Ready Mix Concrete

Introduction:
Ready-mix concrete (RMC) is a ready-to-use material, with predetermined mixture of cement, sand, aggregates and water.RMC is a type of concrete manufactured in a factory according to a set recipe or as per specifications of the customer, at a centrally located batching plant .It is delivered to a worksite, often in truck mixers capable of mixing the ingredients of the concrete en route or just before delivery of the batch. This results in a precise mixture, allowing specialty concrete mixtures to be developed and implemented on construction sites. The second option available is to mix the concrete at the batching plant and deliver the mixed concrete to the site in an agitator truck, which keeps the mixed concrete in correct form. The use of the RMC is facilitated through a truck-mounted' boom placer' that can pump the product for ready use at multi-storied construction sites. A boom placer can pump the concrete up 80 meters. Ready mix concrete is usually ordered in units of cubic yards or meters. It must remain in motion until it is ready to be poured, or the cement may begin to solidify. The ready mix concrete is generally released from the hopper in a relatively steady stream through a trough system. Workers use shovels and hoes to push the concrete into place. Some projects may require more than one production run of ready mix concrete, so more trucks may arrive as needed or additional batches may be produced off site and delivered. The Ready mix concrete business in India is in its infancy. Where as in developed countries, nearly 70 per cent of cement consumption is in the form of ready mix concrete and 25 per cent in the form of recast, in India, ready mix concrete accounts for less than 5 per cent and as much as 82 per cent of cement consumption is in the form of site-mixed concrete. While 70%of cement produced in a developed country like Japan is used by Ready Mix concrete business there, here in India, Ready Mix concrete business uses around 2% of total cement production. Concrete batching plants with varying capacities of 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 240 and 330 cubic meters per hour are now being produced in India by using fully imported mixing units.

Automation and controls

Modern concrete batch plants (both ready mix and central mix,) employ computer aided control to assist in fast, accurate measurement of input constituents or ingredients, as well as tie together the various parts and accessories for coordinated and safe operation. With concrete performance so dependent on accurate water measurement, systems will often use moisture probes to measure the amount of water that is part of the aggregate (sand and rock) material while it is being weighed, and then automatically compensate the mix design water target. Construction companies need highly functional equipments so that the processes can be completed to the best standards. Even a minor failure to detect the requirements properly can cost a company 1

immensely. Concrete batching plant is the base to accomplish any construction related work. Hence one has to be very careful while selecting batching plants for the company. Batch plant operators have to consider not one, but different parameters before zeroing on a batching plant. There are various suppliers of concrete batching plants in the market who offer different varieties of them for different prices. The supplier can give you what you need and so you need to decide your requirements regarding the batching plant even before you contact a supplier.

Challenges in the industry

Transportation of RMC with the freight alone accounting 17 percent of the production cost. Secondly being a capital intensive industry, the entry of small players is highly restricted and also paves way to a lot of acquisitions and consolidations. With 3 to 4 months of gestation period, the typical cost of a Batching plant runs into somewhere around Rs 8 to 10 crore, when it comes to the set up of a 100 cubic meter plant with 4-5 transit mixers. Inconsistent availability and pricing of raw materials like limestone, coal etc., too is a hindering block for the RMC industry. ROI of mini Batching plants being far lower and unpredictable than larger plants, small players become discouraged from entry, while the unsure market conditions take its toll by restricting the bigger players from any capacity addition.

Concrete batching plants fall into two broad categories

A long-term stay or permanent high capacity batching plant, which generally consists of silos, bins, concrete batchers, conveyors and control equipment. The mobile (portable) batching plant, which is increasingly popular. Mobile batching plants consist of frameworks carrying batchers, conveyors, scales, control equipment; small silos and adapted to be transported from site to site.

Components of an RMC plant

Basic structure of the plant. Cement silos. Aggregate bins. Aggregate batching gates. Aggregate weighing system. Cement weighing system. Water weighing system. Compressor. Turbo mixers. Mixer discharge hopper. Conveyor for cement. 2

Cement feeding hopper. Admixture weighing system (if required) Unit control board. Micro computer control system. Transit mixers. Water tank. Ladders for operator cabin and mixer platform.

