EP Students Get a Solid Glimpse into Concrete Business

Today, 18 students from Thomas Galligan’s freshman level one construction class at East Providence Career and Technical Center toured the East Providence plant of Consolidated Concrete Corporation, the area’s largest producer of concrete mix, environmentally safe flowable fill, and landscaping and retaining wall blocks.

Located at in East Providence, Consolidated’s concrete plant features a state-of the-art computer system and testing laboratory, where students learned how ingredients are scientifically mixed to the exact specifications for each job, and then watched as the batch was dispensed into Consolidated’s signature blue and white mixer trucks.

“When students think of construction, they just think of building houses. They don’t look at all the facets of our industry such as heavy equipment operation, working out in the field, driving trucks, and running a business,” Galligan said. "At Consolidated Concrete, workers perform a variety of duties which are of great interest to the students and complements what they are learning in class.”

Consolidated Concrete’s General Manager Ron DeCosta kicked off the tour by welcoming students to the plant and providing a history of the company’s 57 years in business as well as an overview of its products and services. Students viewed the concrete making process where raw materials are dumped into bins, and also saw where one- and two-ton landscaping and retaining wall blocks are manufactured and moved along a sophisticated conveyor belt system.  The tour concluded at the company’s dispatch area, the nerve center of the operation, which keeps all jobs and communications between the dispatcher, driver, and customer coordinated.

“The tour was good.  It’s interesting.  I didn’t know very much about concrete when I went into it.  I never realized there was even a difference between concrete and cement, and I learned today that cement is just one ingredient of the concrete mix,” said Isaiah Foley, a student in Mr. Galligan’s class. “It’s cool learning about things like this – learning the branches and subsidiaries of the construction industry. It was really fun."

“We loved having students visit our East Providence plant,” said Bob Pesci, owner and president of Consolidated Concrete Corporation. “These students are the future of our industry, so not only are events like these wonderful opportunities to showcase who we are as a company and what we do, but they also give us a peek at the talent and perspective of the younger generation.”