Moving innovations: new ways to handle soil, gravel, and concrete onsite are improving productivity
Published in: Concrete Construction
Date: 8/1/2004
By: Klemens, Thomas
Don’t get rid of your wheelbarrows–at least not yet. Some new equipment is taking a lot of the pain out of moving materials on the jobsite. A big part of what concrete contractors do involves material handling–excavating soil, laying base course, placing concrete, and removing old or excess concrete. Your typical jobsite has a flurry of skidsteers, pumps, buggies, and even wheelbarrows. Making handling easier is bound to increase productivity and save your workers’ backs.
The greatest advance in moving concrete, of course, has been the concrete pump. Pumps can now reach horizontally as far as 184 feet and have been used to place concrete as high as 1460 feet for a floor slab on the Taipei 101 tower, the world’s new tallest building. A Schwing pump delivered 30 to 40 cubic yards per hour to the tower’s 101st floor through a 6-inch slick line.
Not to be outdone, Putzmeister unveiled at Bauma, the monster European construction expo, several innovations, including a high-pressure trailer-mounted concrete pump with rubber crawler tracks and an enhanced version of its control system.
Here are a few other material handling innovations that may help you on your next job.
Multifunction booms
While pump booms have gotten bigger, and booms have evolved into various configurations, one long sought-after pump innovation is a true telescoping boom. One of the earlier boom pumps, a Morgan, had telescoping sections, but the concrete flowed through slack sections of pump hose that slid up the boom as it telescoped. The problem with a telescoping boom where the concrete actually flows inside the telescopic boom section, says Bob Weatherton with The Concrete Pump Store, Claremont, Calif., is that the seal at the telescopic joint is destroyed by sand and aggregate. Recently, we heard rumors of a truly telescopic boom section manufactured by Sermac, an Italian company. “It’s too early to say whether this works or not,” says Weatherton.
In the meantime, though, several companies have developed innovative pumps.
Schwing S 31 EZ Pump–Getting concrete to the placement when working inside a building used to be the job of those with buggies or wheelbarrows. But this pump can reach 87 feet horizontally and, with its Z-configured articulating sections, needs only 18 feet 9 inches of vertical clearance to unfold. What Schwing calls its Auto Scissors boom has four articulated sections, the first of which also telescopes, allowing the operator to smoothly extend the boom the final 15 feet 2 inches with a single lever. The telescopic boom section is the one nearest the truck, and a folding section of slick line bridges the extending portion. This is the perfect machine for providing concrete in front of a laser screed since the telescopic action keeps the end of the hose at the same elevation–out of the pour. Once outside, the S 31 EZ has 100 feet of vertical reach. The pump kit can provide 170 cubic yards per hour.
Elliott Equipment VersiPlacer–Expanding on the idea of multifunctional, this machine combines a concrete boom pump, telescopic crane, and cherry picker-style work platform all in one. With three telescopic boom sections and an articulating jib, sections of pump hose are added as needed to accommodate the distance to placement. Other key features:
* The 20-foot placing jib both rotates and articulates, allowing access to the pump discharge around corners and through windows.
* Due to the use of a telescopic boom, the unfolding height is only 12 feet 10 inches, which allows it to easily extend to its full 82-foot reach in most indoor applications.
* The 7-ton crane can handle 600 pounds at full extension of the jib boom at 82 feet, or 2500 pounds at 60 feet.
* The narrow outriggers (18-foot spread) allow work in confined spaces.
* The work platform mounts at the end of the jib and has a maximum 75-foot working height.
* A 150-cubic-foot-per-hour Putzmeister pump is part of the package.
* Wired or wireless remote controls operate the pump, boom, and engine.
* “Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the VersiPlacer,” says Elliott Equipment’s president Jim Glazer, “is how well each of its features stacks up against comparable single-use machines.”
Excavating
Gradall XL 4300-II–This hydraulic excavator combines the advantages of Gradall’s unique tilting, telescoping boom with wheeled mobility on or off paved surfaces. The XL 4300-II is Gradall’s largest wheeled excavator and includes an advanced hydraulic system that automatically provides the appropriate boom forces. The boom is the thing with Gradall, providing a low working profile, up to 220 degrees of tilting action, full operator visibility, and constant power throughout the digging cycle. This model has a lift capacity of about 5000 pounds at ground level at its maximum radius of 26 feet 2 inches. Attachments include a grading blade and a pavement removal bucket.
Small jobs
Grout Hog–When Damian Lang invented the Grout Hog in 1998, he changed the way grouted masonry walls were built. Except on the biggest jobs where a pump is needed, the Grout Hog simplifies the process of filling masonry walls, making it quicker and easier than with any other method. The Grout Hog is less than half the cost of a small trailer pump and requires less maintenance. It wasn’t long before concrete contractors learned about it and adapted it for smaller concrete jobs, especially repair jobs or where concrete had to be placed in a tight space such as stair treads, piers, or small forms. The Grout Hog holds 3/4 cubic yard and can be transported with a forklift or skidsteer. It connects to the skidsteer’s hydraulic power to run the auger that precisely delivers concrete with up to 1-inch aggregate. The forklift supports the weight of the concrete, so the person pouring the concrete has only to guide the delivery hose. Self-contained gasoline- or electric-powered systems are also available when the Grout Hog is positioned by crane.
