REL THP 45 concrete pump achieves record highrise pumping at Sobha City in Kerala.

REL THP 45, the latest in ?S' valve technology concrete pump, achieved a singlepour vertical pumping to a record height of 91 m along with a total of 65 m horizontal at the Sobha City project in Thrissur, Kerala. Sobha City, a prestigious project by the Bengaluru-based Sobha developers in Thrissur includes independent villas, an artificial lake, a shopping mall and three towers of apartment building each of 28 floors.

The project hit a roadblock when it came to the concreting needs for the helipad atop SobhaTopaz, which is at a vertical height of 91 m and requires continuous concrete of 115 cu m. Sobha's site officials were at a dilemma to use their existing pump which in spite of having a 6-cylinder engine of 110 HP was giving choking problems even while doing the concrete in the 26th and 27th floors which was at a height of 82 to 85 m. Any stoppage in between while concreting the helipad, would mean cold joint and wastage of the concrete done till then.

REL marketing engineers contacted Sobha Developers and offered their THP series concrete pump to overcome the hurdle faced by the client. REL THP 60, which is fitted with a 6-cylinder engine of 81 kW, had pumped a vertical height of 165 m earlier in a cement plant project for another major Indian contractor. However REL engineers decided that the recently launched THP 45, fitted with a 4cylinder 48kW engine and capable of developing a hydraulic pressure of 280 bar, designed with the intention of creating a special position for highrise pumping, is good enough for a vertical height of 100 m coupled with a horizontal distance of 50 m.

REL application specialists arrived at the project site to inspect and suggest modifications, if required, on the M 30 mix design and the pipeline laying, prior to positioning the THP 45 pump. The pipeline included 45 m horizontal and two 90o bend at the ground level apart from 20 m horizontal and three 90o bends at the top height of 91 m. The slump of 140 mm and the crusher sand used in the mix made from an 1820 cu m/hr batching plant was approved. The THP 45 configured in the piston side pressurisation mode to develop concrete pressure of 105 bar, was positioned to get feed from two transit mixers simultaneously. A grout mix of 2.5:1.5 ratio (cement/sand) was poured for initial lubrication and the concrete was fed from a single transit mixer initially. The pump showed a maximum hydraulic pressure of 220 bar till the mix reached the end point and then dropped to 120 bar. The output recorded at the end point with THP 45 was 12 cu m/hr, while feeding with two transit mixers.

The total concreting of 115 cu m for the helipad was completed successfully and REL thanked Sobha officials for placing trust on the REL THP 45 concrete pump. The significant fact is that, with this pumping of 91 m vertical, REL THP 45 emerges as the only pump fitted with a 4cylinder engine, which has such high performance capabilities. Every other concrete pump available in the market fitted with a 4cylinder engine does not boast of any pumping more than 1820 floors or 6570 m. In fact, Sobha officials were apprehensive of using their own pump of another make even when it was fitted with a 6cylinder engine.

The REL THP series based on the German Waitzinger design is a high pressure concrete pump with a robust hydraulic system and the latest PLC and sensorcontrolled valve actuation system. It comes with many features like the split wear plate and also the twin agitator system, which ensures full feeding of concrete into the delivery cylinders, thus ensuring a higher practical output. The two models offered THP 45 and 60 enables contractors to achieve highrise pumping economically and with higher output. REL's construction equipment division offers the full liner in concrete equipment which includes concrete batching plant 30120 cu m/hr, transit mixer, boom placer and stationary concrete pump. Recently, REL CED augmented its range by adding two new products in the foundation equipment segment namely hydraulic piling rig with TESCAR Srl, Italy and vibrohammers with Chowa Kogyo Co, Japan.

Last year, REL inaugurated its new and modern manufacturing plant in Gummidipoondi, near Chennai, enhancing its capacity and also expanded its network across the country to provide efficient after sales backup. Today REL CED has seven offices at strategic locations with sales, service and spare parts operations. Apart from its own network, REL CED also has the TierII after sales support through their network of 16 dealerships spread across the country.