For more than fifty years, concrete pumps have been slowly replacing alternative ways of transferring concrete in its liquid form. Several differing designs for concrete pump appliances appeared in the first half of the 1900s but it wasn’t until 1957 that the first twin-cylinder hydraulic pump was invented. This design principle was taken on by almost every manufacturer across the world and remains the standard design throughout the world.
The whole process works by a piston drawing up liquid concrete into a hopper from a cylinder. At the same time, another piston simultaneously pushes concrete out through discharge piping. A valve determines which cylinder is open to the hopper of concrete and which is open to the discharge pipes and this switches each time the pistons reach their end point.
Concrete pumping is very important in revolutionizing the construction of tall buildings. Previously a crane was used to lift large buckets full of concrete up to where it was needed. A crane can lift one bucket at a time and usually holds about 2 cubic kilometres of concrete. For Concrete Tewkesbury services, visit https://www.monstermixconcrete.co.uk/
There are a large number of advantages to pumping concrete as opposed to using the crane with bucket systems. Pumping concrete is much faster than a bucket being lifted, and it also results in a continual flow of concrete to the top with hoses that can be directed wherever they are required. The concrete liquid can be poured directly from the hose where it is needed rather than having to distribute a two cubic yards heap of concrete each time onto the required area.
Advantages of the concrete pump as opposed to skip lifting:
A significantly greater concrete volume can be placed each hour. Cranes can only operate at a lift capacity of around 12 cubic metres every hour., whereas pumps can pump more like fifty cubic metres per hour up to the peak of the tallest high-rise buildings today.
Constant flow – Today a concrete pump can pump as fast as the concrete can be released from the truck.
Work fewer hours wasted – The workers laying the concrete must wait for the next batch while the skip is moving or being refilled at the bottom. People at the bottom are just waiting to for the skip to return back down while it is in motion or discharging above. The continuous flow of concrete pumps means less waiting.
Crane can carry on with other jobs – As opposed to lifting and lowering the concrete bucket, it can be used to deliver iron, scaffolding, steel, formwork and all other necessary building materials to where it needs to be.
Concrete is placed directly where you want – Hoses can be moved around so that concrete can be placed wherever needed. A separate placing boom can also be used to position the hose end exactly where it is needed in a large area.
Labour costs are lower – Because concrete can be placed exactly where it is needed, only a minimum number are of people required to distribute concrete.
Faster set up times – A mobile station may arrive at the site, extend the outriggers and booms and pumping concrete into many floors within the hour. It can even do two or three in the course of a work day.
Leave a Reply