Smith Midland's Business Segments

Smith-Midland Corporation (the "Company") invents, develops, manufactures, markets, leases, licenses, sells, and installs a broad array of precast concrete products for use primarily in the construction, highway, utilities and farming industries through its five wholly-owned subsidiaries. The Companys precast and barrier rental customers are primarily general contractors and federal, state, and local transportation authorities located in the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Midwestern and Southeastern regions of the United States. The Companys operating strategy has involved producing innovative and proprietary products, including SlenderWall™, a patented, lightweight, energy efficient concrete and steel exterior wall panel for use in building construction; J-J Hooks® Highway Safety Barrier, a patented, positive-connected highway safety barrier; SoftSound™, a proprietary sound absorptive finish used on the face of sound barriers to absorb some of the traffic noise; Sierra Wall™, a sound barrier primarily for roadside use; Easi-Set™ and Easi-Span™ transportable concrete buildings with patented features; and Beach Prisms™ erosion mitigating modules. In addition, the Companys precast subsidiaries produce farm products such as cattleguards and water and feed troughs as well as custom order precast concrete products with various architectural surfaces, as well as generic highway sound barriers, retaining walls and utility vaults.

The Companys precast concrete products are cast in manufacturing facilities and delivered to a site for installation, as contrasted to ready-mix concrete, which is produced offsite in a “batch plant,”and delivered with a concrete mixer truck where it is mixed and delivered to a construction site to be poured and set at the site. Precast concrete products are used primarily as parts of buildings or highway structures, and may be used architecturally, as in a decorative wall of a building. Structural uses include building walls, frames, floors, or roofs. The Company currently manufactures and sells a wide variety of products for use in the construction, transportation and utility industries.

Easi-Set SlenderWall™ Lightweight Construction Panels

The SlenderWall™ system is a prefabricated, energy-efficient, lightweight exterior cladding system that is offered as a cost-effective alternative to the traditional cladding used for the exterior walls of buildings. The Companys SlenderWall system combines the essential components of a wall system into a single panel ready for interior dry wall mounting immediately upon installation. The base components of each SlenderWall™ panel consists of a galvanized or stainless steel stud frame with an exterior surface of approximately two-inch thick, PVA fiber reinforced, high-density, precast concrete (with integral water repellent) and various architectural surfaces. The exterior architectural concrete facing is attached to the interior steel frame by use of coated stainless steel headed anchors that position the exterior concrete approximately one-half inch away from the steel frame.

SlenderWall™ panels are approximately one-third the weight of traditional precast concrete walls of equivalent size, permanence and durability, and are also significantly improved as to permanence and durability. The lighter weight translates into reduced construction costs resulting from less onerous structural and foundation requirements as well as lower shipping costs. Additional savings result from reduced installation time and ease of erection and from the use of smaller cranes for installation. Closed-cell foam insulation and windows can be plant-installed further reducing cost and construction schedules.

The Company custom designs, manufactures, installs and licenses the SlenderWall™ exterior cladding system. The exterior of the SlenderWall™ system can be produced in a variety of attractive architectural finishes, such as concrete, exposed stone, granite or thin brick.

Easi-Set Sierra Wall™

The Easi-Set Sierra Wall™ ("Sierra Wall") combines the strength and durability of precast concrete with a variety of finishes to provide an effective and attractive sound and sight barrier for use alongside highways around residential, industrial, and commercial properties. With additional reinforcement, Sierra Wall™ can also be used as a retaining wall to retain earth in both highway and residential construction. Sierra Wall™ is typically constructed of four-inch thick, steel-reinforced concrete panels with an integral column creating a tongue and groove connection system. This tongue and groove connection system and its foundation connection make Sierra Wall™ easy to install and move if boundaries change or highways are relocated after the completion of a project. The newly patented Sierra Wall II one-piece extended post and panel design reduces installation time and cost.

The Company custom designs and manufactures Sierra Wall™ components to conform to the specifications provided by the contractor. The width, height, strength, and exterior finish of each wall varies depending upon the terrain and application. The Company also produces generic post and panel design sound barrier wall systems. These systems are constructed of steel or precast concrete columns (the Company manufactures the prestressed columns) with precast concrete panels which slide down into the groove in each column.

Sierra Wall™ is used primarily for highway projects as a noise barrier as well as for residential purposes, such as privacy walls between homes, security walls or windbreaks, and for industrial or commercial purposes, such as to screen and protect shopping centers, industrial operations, institutions or highways. The variety of available finishes enables the Company to blend the Sierra Wall™ with local architecture, creating an attractive, as well as functional, barrier.

