Prairie Material is committed to consistently providing the highest quality concrete product to our customers. To make sure you get the mix you need, batch after batch, Prairie has built one of the premier labs in the country in our Bridgeview, Illinois headquarters. Headed by Mike Pistilli, an ACI Fellow and member of the ASTM Standards Committee for high performance concrete, our lab focuses on five key areas:

Quality Control—making sure that a specified design mix reaches the desired qualities within the specified period of time by testing field samples as well as fresh concrete.

Design Mix—developing and testing concrete mixes to satisfy performance qualities demanded by our customers for specific applications.

Forensics/Troubleshooting—determining why concrete failed and pinpointing the probable causes of failure.

Research and Development— perfecting and improving mixes and concrete qualities. Prairie is one of the leading labs in designing and testing ultra-high strength concrete.

Historical performance data—determining the consistency of a mix design over a long period of time to determine standard deviations from design to performance.

Supplied with the latest in equipment and a staff of 14 full time ACI and ASTM–certified QC technicians, two lab scientists, and a full time mix designer, our lab is dedicated to quality and innovation. We use a variety of testing procedures including physical, chemical analysis, electroanalysis as well as petrographic and microscopic examination. We test concrete samples, cements, chemical admixtures, aggregates, pozzalons, fibers and other cementitious materials. Some of the qualities we test for include setting time, finishing problems, strength gain, stripping time, color matching, and strength versus size.

Our labs in Michigan, Wisconsin and Indianapolis serve our other regions for quality control and mix designs.