St. Louis Satellite

Approaching its seventh year in business, Pleasant View, Tenn., hollow-core plank and inverted tee-beam producer Mid South Prestress LLC saw an opportunity

Don Marsh

Approaching its seventh year in business, Pleasant View, Tenn., hollow-core plank and inverted tee-beam producer Mid South Prestress LLC saw an opportunity for a satellite operation outside St. Louis. We felt like the market had room for an additional plant, as architects and engineers have seen parking structure jobs that were traditionally cast-in-place delivered in prestressed, especially in the last five years, says Mid South Chief Manager John Towell. Located along Interstate 70 near St. Louis, the Wright City, Mo., plant affords access to markets with a strong mix of private and public work, he adds.

We had an aggressive construction schedule to get the satellite plant up and running for early contract work, says Jeff Welter, general manager of Mid South’s new sister entity, Mid West Prestress LLC (MWP). Between January and April, we were looking at moving about 10,000 yd. of earth and placing 2,000 yd. of foundation concrete.

Ambition and mild weather enabled MWP to begin double-tee and shear wall panel production by late April. The plant lies on 11 acres purchased from a ready mixed supplier, Mark Twain Concrete, which occupies an adjacent site and delivers material for all pours. MWP has set up shop with 400-ft. double tee and 100-ft. panel beds, clearing usable acreage to allow for storage of more than 300 structural members. The elongated, rectangular site allows for transfer of product from bed to storage with minimal crane maneuvering.

Occupying MWP’s early production log are parking structure contracts for Express Scripts Inc., a pharmacy benefit plan manager building a new headquarters at the University of Missouri-St. Louis; St. Louis University (Lindell Apartments); and, Westfield Group’s Mid River Mall, St. Peters, Mo. The company has ramped up with an initial 15- to 20-member crew.