Concrete Pumping Services
Napa Valley, San Francisco North Bay, Ca. USA

There are two main classifications of concrete pumps.

The first type of concrete pump is attached to a truck. It is known as a 'truck-mounted boom pump' because it uses a remote-controlled articulating robotic arm (called a 'boom') to place concrete with pinpoint accuracy. Boom pumps are used on most of the larger construction projects as they are capable of pumping at very high volumes and because of the labor saving nature of the robotic arm.

The second main type of concrete pump is mounted on a trailer, and it is commonly referred to as a 'trailer pump' or 'line pump'. This pump requires steel or rubber concrete placing hoses to be manually attached to the outlet of the machine. Those hoses are linked together and lead to wherever the concrete needs to be placed. Trailer pumps normally pump concrete at lower volumes than boom pumps and are used for smaller volume concrete placing applications such as swimming pools, sidewalks, and single family home concrete slabs.

There are also skid-mounted and rail mounted concrete pumps, but they are uncommon and only used on specialized jobsites such as mines and tunnels.

Special concrete transport trucks (in–transit mixers) are made to transport and mix concrete from a factory/plant to the construction yard. They are charged with dry materials and water, with the mixing occurring during transport. (Although, more modern plants load the truck with 'Ready Mixed' concrete. With this process, the material has already been mixed, and then is loaded into the truck. The ready mix truck maintains the material's liquid state, through agitation, or turning of the drum, until delivery.) The interior of the drum on a concrete truck is fitted with a spiral blade. In one rotational direction, the concrete is pushed deeper into the drum. This is the direction the drum is rotated while the concrete is being transported to the building site. This is known as "charging" the mixer. When the drum rotates in the other direction, the Archimedes screw-type arrangement "discharges", or forces the concrete out of the drum.

Also See:

Concrete - Ready-Mix
Concrete Contractors

Foundation Contractors

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