Using Concrete Pump Trucks To Pour Foundations
Using concrete pump trucks to pour foundations is becoming quite popular. Pump trucks provide several major benefits which most concrete sub-contractors are taking advantage of on a regular basis. The concrete pump truck pictured on this site has a reach of 100 feet horizontal.
Traditionally concrete trucks would pull up to the forms and dump the concrete down the shoot and into the forms. This required a very level, stable path around the entire perimeter of the construction site. As you can imagine creating a path around the building site can be quite challenging and costly.
Using the pump truck allows the site excavation contractor to excavate for the foundation and keep the surplus material piles much closer to the foundation. In this case the soil is very clean sand that trucks cannot drive on without sinking into site.
Concrete pump trucks like the one pictured have an articulating boom with a pump hose mounted on it. At the rear of the truck is a large hopper that the concrete trucks pull up to and dump concrete into. The pump then forces the concrete up the boom and down to a rubber tremie hose where the concrete is discharged into the forms. The truck driver / operator controls the boom with a remote control. That way the driver can get close to the concr
ete crew for safe visual and verbal communication.
Today’s concrete pour was 56 cubic yards. If you know much about houses and residential foundations that’s a BIG foundation! If the weather holds out the crew will start removing the forms tomorrow and over the weekend so that the site crew can backfill the foundation and prepare the sub-grade for the slabs.
Previous posts from this series:
Total House Construction Series – Foundation to Finish
First Step In Building A New House – Blue Prints
Getting Bids When You Build A New House
New House Energy Efficient Details
House Building Lot
Ranch Style Home Floor Plan
Initial Site Work for House Building Lot
Building Concrete Footings For A New House
Forming Concrete Foundation
I found this post fascinating! Being that I live right outside of a major city, I never saw something like this. The cement truck just comes and pours the cement right down the hole. Thanks!
A concrete pump truck is very expensive to hire and the concrete forming industry is very competitive.
That being said I only use them when there are site space restrictions or weather related problems such as mud.
They can be a life saver in certain situations.
@ Rickie Bell – We only use them when we have to as well. It costs about $750 to $900 each time they show up on our job. This particular site was tight and we had very fine/loose sand so the concrete trucks could not get around the house close enough.