Various Type of Ready-Mix-Concrete

Regular concrete High-strength concrete High-performance concrete Cork-cement composites

Self-consolidating concretes Rubberized concrete Pervious concrete Roller-compacted concrete Rapid strength concrete

Cellular concrete Polymer concrete Glass concrete Shotcrete (Gunite)

Asphalt concrete

Materials required in RMC

Admixture: A substance added to the basic concrete mixture to alter one or more properties of the concrete; i.e. fibrous materials for reinforcing, water repellent treatments, and coloring compounds. Air-entraining admixtures (mainly used in concrete exposed to freezing and thawing cycles) Water-reducing admixtures, plasticizers (reduce the dosage of water while maintaining the workability) Retarding admixtures (mainly used in hot weather to retard the reaction of hydration) Accelerating admixtures (mainly used in cold weather to accelerate the reaction of hydration) Super plasticizer or high range water-reducer (significantly reduce the dosage of water while maintaining the workability) Miscellaneous admixtures such as corrosion inhibiting, shrinkage reducing, coloring, pumping etc.

Aggregate: Inert particles (i.e. gravel, sand, and stone) added to cement and water to form concrete. Cement: Dry powder that reacts chemically with water to bind the particles of aggregate, forming concrete. Portland cement is typically used in concrete production.

Fly ash: Fly ash is a by-product from coal-fired electricity generating power plants. The coal used in these power plants is mainly composed of combustible elements such as carbon, hydrogen and oxygen (nitrogen and sulfur being minor elements), and noncombustible impurities (10 to 40%) usually present in the form of clay, shale, quartz, feldspar and limestone. As the coal travels through the hightemperature zone in the furnace, the combustible elements of the coal are burnt off, whereas the mineral impurities of the coal fuse and chemically recombine to produce various crystalline phases of the molten ash. The molten ash is entrained in the flue gas and cools rapidly, when leaving the combustion zone (e.g. from 1500C to 200C in few seconds), into spherical, glassy particles. Most of these particles fly out with the flue gas stream and are therefore called fly ash. The fly ash is then collected in electrostatic precipitators or bag houses and the fineness of the fly ash can be controlled by how and where the particles are collected. Equipments required in RMC Following are the equipments required in R.M.C 1. Batching plant 2. Transit mixer BATCHING Batching plants are classified as 1. Manual 2. Semiautomatic 3. Fully automatic STORAGE Storage of the raw materials is done by following methods: INLINE BINS: Inert raw materials like fine & coarse aggregates are stored in bins called as Inline Bins where the trucks carrying fine & coarse aggregate can dump the material easily. The aggregates required are fed by the means of aggregate belt conveyer. On the aggregate belt conveyer the aggregates are weighed automatically by means of computer form the computer room presents on the plant.

SILOS Cement & Fly ash are stored in airtight container called as Silos. The required quantity of cement & fly ash is extracted by the silos. There are two cement silos and one silo of fly ash.

The capacity of cement silo is 2 x 130 tons = 260 tons Cement and Fly ash are fed to holding hopper with the help of a screw conveyer. A heavy duty cement screw conveyor is fixed in inclined position to convey the cement from Manual Feeding Hopper to Cement Hopper. A suitable drive unit is also provided to drive the screw. The screw conveyor body and the screw is manufactured from heavy duty C class pipe and the flutes are fabricated from 5mm plate. Running clearances provided between body and flutes for smooth running. The screw is supported on both ends by bearing and at center by hanger bearing having renewable hard bush. These bearing can b adjusted with setting nuts so as to have proper alignment. The screw conveyor is provided with suitable vertical supports. One inlet connection is provided at the bottom en where manual-feeding hopper is connection & one discharge connection at the top from where the cement is discharged to cement weighing hopper. Flexible joint is provided between discharge connection & cement weighing hopper. Two cleaning pockets, one in the middle and another at the bottom side are also provided for emergency removal of cement from the conveyor.

