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RGU IIIT NUZVID

CE2102: Construction Materials

& Introduction To Design

T SUNIL BHAGAT
Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Civil Engineering Department
Technologies RGU IIIT NUZVID
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CONCRETE TRANSPORTATION AND READY MIXED

CONCRETE

5.1 General
Concrete shall be transported from the mixer to the point of placing as rapidly as practicable by
methods that will maintain the required workability and will prevent segregation, loss of any
constituents or ingress of foreign matter or water. The concrete shall be placed as soon as
possible after delivery, as close as is practicable to its final position to avoid rehandling or
moving the concrete horizontally by vibration. Another issue in this context is the loss of slump,
which has to be avoided. So far we have been frequently using the words – Segregation &
Slump. Let us know what do these terms refer, before we continue our discussion on methods of
transporting concrete from mixer to the forms, for better understanding of the module.

Segregation: usually implies separation of: (a) coarse aggregate from fine aggregate, (b) paste
from coarse aggregate, or water from the mix and the ingredients of the fresh concrete no longer
remain uniformly distributed. It can be reduced by increasing small size coarse aggregate, air
entrainment, using dispersing agents and puzzolana.

The causes of segregation are dropping concrete from heights, badly designed mixes, concrete
carried over long distances—pumping, belt conveyor system etc. over vibrations, and during
concrete finishing extra floating and tamping. Segregation mainly occurs in dry non-sticky
concrete mixes.

Slump Test: is an on-site test to determine the consistency of fresh concrete by filling a metal
cone-shaped mould and measuring how much it subsides when the mould is removed, where the
nominal maximum size of the aggregate does not exceed 38 mm (See fig. below).
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Tamping rod Slump cone

Fig. 5.1 (a) Slum test sketch (b) Photo showing the slump cone being removed & tamping rod

In other words, slump of concrete is measure of its workability in its plastic state. . It is not a
suitable method for very wet or very dry concrete. It does not measure all factors contributing to
workability, nor is it always representative of the placing ability of the concrete. However, it is
used conveniently as a control test and gives an indication of the uniformity of concrete from
batch to batch. Repeated batches of the same mix, brought to the same slump, will have the same
water content and water cement ratio, provided the weights of aggregate, cement and admixtures
are uniform and aggregate grading is within acceptable limits.

5.2 Transportation methods of concrete

Concrete should be transported to the place of deposition at the earliest without the loss of
homogeneity obtained at the time of mixing. A maximum of 2 hours from the time of mixing is
permitted if trucks with agitator and 1 hour if trucks without agitators are used for transporting
concrete. All of these however presume that the temperature is between 5 oC and 32 oC, when
deposited. It has now been established that delays in placing concrete after so called initial set
has taken place, are not injurious and may give increased compressive strengths, provided the
concrete retains adequate workability to allow compaction. Also it should be ensured that
segregation does not take place during transportation and placement; it should be uniform and of
proper consistency.
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The methods adopted for transporting concrete depend upon the size and importance of the job,
the distance of the deposition place from the mixing place, and the nature of the terrain. Some of
the methods of transporting concrete are as below:

(a) Direct discharge into the forms through short chutes or for very small loads, manually
in containers or mortar pans is acceptable for semi engineered jobs. This is labour
intensive method wherein the pans are passed from hand to hand and is slow and
expensive method. Since pan conveys small quantity of concrete, more and more
concrete area is exposed to atmosphere during transportation. This may lead to
evaporation of water from concrete particularly in hot weather and under conditions of
low humidity. In this method of transporting concrete can be deposited with equal ease
on above or below the ground level without segregation.
However, the drop should not be more than 2 m, when dropping the concrete blow the
ground level, as sudden impact of plastic concrete on ground may cause the heavier
aggregate to scatter the ground.
Short chutes with proper treatment to the lower end are simple to use and are
economical. However, wet paste have tendency to flow ahead of the aggregate, which is
not desirable. Metallic chutes, half round, stiffened at places, may last to handle 1500 m3
of concrete. Long chutes are not desirable.

