To successfully complete the world’s largest continuous mat pour, one of the biggest challenges Conco faced was to find ways to unload 120 – 150 truckloads of concrete per hour. With the need to unload so many trucks in such a short period of time, Conco’s plan called for thirteen points of placement in the mat foundation. However, only two sides of the project were accessible from the street.
Since the site only provided access for seven pumps to be positioned to pump directly into the building foundation, Conco’s plan needed to have pumps that were pumping into pumps. Pumps were dropped by crane into the excavation site and two placing booms were fed from pumps nearly 400 feet away. In all, fifteen boom pumps, two high-pressure stationary pumps, two placing booms, and more than 2,500 feet of pipe operated throughout the pour to get the concrete to the foundation. Four of the pumps on this project were new along with a brand-new placing boom. In addition to this equipment, three boom pumps were parked in close proximity to the project in case of a breakdown. None of the backup pumps were put into service as the pumps on the job performed near flawlessly.
To complete the rest of this signature project, the two high-pressure stationary pumps will remain on-site for the project’s duration. One of the pumps is a recently purchased electric pump. This pump is the most powerful electric pump operating west of the Mississippi and is capable of pushing concrete to the top of the structure. It provides our client, the Turner Construction Company, with a zero-emission pump that operates with less noise than a typical diesel pump.
By the end of Conco’s record breaking mat pour, the pumping work all went successfully according to plan. Special recognition goes to our ACPA trained pump operators, and our mechanics that spent countless hours preparing the equipment for the pour.
*Photos provided by Gary Leonard