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slug: personalizing-precast
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At Locke, we take pride in the relationships we create through the products we build. Though we do have some products readily available “on the shelf”, we primarily create custom pieces for our clients by solving their technical problems in order to create a design that meets their needs.

We consider this service as part of our larger process, even referring to ourselves as “Your personal precast division.” With our refined design process and our years of experience in custom solutions, we try to help customers see the benefits—and flexibility—of precasting. We understand that good customer service is a cornerstone to product creation and we take our process very seriously and our products are a direct result of that.

OUR APPROACH TO CUSTOM

Just because a product is “custom” doesn’t mean the approach has to feel that way. Since our inception, we have developed unique approaches to precast design that get results without all of the typical design headaches like decision fatigue, delayed build times, or blatant delivery issues. Our tried-and-true process allows us to stay on task while still remaining flexible in pursuit of what we find incredibly important: solutions. Have questions about our approach to precast? Reach out, we’d love to talk about it.

IMPROVING PROCESSES

We actively refine our process for better efficiency, shortened production times, and smarter communication throughout the product lifecycle. As we move forward as an organization, we are considering even better ways to implement technology into our daily workflows, creating tighter feedback loops and simplify progress updates. We’re even actively investing in our proprietary software that tracks hours and production timelines, leading to better, more transparent billing and scheduling.

GROWING OUR CAPABILITIES

A process is only as good as your ability to implement and support change That’s why Locke continuously improves our industry-leading plant, ensuring what we can dream up can swiftly become reality. From our recent investment of 2 new crane 45′ Proserve bridge cranes to our proprietary production application, Locke puts it money where its heart is: better service.

And as 2020 comes to a close, we’re thankful for all the little improvements on our horizon and look forward to sharing them as they are deployed. We truly are a solutions company, even for ourselves.

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slug: concrete-headwall-case-study
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You see it along any farm-to-market road in the country, drainage swales and stormwater outfalls gauged with deep ruts the likes of the Grand Canyon. Locke was recently asked to provide a concrete headwall (also known as a concrete wingwall) designed specifically for one of these situations.

The 3D CAD Modelers and Engineers for Locke worked with them using AutoDesk Inventor modeling software to create a 3D rendering of a possible solution.

The dimensions and shape of this headwall were unique and therefore no standard mold was available to cast this structure, but…this is a common situation here at Locke. Our production team is used to dealing with one-of-a-kind structures and they went to work building a custom mold utilizing both wood carpentry and steel fabrication skills during the process. The final product was loaded up and “received without any issues and the delivery was perfect, notification and timing were great as well.” mentioned the customer.

The customer set the concrete headwall, backfilled, and placed concrete rip rap as a final erosion protection control.

Marco Ramos, sales for Locke Solutions commented, “The best part of the process was knowing we provided value to our customer and helped make their life a little easier.”

Marco’s efforts were definitely noticed as the customer’s final words after completing the installation, “Let your management know we appreciate Locke’s key role in our success and a special thanks to you for being a great customer interface for me.” Great job to Marco and the whole Locke team!

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slug: npca-2021
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We are proud to share the following press release from NPCA:

Local Businessman Elected to Trade Association Board

Indianapolis, Ind. – Asher Kazmann, president of Locke Solutions in Houston, Texas, was elected to serve a three-year term on the National Precast Concrete Association Board of Directors on October 5 during NPCA’s 55th Annual Convention.

Kazmann has worked in the precast concrete industry for 18 years, starting as a structural engineer before founding Locke Solutions in 2013. Locke focuses on engineered precast products in the industrial and heavy commercial markets with products including manholes, pull boxes, utility trenches, box culverts and more.

“I look forward to working with Asher and seeing the impact he makes on our association and industry,” said NPCA President Fred Grubbe. “Asher is an innovative businessman who looks for new and modern ways of doing things, which will translate well as a member of the NPCA Board of Directors.”