Fig 5.2 Chutes for discharging concrete

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(b) Wheel barrows (Fig. 5.3) are used for transporting concrete to be placed at ground
level. These are used for small jobs. For long hauls due to uneven ground surface
segregation may take place. To check this, the barrows are provided with pneumatic
wheels instead of steel wheels. Alternatively, wooden plank way is made over which
barrows are moved to check vibrations in barrow and thus result in reduced segregation.
These are most useful for small jobs, small hauls, and over muddy ground. The average
capacity of a wheel barrow is 35 litres (80 kg). Sometimes for relatively bigger jobs
motorized wheel barrows or power barrows are used (Fig. 5.4).

Fig 5.3 Wheel Barrows

Fig 5.4 Power Barrows or buggies

The capacity of power burrows is up to 800 kg and can haul up to 300 meters. They can
also haul a gradient of 20%.
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Page

(c) Dumpers & Trucks: : For large concrete works particularly for concrete to be placed
at ground level, trucks and dumpers or ordinary open steel-body tipping lorries can be
used. As they can travel to any part of the work, they have much advantage over the
jubilee wagons, which require rail tracks. Dumpers are of usually 2 to 3 cubic metre
capacity, whereas the capacity of truck may be 4 cubic metre or more. Before loading
with the concrete, the inside of the body should be just wetted with water. Tarpaulins or
other covers may be provided to cover the wet concrete during transit to prevent
evaporation. When the haul is long, it is advisable to use agitators which prevent
segregation and stiffening. The agitators help the mixing process at a slow speed. For
road construction using Slip Form Paver large quantity of concrete is required to be
supplied continuously. A number of dumpers of 6 m3 capacity are employed to supply
concrete. Small dumper called ‗Tough Riders‘ are used for factory floor construction.

Fig 5.5 Tipper truck and Truck mixer or agitator lorry

(d) Monorail system: Monorail system needs a track. Power wagon mounted on a single
rail track will be carrying the concrete with a speed of 80 – 90 mters per minute. While
the wagon passes on joints of rail, jolting may occur which in turn causes segregation,
which should be prevented. Because of this, wet mix is not suitable for this method.
When rail track runs over a slab, the concrete can be directly discharged. This is
generally used in very large jobs such as construction of dams.
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(e) Belt conveyers: Belt conveyors have very limited applications in concrete construction.
The principal objection is the tendency of the concrete to segregate on steep inclines, at
transfer points or change of direction, and at the points where the belt passes over the
rollers. However, conveying concrete through a limited elevation if 30o is possible. For
wet mixes the capacity of the belt is reduced as the inclination through which concrete is
lifted is also lowered. Another disadvantage is that the concrete is exposed over long
stretches which causes drying and stiffening particularly, in hot, dry and windy weather.

Segregation also takes place due to the vibration of rubber belt. It is necessary that the
concrete should be remixed at the end of delivery before placing on the final position; or
it can also be avoided by using proper hopper and chute arrangements. The initial cost of
setting up is high and in case of breakdown, large amount of concrete is to be removed
by other means and the belt needs to be cleaned and washed.

Modern Belt Conveyors can have adjustable reach, travelling diverter and variable speed
both forward and reverse. Conveyors can place large volumes of concrete, as high as
115 m3/hour, quickly where access is limited. There are portable belt conveyors used for
short distances or lifts. The end discharge arrangements must be such as to prevent
segregation and remove all the mortar on the return of belt. In adverse weather
conditions (hot and windy) long reaches belt must be covered.
These belt conveyers are many types as shown below fig 5.5.

(a) Portable concrete conveyer belt system (b) Concrete conveyer belt system
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. (c) Telescopic boom conveyer (d) Telescopic boom conveyer in work.

