Just west of the Washington-Idaho state line, Knife River Corp. is building a $40 million facility for its Spokane operations.

The prestress concrete manufacturer is building a precast concrete production facility and office at 7721 N. Idaho Road, in the Newman Lake area. 

The facility is expected to be completed this summer, at which time the company will move its operations from its current facility at 922 N. Carnahan, in Spokane Valley.

The new facility is situated on a 45-acre site and will have about 188,000 square feet of floor space under roof, including about 20,000 square feet of office space. 

Currently, Knife River has about 26,000 square feet of space on the 85-acre site, but just under 40 acres of that site is occupied by a gravel pit.

As the Journal previously reported, Knife River had planned to replace the current facility, which was constructed in the 1960s, since its parent company, MDU Resources Group Inc., acquired the Spokane Valley operations of Oldcastle Infrastructure Inc. in February 2020.

The company plans to install equipment, including overhead cranes and an automated bucket system to deliver concrete to casting beds, which will help it operate more efficiently and safely. 

Those efficiencies could double the company’s girder production capacity, one manager told the Journal last fall.

Founded in Harrisburg, Oregon, in the 1950s, Knife River has operations in 15 states and more than $2 billion in annual revenue.

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