Each year the National Asphalt Pavement Association awards new and existing hot mix asphalt production facilities with its prestigious Ecological Award.  Recipients must meet the stringent criteria of protecting and promoting the well-being of the people who live and work in their communities.  The eight 1999 Ecological Award winners and finalists were announced in NAPA's March/April 2000 Hot Mix Asphalt (HMAT) publication.

Barriere's Boutte Hot Mix Asphalt facility, located in St. Charles Parish, was chosen as a finalist in the awards competition based on safety and environmental features that were included in the plant and its site during its upgrade in 1998.  Barriere replace=d a smaller exiting plant with a GenTec stationary, double drum, recycle vary-mixer plant, which is a larger, more emissions-efficient facility, as well as upgraded safety features such as complete walkways around conveyors and drums and safety gates in the three 240-ton heated silos.  the ground beneath the stockpiles was paved on a slope to help decrease moisture levels in the aggregate piles, which creates a more energy efficient product with which to work.  The plant has a production capacity of 400 tons per hour, with a record production day of 4,409 tons.  The site itself is laid out and landscaped to allow trucks to line up within the site rather than on the public roadway.
The entire site is maintained daily to control dust and litter and to provide a clean, safe environment for its employees and customers.  Landscaping features include native Louisiana plants such as crepe myrtle trees, oleander bushes, lantana shrubs and Louisiana blue flag irises.
Barriere would like to acknowledge the work done on the site by Errol Barron of Barron & Toups Architects, Jack Cochran of Cashio/Cochran Design Consortium, LLC, our landscaping firm, Louis Perrilliat of Construction South, and, of course, several crews of dedicated Barriere employees.