HUNTINGTON WOODS, Mich. – At Burton Elementary School in Huntington Woods, students will have to wait until the end of the month for their playground to be ready. Why? The project was delayed because of a shortage of cement.
Joe Albanelli's Integrity Concrete is contractor for the project.
"There is a shortage of the shipping and trucking of the cement, which is causing us problems getting concrete to the site," Albanelli said. "I have personally never seen a cement shortage like this. My father started in the concrete business in 1948 and I can never remember him talking about this situation."
Albanelli has put several projects on hold.
"It cost a lot of money because you are trying to do progress on the job but when you don't get the materials, you are paying the labor to come," he said.
According to the Michigan Concrete Association, this year's harsh winter is to blame.
"[It's] caused by a few things. No. 1, we have a compressed construction season this year. We have a late spring so there was a lot of work pushed into the fall this year," said Daniel M. DeGraaf, executive director of the Michigan Concrete Association.
Because of the shortage, non-critical repair work involving cement in Wayne County has been rescheduled for next year. That includes sidewalk and ramp projects.
"Next year we don't expect to see the same issues," said DeGraaf.