Lehigh Plant Improvements Delayed Due To COVID-19

(MITCHELL) – Lehigh Hanson Inc. announced Tuesday that the start of construction of its new Lehigh Cement Company plant in Mitchell will be delayed approximately one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lehigh Hanson, Inc. has been diligently monitoring the situation and has taken a number of steps to respond to this growing threat in order to protect the safety and health of employees, customers, and the communities where they do business. They will continue to watch developments closely and follow the guidance of local and federal health officials.

Lehigh Hanson, Inc., broke ground in October 2019 to mark the start of construction of its new Lehigh Cement Company plant in Mitchell. The company will invest more than $600 million in the new state-of-the-art plant which will expand the existing plant’s operations.

IDEM’s Office of Air Quality issued the permit in July, allowing Lehigh to construct a new cement kiln system and material handling equipment at the Mitchell plant. 

The new plant will allow for an increase in production capabilities while significantly reducing energy usage, fuel consumption and emissions per ton of cement produced through modern equipment and the latest in cement production technology.

But due to COVID-19, things have been put on hold.

The plant will continue to finalize the engineering and the delivery of equipment.

The target date for start-up has been moved to the third quarter of 2023.

At this time, the majority of their locations remain open for business with normal operating hours and have contingency plans in place to remain operational if conditions worsen.

Employees at the plants, distribution centers, and sales yards have implemented precautions to minimize human-to-human contact and are doing their best to ensure minimal disruption to the availability of their products and services. They have also empowered corporate and support staff to work from home where possible and taken additional precautions to ensure offices and locations where employees continue to work onsite are cleaned and sanitized regularly.