Fig 5.5 Concrete conveyer belt systems

(f) Elevating tower and hoist: These are used for vertical transport of concrete. This is one
of the widely adopted methods for transporting concrete vertically up for multi-storey
building construction. Employing mortar pan with the staging and human ladder for
transporting concrete is not normally possible for more than 3 or 4 storeyed building
constructions. For laying concrete in taller structures, chain hoist or platform hoist or
skip hoist is adopted.

Fig 5.6 Tower hoist and winch for lifting concrete to higher level

At the ground level, mixer directly feeds the skip and the skip travels up over rails up to
the level where concrete is required. At that point, the skip discharges the concrete
automatically or on manual operation. The quality of concrete i.e. the freedom from
segregation will depend upon the extent of travel and rolling over the rails. If the
concrete has travelled a considerable height, it is necessary that concrete on discharge is
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required to be turned over before being placed finally.

(g) Cranes and cable ways: A crane and bucket is one of the right equipment for
transporting concrete above ground level. Crane can handle concrete in high rise
construction projects and are becoming familiar sites in big cities. Cranes are fast and
versatile to move concrete horizontally as well as vertically along the boom and allows
the placement of concrete at the exact point. Cranes carry skips or buckets containing
concrete. Skips have discharge door at the bottom, whereas buckets are tilted for
emptying. For a medium scale job the bucket capacity may be 0.5 m3.

Fig 5.7 Tower crane (middle) with concrete skip (right), skip being discharge at site (Left)

Rope way and bucket of various sizes are used for transporting concrete to a place,
where simple method of transporting concrete is found not feasible. For the concrete
works in a valley or the construction work of a pier in the river or for dam construction,
this method of transporting by rope way and bucket is adopted. The mixing of concrete
is done on the bank or abutment at a convenient place and the bucket is brought by a
pulley or some other arrangement. It is filled up and then taken away to any point that is
required. The vertical movement of the bucket is also controlled by another set of
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pullies. Sometimes, cable and car arrangement is also made for controlling the
movement of the bucket. This is one of the methods generally adopted for concreting
dam work or bridge work. Since the size of the bucket is considerably large and concrete
is not exposed to sun and wind there would not be much change in the state of concrete
or workability.

Fig 5.8 Cableway or Rope way for concrete transportation

For discharging the concrete, the bucket may be tilted or sometimes, the concrete is made
to discharge with the help of a hinged bottom. Discharge of concrete may also be through
a gate system operated by compressed air. The operation of controlling the gate may be
done manually or mechanically. It should be practiced that concrete is discharged from
the smallest height possible and should not be made to freely fall from great height.

(h) Buckets & Skips: We have already mentioned the main difference between a skip and a
bucket as, buckets have to be tilted to discharge concrete, while the skips are operated by
means of door, which are either mechanically operated or manually operated. However,
nowadays both the terms are interchangeably used. These are mainly two types. One is
Roll-over type and the other is constant altitude type.
In roll-over type skips the concrete will be loaded in the skip‘s horizontal position and
then lifted up, carried to the place and discharged in it‘s vertical position. But, for
constant altitude type, both charging and discharging are done in its vertical position as
shown in the figure 5.9.
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Fig. 5.9 (a) Roll-over type skip (b) Constant altitude type skip
The capacity of a skip may vary from 0.2 m3 for small jobs to as much as 10 m3 for large
jobs. The control of discharge is obtained from good design in terms of shape of the gate
for proper flow. The ease of charging or filling and resistance to wear are other aspects of
good design. These buckets or skips are also used for concreting under water.

(i) Transit Mixers: Transit mixer is one of the most popular equipments for transporting
concrete over a long distance particularly in Ready Mixed Concrete plant (RMC). They
are truck mounted having a capacity of 4 to 7 m3. There are two 3 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 the 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 the concrete at site. A transit-mixing permit
longer haul and is less vulnerable in case of delay. The truck mixer the speed of rotating
of drum is between 4–16 revolutions per minute. A limit of 300 revolutions for both
agitating and mixing is laid down by ASTM C 94 or alternatively, the concretes must be
1
placed within 12 hours of mixing. In case of transit mixing, water need not be added till