BakSaver–Similar to the Grout Hog, the BakSaver attaches to a skidsteer to place concrete in locations inaccessible to concrete tracks. With a capacity of 3/4 cubic yard, it does the work of five laborers and five wheelbar-rows. The unit comes with two hydraulic flat-face disconnects, a 2500-psi dual action hydraulic piston, an 8-inch-square hydraulically controlled chute, and a universal mount. It can also be used for sand, salt, stone, and other flowable material.
Cleanup
EnviroSac–What do you do with wash water or leftover concrete? Many owners don’t want it left in an unsightly pile on the jobsite. The EnviroSac may be the answer. A polypropylene bag that water from pumps or ready-mix trucks can be dumped into, it filters out cement fines and aggregate and lets the water drain away. Once the concrete sets, it is easy to load onto a truck and haul away. The EnviroSac comes in five sizes from 14 cubic feet up to the Deck bag or Ready Mix Cleanout bag at 56 cubic feet. “The Deck bag is used to catch the pump prime that usually shoots everywhere on a deck placement,” says Enviro-Systems’ John Roecklein. “On a high-rise job, the Deck bag is put into a frame so it can be moved from floor to floor to catch both the prime and the cleanout until it’s full.” Enviro-Systems is currently developing a watertight bag for jobsites where releasing highly alkaline wash water is unacceptable.
Delivery and beyond
Kimble Remote Control–Kimble Mixer Co. has developed a system that allows the concrete producer to go beyond delivering the concrete to actually placing it. Introduced at the World of Concrete in Orlando, the remote control system allows the ready-mix truck driver to stand outside the truck at the point of discharge and maneuver the truck around the site as well as control the drum and chute. David Renner, president of Orrville (Ohio) Trucking, now operates six units. He is one of those who urged Kimble to develop the remote control truck as an economical alternative to front discharge trucks. He says that from the start the remote control feature dramatically improved communication between the driver and the finishing crew. Learning to operate the truck remotely presented drivers with one challenge. Renner says that his drivers have had to begin to think more like contractors, because their role has gone beyond delivery to actually placing the concrete. But his customers–the contractors–love it.
Kimble/Liebherr Truck-Mixer Conveyor–Kimble Mixer Co. president Jim Cahill says offering a total remote control system for ready-mix trucks is just one way the company is providing engineered solutions to help the producer put concrete where the contractor wants it. Another example is the company’s arrangement with Liebherr Concrete Technology to he the U.S. distributor, and engineering partner, of its mixer-mounted conveyor system. The conveyor; which is also equipped with remote control, allows for concrete placement up to 53 feet from the truck at rates up to 93 cubic yards per hour. Increasing its versatility still further, it has a 270-degree are of operation around the centerline of the truck. Other trucks can discharge directly onto the conveyor from either side, continuing to place concrete exactly where it is most advantageous. An optional quick-connect attachment system means the conveyor can be easily detached (involving only two plugs and three quick-disconnect hoses) in about four minutes. That allows the conveyor to be left behind on days when it is not used. In addition to providing high-volume distribution at a fraction of the cost of a pump system, this conveyor can be used with low-slump concrete, maintaining a high-quality mix distribution. It can also be used to distribute gravel or sand.
Multi-Cat–Indiana Phoenix has teamed up with the Canadian firm Bay-Lynx Manufacturing to offer the Multi-Cat front discharge stone spreader for delivery of stone, gravel, sand, topsoil, and other site preparation materials. Bay-Lynx developed the Multi-Cat and offers the spreader on its own truck chassis in a rear-discharge configuration. Indiana Phoenix, which makes forward delivery equipment for a variety of construction materials, modified its standard front-discharge chassis by relocating the cab off-center to accommodate Multi-Cat’s discharge conveyor. “Front delivery equipment offers a host of advantages in visibility, maneuverability, and precision placement,” says Bay-Lynx general manager Greg Koppelaar. He notes that the front discharge version has a wider chute opening, a load suspension beam, and an increased load capacity of 17 cubic yards. When delivering, the conveyor extends 12 feet in front of the truck. “And with our new throw-conveyor feature, we can spread materials up to 80 feet from the front of the truck,” Koppelaar says. A full-function remote control is also available for the unit.
Superior Conveyor–For the ultimate in portability, Superior Industries offers a line of self-contained portable radial stacking conveyors. Each unit is powered by a diesel engine mounted on its undercarriage. Designed for operation in remote areas where electrical power is not available, the conveyors are available in 40-, 50-, 60-, 80-, and 90-foot lengths with production capacities to 500 tons per hour.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Hanley-Wood, Inc.