How Can You Deliver Concrete to a Very Remote Location?

If you've just bought a new property that's nestled in a strategic position within your town centre, you may have bigger aspirations and intend to expand the structure considerably for commercial gain. For example, you may want to add a couple of floors on top, so you can convert the entire building into flats and fully capitalise on your opportunity. In order to do this, you're going to have to introduce equipment, manpower and materials and need to figure out how you're going to access this building given its tight location. In particular, how are you going to deliver any concrete to the work site, as the nearest accessible road is some distance away?

Technology to the Rescue

The good news is that you can bring your concrete mixing vehicles to your closest location and then use the latest in pumping technology to take care of the rest. So long as you have permission to route your pipelines from the mixer to your job site, the different types of concrete pumping will work very well.

Traditional Approach

For example, you may want to choose a direct acting pump that features a variety of pistons and valves. The pump is located beneath a hopper and the concrete is, in turn, loaded into this hopper by your mixing vehicle. As the concrete flows down through the force of gravity this movement is enhanced by a piston, which goes back and forth underneath the hopper. As the piston moves in various directions it opens and closes valves alternately and this causes a buildup of pressure that helps to initiate the flow.

Careful Configuration

Engineers will help you to choose the ultimate configuration here, but it's important to remember that the size of the pipe and its diameter are carefully chosen for the job in question. The pipe will need to be much larger than the mix of aggregate used or there is a risk that you could experience a blockage along the way. However, when everything is set up correctly and the right amount of pressure is engaged, the pumping action will both suck and push the concrete through the chamber, down from the pipe and up to your work site.

Extra Force Needed

If you have a particularly long and tortuous route between source and delivery, you may need to use a squeeze pump instead. These feature a number of rotating blades within the hopper that provide extra force as they push the aggregate through a sequence of rollers and out of the pumping chamber. The size of the rollers will determine the amount of pressure added to the aggregate as it enters the delivery pipe and consequently, the efficiency of delivery to your workers.

Getting It Right

Designers and engineers will be able to tell you how much concrete should be delivered to your work site in order to maintain maximum output. This will determine the size of the pump required and the peak pressure setting. In the meantime, you can continue to develop your plans without needing to worry about the concrete.


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