What Goes Into Determining the Best Pump to Use?

As we discussed in a previous blog post, the Conco Companies have owned and operated one of the largest pumping companies in the Western United States for over 40 years.  Our overwhelming success and continued expansion has put us in a leadership role in the commercial concrete industry.   We have an impressive fleet of concrete pumps with eleven of them conveniently based out of Washington State to handle the needs of our customers in this area. 

So what are the actual criteria that we take into account when determining which concrete pumps to use on a particular job?  One of the first things we need to know is the concrete output required to get the job done and the delivery output needed in cubic yards per hour that will meet the specifications of the job.  Having this information, now the engineer knows the pumping volume that the boom truck must deliver to accomplish the task.  The cubic yard per hour output for each boom truck is provided by the manufacturer as well as other features and capabilities of each pump. 

Next the layout of the pumps at the jobsite needs to be figured out and how long of a boom will be required to reach all of the work areas.  A boom’s maximum reach is really 10 to 20 feet shorter as the boom travels horizontally as well as vertically (the reach is not directly straight out or straight up).  Furthermore properties of the concrete mix such as the type of aggregate or sand used have to be evaluated as some concrete designs require more pressure to pump.  

Other factors taken into account are conditions at the jobsite including the size, any overhead obstacles, amount of congestion on the site, and any obstacles along the sides of the area.  Also how much room is there to get concrete trucks on and off the site?  These are but a sampling of the many dynamics that experienced concrete contractors use to determine the size of the pumps and how many to use.  

Sources:

concreteconstruction.net/Images/What's%20New%20in%20Truck-Mounted%20Boom%20Pumps_tcm45-342799.pdf

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 taken a leading role as one of the top concrete contractors in the region. We have four regional offices serving California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Colorado.

New High-rise Project in San Jose

The Conco Companies are providing concrete services for One South Market, a new high-rise residential tower that is being constructed in downtown San Jose at the corner of Market and Santa Clara streets.  The project broke ground in June, 2013 and is scheduled to be completed next year.  The developer on the $135 million project is Essex Property Trust and the contractor is Balfour Beatty Construction. 

The 23-story mixed use redevelopment project will consist of 312 multi-family attached units and 6,000 square feet of commercial space on almost an acre of property.  The project is part of the Downtown Growth Area that is identified in the Envision San Jose 2040 General Plan.  Since San Jose has experienced a faster job growth than the national average in large part due to Silicon Valley, the city hopes that the new high-rise will attract more people to the downtown area.   

For Conco’s part, we once again had to come up with a creative way to fulfill one of our responsibilities on the project.  The task was to backfill 2,900 tons of crushed rock in a period of three 8-hour days and any delay in completing the job would impact the timeliness of future jobs on the project.

A jobsite is already a busy place so in order not to congest the site any further, Conco brought in its Direct Feed trailer, which allows a Superdump, Transfer, End Dump or 10-Wheeler to unload its contents directly into the hopper attached to the trailer.  This allowed us to feed material from the hopper onto one of Conco’s Telebelts.  From there, the Telebelt placed the material directly to the point of placement.

Using this system, we eliminated the need to stockpile material on the jobsite and did not have to handle it twice via a loader or bobcat.  The job was quicker and less labor intensive than using a loader since the material was discharged directly from the back of a truck.  Reliable Trucking provided the Super Dumps for the project and the job was completed well within the required timeframe.

Sources:

nbcbayarea.com/news/local/One-South-Market-High-Rise-Building-to-Change-San-Jose-Skyline-213004711.html

 

conco is a leading supplier of concrete services for the Western United States.  As one of the leading commercial concrete contractors in the Bay Area, we have been involved with large-scale projects in the area including the Mineta Airport.  Our concrete services include commercial, educational, parking and other construction development as well as public works projects and highways.