Lafarge Ravena Facts

2012 Friendship Festival is Really Picking Up Steam

John Reagan — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:46:24 +0000

Lafarge has always been a proud sponsor of the annual Ravena Friendship Festival that’s held in town on the last Saturday of August.

But this year’s celebration has the team at Lafarge Ravena especially excited. Tapping into Ravena’s history as a railroad-town, this year’s festival will be changed to the ‘Trackin’ Through the R.C. Station Festival” and feature train themed activities and events.

Needless to say, we’re all aboard!

In an effort to build awareness and support for the festival and its new name, event organizers are partnering with local businesses and asking them to display hand-painted fiberglass model trains outside their storefronts from June through mid October. The trains will be painted by various local artists and then auctioned off to the highest bidder. Portions of proceeds from the auction will go to help the Hopeful Life Center, a local charity that provides help to low-income families.

Check out this article for more information about this year’s festival, or to learn about how to get involved.

A historic event…

John Reagan — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:23:54 +0000

The Ravena-Coeymans Historical Society’s program, “Fifty Years Making Cement in Ravena, held Sunday, March 18 was great.

In many ways, it actually felt more like a reunion. Former and current employees, along with and their families gathered to reflect on their time at the Ravena plant, reconnect, and learn about the plant’s future.

I want to thank the folks from the Ravena-Coeymans Historical Society for all their hardwork putting together a terrific program.

Also, thanks to Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin for his presentation of a New York State Assembly Citation recognizing the contributions made to the community by generations of Lafarge Ravena plant employees.

Lafarge Ravena turns 50!

Martin Turecky — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 21:14:50 +0000

There’s a great article in today’s Ravena News Herald about our cement plant turning 50.

That’s right. The Ravena Cement Plant hits the big 5-0 this year!

The Ravena plant has a lot of history in the community and has been proud to play an important role in a variety of activities in our area, from the Ravena Friendship Festival to educational programs in the R-C-S school district.

I invite all of our neighbors in the community to attend the Ravena-Coeymans Historical Society’s program “Fifty Years Making Cement in Ravena” which will be held at the Ravena Village Hall this Sunday, March 11, at 2 P.M. There will be plenty of refreshments served.

The event will mark the 50th anniversary of our plant’s construction in 1962. In today’s paper, the Ravena News Herald reports:

The speakers will cover a large variety of topics.

Starting with tales of the plant’s inception it will take the audience through its several changes in ownership and culminate in a discussion of the plant’s latest iteration.

It also includes a section titled, “A cement plant is born.”

It’s an informative timeline of the Ravena plant and great preparation for those attending the Ravena-Coeymans Historical Society’s program on Sunday, check it out below:

• March, 1961 – announcement made that Atlantic Cement is coming to Coeymans-Ravena.

• May 19, 1961 – groundbreaking for Atlantic Cement.

• June 9, 1961 – work on the 1,000-foot-long ten-foot high tunnel through the cliffs begins.

• July 12, 1961 – paving, dredging, excavation, blasting, chimney construction underway.

• September 15, 1961 – work on the plant moves into high gear.

• October 1961 – storage silos, canisters, chimneys, cliffs, crusher location, tunnel, riverside, dock, kilns installed; 350 workers employed.

• December 22, 1961 – work on schools and concrete plant appear in a Ravena News-Herald photo.

• January 5, 1962 – company orders the world’s largest barge with a capacity of 15,000 tons.

• June 29, 1962 – inner brick chimney finished.

• October 5, 1962 – staff increases.

• October 26, 1962 – first barge loaded with cement made from Canadian clinker ships out.

• November 16, 1962 – kilns start up.

• November 23, 1962 – first barge of Atlantic Cement made entirely at Ravena ships out, with plans to expand distribution by truck and rail in the works.

• January 14, 1963 – workers hired at a rapid rate.

• 1963 – First students begin attending new RCS Senior and Middle Schools.

• 1985 – Atlantic Cement sold to Blue Circle

• 2001 – Blue Circle sold to Lafarge

• 2011 – Lafarge begins work on $300 million modernization project.

• Fall 2011 – work begins on the cement plant modernization project with completion expected in 2014

Fall/Winter edition of Around the Block available online

John Reagan — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 18:06:41 +0000

The latest edition of Lafarge Ravena’s Around the Block newsletter has just hit doorsteps across the region. It features the latest news about the recently approved modernization plan, as well as an inside look at plant operations. Readers will also enjoy meeting another Lafarge Ravena vendor in this issue and learn how they help keep our operation running. Click here to check it out.

Modernization Underway

John Reagan — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:56:54 +0000

The team at Lafarge Ravena has been busy since we received the permits last year to modernize our plant.

The first phase required for a construction project of this type focuses on preparing the ground, demolishing structures and installing proper storm management systems.

Here’s a video of the work currently underway on our Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan or SWPPP (pronounced “swip”).

This man-made water basin is designed to gather on-site storm water and remove any sediment before discharging clean water back to the system. You may also notice similar systems being used at places such as newer shopping plazas in our area.

Our next step will involve the installation of foundations to support new buildings, structures and equipment related to the modernization effort.

We will keep you posted with new pictures and video as we continue making progress.