Burning Hills Amphitheater in Medora, ND, hosts more than 100,000 guests each year for the Medora Musical. The festival honors America's 26th President, Theodore Roosevelt, and the time he spent in North Dakota's Badlands. Festival automobile and bus traffic had significantly distressed the existing asphalt parking lot, causing the Amphitheater’s engineering firm to seek alternate designs and bids for a reconstruction. Because the festival is ongoing throughout the summer, the prime construction season for North Dakota, the project needed to be able to be built under traffic.

The 6.5 acres of pavement were comprised of 216,000 square feet of parking and 65,000 square feet of driveway. A concrete design of 5-inches and 6-inches respectively was submitted. The asphalt design was 1-inch less for both parking area and drive. In spite of the thickness disadvantage, the concrete bid came in more than $100,000 less than the asphalt bid.

Source: Portland Cement Association Executive Report e-newsletter