[LETTERHEAD OF BAKER BOTTS L.L.P.]

                                                                   EXHIBIT 5.1
                                                                   July 13, 2001

U.S. Concrete, Inc.
2925 Briarpark, Suite 500
Houston, Texas 77042

Gentlemen:

          U.S. Concrete, Inc., a Delaware corporation, has engaged us to render
our opinion as to the legality of the 1,820,000 shares of common stock, par
value $.001 (the "Shares"), it is offering pursuant to the registration
statement on Form S-3 (Reg. No. 333-42860) it filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (the "SEC") under the Securities Act of 1933 (the "1933
Act"), which relates to its offering and sale of various securities under the
1933 Act's Rule 415.  In this letter, "Registration Statement" means that
registration statement when it became effective under the 1933 Act.

          For purposes of the opinions we express below, we have examined, among
other agreements, instruments and documents, the following:

          . the Registration Statement and its exhibits, including U.S.
   Concrete's restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated
   bylaws, each as in effect on the date of this letter;

          .  the prospectus the Registration Statement includes;

          . the prospectus supplement dated July 12, 2001 that U.S. Concrete
   prepared and filed with the SEC on July 13, 2001 under the 1933 Act's Rule
   424(b)(5);

          . the underwriting agreement dated July 12, 2001 between U.S. Concrete
   and BB&T Capital Markets, a division of Scott & Stringfellow, Inc. (the
   "Underwriting Agreement"), relating to the offering and sale of the Shares;
   and

          . the resolutions of the board of directors of U.S. Concrete and its
   finance committee authorizing the issuance of the Shares and approving the
   terms of the offering and sale of the Shares.

          On the basis of and subject to the foregoing, we are of the opinion
that:

          1.  U.S. Concrete is a corporation duly incorporated and validly
existing in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware.

          2.  The Shares, when issued against payment therefor in accordance
with the terms of the Underwriting Agreement, will have been duly authorized and
validly issued and will be fully paid and nonassessable.


          We limit the opinions we express above in all respects to matters of
the laws of the State of New York, the General Corporation Law of the State of
Delaware and the federal securities laws of the United States of America, each
as in effect on the date hereof.

          We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion of counsel with the
SEC as Exhibit 5.1 to U.S. Concrete's Current Report on Form 8-K reporting the
offering of the Shares.  In giving this consent, we do not hereby admit we are
in the category of persons whose written consent Section 7 of the 1933 Act
requires to be filed in connection with the Registration Statement.

                              Very truly yours,



                              /s/ BAKER BOTTS L.L.P.