Hanson Pipe & Precast recently closed on Sherman Industries' Prestressed Concrete Division assets, anchored by a 40-acre Pelham, Ala., plant outside Birmingham. The deal brings additional short-span bridge system and structural component production to the Hanson Pipe & Precast Southeast Region, based in Green Cove Springs, Fla., plus conventional I and bulb tee prestressed girder and double tee girder fabrication capabilities. Serving Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi, Pelham becomes the first Hanson Pipe site offering AASHTO-grade bridge stock. The plant appears well suited to competing for Hurricane Katrina-linked Gulf Coast work.

The transaction is the second of its kind for Hanson Pipe and Sherman Industries' parent company, Lehigh Cement. In July 2005, Hanson Pipe acquired nine Sherman Pipe plants in Alabama and Georgia, greatly bridging strong pipe and precast positions in Florida and Louisiana. The Prestressed Division sale confines the once diversified Sherman Industries to ready mixed, concrete block and building materials.