality, timeliness and safety are CSI’s three principle values, but it is the company’s appetite for tackling challenging projects and delivering stunning results that keeps the team at the head of the pack.

“We don’t really subcontract any of our services and that’s one of the major keys to our success,” states Joe Vitale, president and founder of CSI. The company is based out of St. Louis, Mo., but is licensed in such a way that allows the team to travel anywhere in the country for a job. CSI also operates its own mobile batch plants for on-site production with greater quality control, enabling the team to guarantee even the largest pours will perform as promised.

The team’s extra mobility is key, as there are only a handful of concrete contracting specialists who offer the breadth of expertise that CSI brings to every project. Customers in both public and private sectors continue to look to CSI for a helping hand with tricky jobs due to the company’s notable reputation.

The total scope of CSI’s services spans all species of concrete construction techniques, including tilt-up concrete, precast concrete erection, post-tension concrete and flatwork as well as specialties like concrete restoration and architectural concrete and structural concrete work and steel erection. The team’s diversity of services helps CSI meet the demands of clients in both public and private sectors. Additionally, it also helps the company attract talented, experienced professionals who appreciate having an outlet to continually develop a broad set of technical skills.

True to Its Principles

During the winter months CSI employs around 100 professionals. However, when the warmer months roll around and activity ramps up nationwide, the company’s roster will swell to as high as 300 professionals across both a commercial-industrial building division and a civil and site utilities division. CSI’s track record in the public sector is a testament to the company’s insistence on keeping as much of the work performed by in-house labor, in spite of escalating competition and skinny profit margins.

“It might not save us money, but it’s important for us to be as independent as possible so we can jump in and stay on schedule,” says Vitale.

The company’s propensity for taking on jobs with non-negotiable completion dates has landed CSI a spot on many general contractors’ short list of concrete contracting specialists. When Clayco Inc. earned the design-build contract for Caterpillar’s new hydraulic excavator plant, CSI was determined to be the best concrete contracting choice for the project. “It was a very tough project with a fast schedule requiring multiple concrete products, but we’re proud to have been a part of it,” says Vitale.

CSI provided tilt-up panel construction, foundations, flatwork and the site utilities for the new 900,000-square foot plant. The plant is located in Victoria, Texas, and is expected to add 500 jobs to the local area, providing subassembly, assembly, painting and final inspections to Caterpillar’s line of hydraulic excavators.

A Proven Single-source Provider

CSI’s independence has become one of the company’s greatest strengths in recent years, as well as one of the reasons why CSI has been able to succeed in the public market. The team at CSI was tapped to lend its expertise to the Olmstead Dam project in Olmstead, Ill. The project received the green light from Congress in 1988 at a cost of $775 million. The dam’s two locks were completed in 2002, but the original 2006 completion date has come and gone while the price has ballooned to over $3 billion. However, construction is forging ahead as quickly and safely as possible.

The completed Olmstead Dam will replace Locks and Dams 52 and 53, which were originally built in the 1920s and have been operating past the original designated lifetime. The aging dams have previously resulted in delays, backups and failures that can take up to three days to resolve, which is significant considering the 90 billion tons of material that travel along this stretch of the Ohio River every year.

CSI has kept clear and open communications with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers throughout its involvement on the project. “It’s one of the first dams ever built on land and dropped into the water,” explains Vitale. CSI was specifically responsible for placing and finishing many of the concrete sections along the dam that weight between 3,500 and 5,000 tons a piece. Crews employed sophisticated GPS technology to ensure the complex pieces fit together precisely.

The company’s performance on the job has helped CSI land additional work within the public sphere, including a concrete modification contract for the Danziger Bridge in New Orleans, La.

As more opportunities arise for the company across the country, CSI will focus on finding the projects that require the attention of a diversely experienced team with a reputation for on-time completion. In turn, the Concrete Strategies Inc. team will cement the company’s reputation as a reliable single-source concrete contractor that keeps critical projects on schedule.