such time the mixing is commenced. BS 5328 – 1991, restrict the time of 2 hours during
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which, cement and moist sand are allowed to remain in contact. But the above restrictions
are to be on the safe side. Exceeding these limit is not going to be harmful if the mix
remains sufficiently workable for full compaction. With the development of twin fin
process mixer (Fig. 5.10 (c) & 4.7), the transit mixers have become more efficient in
mixing. In these mixers, in addition to the outer spirals, have two opposed inner spirals.
The outer spirals convey the mix materials towards the bottom of the drum, while the
opposed mixing spirals push the mix towards the feed opening the repeated counter
current mixing process is taking place within the mixer drum.
Sometimes a small concrete pump is also mounted on the truck carrying transit mixer.
This pump, pumps the concrete discharged from transit mixer. Currently we have placer
boom also as part of the truck carrying transit mixer and concrete pump and with their
help concrete is transported, pumped and placed into the formwork of a structure easily.

Fig. 5.10 (a) Transit mixer

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Concrete
discharging
through chute

Fig. 5.10 (b) Discharging concrete from Transit mixer

Fig. 5.10 (c) Drawing of inside of mixing drum depicting mixer blade configuration for
transit mixers. (Also refer Figure 4.7)
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5.3 Underwater Concreting

Concrete is often required to be placed underwater. Under water concrete placing encounter a
number of problem, as concrete cannot be compacted and it may mix with water. To over these
problems, concrete must be self compacting and should flow under its own weight, and must be
placed with least disturbances. To the extent possible under water concreting shall be avoided.
However, if the situation demands the fallowing methods may be used.

(a) Underwater Dump Buckets: The underwater buckets are as shown in the figure 5.11.

Fig. 5.11 (a) Filled (b) Discharging

This method has the advantage that concreting can be carried out to considerable depths
under water. These dump buckets are usually fitted with drop-bottom or bottom roller
gates which open freely outwards when tripped. The bucket is completely filled with
concrete and its top covered with canvas cloth or a gunny sack to prevent the
disturbance of concrete as the bucket lowered into water. Some buckets are fitted with
special base which limits the agitation of concrete during discharge and also while the
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empty bucket is hoisted away from the fresh concrete.

Fig. 5.11 (c) Typical arrangement for dump bucket

The buckets are lowered by a crane up to the bottom surface of concrete and then
opened either by divers or by suitable a arrangement from the top. It is essential that the
concrete should be discharged directly against the surface on which it is to be deposited,
with the skirts in lowered position, to prevent the concrete from mixing with
surrounding water. Early discharge of bucket, which permits the fresh concrete to drop
through water, must be avoided. The main disadvantage of this method is the difficulty
in keeping the top surface of the placed concrete reasonably level. This method permits
the use of slightly stiffer concrete than does tremie method.

(b) Tremie method: The word ―tremie‖ is derived from the French word hopper. A tremie is
a water tight pipe, generally of diameter 20 to 25 cm, having a funnel shaped hopper at its
upper end and a loose plug at the bottom or discharge end as shown in the figure 5.12.
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The valve at the discharge end used to dewater the tremie and control the distribution of
concrete. The tremie is supported in a working platform above water level, and to
facilitate the placing it is built up in 1 to 3.5 m sections.

Figure 5.12 Typical arrangements for a tremie pipe.

During the concreting, air and water must be excluded from the tremie by keeping the
pipe full of concrete all the time; and for this reason the capacity of the hopper should be
at least equal to that of the tremie pipe. In charging the tremie a plug formed of paper or
polyethylene sheet is first inserted into the top of the pipe. As the hopper is filled the
pressure of fresh concrete forces the plug down the pipe, and the water in tremie is
displaced by concrete.
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Fig. 5.13 Picture show case of tremie method - concreting

