

Charlotte-based Concrete Supply Co. signals Carolinas market leadership in a new ready mixed operation serving Greenville-Spartanburg, the heart of upstate South Carolina. Rated at 300-yd./hour, the twin-alley, transit mixed plant occupies just under half of a 20-acre Spartanburg site. It replaces a 1960s’ era, 120-yd./hour central mixed plant that had evolved under Metromont LLC, Greenville, RMC Industries, Atlanta, and Cemex USA, Houston to the present Concrete Supply partnership.
Tired equipment and an expiring lease on land owned by Metromont—long focused solely on precast, prestressed concrete—drove Concrete Supply to a parcel located along (Charlotte to Atlanta) Interstate 85 near the interchange with (Asheville, N.C. to Charleston, S.C.) Interstate 26. The new site has somewhat less truck routing real estate than the Metromont property, yet it maintains safety provisions and high efficiency levels with ample mixer and dump lanes, plus mixer loading sequence signage.
Cement tanker routing is a different matter, thanks to a new neighbor Concrete Supply didn’t anticipate at the initial 25-acre property closing. With ready mixed plant construction set to begin in early 2023, the producer was approached by Virginia-based Intermont Group Ltd., which sought to develop a Spartanburg rail spur and cement terminal. Acquiring five acres from Concrete Supply, the bulk storage and material handling specialist proceeded with rail infrastructure and a twin-silo, 550-ton terminal serving Giant Cement Holding’s Harleyville, S.C. flagship mill. The result: Terminal load out less than 500 feet from the ready mixed plant silo ports.


The Intermont transaction was one of two post-land acquisition developments shaping the new Concrete Supply Spartanburg home. When CEO Henry Batten factored prospective production peaks in a market with Greenville-Spartanburg’s sustained growth, the plant equipment order doubled—from one to two Con-E-Co LoPro 12RS models. “A single-alley plant would suit our requirements most days,” he says. “While it is rare to need full plant capacity for a given day, you can outrun concrete output capability at certain hours. The higher spend for a second plant was the right decision. It gives us the capacity and redundancy needed to operate in a strong market.”
“South Carolina has been very receptive to manufacturing facilities, created the environment for businesses to flourish, and invested heavily in infrastructure along Interstates 85 and 26,” he adds. “Quality of life, cost of living, housing affordability and employment prospects are attracting many newcomers to Greenville-Spartanburg and the Upstate region.”
TODAY’S TEMPLATE
On the heels of the Spartanburg project, Henry Batten and his finance and operations teams have turned their attention to major upgrades on two plants each in the Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C. and Charleston, S.C. markets. New site investments will follow the safety, environmental and capacity objectives on display in Spartanburg. The twin Con-E-Co LoPro 12RS plants each have two 1,175-bbl. silos, split to enable up to four different cementitious materials; and, two 216-ton aggregate bins, each with five compartments for natural and manufactured sand, the latter prevalent in the Upstate market, plus coarse aggregate grades. Charging both bins are 110-ft. rail radial stacker conveyors, with hot dipped galvanized finish and 36-in. belts equal to 750 tons/hour transfer. Rail mounting opens up area under the stackers as it eliminates traversing wheels at grade. At Concrete Supply Spartanburg, the stackers sandwich twin American Geo Thermal Chiller units and water tank. The modular units have an open air shelter matching an adjacent admixture tank enclosure with one open end.

Con-E-Co PJ2000D dust collectors hover each mixer truck load point. Such placement eliminates the need to recycle captured cement particles through fly ash silo compartments and significantly reduces the ducting requirements typical of collectors situated at ground level. Additional dust control is realized with hinged, retractable and air/electric-operated drive through shrouds, 8- x 7-ft. with 6-ft. curtains.
As land availability and site configuration allow, forthcoming Concrete Supply plant upgrades will emulate the Spartanburg site’s robust process and storm water management plan. The new operation is equipped with a four-part weir conveying settled process water to a primary tank. The plant can handle water from multiple sources and markedly improve on the legacy site’s process water recycling rate. Both plants are equipped with 480-gal. holding tanks, enabling the COMMANDbatch control to tap the target combination of municipal and recycled water for each load.