High-flexural-strength concrete is produced by mixing wet hydraulic cement-sand mixture with coarse, flat, tabular aggregate, pouring the resulting mixture into a form in a shallow layer, vibrating the form containing the mixture, thereby orienting the coarse aggregate particles, pouring another shallow layer of the mixture into the form, again vibrating the form, and repeating these processes until the form has been filled to the desired level. The mixture then is allowed to cure. Cast-in-place items are prepared by placing thin layers or lifts of oriented, tabular-aggregate concrete into conventional forms and vibrating each lift using flat-plate vibrators.