[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 116 (Thursday, July 19, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1565-E1566]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       100TH ANNIVERSARY OF LAFARGE OF NORTH AMERICA CEMENT PLANT

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                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 18, 2007

  Mr. STUPAK. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a business in my 
district that has enjoyed a proud history in northern Michigan. This 
month, Lafarge of North America's cement plant in Alpena, Michigan 
celebrates its 100th anniversary. For one hundred years, through three 
different owners, the Alpena cement plant has led the cement industry 
with innovations and served as an example of the industriousness of the 
people of northern Michigan.
  The plant began as the Huron Portland Cement Company. The idea for 
the plant originated from Harry J. Paxton of Fenton, Michigan. While, 
during this time, Michigan had many young men full of entrepreneurial 
spirit, Mr. Paxton had a unique passion: Portland cement. He had 
learned to produce cement while managing a small mill at Fenton. 
Another one of the early cement pioneers in Alpena was John B. Ford, 
who served as the company's first president.
  In January of 1907, Articles of Association were filed for the Huron 
Portland Cement Company in Lansing, Michigan. The purpose of the 
corporation was stated simply as ``The Manufacture of Portland 
Cement.'' Capital stock was listed as merely ``twelve hundred thousand 
dollars'' divided into twelve thousand shares of the par value of one 
hundred dollars. From these meager beginnings, the City of Alpena 
Michigan would grow into its nickname ``Cement City.''
  When the plant first started, stone from the quarries in Alpena were 
loaded by hand into horse-drawn wagons to be delivered to the plant. By 
these crude means, cement was produced in Alpena, loaded, again, by 
hand, into ships moored at Alpena's Thunder Bay. The cement was then 
transported across the Great Lakes to ports throughout the Midwest, 
where the product served as the basic fabric of America's economic 
growth and industrialization. As our great Nation paved its roads and 
built its highways, much of the cement used came from the Huron 
Portland Cement Company of Alpena, Michigan.
  Over time, steam driven shovels and rail cars took the place of the 
horse-drawn wagons and human muscle. In turn, the steam driven shovels 
and rail cars were replaced by electric shovels and large haul trucks. 
Today, a large front-end loader and huge haul trucks are used to mine 
the rock. At Lafarge's modern plant, state-of-the-art electronics, 
computers and x-ray analyzers controlled by highly skilled and educated 
employees produce a high quality product with maximum efficiency.
  Over the years, individuals with great vision, indeed, leaders of the 
cement industry, developed the cement plant in Alpena. There have been 
many significant technological developments at the Alpena plant. One of 
the most important was the invention of the air slide in the late 
1940s. After the air slide patent was sold to the Fuller Company, it 
was refined and became a widely used piece of equipment in a number of 
industries.
  The Alpena plant was also the first of two North American plants to 
use waste heat from its kilns to generate steam, which drives turbines 
producing electricity. In 4 days, the turbines produce enough 
electricity to power each residence in the county of Alpena for 3 
weeks. In 1957, the plant was purchased by National Gypsum, which owned 
and operated the Alpena cement plant for nearly 30 years, until the 
plant was sold to Lafarge of North America.
  Under Lafarge's leadership, the plant has continued to innovate. In 
recent years, the Alpena Plant has significantly reduced its use of the 
virgin natural resources it uses as raw material in the cement 
manufacturing process, replacing them with waste from other industries. 
This concept of reusing industries' waste for another industry's raw 
materials is called ``industrial ecology,'' and LaFarge's Alpena Plant 
has been a pioneer in this area. This development provides another 
example of how Lafarge of Alpena has helped lead the North American 
cement industry into the future.
  Madam Speaker, 100 years after it was built, the Alpena cement plant 
still towers over the City of Alpena and Thunder Bay. Today, the Alpena 
cement plant is the largest plant in Lafarge's North American 
portfolio, a testament to Lafarge's continued faith and investment in 
the people and community of Alpena.
  While a century has passed, the Alpena cement plant remains standing 
as a physical tribute, a testament to the role northern Michigan and 
the City of Alpena has played in the cement industry and in our 
nation's economic

[[Page E1566]]

growth. This week, the people of Alpena will celebrate 100 years of the 
plant's existence and their reputation as ``Cement City.'' The 
workers--past and present--who have labored there as well as the 
plant's previous and current owner all deserve our enduring respect for 
their contributions to the cement industry's past, present and future. 
Madam Speaker, on the centennial celebration of the Alpena cement 
plant, I would ask that you and the entire U.S. House of 
Representatives join me in saluting this northern Michigan institution.

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