Technical Feature:
For transit mixer
Model NOMINAL CAPACITY Total geometric Volume Filling ratio Power Requirement Drum Speed Water Tank Length/width/ Height of mixer Weight of mixer CONMIX 4 4 m3 7.6 m3 53% 38 HP/ 1500 rpm 0-14 rpm 450 ltr 5100/2200/2350 mm 3000 kg CONMIX 5 5 m3 8.7 m3 57% 52 HP/1800 rpm 0-14 rpm 450 ltr 5700/2200/2425 mm 3300 kg CONMIX 6 6 m3 10.2 m3 59% 56 HP/ 2000 rpm 0-14 rpm 600 ltr 5800/2200/2500 3500 kg

MIXING PROCESS:
Following in are types of mixing of concrete. 1. Transit Mixed (or "truck-mixed") Concrete 2. Shrink Mixed Concrete 3. Central Mixed Concrete 5

TRANSIT MIXED (OR "TRUCK-MIXED") CONCRETE

In the truck mixed concrete, the material is batched at a central plant but is mixed in a mixer truck either in transit to the site or immediately prior to the concrete is being discharged. Transit-mixing permits a longer haul and is less vulnerable in case of delay, but the capacity of a truck used as a mixer is only 63 per cent, or even less, of the drum while for central-mixed concrete is 80 percent. While ready mixed concrete can be delivered to the point of placement in a variety of ways, the overwhelming majority of it is brought to the construction site in truck-mounted, rotating drum mixers. Truck mixers have a revolving drum with the axis inclined to the horizontal. Inside the shell of the mixer drum are pair of blades or fins that wrap in a helical (spiral) configuration from the head to the opening of the drum. This configuration enables the concrete to mix when the drum spins in one direction and causes it to discharge when the direction is reversed. To load, or charge, raw materials from a transit mix plant or centrally mixed concrete into the truck, the drum must be turned very fast in the charging direction. After the concrete is loaded and mixed, it is normally hauled to the job site with the drum turning at a speed of less than 2 rpm. Since its inception in the mid-1920, the traditional truck-mixer has discharged concrete at the rear of the truck. Front discharge units, however, are rapidly becoming more popular with contractors. The driver of the front discharge truck can drive directly onto the site and can mechanically control the positioning of the discharge chute without the help of contractor personnel. Currently, because of weight laws, the typical truck mixer is a 7 to 8.5 m3. The drums are designed with a rated maximum capacity of 63% of the gross drum volume as a mixer and 80% of the drum volume as an agitator. Generally, ready mixed concrete producers, load their trucks with a quantity at or near the rated mixer capacity. Fresh concrete is a perishable product that may undergo slump loss depending on temperature, time to the delivery point on the job site, and other factors. Water should not to be added to the mix unless the slump is less than that which is specified. If water is added, it should be added all

at once and the drum of the truck mixer should be turned min. of 30 revolutions, or about two minutes, at mixing speed. The ASTM C 94, Specification for Ready Mixed Concrete, indicates that the concrete shall be discharged on the job site within 90 minutes and before 300 revolutions after water was added to the cement. The purchaser may waive this requirement, when conditions permit. In certain situations, air-entraining, water reducing, set-retarding or high-range water reducing admixtures may need to be added to concrete prior to discharge to compensate for loss of air, high temperatures or long delivery times. The ready mixed concrete producer will assist the purchaser in such circumstances. SHRINK MIXED CONCRETE Concrete that is partially mixed in a plant mixer and then discharged into the drum of the truck mixer for completion of the mixing is called shrink mixed concrete. Central mixing plants that include a stationary, plant-mounted mixer are often actually used to shrink mix, or partially mix the concrete. The amount of mixing that is needed in the truck mixer varies in these applications and should be determined via mixer uniformity tests. Generally, about thirty turns in the truck drum, or about two minutes at mixing speed, is sufficient to completely mix shrink-mixed concrete. CENTRAL MIXED CONCRETE

Central-mixing concrete batch plants include a stationary, plant-mounted mixer that mixes the concrete before it is discharged into a truck mixer. Central-mix plants are sometimes referred to as wet batch or pre-mix plants. The truck mixer is used primarily as an agitating haul unit at a central mix operation. Dump trucks or other non-agitating units are sometimes be used for low slump and mass concrete pours supplied by central mix plants. About 20% of the concrete plants in the US use a central mixer. Principal advantages include: Faster production capability than a transit-mix plant 7

Improved concrete quality control and consistency and Reduced wear on the truck mixer drums.

