Can You Ensure Consistent Delivery of Concrete When Working at Height?

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Renting a Concrete Pump

Hello, my name is Tony. I recently decided to rip up my asphalt driveway and lay concrete down in its place. My drive is very big and I didn't fancy using a wheelbarrow to transport all of the wet concrete that would be required to complete the job so I decided to rent a concrete pump. The only problem was that I didn't have a clue which was the right pump for me. I visited a concrete contractor who gave me some great advice about choosing and operating a concrete pump. He also helped me to lay the concrete. I learnt so much I just had to share it here.

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Can You Ensure Consistent Delivery of Concrete When Working at Height?

26 July 2019
 Categories: , Blog

If you have to build an extension on top of an already tall structure, then you have some logistical challenges to overcome. This job will call for a lot of concrete, and you will need to ensure that it can be delivered to this remote location with maximum consistency and without any downtime. As you may know, a variety of different types of pump are available to help facilitate this type of project, but you will need to overcome some problems if everything is to be as efficient as possible. What are some of the issues that you could face when pumping concrete to such a height?

Consistent Delivery

For your workers to perform at their best, they will need concrete that is very carefully mixed so that it can be laid down and will set without any issue. This presents a problem to those at ground level as they have to deal with many different factors before the mix can arrive at its destination.

Challenges Ahead

For example, the pump mechanism may need to be pressurised to such a degree that it can affect the delivery of the concrete. When pressures get to a certain extent, this can force the water out of the mix and will result in bleeding. Flow resistance and pressure may be increased, and when this happens, pipelines run the risk of becoming blocked.

On the other hand, if the cement content of the mix is particularly high, then it may encounter a great deal of frictional resistance as it travels through the pipe. In some cases, this resistance may be so great that this particular mix of concrete may not even be pumpable.

Remember, the pumps themselves have to overcome a lot of friction in between the interior surface of the pipe and the concrete itself. They also have to deal with the sheer weight of the concrete and provide enough force to overcome the pressurised head at the delivery point.

They need to be able to overcome the effects of bleeding as previously mentioned, but also segregation. To do this, technicians can gradually increase the proportion of cement or may need to add a certain amount of aggregate to help them achieve their goal.

Further Information

Talk through your concerns with your concrete contractor and see how they are going to overcome any problems. After all, you need to be sure that your workers can lay the concrete without interruption, so that you can keep ahead of your schedule.