Washington Group Alberici (WGA), a majority-owned joint venture formed between Alberici Constructors Inc. and Washington Group International, was awarded a contract by Holcim (US) Inc. to build Holcim's new $905 million cement plant in Ste. Genevieve County, Mo.
The Ste. Genevieve Plant is being constructed about 55 miles south of St. Louis along the Mississippi River. The nearly 3,900-acre property is located in Jefferson and Ste. Genevieve counties.
WGA will be the construction manager/general contractor for this project. Within that role, WGA will be providing procurement services for equipment and construction materials. This is in addition to construction of the plant, which includes civil, mechanical, and electrical work associated with installation of the cement processing equipment.
At the peak of the construction phase, the project will employ about 1,200 skilled construction workers, according to a release.
The cement plant and quarry will be located on about 1,700 acres, with the remaining 2,200 acres to be preserved in its natural state, most of which will be managed as a conservation area with external management by a third-party regional land trust organization.
"This joint venture gives us the opportunity to work together with Holcim as they build the world's largest single kiln line cement plant, bringing more than a thousand great construction jobs to this region during the next few years," said Gary Baughman, president of Washington Group's Industrial/Process Business Unit, in a statement.
When completed in third quarter 2009, the Ste. Genevieve plant will have the capacity to produce four million metric tons of cement annually. When the plant begins operations, it will have about 200 full-time employees with an estimated $10 million annual payroll.
Holcim (US) Inc. is a manufacturer and supplier of cement and mineral components. The company operates 14 manufacturing plants and more than 70 distribution facilities in the United States. Holcim (US) Inc. is a subsidiary of Holcim Ltd. of Switzerland.