Sources: McInnis Cement, Montreal; CP staff
Work is underway at the New York City terminal of McInnis Cement, whose eastern Quebec mill is nearing production and positioned to supply markets from the Mid-Atlantic to the Great Lakes. Remediated from its days as an illegal city dump, the south Bronx parcel along the East River is part of a network of terminals McInnis is siting for their access to efficient waterways and potential to minimize customers’ tanker truck miles.
When completed, the 74,600-sq.-ft. terminal will feature a new warehouse that can store 43,000 tons of cement and load up to 80 trucks per day. Cement will be delivered from McInnis’ Port-Daniel-Gascons, Quebec, plant—the most ambitious greenfield operation in North America this decade. A barge-mounted ship unloader travelling between New York and Providence, R.I., will be used to pneumatically transfer the powder into the Bronx warehouse.
Around-the-clock operations in conjunction with terminal proximity to concrete plants stand to dramatically reduce truck traffic and associated emissions in the northernmost of five New York City boroughs. A rooftop solar array will reduce strains on the local power and a fully enclosed load out will mitigate dust. The terminal and warehouse will rise along a new quarter-mile segment of the South Bronx Greenway, which includes bike and pedestrian paths.
McInnis is staking claim to a metro New York area expected to see more than $60 billion in infrastructure projects and another $7 billion-plus in Superstorm Sandy-rooted work, creating a much-needed demand for concrete.