Concrete Pump Service | Long distance pumping
The concrete pump service we were called to do, was in the city of Melbourne, FL. The customer could not get any pumping company to commit to do the job, because of the difficulty of the pour itself. They needed to build a cell tower in the middle of a big swamp, where snakes, alligators, and natural wild life was present. They needed to pump the actual bases along with the 12 anchors. The biggest challenge was the set up. The actual pumping was to be done next to a 25 foot canal, the hoses needed to go over it, and then the hoses needed to be extended up to 900 feet away. After the first column was pumped, then they needed to move the hoses in up to 2 feet of water, and mud from pour site to pour site without spilling ANY concrete in the water at all, since the cement would take the oxygen out of the water, killing the wild life present. The they would had to deal with the crocodiles around the site, which were a constant stress for whomever that was going to be in the water. The hoses needed to be steel reinforced, to avoid any blow out, and the pump powerful enough to push the concrete to these distances.
Several concrete pumping service contractors went to see the job, and all of them declined doing it. They all claimed that it would be impossible to reach those distances, and specially under those conditions.
How did we do it?
First we needed to make sure we would not plug any of our hoses, therefore we got in touch with the local concrete plant in Melbourne, and spoke to them about the mix design. We all agreed on using a mix design that would have the same 4,000 PSI breaking point, without using big rocks, only pea gravel. Also the design was changed to add more cement to the mix, allowing it to flow easier through our hoses. Once this was arranged, we decided on the type of equipment that was going to be used. The pump: We decided to use a Putzmeister Kattkreter, that can withstand face pressures of up to 1,100 PSI, and reach distances of over 1,000 feet while maintaining a constant volume of 70 cubic yard/hr.
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The hoses: We then decided to use a mix of 2 sizes on the longest distances, 3″ and 2″. Most people would start with th 3″ and then reduce to 2″, but then you run the increasing risk of a plug. The way these hoses were going to be used was to start from the pump with 2″ hose, creating the most pressure closest to the pump, and where the priming agent is most effective, then we increased the size to 3″ to relieve some of the pressure caused by the smaller size at the output. This idea worked out great, we were able to finish the whole job in a matter of 3 days using different set up locations, with no plugs, no blowouts, and most importantly, no damage to the natural environment.
