Benefits That Concrete Boom Pumps Bring to the Industry

Concrete boom pumps bring numerous advantages to today’s construction projects.  This is the primary reason that The Conco Companies continue to make capital investments in our equipment including new concrete pumps to better serve our customers in Southern and Northern California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Colorado.

One of the major benefits that modern boom pumps offer is that they place concrete faster than any other method of placement.  Furthermore the concrete requires less handling as the pump does the work of placing it directly where it is needed.  These cost-efficient pumps help projects to be completed faster and to require less manpower of which saves both time and money.

There is such a wide variety of concrete pumps on the market today that there is one designed to handle most any job specifications.  By using the long reach of a boom pump, it allows access to areas on jobsites that would otherwise be difficult to get to.  Boom pumps have the ability to place concrete on to the upper floors of extremely tall skyscrapers and other places that would be next to impossible using other methods. 

The pumps also mean less equipment is used and time is saved in moving those smaller pieces of machinery around a site and having to reset them up again.  There is even better quality control with pumped concrete and the result is a more durable, stronger product.  Less water is needed, which helps to prevent the shrinking and cracking that is common in concrete.  In addition placement is not affected by weather conditions so there are not as many delays in a project.   

Accuracy is also greatly improved by pumping concrete, which typically means fewer delays along the way and results in a more professional outcome.   Last but not least is the fact that pumping concrete is simply the most convenient way to do it. 

Sources:

concretebasics.org/articlesinfo/cp1.php#sthash.ZqQv3feG.dpuf

Conco is one of the leading commercial concrete contractors in the Western United States.  We have four regional offices serving California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Colorado and are experts at creating cost-effective solutions that take advantage of the most up-to-date techniques.  Our concrete services include commercial, educational, parking and other construction development as well as public works projects.

Post Tension Cable

Conco is now one of the largest reinforcing steel and post tension cable suppliers in the Western U.S.  Our high-quality post tension (PT) cable meets precise engineering specifications and provides a great value to customers throughout Northern California, Southern California, Washington, Oregon and Colorado.  So what is post tensioning and how is it used in concrete construction?  

Post tensioning is the process of using high-strength, prestressed steel cables or tendons to actively reinforce concrete and apply compression after concrete is poured.  Once the concrete has hardened, the cables are tensioned, or pulled tight with hydraulic jacks and anchored to the outside edges of the concrete.  Pre-tensioned concrete, according to Wikipedia, “is cast around steel tendons—cables or bars—while they are under tension. The concrete bond to the tendons as it cures, and when the tension is released it is transferred to the concrete as compression by static friction.” 

The job of fabricating, assembling, and installing PT cable requires highly skilled workers and specialized tools.  Post tensioned concrete has all the same attributes of reinforced concrete but is used in projects that call for thinner slabs or when a greater span length is called for between support columns.  Many projects could not be done without the use of post tensioning, and it is often the choice for parking structures as it allows flexibility in the design of ramps and span lengths.  The system is also commonly used in stadiums, bridges, and office and apartment buildings.  

Additionally post tensioning reduces the amount of beams needed and allows beams to be placed the full length of a structure rather than from column to column.  Since slabs and other structural members can be constructed thinner, they require less concrete, and thereby, reduce the overall weight of a structure.  It also reduces or eliminates shrinkage cracking and is considered to be active reinforcement.    

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prestressed_concrete 

*http://www.dsicanada.ca/uploads/media/DSI-USA_What_is_Post-Tensioning_us_02.pdf

For over 50 years, Conco has been providing premium concrete services and is one of the most trusted concrete contractors in Seattle.  We partner with clients on every project from the pre-construction stage right through to final completion to maximize efficiency and ensure goals and budgets are met.  Our concrete services include commercial, educational, parking and other construction development as well as public works projects.

Why Concrete Makes Such a Good Building Material

Why Concrete Makes Such a Good Building Material

Concrete is an enormously important resource to the construction industry and the infrastructure of our country.  There are many reasons why building with concrete is such a great idea.  It is one of the most durable materials available and will last for decades, especially when you compared it to wood, asphalt or other materials.  Since concrete is extremely fire resistant, it is also a much safer material to use.

