As construction continues to boom in the Greater Houston area, the concrete production industry in Harris and Montgomery counties has reached its highest demand within the past five years.
"Texas is home to two of the top three construction markets [in the U.S.]— Houston and Dallas," said Rich Szecsy, president of the Texas Aggregates and Concrete Association, or TACA. "By the end of 2013, Texas produced just over 48 million cubic yards of concrete, and that was 16 percent of the national volume. That's massive."
In 2013, Harris and Montgomery counties produced 16 million to 18 million cubic yards of concrete for residential, municipal and commercial markets, Szecsy said.
"You've got a couple of things that support that kind of growth [in Texas]," Szecsy said. "First is we have a great state that is open for business. We have low tax rates, low labor rates and we have practical regulatory controls."
"There's an extreme amount of construction and a tremendous amount of building in the Houston/Gulf Coast area." —Joann Yancey, Conroe Concrete Ltd. co-owner
TACA is the largest state trade of its kind in the U.S. and represents a $7.5 billion industry, Szecsy said. Throughout the state, the association represents about 75 percent of concrete producers, an estimated 70 percent of aggregate producers and 100 percent of cement producers, he said.
With 70 employees, Conroe Concrete Ltd. co-owner Joann Yancey said the company manufactures and delivers ready-mix concrete to residential and commercial entities within a 15-mile to 20-mile radius of the site at FM 2854 and I-45 in Conroe. Due to high demand for concrete within the past two years, Yancey said it is important for entities to be available for on-site deliveries because of the perishable nature of the materials.
"There's an extreme amount of construction and a tremendous amount of building in the Houston/Gulf Coast area," she said.
Roadway projects throughout the Harris and Montgomery county areas consume a significant amount of concrete, Szecsy said. For example, the construction of the Grand Parkway alone will use 100,000 cubic yards of concrete, according to information on www.grandparkway99.com.
"The project consumes a large amount of concrete, but [there's] also ancillary concrete that goes along with that," Szecsy said. "As soon as that Grand Parkway opens up, you have feeder roads and ulterior roads—somebody's going to put [up] gas stations, a master-planned community, a Kroger or H-E-B, so all of that takes concrete as well."
As construction continues to boom in the Greater Houston area, the concrete production industry in Harris and Montgomery counties has reached its highest demand within the past five years.
"Texas is home to two of the top three construction markets [in the U.S.]— Houston and Dallas," said Rich Szecsy, president of the Texas Aggregates and Concrete Association, or TACA. "By the end of 2013, Texas produced just over 48 million cubic yards of concrete, and that was 16 percent of the national volume. That's massive."
In 2013, Harris and Montgomery counties produced 16 million to 18 million cubic yards of concrete for residential, municipal and commercial markets, Szecsy said.
"You've got a couple of things that support that kind of growth [in Texas]," Szecsy said. "First is we have a great state that is open for business. We have low tax rates, low labor rates and we have practical regulatory controls."