There are several types of plant mixers, including: Tilt drum mixer Horizontal shaft paddle mixer Dual shaft paddle mixer Pan mixer Slurry mixer

Different Types of concrete Mixers

There are many different types of concrete mixers available on the market each with their own specific features and benefits to suit construction site requirements and challenges. Many heavy concrete machinery businesses sell construction equipment in new as well as in used condition. There are also those that offer equipment for short to long-term hire, which is a great financial advantage to project managers having to work to a tight budget.

Types of concrete mixers include: Self-loading rough terrain concrete mixers, Self-loading truck concrete mixers, Transit concrete mixers, Volumetric concrete mixers, Mobile volumetric batching plants, Hand fed site concrete mixers A Transit Concrete Mixer is a mechanical device that homogeneously combines cement, sand, gravel and water to from fine-grained concrete for delivery to jobs where large pour volumes are required. Industrial applications include construction of dams, bridges, canals, high-rise apartments, industrial buildings, distant highways, factories and many such infrastructure development projects. Available in various customized designs and sizes ranging from 2 cubic meters to 8 cubic meter wet concrete output, making them the ideal choice for ready-mix concrete operations. There is also the option of the articulated transit mixers with an output capacity of up to 14 cubic meters. Transit mixers are highly efficient and provide optimum output with low maintenance. Rough Terrain Concrete Mixers are 4x4 wheel drive self-loading cement mixers fitted with a front operators cab. They can climb, fully loaded with cement, over the most precarious terrains; they can load, mix, produce and discharge over 100m3 of cement per day; they have electronic weigh batching equipment, which ensures precise mixes of any grade of concrete and fitted with a slewing drum, allowing concrete to be discharged from every side of the vehicle at heights of over 2m. This type of concrete mixer is suited to all types of job-sites from congested city centers to remote villages - can be manoeuvred around tight corners or down narrow lanes, so ideal for remote construction sites as well as those in busy urban areas. A Volumetric Concrete Mixer offers substantial advantages over traditional methods of concrete delivery. A volumetric mixer is basically a mobile truck mixer and batching plant rolled into one. All raw materials are stored in separate compartments and these are then metered and mixed into fresh cement where and when its needed. This means that there is no expensive waste of materials, as the unmixed product remains usable indefinitely. The Volumetric Concrete Mixer also eliminates the need for part load charges and problems with over or underordering. Customers can estimate the amount of concrete needed and the exact quantity can be mixed on site, and they only pay for what they use. Volumetric Mixers can supply all mixes and grades of cement, including screed and mortar. Mixes and grades can be switched from one customer to the next or even halfway through a job if necessary. As with conventional Volumetric Concrete Mixers, the Mobile Volumetric Concrete Batching Plant has 2 separate compartments for aggregates, a cement hopper, a water tank and additive tanks. Due its construction design, this mobile system allows transporting of all the elements 10

needed for making concrete. In this way, the operator can produce exactly what he wants, where he wants and in the quantity he wants through the use of an on-board computer. Once production is started, the various components enter the mixer in the required doses and the finished mixed product comes out continuously, ready for final use. It is also suitable for the recovery of materials destined for landfill disposal, such as cement mixtures regenerated from masonry rubble or milled materials cold-regenerated with emulsions. For smaller volume projects, portable or hand-fed concrete mixers are often used so that the concrete can be made at the construction site, giving the workers ample time to use the concrete before it hardens.

