Holcim Ada plant (LafargeHolcim group) unveiled its upgraded plant at its Ada, Oklahoma, USA, after a three-year modernisation project.

The investment focussed on construction of a new kiln line designed to meet and exceed emission limits, improve operational performance and increase capacity to meet market growth. As a result, cement capacity at the the plant is anticipated to increase by 20 per cent to 682,000tpa.

Throughout the three-year project, the modernisation of the Ada facility maintained approximately 120 permanent plant jobs, working alongside more than 380 contractors. The project took more than 900,000 man hours with no serious injuries.

Through Geocycle, LafargeHolcim’s waste management company based in Dundee, Michigan, the Ada cement plant reuses more than 3m scrap tyres a year as a supplemental fuel to replace at least 20 per cent of the fossil fuel used to power its facility, in addition to coal and natural gas.

"The Ada facility has been a significant part of the local and regional economy since 1907," says John Stull, CEO US Cement, LafargeHolcim. "By modernising the plant, we have transformed it into an efficient, competitive and state-of-the-art facility that will allow us to meet the growing needs of our customers and remain a strong partner to the community for the foreseeable future."