Hey guys

I have a flowable fill job Monday, and I have a feeling it is going to be a long process.  Some of it under water filling bags and so on.  Any tricks, suggestions to avoid a big sand hopper party.

If your worried about the hopper , Try pumping it low (DONT SUCK AIR) every 10 mins that will keep the sand for building up on the walls of your hopper, if the service is slow keep a metre of sand in the tuck , pump it slowly untill the next one comes then pump it out and get the next one going ...

That works for me, i leert the hard way lol , 48 meters of boom and 58 pipes, ugh ill never forget that day , i saved it though , never been so buggerd in my life .. LOL

flowable fill is tricky always keep it moving plus you get paid to chip out your hopper at the shop but it does suck i learned the hard way worry about knocking down the sides and keeping it from building up almost lost the boom the fill separated on me in the boom REALLY SUCKED

plus once you start dont stop keep it moving slow it down if your pumping out one of you last trucks waiting on another just slow it down until the next one shows up the hammer on

I always put dirt/sand in bottom of hopper/sides and hit good with hopper oil.Pumping low does tend to help,the impossible dream.Other than that there's no magical cure.I have used a bar on sides in the process (agitator off).Remember flowfill/cdf is very low strength and should chip kinda easy.Were talking 200 to 600 psi norm.

Good luck,let us know how it went

Oh,make sure it's a pump mix.Too many times the plant thinks just anything will go through.If there is any question at all about pumpability ask for a test pour.

very good point Many.Please make sure it's pumpable.I did it once and it went great.

Ruck

sand and dirt not a fan off that as can brake up if pump has to be moved or if your not lucky. try silicon do truck loads of block fill or grouting very slow pumping never any build up.

 Do like Drew says, pump the hopper down whenever possible, it's lean mix so it wont even get very hard. CDF will settle if it sits in the hopper inactive, the sand settles to the bottom and causes the valve to seize and wont shift. You can always recirculate with just one hose to shape up the hopper when you need to.

 My brother's a diver/nozzleman, he uses the same bag/sleeve system for piling repair. You gotta stay on the switch and keep a close ear on the radio to your diver, a concrete pump can blow those bags without even grunting. I'd suggest using a rabbit or sponge ahead or before your primer. Whenever priming through submerged hose it will be full of water. The water will wash out your primer and the CDF mix creating a pocket of solid sand that will cause a plug. A sponge ahead of the prime will prevent this.

 Last but not least, The smallest air pocket is very dangerous in these situations. It's usually 2inch or 2 1/2inch hose which compresses trapped air even more, Alot of times there's a tremme attached to the end hose which makes it even more dangerous. Tell each RM driver how important it is to not let the pump suck air. There's a man down there breathing through hoses from an air compressor, he does'nt need any blasted at him with a concrete hose!

 Oh yeah and dont spill any in the water!!!  PumpOn!

Many is right. Supplier is key. Some know how and others haven't learned yet.  Fly ash and air entrainment makes it pump.  Good Luck helps too.

Each time you stop take a stroke back.