REFURBISHED LONG BOOMS SET RECORD PACE 6,000-YARD MAT POUR 2004

Extensive pre-pour planning and refurbished pumping equipment helped achieve the efficient completion of a 6,000-yard monolithic mat in Daytona Beach Shores, FL in April. Construction Manager John T. Callahan & Sons, Inc., Daytona Beach Shores, FL, and general contractor W.G Yates & Sons Construction Co., Atlanta, GA, awarded the pumping work to C & C Pumping Services, Inc., Groveland, FL. The pumping contractor’s extensive fleet includes several refurbished pumps as well as brand new models.

The completed 30,000 square foot mat will serve as the foundation for a 189 unit, 20-story condominium complex dubbed Oceans Grand Condominiums. The building is situated within an executive golf course and is the final addition to a master planned community. The project is owned and developed by the partnership of New Boston Development Partners, LLC, a subsidiary of New Boston Fund, Inc., Boston, MA, and John T. Callahan & Sons. The partnership is known as Oceans Grand, LLC.

To ensure the pour would go off without a hitch, C & C owner Chris Holdorf said Yates headed up months of pre-pour planning. “We discussed this pour right down to the last detail.” Yates self-performs most items on their projects, from concrete to masonry to site work. In this case, the general contractor executed site preparation for the pumps and ready-mix truck access. “They brought in and leveled fill for pump stabilization. They made it incredibly easy for subcontractors on this project,” said Holdorf.

On April 10, 2004 at 2:00 a.m., C & C maneuvered five Schwing concrete pumps, four refurbished and one new, on to the site. C & C Partner Al Collister said spring break traffic was the reason behind the early start. “We weren’t forced to close down any lanes, but we wanted to get a jump on it before truck access became an issue.” Three KVM 52 concrete pumps and one 55-meter were set up around the pyramid-shaped excavation and prepped for concrete delivery. The new S 42 SX served as back up. At 3:00 a.m., ready mix trucks from CSR Rinker, Palm Beach, began to arrive.

Operating from four batch plants, CSR utilized an estimated 105 trucks throughout the pour. “CSR was expecting three pumps, and instead we brought five,” said Holdorf. “We pumped out 650 yards in the first hour, and that caught them a little off guard. In the early hours of the project, we ended up waiting for concrete. Then they flooded us with the entire scheduled fleet. Once everything was coordinated, we were pumping 500 yards every hour on average.”

The four pumps handled a 5,000 psi pea gravel mix for the first 15 inches of the mat. The remainder consisted of regular Type II 5,000 psi concrete with stone super plastisizer.

Two of the 52-meter pumps and the 55-meter remained in their original set-up position throughout the 10-hour pour. In the final hours, C & C positioned their S 42 SX on an outside corner of the excavation to finish off the final yards of the mat.

New from Schwing America, the S 42 SX capitalizes on the all-around performance of the KVM 42, now equipped with telescopic curved front outriggers. The Super X outriggers provide compact storage and overall lower structural height, allowing for optimal boom slewing gear design and an extra-long stroke pump. C & C’s S 42 SX features a pump kit with maximum output of 181 cubic yards per hour at 18 strokes per minute. The S 42 SX combines these features to provide faster set up and smoother operation than conventional outrigger equipped boom pumps.

Pumping wrapped up in ten hours, and finishers from Empire Industrial Floors, Daytona, FL completed the mat. The final 6,000-yard mat is five feet thick and contains 700 tons of reinforcing steel.

Grady Johnson, Yates General Superintendent, says C & C’s production has been the topic of conversation since the pour. “Some people say C & C broke records in the local area for the single largest continuous pour. Others say they broke records for high production. All I can say is our team planned on being on site until at least seven o’clock that night, and their last pump wrapped up a little after one o’clock that afternoon.”

“The whole thing went off without a hitch. Yates’ site prep and planning was essential to pulling this thing off, and they provided us everything we needed to maneuver around the site and complete that mat as fast as we did,” said Holdorf. “CSR quickly coordinated to accommodate four active pumps and huge production numbers. I give everyone involved a lot of credit.”

C & C also credits their equipment for the flawless pour. Nearly every Schwing concrete pump within the C & C fleet has been purchased and/or refurbished at Concrete Pump Repair (CPR) of North Branch, Minnesota. CPR provides restoration and rebuilding work, boom inspections and paint services. CPR’s online pump mall at www.concretepumps.com also offers used pumps for sale with six-month and one-year warranties. C & C has been purchasing pumps and utilizing CPR’s rebuild and repair services for years.

“Some people were concerned that we would be unable to meet the requirements of a continuous 6,000-yard pour with refurbished pumps. These are CPR refurbished pumps, and we didn’t have one problem. They perform like they just came off of the line,” said Holdorf.