Batching & Mixing Plants

Vertical Production Plant
In this the aggregates are stored above the batching and mixing elements, in one or more silos. These plants are not suitable for relocation at short intervals of time. As the aggregates are stored in silos it is relatively easy to protect the aggregates from very low temperature in winter period.

11

12

Horizontal Production Plant

They can be again broadly classified into four types 1. Star pattern aggregate storage 2. Storage in tall silo 3. Storage in pocket silo 4. Inline aggregate storage silos

Trends in Use of Concrete: Indian Scenario

Expected growth of Commercial RMC in India
Year Total concrete consumption million m3 190 280 370 470 580 Concrete consumption on sites without dedicated plants, 60% (3) 120 168 220 282 348 RMC penetration % of (3) 2 3.75 5 7.5 10 Total RMC usage million m3 2.4 6.3 11 21 34.8 Expected no. of plants

2002 2007 2012 2017 2022

47 98 160 260 348

13

PROJECT PARAMETERS FOR A TYPICAL RMC PLANT IN INDIA Capacity The production capacity of a Ready-Mix Concrete Plant varies according to the capacity of the Batching Plant used. Most commonly used RMC Plants will be having a production capacity of 30 m3/hr (90,000 m3/year, based on 300 working days and single shift of 10 hours). Land An extent of around 1 acre of dry land is required for setting up a Ready-Mix Concrete Plant. Raw Material & Utilities The Raw materials that go into production of concrete are Cement, Aggregates (Sand & Metal), Additives and Water. M20 grade concrete is the most widely used, where the Cement/Sand/Metal/Water mix is in the ratio of 1: 1.5: 3.5: 0.5. Since uninterrupted availability of raw materials is the most fundamental success factor for any RMC Plant, options for backward integration (quarry/ metal crushing unit/cement plant/clinker grinding unit) should be carefully considered and analyzed while choosing the Plant location. Plant & Machinery The main items of mechanical equipment involved in the ready-mix concrete manufacture are the Concrete Batching Plant, Transit Mixer and Concrete Pump. M/s. Schwing Stetter India (P) Ltd is the leading supplier of RMC equipments in the country. The total cost of machinery for a 30m3/hr RMC Plant is around Rs.200 Lakhs. Manpower The total manpower requirement for a typical RMC Plant would be around 20 numbers. Cost of the Project The total project cost for setting up a 30m3/hr RMC Plant would be around Rs.400 Lakhs, including cost of 1 acre land. The project implementation period would be 12 months. Sales Turnover The Revenue at optimum utilization (80%) would be around Rs. 3888 Lakhs.

14

Merits & demerits of RMC

MERITS OF RMC Better quality concrete is produced. Elimination of storage space for basic materials at site. Elimination of Procurement / Hiring of plant and machinery. Wastage of basic materials is avoided. Labor associated with production of concrete is eliminated. Time required is greatly reduced. Noise and dust pollution at site is reduced. Organization at site is more streamlined. Durable & Affordable No storage space required either for raw materials or for the mix. Lower labor and supervisory cost. No wastage at site. Environment friendly. Availability of concrete of any grade. DEMERITS OF RMC Need huge initial investment. Not affordable for small projects (small quantity of concrete) Needs effective transportation system from R.M.C to site. Traffic jam or failure of vehicle creates problem if proper dose of retarder is not given. Labors should be ready on site to cast the concrete in position to vibrate it and compact it. ISSUES OF CONCERN: Which pricing strategy is recommended for this kind of business? Radius of delivery of RMC is normally within 30 km. When supplying to sites far away and which takes longer time for transportation the RMC supplier will have to ensure that concrete is supplied in plastic state before the onset of initial setting process. Use of additives therefore becomes necessary. Supplies to construction sites within the city by transit mixers are only allowed between 11am to 3 pm and at night. The turnaround time of the transit Mixer to continue supplies to other customer and the traffic congestion are the other factors affecting the time of transportation. The supply schedule is to be done keeping these in mind. How is supply chain management relevant to RMC? Since mobilization of pump and pipe line is required, for pumping, in case of orders below 15 cum it is not economical for the buyer. Each transit mixer has a capacity to transport 7 cum of concrete at a time. Where pumping is not required even orders for 6 cum can be supplied. Sometimes it is economical to put up a Plant at the customers premises if the order quantity is 15