For concreting, the tremie pipe is lowered into positioned and the discharge end is kept as
deeply submerged beneath the surface of freshly placed concrete as the head of the
concrete in tremie permits. As concreting proceeds, the pipe is raised slightly and the
concrete flows outward. Care should be taken to maintain continuity of concreting
without breaking the seal provided by the concrete cover over the discharge end. Should
this seal be broken, the tremie should be lifted and plugged before concreting is
recommended. The tremie should never be moved laterally through freshly placed
concrete. It should be lifted vertically above the surface of concrete and shifted to its new
position.
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When large quantities of concrete have to be placed continuously, it is preferable to place

concrete simultaneously and uniformly through a battery of tremies rather than shifting a
single tremie from one point to another. In that case, it is recommended that the spacing
of tremies be between 3.5 to 5m and that the end tremies should be about 2.5m from the
form work.
The risk of segregation and non-uniform stiffening can be minimized by maintaining the
surface of concrete in the forms as level as possible and by providing a continuous and
rapid flow of concrete.

(c) Placing in bags: the method consists in partially (usually about two-third) filling of cloth
or gunny sacks with concrete and tying them in such a way that they can readily
accommodated in profile of a surface on which they are placed. The sacks are lowered
into water and placed carefully in a header and stretcher fashion as in brick masonry by
divers.
The method has advantage in that, in many cases, no form work is necessary and
comparatively lean mixes may be used provided sufficient plasticity is retained. On the
other hand, the accurate positioning of bags is only accomplished by divers; the work is
slow and laborious. Voids between adjacent bags are difficult to fill, there is little
bonding, other than that achieved by mechanical interlock between bags. The bags and
labour (divers) are relatively expensive and this method is suited for concreting in
shallow depths of water.

(d) Pre-packed Concrete: this technique, also called grouted concrete, consists of placing
the coarse aggregate only in the forms and thoroughly compacting it to form a pre-packed
mass. This mass is grouted with the cement mortar of the required proportions. The
aggregate should be wetted before being placed in position. The mortar that grouts the
concrete displaces water and fill the voids.

The grouting of the pre-packed aggregates can be done in any of fallowing methods:

1) The mould can be filled with grout, and the coarse aggregate can be deposited in the
grout.
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2) The grout can be poured on the top surface of aggregate and allowed to penetrate to
the bottom. This method is particularly useful for grouting thin sections.
3) Pumping the grout into aggregate mass from bottom at carefully designed positions
through a network of pipes. The formwork should be constructed at the top of the
coarse aggregate in this method.

Fig 5.14 Grouting using pipe

The grout pressure employed will be of the order 0.2 to 0.3 MPa. This technique is
very much suited for underwater construction and repair of mass concrete structures,
such as dams, spillways etc.

5.4 Ready Mixed Concrete (RMC)

We have already discussed on this topic as and when required. So, this part of this material may
be treated, more or less, as revision. Ready mix concrete production is process whereby, mixing
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and transportation of concrete can be combined together and the product is delivered at site, at
times right in the moulds, straight away.

As per IS 4926:2003, RMC is defined as ―Concrete mixed in a stationary mixer in a central

batching and mixing plant or in a truck-mixer and supplied in the fresh condition to the purchaser
either at the site or into the purchaser‘s vehicles.‖ Ready-mixed concrete shall be transported
from the mixer to the point of placing as rapidly as practicable by methods that will maintain the
required workability and will prevent segregation, loss of any constituents or ingress of foreign
matter or water.

The concrete shall be placed as soon as possible after delivery, as close as is practicable to its
final position to avoid re-handling or moving the concrete horizontally by vibration. If required
by the purchaser the producer can utilize admixtures to slow down the rate of workability loss,
however this does not remove the need for the purchaser to place the concrete as rapidly as
possible. The purchaser should plan his arrangements so as to enable a full load of concrete to be
discharged within 30 min of arrival on site.

