9 METHODS FOR TRANSPORTATION OF

CONCRETE
Suryakanta | May 3, 2014 | Concrete, Concrete Technology, Materials | No Comments

Methods of Concrete Transportation

Transportation of concrete is an important activity in the production of concrete. The time taken
in transit should be a design parameter as it depends on the initial setting time as well as the
requirement of workability at the destination. The method of transportation adopted at site should
be decided in advance so that suitable admixtures can be decided. The various prevalent methods
of transportation are as given below.

Concrete Mixer

1. Mortar Pan
It is a labour intensive method and generally used for small works. There are no chances of
segregation of concrete. In hot weather, there is a substantial loss of water due to more exposure
of concrete to environment.

2. Wheel barrow or Hand cart

It is normally used on ground level i.e. road construction and other similar structures.
Segregation can occur if transportation is done on rough roads, however this problem can be
minimizes if pneumatic tyres are used.

3. Bucket and Ropeway

It is suitable for works in valley, over high piers and long dam sites. Excessive free fall of
concrete should be avoided to minimize segregation.

4. Truck Mixer and Dumper

It is an improved and better method for long lead concreting. The concrete is covered with
tarpaulin if it is transported in open trucks. If long distance is involved, agitators should be used.

5. Belt Conveyor
It has limited application due to chances of segregation on steep slopes, roller points and changes
in direction of belt. It also involves over-exposure of concrete to environment.

6. Chute
It is generally used for concreting in deep locations. Care should be taken that slope should not
be flatter than 1V:2.5H, otherwise concrete will not slide down. But workability should not be
changed to suit the delivery by chute. Technically it is not a very good method but it is
extensively used in the field.

7. Skip and Hoist

It is a widely used method for high rise structures. Concrete is fed into the skip which travels
vertically on rails like a lift. After discharging, it is better to turn over the concrete before use to
avoid segregation.

8. Pump and Pipe-line method

It is the most sophisticated method particularly suitable for limited space or when a large
quantity of concrete is to be poured without cold joints. Pumping of concrete can be done @ 8 to
70 cubic meters per hour up to a horizontal distance of 300 meter and vertical distance of 90
meter. Pipe dia is generally 8 to 20 cm and it is made of steel., plastic or aluminum. The
workability for pumped concrete should have a minimum of 40 to 100 mm of slump or 0.90 to
0.95 compacting factor. At delivery point the workability may be reduced by 25% due to
compaction and this factor should be kept in mind while designing the mix.

9. Transit Mixer
Transit mixer is one of the most popular equipment for transporting concrete over a long distance
particularly in ready mix concrete plant. They are truck mounted having a capacity of 4 to 7
cubic meter. There are two variations. In one, mixed concrete is transported to the site by
keeping it agitated all along at a speed varying between 2 to 6 revolutions per minute. In other
category, the concrete is batched at the central batching plant and mixing is done in the truck
mixer either in transit or immediately prior to discharging concrete at site.

3.0 Transporting Concrete

Transporting the concrete mix is defined as the transferring of concrete from the mixing plant to
the construction site. Keep in mind that not all concrete is mixed on the actual construction site
and could require some significant travel. This is most common for ready-mixed concretes. The
main objective in transporting concrete is to ensure that the water-cement ratio, slump or
consistency, air content, and homogeneity are not modified from their intended states.

3.1 Important Factors in Choosing Transportation

There are many elements of transporting that need to be considered in order to ensure that a mix
does not change its state as specified in the contract. The two key goals when transporting
concrete from the mixing plant to the construction site are to prevent segregation and to not
reduce the workability of the mix. This transportation process must be well thought out and
organized efficiently. As a general rule of thumb, thirty to sixty minutes of transportation are
acceptable on small jobs. At a central or portable ready-mix plant, concrete should be discharged
from a truck mixer or agitator truck within two hours. If non-agitating transporting equipment is
used, this time is reduced to one hour. All delays must be avoided in order prevent
honeycombing, as shown in Figure 1, or cold joints.

Many factors determine which type of transportation is most suitable. Type and constituents of
the concrete mix, size and type of construction, topography, weather conditions (i.e. temperature,
humidity, wind speed), location of the batch plant, and cost are all taken into consideration when
choosing a mode of transport for your concrete. If you choose the wrong mode of transportation,
your concrete could be segregated, which would in effect, make it useless. Therefore it is
essential that adequate thought be given to the type of transportation you actually need.

3.2 Categories of Transportation

There are many modes of transportation as shown below:

1. Wheelbarrow or motorized buggy

2. Truck mixer
3. Bucket or steel skip
4. Chute
5. Belt conveyor
6. Concrete pump
 7. Pneumatic placer

4.0 Conclusion

As indicated above, the successful mixing and transporting of concrete requires the careful
management of many factors. Once the appropriate mixing and transporting equipment is chosen
and the important factors are addressed, you are ready to move on to the next critical step, known
as placing.

Information compiled by Greg Vinci

2…

Methods of Transportation of Concrete

Definition:
Transporting the concrete mix is defined as the transferring of
concrete from the mixing plant to the construction site. The main
objective in transporting concrete is to ensure that the water-
cement ratio, slump or consistency, air content, and homogeneity
are not modified from their intended states. Concrete produced
from a mixer is required to be transported to the forms for
placement. This handling may produce segregation and loss of
slump, if the distance is long.

That is further defined in different ways like:

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Methods of Transporting Concrete
Methods of transporting and placing concrete which are used
widely, are:

a. Discharge directly into forms through short chute

b. By barrows:
i. Wheel burrows and handcarts.
ii. Power barrows or power buggies
c. Dumpers and trucks (agitating or non agitation)
d. Monorail system
e. Elevating towers and hoists
f. Skips operated by cranes or overhead cable ways
 g. Belt conveyers and boom conveyers, it can use on small
location
h. Tremie
i. Concrete pumps and pneumatic placers
j. Any combination of above.

