Carrying concrete through tower cranes will take a long time resulting in losing strength of concrete. So it is definitely advisable to use the boom placers for high rise buildings, says Ahamed Mohideen, Deputy Vice President - Plant & Equipment, Lodha Group. Excerpts from the interview....

Brief us on your project where you have used concrete pumps.
We have many ongoing projects in and around Mumbai. The height of our projects ranges from 70 m-350 m. We are extensively using all kinds of concrete pumps like Schwing Stetter, Putzmeister, etc and Indian make pumps like Aquarius. In reality, we execute two kinds of contracts: we do the concrete management by contractors themselves.

We also install captive plant by Lafarge, ACC etc. They will set up their plants at site which will be giving the captive requirement for the entire project. In that, there is a full range of equipment set-up. Concrete production and delivery happens at the captive plant. Placement of the concrete will be done by the contractors who have their own pumps of different makes and vertical climbing boom placers. In boom placers, there are only two prominent makes, Schwing Stetter and Putzmeister.

What product range and accessories are being offered to meet vertical pumping to heights in excess of 300 m?
Both Schwing Stetter and Putzmeister are offering placer booms and they also have the high level pumping static pumps with the best models. Now even a height of 400 or 500 m is not a limitation to their pumps. So concrete pumping technology has improved a lot and is still at the verge of improving further. If the government gives permission, contractors are ready to construct any height. They are equipped for such a scenario in future. After all, the technology is an engine-pump combination: if one increases the engine size, naturally he will get more pumping power. Along with this, if he uses the proper piping and pumping methodology, he can achieve any height. Only thing is that while placing the displacement pipes, one needs a proper engineering, so that the frictions are reduced as much as possible.

What is the importance and utility of self Climbing boom placers in high rise projects?
Boom placer is very important equipment for high rise projects because pumping the concrete through vertical pumps is limited to certain uplift capacity of pump only. After that, concrete cannot be placed around. So, the vertical pump is connected with the static pump. When the concrete is pushed, it travels throughout the boom placer and at the top there is a 360o rotation wherein one can displace the concrete all around. So this is the best method to be used for high rise buildings.

Otherwise, carrying concrete through tower cranes will take a long time resulting in losing the strength of the concrete. So it is definitely advisable to use the boom placers for high rise buildings.

Which are the most preferred brands?
The best selling brands are Schwing Stetter and Putzmeister, while Aquarius is an equal contender in the mid range.

As an overall perspective, how do you foresee the market demand and trends over the next two years?
The market looks to be little bit stagnant now, Mumbai being good amount of projects. Other parts are gearing up and with more infrastructure projects on the pipeline; the demand for concrete will come to standard level and may go up in future.

What will be demand for rental of concreting equipment?
Everyone cannot afford their own plant, so rental market will be coming in play. But the rental market should have a corrected approach from the beginning itself. They should set up the right kind of plant, manage with professionals, ensure very good maintenance of the plant, and selection of raw material should have a good control.

Concrete pumping technology has improved a lot. If the government gives permission, contractors are ready to construct any height.