Benchmark Foam provides On-Time Guarantee with special deliveries.

The management team at Dickinson Ready Mix in Dickinson, N.D. planned to build a new, state of the art batch plant complex with an energy efficient interior and minimum maintenance exterior. In order to accomplish their goal, and use their own concrete in the process, they chose Benchmark Foam to supply LITE-DECK® Tilt.

An innovative way of using a familiar product, the Tilt system enables wall and roof panels to be cast on site, eliminating freight costs associated with conventional pre-cast while allowing the use of local suppliers. The Tilt panels are cast on beds of expanded polystyrene (EPS). These EPS beds are profile cut to form a structural concrete beam in the panel and to insert an attachment rail for interior finishing.

51-ft Tilt wall panels enclose the new batch plant.

In order to maintain a tight casting schedule, Benchmark Foam provided a delivery trailer for on-site storage. Each trailer was arranged in a pre-determined sequence to allow for seamless transition between stages. Benchmark Foam guaranteed on-time delivery of the next trailer before the last panel was removed from the previous trailer. In accordance with its On-Time Guarantee, Benchmark Foam delivered all eight loads on or before the delivery date to avoid delays on the jobsite.

“Benchmark met all our expectations. We relied on their technical expertise all the way through the project,” said Dickinson Ready Mix General Manager Scott Olin.

The entire complex required 87 roof and wall panels. The Tilt panels varied in thickness from 13 inches in the wall to 24 inches in the roof. Scaling more than 50 foot tall and 12 foot wide, each wall panel weighed approximately 48,000 pounds.

LITE-DECK® Tilt panels were used in both the 22-ft tall shop (left) and 51-ft batch plant (right).

“With the support of Benchmark, Lite Form, ATEG and Dave Compton, we implemented a technology that had never been used in the state of North Dakota,” Olin said.

For Dickinson Ready Mix, the end result is an insulated, minimum maintenance structure with reinforced, pre-cast concrete walls built to last 100+ years. R-Values ranging from R-32 to R-61 will provide lifelong energy savings. The LITE-DECK® Tilt sytem, supplied by Benchmark Foam, will assure that Dickinson Ready Mix will be a reliable, efficient supplier of ready mix concrete for years to come.

Project Statistics
Location: Dickinson, N.D.
Total Complex Size: 15,880 sq. ft. (floor)
Sq. Ft. of LITE-DECK® Tilt: 31,130 sq. ft. (walls & roof)
Timeline: Oct. 6, 2009 – Feb 22, 2010

Construction Team
Site: Dickinson Ready Mix, Scott Olin
Project Manager: Pat Bren, General Steel & Supply Company
Structural Engineer: Chris Burrier, Advanced Technology Engineering Group, LLC.
Tilt Consultant: David Compton, Innova Associates
LITE-DECK® Tilt Supplier: Benchmark Foam, Inc.
LITE-DECK® Tilt Site Casting Contractor: Winn Construction
Post Tension Consultant: Jim Boeshart, Lite Form Technologies
Tilt Erection Contractor: WCI Construction
Crane Service: WANZEK Crane Service