Kazmann has been active with NPCA since 2013, serving on the Utility Structures Committee and Education Committee. He has also served on the Board of Directors for Associated Builders and Contractors. He is a KidsHOPE mentor and serves on the St. Luke’s United Methodist Lay Leader Committee. In his free time, he enjoys coaching his three kids in soccer and baseball and traveling with his family. “My family, especially my wife Meghan, have been my greatest supporters during my career and they are a daily reminder of why I need to be serving my employees and the industry.”

Now in its 55^th year, the National Precast Concrete Association (precast.org) provides technical, educational and safety resources to more than 900 member companies in 12 countries, all 50 states and seven Canadian provinces.

For More Information:

Kirk Stelsel
Vice President of Communications
(317) 582-2318
kstelsel@precast.org

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slug: concrete-fish-house
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If someone asked you what a “Fish House” was, you would probably think of a fishbowl or aquarium with pebbles, fake plants, some overgrown algae, and a plastic shipwrecked at the bottom. Now if you were asked to think of an environmentally friendly “Fish House” for the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean, you would probably have something like this come to mind.

Locke helped develop a precast concrete design to manufacture several hundred Fish Houses to be deployed and placed in strategic locations along the Gulf Coast.

Use of the precast concrete was chosen because of the durability of reinforced concrete materials, the scalability and consistency of the manufacturing process, and the rapid installation process due to prefabricated units.

This is not the first time Locke has teamed up to provide an environmentally friendly solutions to the Gulf Coast. “We have always kept an eye on how we can positively impact the environmental landscape and listen to the people in the coastal restoration arena to come up with solutions to satisfy their needs,” says Asher Kazmann, President of Locke. “Together we turn those ideas into real products and value engineer them to be worthwhile and economical solutions.” Locke’s engineering team worked directly with their client developing several iterations of this Fish House design until the most efficient product was developed in terms of materials, structural integrity, manufacturing productivity, and efficiency of shipments.

With apparent changes in climate and an excessive number of hurricanes reaching the Gulf Coast, we need to continue exploring ways to protect our shorelines and ecosystems that depend on them.

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slug: concrete-boardwalk
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Let’s face it, COVID-19 has forever impacted the human race in so many ways.

The year 2020 has been a struggle and a challenge for an untold number of people throughout the world, but…being the optimist, there are some bright spots that have come to light this year. One bright spot being the movement to spend more time outdoors.

One of Locke’s partners, PermaTrak, is positioned to help us enjoy the outdoors with their patented concrete boardwalk product. PermaTrak has been providing unique boardwalk systems since 2010, and in 2015, Locke Solutions became a manufacturing partner with them.

“Locke Solutions was specifically chosen by us because our niche product appeals to both engineers and landscape architects requiring both accuracy and aesthetics in one product. Locke Solution’s teamwork has been critical to our success in meeting the needs of our customers and I am grateful for them stepping up to the challenge that is required in a partnership when introducing a new product to the marketplace.” says Jason Philbin, President of PermaTrak North America.

Much of the appeal of this concrete boardwalk system is the natural look and feel of the boardwalk while enjoying the inherent durability of reinforced concrete. “The different combinations of surface finishes and integral color options helps make each boardwalk system unique in itself.” says Matthew Chesser, project manager for Locke. “Plus, the combination of PermaTrak’s engineering and design work along with Locke’s custom precast experience allows for virtually any shape or size system you can think of.”

Over the years, Locke and PermaTrak have teamed up to provide projects all over the country from Washington state to Pennsylvania, to the top of Pikes Peak, Colorado. As of this writing, PermaTrak has provided more than 320 boardwalk systems of precast concrete in the United States.

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slug: integral-sloping-concrete-trench
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Arguably the most frustrating and time-consuming aspect of an industrial or commercial project revolves around the construction of sloping concrete trench drains.

The ever so subtle slope required to create a positive water runoff flow creates a challenge for the most skilled carpenters and concrete crews to obtain. Pre-fabricating these trench drains often appear unthinkable as each precast section would have to be unique in order to achieve the sloping invert.

Luckily, the precast industry has made great strides in innovative mold designs allowing for efficient and cost-effective manufacturing methods in precast trench drains with an integral sloping floor.

