Putzmeister Pumps Set Clearwater Pour Record of 8,605 Yards of Concrete in 16 Straight Hours October 1999

Four Multi-Z boom pumps easily handle the huge pour and space restrictions,

It started at 4 a.m. and by 8 p.m. a record 8,605 cubic yards (6,579 m3) of concrete were poured for the mat foundation of a church training facility in downtown Clearwater, Fla. When completed in 2001, the seven-story Church of Scientology Ministerial Training and Pastoral Counseling Center will change the city's skyline.

The new 324,000-square-foot (30,100 m2) building is a huge undertaking. It has already required the help of several hundred workers for the first construction phase of the project, pouring the concrete mat foundation.

The 58,000-square-foot (5,388 m2) foundation was poured this fall and required four Putzmeister 52Z-Meter truck-mounted boom pumps, 130 ready-mix trucks and 900 tons (816.5 metric tons) of reinforcing steel.

The Putzmeister pumps were used because of severe space restrictions at the site. "A conveyor would have been great to use as far as output is concerned," said Desmond Knowles, sales representative for Pioneer Concrete Pumping, "but we needed 150 feet (45.7 m) of horizontal reach for each pump. The 52Z-Meter units gave us 156 feet (47.5 m)."

Equipment performed flawlessly Todd Collier, project superintendent with Beers Construction Co., the general contractor, said, "The 'Putzes' performed flawlessly. We finished the pour four hours ahead of our projected duration." He also credited the efforts of the concrete suppliers who got the mix to the site.

It was not only the biggest pour for the city of Clearwater but also a record-breaker for Pioneer. "It was absolutely one of our biggest one-time pours from a manpower perspective," said Knowles.

"We dedicated two mechanics – one each on site and in the shop – a service truck, a fuel truck, several water trucks as well as four operators, and two back-up operators for the four Putzmeister units, plus a back-up operator for another unit we had on reserve," he said. As it turned out, the backups weren't needed. "Everything went better than we could have imagined," he said.

Knowles credits Collier and Craig Muth, project manager, for their planning skills in orchestrating the event. "We met several times, charting regions on the plan, then color taping, marking and painting where each boom would reach. The ready-mix trucks were color-coded to go to the right pumps," he said.

Six months of planning Collier noted that the big pour capped six months of intensive planning since ground was broken in February. "This was an extremely tight site," he said. "It covered a city block. Eighty percent was the building site and 20 percent was an environmentally controlled tree-save area."

"We had no staging on site and were building off the trucks because the foundation footprint runs from property line to property line on three sides," he said. "Another logistical restriction was the fire station located across the street. We had to keep that area clear for emergency-response calls."

Collier added that the restrictive geography also affected his concrete supplier, Southdown, Inc., in mixing the concrete and washing the trucks. "We used a 5,000 psi super plasticized mix and used remote stations to add it. Wash-down also was a challenge because there was no lot nearby; we used 12 roll-off containers to wash the trucks. A total of 260 ready-mix truck drivers participated, some from as far away as Brunswick, Ga.," he said.

Units provided precise pour Each of the four Putzmeister 52Z-Meter truck-mounted units was equipped with a 16-cell pump that moves up to 210 cubic yards (161 m3) of concrete an hour at a pressure of 1,233 psi (85 bar). The units' exclusive five-section Multi-Z booms reached 170 feet (51.8 m), and this, coupled with the units' radio remote controls, provided precise and efficient concrete placement.

Collier confirmed the choice. "I like the 52Z-Meter units. We've been using them a lot. After we waterproofed underneath the whole footprint, we poured a 1,000-cubic-yard (764.6 m3) working slab with them," he said.

When the last of the concrete was placed in the early evening, a smooth, 4-foot-thick foundation lay ready for the 56-day curing process.

JOB SPECS: Owner: Church of Scientology Project architect: Hellmuth Obata Kassabaum, Inc., Tampa, Fla. Structural engineer: Walter P. Moore & Associates, Tampa, Fla. General contractor: Beers Construction Co., Tampa, Fla. Concrete contractors: Ceco Concrete Construction, Tampa, Fla. Pioneer Concrete Pumping, Tampa, Fla. Puleo Concrete, Inc., Tampa, Fla. Southdown, Inc., Tampa, Fla. Metal fabricators: Liberty Steel Erectors, Tampa, Fla. Quality Metal Fabricators, Tampa, Fla. Equipment: Putzmeister 52Z-Meter truck-mounted boom pumps (4)