substantial. This is because as was mentioned earlier transportation cost is high as 30 % depending upon the distance of the plant from the customers premises. How can resources be used as a competitive advantage? Raw Material Supply: Cement is the only raw material for RMC that is coming from an organized industry. The other raw materials aggregates and sand both are to be sourced locally and are from unorganized sources. Moreover the supply of sand was/is erratic. Ready Mix concrete cannot be stored. If rejected by the customer it has to be disposed off. The manufacturer therefore will have to maintain production level close to sales.. The product supplied has its advantages and hence is premium priced. This is an emerging business.. In spite of the advantages of RMC there are areas within Kerala especially towards the north of the state where customers are not comfortable with its usage. The reason is that many of the small time contractors are looking at immediate short term profits. Even apartment builders also award piecemeal works which at time are cheaper than site mixed concrete. When they are working on tight margins quality is given the next priority after price. The end consumers do not get an opportunity to evaluate the benefit of RMC. Usage of RMC can save space which otherwise could have been used for storage of raw materials like sand /aggregates. In fact supplying RMC would mean plying of one transit mixers instead of three trucks.

RMC Plants manufacturer in India

Conmat India Atlas Industries Gammon India Polytech Cosmos construction machinery and equip. pvt. Macons Equip. Universal const. machinery Schwing setter Sany group Jayem Manuf. Company

16

Featured companies
Aquarius Engineers Aquarius Concrete Pumps and Batching Plants are used widely in the Indian infrastructure industry like Bandra-Worli Sea Link, Delhi Metro, Mumbai-Pune Expressway, High Rise Buildings, etc. Aquarius 1400 and 1000 series trailer mounted pumps specially made for Indian conditions, which mean rugged design, higher size aggregate pumping and most fuel efficient models in their class. Aquarius has introduced completely indigenous Boom Pumps up to 36 m suited for local conditions and chassis. Concrete Batching Plants, Mobile and Stationary type, are available from 30m3 to 240m3 capacities with latest technology using Planetary and Twin Shaft Mixers. Sany Group Sany is among the top 50 construction equipment manufacturers around the world and is one of the biggest concrete machinery manufactures in the world. Sany Heavy Industrys new India manufacturing plant near Pune and its regional offices and spare parts outlets across India cover the countrys needs. The India product lines are truck mounted concrete pump, trailer pump, motor grader, crawler crane, mobile crane, drilling rig, port machinery, asphalt paver, and so on. Some of them are leaders in Indias construction industry. Sanys trailer pump set a new record in India by delivering concrete vertically to a height of 215 m using a single pump at the prestigious project of Mumbais Imperial Tower. Schwing Stetter Schwing Stetters concrete plants are some of the best known in the industry. Their mobile batching plant, the CP18, has minimum assembling components, and offers user-friendly calibration of weighers and an eco-friendly, silent genset. Their compact CP30 concrete mixing plant is used in a variety of applications. With a concrete output of 30 cu m / h for a batch size of 0.5 cu m, the CP30 offers a high level of independence from scheduled delivery of aggregates. M series mobile mixing plants have fully installed, pre-assembled compact units with output ranging from 56 to 100 cu m / hr. H series plants ranging from 67 to 240 cu m / h are the powerhouse of concreting in various sites used in hydropower, dams, irrigation, road, ports, national highways and airports..