Another factor to consider of why concrete is such an excellence building material is that it is produced locally here in the U.S.  It is estimated that the concrete industry provides over two million jobs to Americans.  Furthermore, the concrete used for a project is generally produced somewhere near to the construction project, which cuts down on transportation and energy cost.  The Portland Cement Association (PCA) sites the regional nature of the cement industry and that nearly 98% of U.S. cement is shipped to customers by truck with the rest by barge or train.

Even after several decades of use, concrete can be recycled into an aggregate that has a hundred or more different uses.  The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) points out the fact that concrete is “green” as it does not have any toxic runoff as asphalt does and is produced locally from abundant local sources.  Thus the mere sustainability of concrete makes it a good choice both environmentally and economically.

The newer high-strength concrete can save a project time and labor cost with earlier form stripping times and less post-tensioning required in floors.  This also results in columns with less rebar congestions.   

To fully appreciate the significance of concrete, you need to know that concrete is the single most widely used man-made material in the world.  It is used to construct the skyline in cities and to build highways, schools, hospitals, factories, entertainment venues and public work projects.  

One of the properties of concrete is that of a natural insulator.  The thermal mass of a concrete wall acts as an efficient insulator in commercial and residential structures that helps to save on heating and cooling expenses.  The concrete forms an integral wall that is exceedingly airtight and solid without allowing any cracks that cause air leaks.  The largest percent of energy lost in a wood structure comes from air leaks.

Concrete buildings offer year-round benefits by allowing the concrete to absorb energy slowly and hold on to it for a much longer period of time than less massive building material.  This both delays and reduces heat transfers, which slows down the temperature fluctuations in a thermal mass building.  Today, modern concrete walls utilize both external insulation and thermal mass to form an energy-efficient structure with fewer spikes in heating and cooling demands.

Some construction is done using Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) that are hollow forms or molds with built-in insulation made of foam or rastra filled with reinforced concrete.  Studies have shown that residential buildings constructed with ICF can provide energy savings of over 20% when compared to the same size wood-framed home in a cold climate.  Structures build using ICF are very quiet, safe buildings that can be outfitted with smaller heating and cooling units, which again saves money.

Conco is a leading supplier of concrete services for the Western United States.  As one of the leading commercial concrete contractors in the San Jose area, we have been involved with large-scale projects in the area including the Mineta Airport.  We have built our reputation in the Los Angeles area with superior concrete formwork, reinforcing, place and finish, shotcrete and other ancillary services that benefit from our vast experience.   Our concrete services include commercial, educational, parking and other construction development as well as public works projects and highways.

The Early History of Concrete

The earliest evidence of concrete is from a naturally occurring event caused by a spontaneous combustion between limestone and oil shale in Israel more than 12 million years ago.  These deposits still exist today.  More recently and manmade, concrete was first used by the Egyptians around 3,000 BC.  They mixed mud with straw to bind dried bricks and later used lime and gypsum mortar for the binding agent when building the Pyramids. 

Through time, concrete was used to build many of the ancient structures of which some still exist today.  The Greeks first used lime mortars around 800 BC, which were much harder than what the Romans would later use.  There is even evidence that the Assyrians used a fully waterproof concrete to construct the Jerwan Aqueduct around 700 BC. 

Modern concrete is derived from the developments made during the Roman Empire.  The Romans widely used concrete from 300 BC - 476 AD, which made possible their revolutionary architectural designs that were structurally very complex and dimensional.  Some of the cement used was from a slaked lime found in volcanic ash called pozzuolana.

The Romans used the concrete to create buildings with arches, vaults and domes.  The most famous examples of building projects include the Roman baths, the Coliseum, the Pantheon in Rome, and the Pont du Gard aqueduct in southern France.  After the fall of the Roman Empire, the art of concrete was lost for many hundreds of years. 

An interesting fact is that modern tests have proven that Roman cement (opus caementicium) had as much compressive strength as modern Portland-cement concrete.  Of course, its tensile strength was much lower without the reinforcement of today’s concrete.

Conco is a leading supplier of concrete services for the Western United States. We got our start in the Bay Area  in 1959 by offering clients the best value on a wide range of concrete services and products.  Since that time, we have steadily taken a leading role as one of the Bay Area’s top concrete contractors. Our concrete services include commercial, educational, parking and other construction development as well as public works projects and highways.