Still working on our huge linepump job here. 14 hour days to get ready for the first (of about 100) poors on friday. This is going to be huge and I prommise that when I get a bit more time I will spoil you all with pictures. The biggest problem with this 500+ meters of pipe is that the first 225 meter is down hill. Than there is 75m horizontal over the sea  I will show you how we deal with that problem later. Then 75m up again and 150m flat. There are a lot of bends in the line etc. We will use 3m3 with pure cement water mix for the prime.

But here is the thing I still doubt about. My plan is to put 1 soft ball in the pipe, than a load of water, than 1 more soft ball and then the primer. The balls are to break down the flow so we lubricate also the upper part of the pipe and to make sure we don't trap air in the line. Anybody that has experience with something like this I would love to hear your opinion!!

(we use a 2109 putz that delivers 130 BAR. all equipment comes from putz and I must admit even though i don't always agree on putz's solutions it feels very safe to be working with so high quality equipment.)

We tried. But here in Norway the sand is somewhere between 0 and 8 mm. After 200m it pluggs and I have seen that all the cement and small particals is drawn out of the grout and only the big sand (rock 4-8mm) is left. They can not get hold of better sand.

Hey! Where is the other guys reaction??

You probably dont need that much grout to prime with, I used 2 Yards of grout (1.5-1.6M3) to prime through over 2000 feet of 5 inch line. 

Pumped a hopper full of water ahead of the grout, then the 2 yards grout, and then the concrete. It went out about 500 feet across a bridge, then dropped 200ft or so straight down, then turned, went through a diversion valve, out past that, then up and over to the pour.

Primed out beautifully every time.

I like your idea of balls ahead and behind. I did a job with my father, and he used a ball ahead, and behind.. Was going down hill about 650 feet for train bridge piers. there was a camels hump at the bottom of the hill to slow the concrete down.

Good luck with your pour

im just curious how did the balls look when they came out after the prime, were they chewed up at all? 2000' is a long way to go and keep wet even with slick line.

on the 2000 feet push i didnt use any balls. Just water and grout pushing ahead

I'm very interested in seeing the pictures. To be honest I swear when I need to put over 150 feet. I can only imagine 2000+ feet. I would also be curious in terms of logistics. How many guys working on the pump,  how long to set up  etc. Also have you asked the guys at putz? They have seen quite a bit and I'm pretty sure they would have suggestions for you.

Good luck

I pumper 2400 ft on a down grade of about 5%. I used a Putz 14000 trailer pump.  I used a ball to slow down the flow to lubricate the pipe. I used a 9 cement sack mix with a small amont of sand. I got my ball back after prime out and washed it out. I did this numerous times as the pour lengths decreased by 50 ft per day. I never lost a ball and primed out everytime.

I've pumped some massive 2000-3000 ft laydowns with line pumps before. I used about a yard for prime and primed out 7 seconds in between each stroke of the cylinder. When i went to wash out, we took a rented air compresser and blew a pig out. They arent that bad unless a driver washes out in the hopper... then it gets real.

Thanks for the advice so long. I promise you you will be surprised when you see the pictures. The terain is very very rough, some places impossible to walk. Last bit down to the sea 60feet 90 degrees drop. We are working at least 5 people on it for 3 weeks. Lots of safety issues that have to be solves etc

can't wait to be there

I have done 2000 ft plus pours with no problems , just make sure you leave all chemicals out of the mix, such as water reducers and plasticizers, I have had great success using newspaper in plastic bags in front of water then another in front of grout, good luck and hope to see the pics soon.

Yesterdays poor went perfect. Not a single problem. Took ball in. some water, another ball and some water in the hopper. Than 1 m3 of cement-water mix with loads of retarder in and of we go. It came out so nice at the other end i think we could do endless pipelines with that mix. Tomorrow the big day. Been working 18 hours today so need to sleep. Looooong day tomorrow also. Ill keep you updated  

Here a little update of the project. Dipstick and me done already several poor’s, no problem whit priming but in the first concrete that come out of the line we have far too much air. We are busy whit fine tuning. One of the towers we hope to be on top in a few weeks and then starts another challenge. because one of the supers told me between the lines that the bridge deck will be made whit some amount of lite weight concrete