17

READY MIX CONCRETE MANUFACTURING PROCESS: The raw materials used for Readymix Concrete, namely, cement, sand, coarse/fine aggregate, Water and Admixtures are mixed at a Centrally located computer controlled plant that monitors weigh-batching, water-cement ratio, dosage of admixture, moisture content etc. with precision, to produce the readymix concrete. The plant is capable of programming 99 different types of Concrete mixes for producing different grades of concrete automatically. Readymix Concrete is then transported to the site in transit mixers in plastic condition, without affecting the composition and without any further treatment. Transit mixers are trucks fitted with rotating drums for carrying readymix concrete. The capacity of the transit mixers is 6 cubic meters and Sarvani RMC has enough number of such mixers in order to deliver concrete to a number of sites simultaneously. At the Construction site, the Readymix Concrete is placed by pumping with concrete pumps which can pump upto 100 m horizontally and 70 m vertically (Le. upto 20 floors) and @ 35 Cum/hr. This facility equips RMC to deliver its Readymix Concrete to places which are otherwise difficult and expensive to deliver. RAW MATERIALS FOR CONCRETE: CEMENT:

Fresh cement is used for construction. The quality of cement is safe guarded against moisture, air, other weathering conditions and long storage periods. RMC plant procures and uses fresh cement directly procured from the cement plants thus bulkers which in turn pump it directly into RMC silos thus protecting it from the external environment.

COARSE AGGREGATES:

RMC sources the aggregates from selected and approved suppliers respecting quality. These aggregates are tested for: Shape, size and gradation (elongation/flakiness test) Impact value and crushing value test for their strength The aggregates that do not pass the above test as per Bureau of Indian Standards' requirements are rejected

FINE AGGREGATE:

Fine Aggregate should be free from clay, salts, silt, and organic materials. If silt content is more it is washed before use. RMC plants should directly procures sand from selected and approved suppliers. 18

The sand is tested for: Moisture content Sieve analysis for fineness modlous

WATER:

Water free from impurities such as oil, acids, salts, alkalies, sugar, organic material etc. that are bad for concrete and steel is used water is tested as per BIS standards before making concrete RMC tests the quality of potable water at frequent intervals.

ADMIXTURE:

In RMC plants only high quality admixtures are used to improve certain properties of fresh concrete workability and setting time. Work ability of concrete is assured by measuring the slump for all mixes at all stages.

BATCHING AND MIXING:

Hydraulic weigh batching is adopted to deliver the concrete as for the requirements/mix design of clients with appropriate water, cement ratio. Practice of volume batching by baskets, buckets, ghamela etc.is improper and should be avoided at site. RMC plant is equipped with computerized batching and mixing plants, to strictly monitor the quality of concrete the mix design (Cement Sand: Coarse aggregates: water: admixture) is fed into the computer and the quantities of raw materials are weighed automatically as per the design mix. The water-cement ratio for a particular mix is fixed as per the design; duly estimating the water content of aggregates hence consistency in quality is maintained. The general effect of w/c ratio on compressive strength of concrete is as shown in below: Water Cement (w/c) Potable Compressive Strength (%) 0.40 100 0.50 85 0.60 69 0.70 56 0.80 46

Importance of Water - Ratio: Factors Low w/c ratio High w/c ratio Low High High

Compressive strength High Water permeability Shrinkage Low Low

19

Water Bleeding

Low

High

In RMC the mixing is done through turbo mixer, which ensures uniform and consistent quality of concrete.

TRANSPORTATION:

Transport of concrete must be rapid so that the concrete does not dry out or lose its workability or plasticity in the process. The homogeneity of the concrete obtained at the time of mixing should be maintained while transporting it to the final place of deposition. RMC transports concrete from its Ready Mix Concrete plants to the site through transit mixers. Further the concrete is pumped to the actual point of concreting through high efficiency concrete pumps.

PLACING OF CONCRETE:

Concrete must be placed in forms before lapse of initial setting time and subsequently compacted, finished, protected and cured. If placed below ground level, all loose earth must be removed from the bed. Concrete should not be poured from a height of more than 1.2 m to avoid segregation. Cold joints between the successive layers should be avoided (Cold joint is created if the initial setting time of cement is on lower side).