Easi-Set J-J Hooks® Highway Safety Barrier

The Easi-Set J-J Hooks® highway safety barriers (the "J-J Hooks Barriers") are crash-tested (privately funded), positively connected, safety barriers that the Company sells, rents, delivers, installs and licenses for use on roadways to separate lanes of traffic, either temporarily (free-standing, bolted, or pinned) for construction work zone purposes or permanently for traffic control. Barriers are deemed to be positively connected when the connectors on each end of the barrier sections are interlocked with one another. J-J Hooks Barriers interlock without the need for a separate locking device. The primary advantage of a positive connection is that a barrier with such a connection can withstand vehicle crashes at higher speeds without separating. The Federal Highway Administration (the "FHWA") requires that states use only positively connected barriers, which meet NCHRP-350 or MASH crash test requirements. J-J Hooks Barriers meet NCHRP-350 and MASH TL3 requirements and are approved by the FHWA. In November 2009, the Company was issued a patent which contains deflection limitation blocks which improve the J-J Hooks connection performance and has a patent pending on the bolt pocket steel reinforcement.

The Company has received “design protection” of the “end taper” on each end of the barrier sections and the “J-Hook” in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. If successful, these features cannot be copied by others. The United States has issued a "trade dress" registration for the "end taper" design feature.

The proprietary feature of J-J Hooks Barriers is the design of its positive connection. Protruding from each end of a J-J Hooks Barrier section is a fabricated bent steel connector; rolled in toward the end of the barrier, it resembles the letter "J" when viewed from directly above. The connector protruding from each end of the barrier is rolled identically so that when one end of a barrier faces the end of another, the resulting "hooks" face each other. To connect one section of a J-J Hooks Barrier to another, a contractor merely positions the hook of an elevated section of the barrier above the hook of a set section and lowers the elevated section into place. The positive connection is automatically engaged.

The Company believes that the J-J Hooks Barrier connection design is superior to those of earlier highway safety barriers that were positively connected through the "eye and pin" technique. Barriers incorporating this technique have eyes or loops protruding from each end of the barrier, which must be aligned during the setting process. Once set, a crew inserts pins or long bolts through the eyes which connects and bolts the barrier sections together. Compared to this technique, the J-J Hooks Barriers are easier and faster to install and remove, requires a smaller crew, and eliminates the need for loose hardware to make the connection.

In November 1990, the FHWA approved the free-standing J-J Hooks Barrier and in December 2012 the pinned and bolted J-J Hooks for use on federally aided highway projects following the successful completion of crash testing based on criteria from the National Cooperative Highway Research Program and from the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware.

J-J Hooks free-standing barrier has been approved for use on state and federally funded projects by 42 states, plus Washington, D.C. The Company is in various stages of the application process in additional states and believes that approval in some of the states will be granted; however no assurance can be given that approval will be received from any or all of the remaining states or that such approval will result in the J-J Hooks Barrier being used in such states. In addition, J-J Hooks Barrier has been approved by the appropriate authorities for use in the countries of Canada (Alberta, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Ontario), Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany and Chile.

J-J Hooks anchored (pinned or bolted) barrier successfully passed the MASH TL3 tests in August of 2012 and received FHWA Eligibility Letters in December 2012. Currently 21 states have approved the MASH barrier as an alternate to their state standard. In Canada, the province of Alberta has approved the MASH tested barrier.

Easi-Set Precast Building and Easi-Span™ Expandable Precast Building

Easi-Set Precast Buildings are transportable, prefabricated, single-story, all concrete building designed to be adaptable to a variety of uses ranging from housing communications operations, traffic control systems, mechanical and electrical stations, to inventory or supply storage, restroom facilities or kiosks. Easi-Set Precast Buildings are available in a variety of exterior finishes and in many standard sizes, or can be custom sized. The roof and floor of each Easi-Set Building is manufactured using the Companys patented second generation post-tensioned system, which helps seal the buildings against moisture. As freestanding units, the Easi-Set Buildings require no poured foundations or footings and can be easily installed within a few hours. After installation the buildings can be moved, if desired, and reinstalled in a new location.

