Acqualina Rises on 9,900 base mat 2002

One of the largest monolithic base mats ever poured in South Florida, was accomplished in a hectic 14 hours by Florida Concrete Unlimited, Inc.,Miami. The dimensions of the foundation were 120x280-feet and consumed 9900 cubic yards all placed through a fleet of Schwing booms.

Jim Goff, owner of Florida Concrete provided all of the laborers and finishers for the huge pour that began well before the first ready-mix truck arrived. Pre-planning included calculating all of the boom positions needed to cover the entire pour most efficiently. Once laid out on paper, Al Ross, Florida Concrete’s manager measured and marked the positions of each boom at the oceanside site. Signs were erected for each pump so little confusion occurred when the operators pulled in at 1:00 a.m. The fleet included 32,39, 42, 47 and 52-meter models. A total of seven pumps were used during the pour.

Commercial Forming Corp, Pompano Beach prepared the excavation with 800 tons of reinforcing steel. The rebar created a maze nine feet deep. J. Michael Hicks, president of the forming company was on-site during the pour. This dedication was mirrored by most of the suppliers who contributed to the project.

Tarmac marshaled approximately 150 ready-mix trucks supplied from five plants to keep up with the pumping volume. This Herculean effort went off well with a full truck arriving and an empty truck being washed out on-site every 45 seconds. Mobil wash stations were erected on the site so that truck mixer drivers never left their cabs.

The steady beating of the pumps began around 3:00 a.m. and continued on for approximately fourteen hours. The booms were lined up on the west side of the well lit excavation and pumped the foundation from south to north. Dewatering pumps worked constantly and added to the roar of pumps and mixer trucks. Except for a hydraulic hose failure the job went off without a hitch.

"We didn’t prepare the pumps in any other way than we would for a regular pour. We practice good maintenance and the pumps don‘t let us down. Some of these pumps worked jobs just before the pour and they will be on the job Monday," Goff stated.

Florida Concrete is getting used to the demands of big pours. They recently completed a 4000-yard mat pour for the Ocean Grand Sonesta (Concrete Pumping, summer 2002 issue).