Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Cement Shortage?

Have a big project at work. Pouring 100-200 yards of every few days, through winter.

Concrete company informed us we may not be able to do that much longer. We used to be able to order a week in advance and have trucks on site. We're no longer guaranteed to get mix until 24 hrs prior to the pours. That really throws a wrench in to a guys project schedule.

I'm calling BS on it and don't think they have the labor to get it to us. They say its because the Mississippi is low and they barges can't get in and the a lot of the cement comes from Russia and China. The origin of the cement has been known for decades. I thought the river deal was coming to and end but maybe not?

It is low and the barges are having trouble

I wouldn’t think the river situation will change till spring run off and rains, if then.

Perhaps…. Here in Colorado there is a dam project that has priority on both trucks and concrete. Concrete contractors not associated with that project report that they cannot get their deliveries due to “lack of powder”…..ie, a shortage of cement. I had a small 23 yard pour get held up for weeks as the small contractor “could not get a place in line.”

All in all, it seems that by October, everybody finally got their mix and all the smaller contractors got mix needed for houses, apartments and smaller odd jobs. They did have delays and a few issues keeping their crews busy, but as far as I know everybody got pours done.

I quoted out #3,500 small stone mix last week in rural WV... for work this coming spring.

Same mix was $145 CY when I started in July 2021.

Price last week was $293 CY plus a double extra nasty fuel surcharge.

FJB

Seems to be a regional thing. Son is in the biz and says no prob around KC at this time.

I can believe the small loads not getting a spot in the que because they're small and the large jobs are probably working on Saturdays as well.

If the river is the problem, this isn't going away anytime soon either. Unless we have a wet spring because there really isn't much snow either.

Your in better shape than here, north of Minneapolis.
My large buildings going up, I have been limited to 100 yards per week. So has everyone else including the major road builds.
Everyone has to have their will call in 10 days in advance. No exceptions.
Sounds like a lot of mud, 100 yards, but when pouring grade beams 16” x 40”, and slabs for 13,000 square ft plus buildings it doesn’t go far.
The chemical components for our concrete in this area generally come by ship thru the harbors at Duluth MN. I agree with the OP that labor shortage is a big component all the way along the supply chain.

Osky

The preacher man says it's the end of time
And the Mississippi River she's a-goin' dry

That would make sense if the river is high enough to get a barge to St. Louis.

That's funny...that's exactly what I thought about when he said it was the river. lol

The concrete shortage is something I, as a masonry contractor, have been struggling with all year. I run a block wall up four feet and may wait days before I can get a grout truck. It takes a day to run the wall up again and the waiting resumes.

It's not just concrete either, the cement powder shortage also affects premixed mortar and cinder block manufacturing. The normal 4-6 week lead time for special order block has stretched into 7 months on one of my jobs. The masonry supply store I frequent quit selling mortar mix to the general public, contractors only. Even still, the supplier gets a truck in and it's sold off by noon, everybody wants to stock up so they don't run out halfway through a project.

Foundations by others are delayed, slabs aren't being poured on time, it's left my job scheduling in tatters.

around here I've not heard of anybody not being able to get concrete because it's not available. but the waiting times for somewhat pretty bad because of Labor shortage and truck driver shortage not to mention a shortage of decent concrete crews ..

“Interest is up and the stock markets down,
You only get mugged if you go downtown”

Prophetic to say the least

Is that like a limerick or sumthing?

This project is south of Minneapolis but same/same.

We have been combining our pours to be every other day or so. Making them bigger but then we only need the pump every day or the trucks everyday. Pouring 100-200yds, 2-3 days a week. We have an 88K SF addition to one of our facilities. So, we're pouring footings, walls, and columns daily.

Truthfully, I thought steel would be the bigger issue but it's not. HVAC, steel, and electrical components are usually the hold up's.

It's really screwing up construction schedules.

Aren't there large mines and plants in that area?

I haven't asked in our region, but there is a large operation east of Albuquerque, at Tijeras. (I'm pretty sure they're still operating)

Getting a good concrete crew has been an issue for 25 years. lol

Truth, out of foundation work about 15 years. Needed 12 guys on the payroll just to have 7 show up.