NEWNAN, Ga. — Inside an 86,000-square-foot industrial plant in Newnan, Oldcastle Infrastructure builds concrete pipe to last at least a century, company leadership told Channel 2’s Brendt Petersen.
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While business is a solid as the pipes, Erik Varnadoe — who is the company’s Southeast Region president — said the sharp spike in the cost of diesel fuel affects the entire industry.
“The steel in the concrete makes a very strong structure. I’ve been doing this my entire working career. My wife will say, ‘Did you make that? Did you make that?’” Varnadoe said.
He and a workforce of 50 make 60,000 tons of concrete pipe every year. Oldcastle Infrastructure gave Channel 2 Action News a rare, behind the scenes look Thursday at how it’s done.
The price of fuel is affecting the industry, including the independent truckers who haul the pipes to construction sites and the Georgia Department of Transportation, which, through its contractors, buys the largest share.
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The pressure to supply the demand requires an experienced plant workforce.
“The talent pool out there is slim. It does make it challenging to find people who are interested in this kind of business,” the plant’s general manager T.J. Waits said.
Varnadoe says while costs have risen, the big highway projects are still in need of concrete pipe.
“The state is the driver. For all the interstate and state highways, that construction is generated by public works,” he said.
Varnadoe says when diesel prices finally fall, costs will come down for the entire industry.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp officially proclaimed this week as Georgia Concrete Pipe Week.
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