Concrete shall be transported in a truck-mixer unless the purchaser agrees to the use of non-
agitating vehicles. When non-agitating vehicles are used, the mixed concrete shall be protected
from gain or loss of water. We already know that, truck mixer is a mixer generally mounted on a
self-propelled chassis, capable of mixing the ingredients of concrete and of agitating the mixed
concrete during transportation. The time of loading shall start from adding the mixing water to
the dry mix of cement and aggregate or of adding the cement to the wet aggregate whichever is
applicable. . Ready-mixed concrete plant shall have test facilities at its premises to carry out
routine tests as per the requirement of the standard.

The workability shall be within the following limits on the specified value as appropriate:

Slump shall be: ± 25 mm or ± 1/3 of the specified value, whichever is less.

Compacting factor shall be: ± 0.03, where the specified value is 0.90 or greater,

± 0.04, where the specified value is less than 0.90 but more than
0.80, and ± 0.05, where the specified value is 0.80 or less.
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By definition, ready-mixed concrete is concrete that has been proportioned, mixed, and
transported to the place of discharge. There are three viable methods, covered in ASTM C 94/C
94M, for accomplishing this task. The methods each use mass (weight) to proportion solid
materials and either mass (weight) or volume for liquid components.

Central-Mixed concrete: consists of a batching facility and a stationary plant mixer which
completely mixes the concrete before discharging it into a dump truck, agitator truck, mixer
truck, conveyor, or some other means of transporting the finished product to the point of use

Shrink-Mixed concrete - consists of a batching facility and a stationary plant mixer, which
partially mixes the concrete (shrinks individual volumes to a mixed volume) before discharging
the product into a truck mixer for completion of mixing the material into a homogeneous
material and simultaneous transport to the point of use.

Truck-Mixed concrete - consists of a batching plant facility without any mixing capability,
which deposits proportioned individual materials into a transit mix truck for complete mixing
and transport to the point of use.

However, as per IS 4926:2003, when a truck mixer is used for the partial or complete mixing of
concrete, mixing shall be considered to commence from the moment when all the materials
required for the batch, including water, are in the rotating drum of the mixer.

Truck mixers or agitators shall not be loaded in excess of the manufacturer‘s rated capacity. In
order to produce a satisfactory mix, and where there is no availability to establish different
period and speed revolutions, mixing shall continue for not less than 60 revolutions of the truck
mixer drum at a rate of not less than 7 revolutions/minute. All completely truck mixed concrete
shall be visually inspected for uniformity prior to leaving the plant.

When a truck mixer or agitator is used for transporting concrete which has been mixed before
leaving the plant, the concrete shall be agitated during transit and re-mixed at the site for at least
2 min so that the concrete is of the required uniformity.
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Where water is added to the concrete in the truck mixer through the truck mixer water meter and
when such water is being accounted for in the total water within the mix, it shall be ensured that
the truck mixer water meter is in operational condition and properly calibrated. Where a water
meter is not available, water must be measured in a suitable container before being added to the
truck mixer.

5.5 Issues in RMC

Uniformity and loss of slump are two major issues. To overcome these, the code o practice has
specified some remedies in terms of time of haul and revolutions per minute of the agitator or
mixer as below.

 Time of haul limited to 1 to 2 hours, which also depends on the ambient temperature;
higher the temperature, lower the time of haul and vice versa.
 The maximum no. of revolutions of the mixing drum is limited to 300 revolutions at
agitating speed and is only 100 revolutions at mixing speed.
 Set retarders, a type of chemical admixture, can also be used which, helps in extending
the setting time of cement concrete. However, when used in excess, it may kill the
concrete so that it never set.
 Though not recommended, retendering of concreting (i.e. addition of water at jobsite,
keeping the water cement ratio constant.) is also an option to reduce the slump loss.
However, it results in reduced strength.
 There are studies, which showed that, compared to the concrete retempered with water;
those retempered with a superplasticizer admixture have yielded significantly higher
strength regardless of the mixing duration.

Self Assessment: REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Discuss on various transportation means of concrete.

2. Briefly explain the various approaches for underwater concreting.
3. What do you understand by the term RMC.
4. Briefly explain the various classifications of RMC and issues in RMC.

For Queries & Suggestions, please contact: bhagat@rgukt.in