Tarmac: Ready Mix Concrete

"BRIDGING" THE GAP

Tom Sinquefield, Regional Sales Manager, Eastern Florida

Necessity really is the mother of invention, as we learned last summer in Delray Beach, Florida. Orrie Kopystanski, a Sales Representative here, received a phone call from a homebuilder in the town of Ocean Ridge who had a unique problem.

Ocean Ridge sits on an island in the Intracoastal Waterway just West of the Atlantic Ocean. The only access is by a bridge with a 13 ton weight limit; far less than a fully loaded Tarmac ready-mix truck. How to get the concrete over the bridge to the job site?

Towns sometimes grant variances to overweight vehicles needing to cross bridges. The builder went this route but Ocean Ridge refused his request. Orrie felt the most logical solution was to pump the concrete across the bridge through a two-inch hose.

It would work this way: One truck crosses the bridge, empty; a second truck pumps its load over the bridge, into the first; the first truck, now full, proceeds to the job site; then the second truck, now empty, crosses the bridge and is filled by a third truck.

The solution presented four problems; time, damage, safety and logistics. The process would take about three hours per truck. The transfer hose could jump out of the truck's hopper, damaging the truck. A worker would have to hold the hose for six hours while the pumping took place. Finally, an outside firm would perform the pumping. This presented a logistical problem, as Tarmac drivers are not permitted to hold pumping companies' hoses and their employees are not permitted to stand on Tarmac trucks.

Penncem™ slag cement was added to the concrete, reducing its temperature. Also, the water-reducing admixture was adjusted to delay the concrete's setting time, solving the time problem.

Damage and safety concerns were addressed by a bracket designed and built by Orrie and Leroy Panoo in Plant Maintenance. The bracket was made to fit the truck's hopper and hold the transfer hose during pumping. This meant a worker no longer had to hold the hose, once it was connected.

The logistics problem was solved by building a temporary platform for the pump person to stand on while filling trucks.

July 19, 1996 was the big day and the bracket worked flawlessly. The customer was pleased, the Operations Manager was glad our trucks stayed clean and Management was happy because we did a great job without exposing employees or equipment to additional risk.

We received a phone call the following week from another builder on the island with the same need. The Ocean Ridge police had recommended Tarmac to him because we knew how to do the job right.

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