From electrical utility trenches needing a sloping floor allowing for drainage of excess water, to concrete trench drain systems with the sole purpose of conveying sheet drain stormwater runoff from the surface down to underground drain pipe, there are various manufacturing processes to create this integral slope in the precast product.

Trenches on each project are different, but with the advances in mold equipment, the economic value has shifted in favor of prefabricated concrete segments versus in-situ concrete. This along with the inherent advantages of prefabricated construction to reduce the project duration and minimize the downtime and risk associated with weather delays has made sloped concrete trench installation as simple as laying concrete pipe or box culvert.

These precast concrete trench drain systems have started highlighting how important it is to minimize weather delays. The “excavate as you go” construction method with prefabricated trench sections is ideal for wet climates and helps reduce the amount of “mucking out” required after a heavy rain. Gone are the days of excavating and prepping subgrade for hundreds of feet at a time and praying for 2 weeks of dry weather. Now these systems are excavated and installed in half day increments with 50 to 200 feet of sloping trench fully installed each day.

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slug: marine-port-loading-conditions
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Heavy duty traffic loading poses many challenges in underground infrastructure construction these days.

Whether expanding terminals at airports, upgrading marine port crane and wharf systems, or industrial sites anticipating large rolling equipment needs, it requires a fundamental understanding of structural design and being able to anticipate potential heavy-duty loading conditions.

“From early on in Locke’s history, we’ve seen many of our contractor partners gravitate towards us to help develop precast concrete substitutes for highly complex and engineered concrete structures at marine port facilities.” says Asher Kazmann, President of Locke Solutions.

Among the various structures, concrete trench drains, power manholes, and communication handholes rank at the top of the list of underground utility structures needed. “Most projects start with an old cast-in-place specification of concrete manholes and trench drains,” notes Kazmann. “These structures typically have a dense web of reinforcing steel packed into thick concrete wall sections in order to provide the required structural capacity to withstand the massive forklifts, cranes, and non-stop traffic normally associated with busy port locations.”

More and more contractors are gaining experience utilizing precast concrete to speed up their project duration while reducing their safety and weather risks. “Although precast concrete manholes and inlets have become the norm for highway and residential construction, more complex projects such as airports and marine port facilities are slower to jump on the prefabrication trend,” explains Kazmann. “With complex loading conditions, many engineers don’t realize precast is even an option to the old in-situ concrete construction methods.” This trend is slowly evolving as more and more precast manufacturers are developing the expertise to design and manufacture for these unique project conditions.

“After many years working with contractors and engineers in the marine port markets in Southeast Texas, Locke has developed a reputation for successfully converting numerous in-situ concrete structures to custom precast. From concrete trench drains, power manholes, communication handholes, utility vaults, concrete docks, pier caps, and sumps, we have designed structures to handle some of the most intense equipment loads in extreme salty conditions along the coastline.” states Kazmann.

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slug: concrete-pull-box-recess-design
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If you have seen the precast concrete pull boxes Locke Solutions manufactures (also known as ground boxes or handholes), you might be asking “What’s up with those round recesses all over the box?”

We sat down with Michael Luck, Vice President of Sales for Locke Solutions, to give us some background on how this look came to be.

“From the beginning of Locke, we’ve always tried to find ways to make precast more valuable to our contractors.” says Luck. “These recesses can be used as a guide in the field and it helps the contractor visualize the location of the duct bank or conduit during installation.”

Luck says, “It’s not as noticeable on the smaller concrete ground boxes, but we also developed these pull boxes with rounded corners. The recesses and the rounded corners both help to reduce the amount of spalling when handling or knocking out openings for conduit.”

Although the precast concrete industry has proven the value of long-lasting steel-reinforced concrete, there have been few changes in precast technology over the years until recently. Many precast manufacturers, including Locke, have started developing new and innovative ways to make the use of precast even more cost-effective and valuable to contractors and owners.

“We believe that if the concrete looks good with little or no chipping, the contractor and the owner feel better about the product. Most of our products are going underground, but we care about how it looks when it leaves our facility and arrives at the site.” Luck reiterates “It just looks better!”