The Company also offers Easi-Span™, a line of expandable precast concrete buildings. Easi-Span™ incorporates the technology of the Easi-Set Buildings, but are available in larger sizes and, through its modular construction, can be combined in varied configurations to permit expansion capabilities. Since these larger buildings have less competition from other materials and methods, they produce higher profit margins. Both the Easi-Span and Easi-Set Buildings offer lines of fully-outfitted restrooms with over a dozen standard models.

The Company has sold its Easi-Set and Easi-Span™ Precast Buildings for the following uses:

Communications Operations — to house fiber optics regenerators, switching stations and microwave transmission shelters, cellular phone sites, and cable television repeater stations.

Government Applications — to federal, state and local authorities for uses such as weather and pollution monitoring stations; military storage, housing and operations; park vending enclosures; rest rooms; kiosks; traffic control systems; school maintenance and athletic storage; airport lighting control and transmitter housing; and law enforcement evidence and ammunition storage.

Utilities Installations — for electrical switching stations and transformer housing, gas control shelters and valve enclosures, water and sewage pumping stations, and storage of contaminated substances or flammable materials which require spill containment.

Commercial and Industrial Locations — for electrical and mechanical housing, cemetery maintenance storage, golf course vending enclosures, mechanical rooms, rest rooms, emergency generator shelters, gate houses, automobile garages, hazardous materials storage, food or bottle storage, animal shelters, and range houses.

Easi-Set Utility Vault

The Company produces a line of precast concrete underground utility vaults ranging in size from 27 to 1,008 cubic feet. Each Easi-Set utility vault normally comes with a manhole opening on the top for ingress and egress and openings around the perimeter, in accordance with the customers specifications, to access water and gas pipes, electrical power lines, telecommunications cables, or other such media of transfer. The utility vaults may be used to house equipment such as cable, telephone or traffic signal equipment, and for underground storage. The Company also manufactures custom-built utility vaults for special needs.

SoftSound™ Soundwall Panels

SoftSound™ soundwall panels, recently developed by the Company, utilize a “wood aggregate” sound absorptive material applied to the face of soundwall panels, which is used to absorb highway noise. SoftSound™ is a proprietary product developed and tested by the Company and is currently approved for use in Virginia, Maryland, seven additional states, and the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, Canada. Approvals are pending in a number of additional states. The Company introduced this product line into its licensing program and is in the process of seeking to obtain approvals in all 50 states and the Canadian Provinces.

Beach Prisms™ Erosion Control Modules

In 2006, the Company began production and launched full-scale advertising and promotional efforts for its product, Beach Prisms™, a shoreline erosion control product that uses the preferred natural "soft" approach as opposed to the "hard" approach of seawalls and jetties, to solve this worldwide problem. This product is expected to provide a higher margin than many of the Company’s other product lines. Beach Prisms™ work by reducing the amount of energy in incoming waves before the waves reach the shoreline. Waves pass through the specially designed slots in the triangular 3 - 4 foot tall by 10 foot long Beach Prisms™ modules. The success of a Beach Prisms ™ installation is dependent on the prevailing wind in relation to the shoreline, the tides, the fetch and the availability of sand in the surf. Beach Prisms™ are primarily for river- and bay-front property owners who want an alternative to traditional armor stone, or groins and jetties. The Company applied for “design protection” in the United States for the Beach Prisms™ in 2009 and received that protection in July 2010.

The Company currently has orders and is also accepting new orders with deposits for the Beach Prism product, and the Company is working with the states of Virginia and Maryland to secure approval of each state’s environmental agency. Each project must apply for approval by the appropriate state to obtain a permit to install the Beach Prism. Such approvals are meeting resistance from the environmental agencies, however, the Company believes approval is forthcoming. In the event that approvals are not timely received, psnxinv odxsdz my be cancelled. In 2011, the Company installed its first Beach Prism protection on Virginias Chesapeake Bay shoreline.

H2Out™ Secondary Drainage System

The Company was issued a patent in February 2010 for H2Out™, the first "in the caulk joint" secondary drainage and street level leak detection product for panelized exterior cladding. A second line of caulking and drainage strip located behind the exterior line of caulking exits all water leakage to the exterior of the building preventing moisture and mold, and hence deterring lawsuits from tenants and owners of buildings. H2Out™ has been added as a feature of the SlenderWall™ system and is being included in the product literature, website, and all sales presentations.

Although the Company is optimistic about the success of Beach Prisms™ and H2Out™, there can be no assurance of the commercial acceptance of these products. The Company has its first commercial project to provide the H2Out secondary drainage system on the recladding of an existing building using the SlenderWall panel system.