GCC Red Rocks Plant Moving Along

By Pete Lewis

When it opens later this year, GCC of America’s new plant in Pueblo will produce a million tons of cement annually and provide a much-needed supply of cement to a state that has suffered shortages in recent years.

The $240-million plant sits on more than 4,000 acres, about eight mi. south of Pueblo and four mi. east of Interstate 25. The site is a former working ranch now owned by the State of Colorado. GCC has a long-term lease that includes paying a royalty to the state.

GCC of America is a subsidiary of Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua, a Mexican company that produces and distributes cement, concrete and concrete products in the United States and Mexico. The company currently produces about 3.3 million tons of cement annually, of which, about 1.4 million tons are produced in two plants in New Mexico and South Dakota.

Construction on the Pueblo plant began in May 2006. TIC Holdings of Steamboat Springs is the general contractor. FL Smith is supplying and installing the manufacturing machinery and is working with GCC engineers to set up the plant. Terracon is doing geotechnical engineering and quality control of materials.

Welcome Addition

The GCC plant will be a welcome addition to Colorado, which has suffered from a cement shortage in recent years. The state has two other cement plants, one in Florence near Canon City and one in Lyons. The plant in Lyons can produce about 500,000 tons of cement annually. The Florence plant has a 2-million-ton annual capacity but recently has produced less due to some mechanical problems.

“The market in Colorado is about 3 million tons a year, but the supply doesn’t meet the need,” said Ron Hedrick, vice president of operations for GCC of America.

Colorado’s demand for cement, coupled with the supply of limestone, was the reason GCC selected Pueblo for its new plant. Limestone is a primary ingredient for cement, and the majority of the 4,000-plus acres in Pueblo is a limestone quarry. The limestone is on the surface or, in some parts of the quarry, under about eight ft of soil.

GCC’s permit limits the amount of land that can be disturbed at any time to 16 acres. After the limestone is removed, GCC is required to reclaim the land. Hedrick said the site contains enough limestone to supply the plant for more than 100 years.

When complete, the plant will include a main office building and several steel buildings that house crushers, grinders and kilns, as well as storage for raw materials. The project also includes constructing a half-mi. railroad spur into the plant and railroad track throughout the plant. 

Environmental Issues

GCC received a permit to construct the plant in 2000.

“This is the most stringent permit for a cement plant in the United States,” Hedrick said. “Our requirements for air emissions, water containment, storm runoff and land reclamation are the strictest in the country, so this will be the cleanest and most efficient plant in the nation.”

The plant will serve the eastern Rocky Mountains and Front Range from Denver to the New Mexico border. Hedrick said the Western Slope will continue to be served by plants in Utah.

GCC will not package any of the cement produced in the plant. Most of it will be shipped by rail to GCC’s two distribution terminals in Denver and Commerce City.

Click here for more DDJ Features >>