KENT Building Supplies has awarded the contract for a new distribution centre to Maxim Construction, an employee-owned company based in Atlantic Canada.  Work started this month on the 385,000 square-foot building located off the TransCanada Highway near Moncton.  The structure, once complete, will be one of the largest buildings in New Brunswick.  The new distribution centre will provide the competitiveness to better serve the 43 KENT stores and our Atlantic Canadian customers.
 
“We are really excited about this major investment," said Stew Valcour, General Manager of KENT.  “This centralized facility will allow us to increase the percentage of goods that we ship to our stores, lower our landed costs, and reduce our system inventory - all of which will benefit our customers.”

Gulf Operators has been preparing the site, which encompasses 75 acres of land.  Over 150,000 tonnes of crushed rock will be used to develop new roads, storage areas, and pipe work for the new centre.

The project will create up to 200,000 person hours of employment during construction.
 
Construction highlights:
• Building Area:  383,000 square feet
• Building Height:  36 feet
• 1,630 tonnes of structural steel (over 1.6 million kg) 
• 12,000 cubic yards of concrete in the floor slab and in the building foundations (21.8 million kg)
• 122 km of piping in the floor heating system

The new facility is expected to open in the spring of 2014.