Lehigh Hanson Inc. has delayed the start of a $600 million expansion project at its Lehigh Cement Co. plant in Mitchell, Ind., due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, reported local media.
“This was a difficult decision, but it’s also prudent,” said Jerry Miller, Mitchell plant manager. “A construction project of this magnitude has numerous components, such as supply chain certainty, material deliveries and, importantly, worker availability. These are tied to precise construction scheduling timelines, all of which have been negatively impacted.”
Lehigh broke ground for the new plant in October 2019. Since then, activity has mainly been focused on site preparation in advance of structural assembly.
The company said it will continue to finalize the engineering and delivery of equipment but will limit the amount of site work during the remainder of 2020 and will move it into early 2021.
The new startup target date for the plant will shift from September 2022 to the third quarter of 2023.
