The Indiana Ready Mixed Concrete Association proudly recognizes Irving Materials, Inc. (imi) as the recipient of the 2025 IRMCA Project of the Year Award for their work on the Indiana University Health Downtown Hospital Campus in Indianapolis.
This landmark healthcare infrastructure project represents one of the most significant mass concrete efforts in Indiana history. Designed to consolidate operations of two downtown acute care hospitals into a single state of the art campus, the build demanded extraordinary coordination, engineering precision, and sustainability focused innovation.
From the foundation to the most technically demanding specialty pours, this project showcases what is possible when scale, craftsmanship, and modern concrete technology intersect.
Over the course of the project, imi supplied 184,962 cubic yards of concrete, supporting a construction timeline that spanned more than three years and involved over 85,000 man hours on site.
The structural foundation alone required 12 mass concrete base mat pours, each averaging more than 4,100 cubic yards. These pours were executed with military level precision. Saturday placements began at 2:00 AM, with more than 100 workers coordinating each event and four concrete pumps operating simultaneously. The largest single pour reached 5,909 cubic yards, with early placement rates averaging 600 cubic yards per hour.
To support the logistical demands of a project of this magnitude, an on-site batch plant was established, ensuring consistent material supply and uninterrupted production. Every phase of the project required careful sequencing to maintain structural integrity, schedule adherence, and quality standards.
The hospital campus required highly specialized mix designs to meet both structural and environmental goals. New concrete formulations were developed to satisfy Environmental Product Declaration targets and aggressive carbon reduction benchmarks, demonstrating how modern healthcare construction can align with sustainability objectives.
One of the most technically complex components of the project was the LINAC vault construction, which required radiation shielding concrete with extremely strict density specifications. Nearly 2,000 cubic yards of high density concrete were placed using materials sourced from specialized suppliers in Kentucky and Chicago.
All aggregates met ASTM C637 standards for radiation shielding. Mixes targeted plastic densities between 255 and 265 pounds per cubic foot, with dry densities between 245 and 255 pounds per cubic foot. The vault mix achieved 10,000 PSI strength while being pumped vertically up to 250 feet at a 9 inch slump. Because of the density, load sizes were restricted to 3.2 cubic yards per truck, adding another layer of logistical complexity.
These pours demanded flawless coordination between material sourcing, batching, pumping, and placement. Any deviation could impact shielding performance or structural integrity.
Despite the scale and technical demands, the project maintained a strong commitment to worker safety, quality control, and schedule reliability. Each placement required extensive pre planning, real time monitoring, and post pour evaluation to ensure consistency across every structural component.
This level of execution reflects the deep expertise of the imi team and their partners, from engineering and field crews to plant operations and logistics specialists.
Beyond its structural achievement, the project represents a major step forward in low carbon concrete construction. By incorporating optimized mix designs and carbon reduction strategies, the project reduced environmental impact without sacrificing performance.
The integration of sustainability targets into a project of this size signals an important shift in how large scale healthcare infrastructure is built. Concrete continues to evolve, and this project demonstrates that performance, durability, and environmental responsibility can coexist at the highest levels.
The Indiana University Health Downtown Hospital Campus is more than a construction project. It is a long term investment in healthcare infrastructure, engineering excellence, and the future of sustainable concrete. The 2025 IRMCA Project of the Year Award recognizes imi not only for the scale of the work, but for the discipline, innovation, and leadership required to execute it successfully.
This project stands as a benchmark for mass concrete placement, hospital construction, and urban infrastructure development across the Midwest.
👉 View all event photos from the 2026 IRMCA Winter Mixer: https://www.irmca.com/winter-mixer-2026