Lightweight cellular concrete, also
known as lightweight concrete or foam concrete, is an exciting innovation in
concrete that has been gaining popularity over the last decade. It has many
applications that cellular concrete
contractors have been bringing
to commercial development projects across the U.S. Using cellular concrete has
helped developers save time and costs compared to traditional concrete and is
an exciting concrete product for many projects.
Cellular concrete is a low density concrete that is created by entraining
pre-formed foam into a cement mortar that includes little or no aggregate.
Mixtures can also include fly ash and admixtures. The foam used is stable and
precisely sized to create a well characterized air volume within the mixture.
The American Concrete Institute defines lightweight cellular concrete as having
an oven-dry density of 50 lb. per cubic foot or less.
Applications
Lightweight cellular concrete is used as a fill material and can be pumped into nearly any
void that requires stabilization. The low density characteristic of the mixture
makes it lightweight, easy to pump across distances, reduces or removes any
settlement after placement, and can be designed to be permeable. As it does not
require vibration or layering when being placed, it eliminates the need to put
workers into voids, making it safer to place in voids than traditional
concrete. These benefits make it ideal for filling voids and stabilizing soil
as it still provides the insulation and high load bearing qualities of
traditional concrete.
Confoam
The Conco Companies developed its
proprietary lightweight
cellular concrete, Confoam™, to bring
more flexibility and cost effective solutions to construction projects.
Confoam, unlike other filling concrete mixes, does not experience unexpected
strength gains. This ensures that it is also easy to excavate with common
construction equipment and in some cases just a shovel. Additionally, Confoam
can be created to be permeable or non-permeable, allowing water to drain
through it or prevent water damage, depending on the requirements. Together
with its pumpability, ease of placement, and reduced costs associated with
storage and transportation, Confoam becomes an extremely cost effective
solution for void filling.
The Conco Companies goal is to be the
top supplier of concrete services in the Western U.S. and to bring our
expertise and professionalism to each project. We continue to upgrade and
expand our facilities to better serve the growing market for commercial,
industrial, educational, parking structure projects and other development. For
the best value and quality, trust your project to one of the area’s leading
lightweight concrete contractors.