So now discussing transporting methods further in detail:

a. Direct Discharge, Manual Transport in Containers and short chutes

 Free fall of concrete over a height of 2 m should be avoided.

 Short chutes with proper lower end treatment (Concrete should be re-mixed at the lower end
by passing down through a funnel-shaped pipe or drop chute so that the concrete mix is
workable and cohesive) are simple to use and economical.
 Chutes which are Metallic, half round in section, stiffened at places may last to handle about
1500m3 of concrete.
 Long chutes are less desirable as they have the tendency to cause segregation in the concrete
mix.

b. Burrows

 Manual wheel burrow has capacity up to 80 kg of concrete (2.5 Cu-ft). It is used for long
horizontal distances.
 Power burrows' capacity is up to 800 kg and can be used for horizontal distances upto 300m.
They can also be used to haul concrete to a gradient of 20%. Part of the mixer is single burrow.
If you take a part of concrete in one burrow and the other part of concrete in another burrow,
it might be problematic because uniformity of concrete will be disturbed.

c. Dumpers and Trucks

 Dumpers and trucks (Horizontal transport) are used for long hauls. Because of the jolting on the
ground, ordinary trucks and dumpers tend to cause segregation of concrete during transit.

d. Monorail system

 Monorail system needs a track and consists of a power wagon mounted on the single rail track,
which can move at a speed of 80-90 m/min. This kind of tracks are used in construction of
tunnels, dams and other such kind of constructions.
 Segregation of concrete may take place due to jolting of concrete in the wagon over each rail
joint. Hence, wet mixess are generally unsuitable for monorail transport. When the rail track
runs over the slab form, the wagon can directly discharge on the form.

e. Elevating towers and hoists (Vertical transport)

  Elevating towers are used for lifting concrete buckets, which can be distributed using a chute or
by other means such as barrows, etc. This kind of transport can be used for construction of
multi-storey building, bridges and towers.
 Hoists operate on similar principle; a cantilever platform hoist operates along a steel lattice
mast.
 Concrete skip can be used directly, that can till and discharge the concrete on some distribution
system.

f. Cranes and Cable way (Two or three dimensional transport)

Cranes and cableway is use for three dimensional purpose of transport. It can be used in projects
where concrete is to be transferred across a valley or some obstruction like a river, sea or road.
Cranes can be used for various high rise buildings and many other type of constructions also.

 Cranes or cableways may be used for three dimensional transport of concrete. Cable way is
useful in river valley projects; cranes of various types are also useful in high rise building
construction in congested sites.
 Depending upon the site, cranes may be any one of the following types such as derrick crane,
tower crane, crawler mounted, or wheel mounted, or a hydraulic crane.
 The main consideration in selecting the crane is height and radius of operation.

g. Belt Conveyor

Belt conveyor is used for very short distance, not for large distances

 Belt conveyors needs small power.

 Discharge can be as high as 115 cu-m/hour on a narrow strip of belt the main consideration in
selecting the crane is height and radius of operations.
 Conveying concrete through a limited elevation of 30 degrees is also possible through belt
conveyors.
 For wet mixes the capacity of the belt is reduced as the inclination through which concrete can
be lifted is also lowered.
 It is recommended that low slump concrete be used for slower moving belts and higher slump
concrete by faster moving belts.
 Concrete tends to segregate in steep inclines as the belt passes over the rollers, this problem is
less acute in drier mixes, and segregation at the discharge point may be avoided using proper
hopper and the chute arrangement.
 In case of a breakdown of machines, large amount of concrete in the belt needs removal by
other means and the belt is to be cleaned and washed.
 Their initial cost of setting up is also high.

Concrete Buckets or Skips

The buckets and skips are very common equipments. They are used together with many things.
Some different types of buckets which are used in concrete transporting are:

1. Roll-over and
2. Constant altitude type

o The capacity of skip may vary from 0.2 m3 in small jobs to 10m3. It depends upon the
size.
o The control of discharges is obtained from good design in terms of shape of the gate
for proper flow. The ease of filling and resistance to wear and tear are other aspects of
good design.
o Buckets are also used for under water concreting.

Transportation of Concrete in Under Water Concreting:

Under water placing of concrete poses a number of problems, as concrete cannot be compacted
and concrete may get mixed with water. Whenever, possible under water connecting is to be
avoided. To overcome the problems mentioned above, concrete must be self compacting and
wet enough to flow under its own weigh, and must be placed with least disturbances.

Methods of Transporting Concrete Under Water

1. Pre packed or grouted concrete

2. Termite or buckets
3. Pumping
4. Dumping by bags

Each of this method is used in different situation. First let look at buckets, buckets can be used
through cranes and that sort of equipment. It is filled up from top and lifted off up, when its
reach the ground where it is supposed to discharge, open the screws at the bottom, when buckets
is lifted up more so the scot is actually on the ground and concrete is discharged with in scot
which does not immediately come into water, this is one common way to use under water
concrete.

Tremie

The most common way to use concrete under water is tremie; this is done by tremie pipe. There
are 2 retaining walls beside the tremie pipe. This pipe is made piece by piece, and concrete is
discharged at the bottom. Only the cement of top surface will contact with water, rest of the
concrete will not contact with the water. The other method which can be used for mixing and
can transport over a large distance is through "ready mixed concrete". This is very much used
where the area is congested and one cannot mix the concrete on site.