Wet concrete is poured.
A concrete pump is an extremely useful item in the construction industry as it can deliver large volumes of concrete in a short time. Concrete trucks could deposit their entire load on the concrete pumping equipment at one time. A hydraulic pump pushes the concrete into the machine to distribute it at an accelerated rate. There are two main types of pumps used by a concrete pumping service: boom pump and line pump.
Concrete pumps are commonly used in the process of spreading concrete on construction sites.
The most common type of concrete pump is a boom pump. It is usually mounted on a truck and has a robotic arm that is controlled by remote control to accurately eject concrete into shapes. Boom pumps can be on a truck that has from two to six axles. The bars are in sections that fold out to provide additional length and can have up to six sections. The maximum deployment length can reach up to 200 feet (about 61 m).
In-line concrete pumps generally consist of a separate piece of equipment that is mounted on a trailer or truck. They work on the same principle as the boom pump, except this concrete pump uses manual labor to distribute the materials through long hoses from placement in the formwork. Line pumps deliver concrete at a slower rate than boom pumps, so they are commonly used for smaller jobs.
There are several benefits to using a concrete pump on a construction site. When pouring a commercial slab or even a large slab for a house, a concrete truck with its delivery hopper can only go halfway. A concrete pump can extend the reach up to 20 feet (about 6.1 meters) and allow the form to fill in between. This can save hours of manual labor when sweeping the concrete in half, and in turn save substantial labor costs associated with a job. Concrete pumping services also use crane trucks to spread concrete over the top of tall buildings with ease, due to the versatility and height achieved with a concrete pump.
Another advantage of using a concrete pumping service is that a slab is poured quickly, so it takes less time to cure. If uncured concrete freezes, it can become unstable and lose its strength. Concrete pumps are often used in the cold months during the hottest part of the day to speed up the process so that it is smooth and dry before the night reaches sub-zero temperatures.