Q) What is the segregation of concrete? A) Segregation of coarse aggregate from cement paste occurs due to excess water in concrete and noncohesiveness of concrete. In RMC, the well -designed concrete is pumped from the transit mixer to the place where it is being placed through concrete pumps with horizontal and vertical pipelines. The flexible hose pipe attached at the end of pipe line makes the pouring convenient at the point of placing, thus reducing shoveling/dragging and avoiding segregation. COMPACTION OF CONCRETE:

The basic aim of compaction is to get rid of entrapped air. The entrapped air (voids) reduces the strength of concrete and for every 1 % entrapped air, the strength of concrete falls about 5% to 6%. Fully compacted concrete is dense, strong, durable and impermeable.

VOIDS - AN ENEMY:

Voids increase permeability of concrete and in turn reduce its strength and durability. Voids produce visual blemishes such as blowholes and honeycombing on surfaces and enhance corrosion process of steel, which reduces durability.

20

COMPACTION BY VIBRATION:

Concrete mix is vibrated, and fluidized, which reduces the internal friction between the aggregate particles. The fluidization of concrete allows the entrapped air to rise to the surface and the concrete becomes denser.

ESTIMATED QUANTITIES OF MATERIALS REQUIRED PER CUBIC METRE OF COMPACTED MORTAR OR CONCRETE
NOMINAL MIX WATER CEMENT RATIO 0.25 0.28 2 2 3 3.33 3 3.5 4 3.5 4 4 5 5 6 4 8 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.53 0.7 0.9 0.3 0.42 0.42 0.48 0.5 0.53 0.55 0.57 0.6 0.65 0.65 0.69 0.75 0.95 14 15 17.5 20 26.5 35 45 15 21 21 24 25 26.5 27.5 28.5 30 32.5 32.5 34.5 37.5 47.5 WATER PER 50KG BAG OF CEMENT 12.5 815 687 585 505 395 285 220 560 430 395 363 385 330 310 305 285 265 255 240 215 165 CEMENT

CEMENT 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 4 6 8 1 2 1.5

F.A. 1

C.A. -

BY WEIGHT (KG) 1015

BY NUMBER OF BAGS 20.3 16.3 13.74 11.7 10.1 7.9 5.7 4.4 11.2 8.6 7.9 7.26 7.7 6.6 6.2 6.1 5.7 5.3 5.1 4.8 4.3 3.3

SAND (CUM) 0.710 0.855 0.963 1.023 1.06 1.106 1.197 1.232 0.392 0.602 0.414 0.419 0.539 0.462 0.434 0.534 0.499 0.556 0.446 0.504 0.452 0.462

CRUSHED STONES (CUM) -

0.784 0.602 0.828 0.838 0.808 0.808 0.868 0.748 0.798 0.742 0.892 0.84 0.904 0.924

1.66 2 2 2 2.5 2.5 3 2.5 3 3

21

Notes:

1. F.A. = Fine Aggregates, C.A. = Coarse Aggregates 2. The table is based on assumption that the voids in sand and crushed stone are 40 and 45 percent respectively. 3. Air content of 1 percent has been assumed. 4. For gravel aggregates decrease cement by 5 percent, increase sand by 2 percent and coarse aggregate in proportion to fine aggregate in mix. 4. No allowance has been made in the table for bulking of sand and wastage.

Plants Location: ACC Ltd.

Ahmedabad Changodar Plant Block No.259, Opp laxminarayan Petrol Pump, Sakhej Bavda Highway, Changodar, Ahmedabad - 382213, Gujarat Mr. Sudhir Jain (M) +9196876 34204 Surat Ichhapore Plant Block no 259, A-13/1 Ichhapore GIDC, Ichhapore-Magdalla Rd, Village Bhatpore, Tal. Chairyasi Surat-394510 Gujarat. Mr. Balram Kumar Chakravarti Vadodara Franchisee ACC Franchisee C/o Ambica Ready Mix Concrete, B/h Umiya Weigh Bridge, Sama-Savli Road, Vadodara-391740, Gujarat. Mr. Dhiren Patel 96876 24225 J K Lakshmi Cement; Ashish Tangri, 2.5 KM towards Savli Dumad, Savli Road, Vadodara. 22

23