Mobile Volumetric Concrete Mixing

The Concrete Batching Plant On Wheels

For years, the most common method of measuring concrete has been by volume. In fact, the first prototype of a volumetric mixer was no doubt developed by the Romans who were able to build things that have remained structurally sound for over 2000 years.

It is logical to use volume rather than weight as the common denominator in the measurement of concrete. Indeed, the basic unit is the cubic yard, which lends itself well in dealing with primary components such as sand, cement and coarse aggregate. To measure units by weight is simply inappropriate.

Even today when completing small jobs around the house and garden the do-it-yourselfer typically mixes concrete by a simple method of one shovel of this and two shovels of that... all the while proportioning the mix by volume and not weight.

Whether the mix design is intended to create a defined strength or a particular quality, the master plan is developed and carried out by using the advanced known volumes of the different ingredients. After all, a cubic yard remains 27 cubic feet regardless of weight.

A volumetric concrete mixer creates a precisely controlled volume of material at a constant rate to produce a predetermined final product. It permits multi-tasked concrete mixing ranging from normal weight to heavyweight; high performance to insulating; latex modified or mortar mix.

It can also produce colored, fiber, liquid setting, roller compacted and any other type of concrete produced by a concrete plant specifically because volumetric mixer trucks are indeed concrete plants. They produce a stream of product rather than a batch of product.

Created by Harold Zimmerman in the early 1960s, this concrete cement mixer took the concept of proportioning by volume and shifted the production from offsite to onsite. Historically, the greatest use has been the production and delivery of small quantities of product. This greatly improved the opportunity to reduce leftover waste. The concrete can be produced as needed.

Over time, this efficient mixer has been used for projects such as latex modified concrete on bridges as an overlay. Rapid hardening concretes became more common on highway projects especially with the ability of the final product to withstand the stress of automobile traffic within only a matter of hours from resurfacing.

As volumetric mixers gained in popularity due to their extraordinary benefits, additional opportunities opened up to include the fast growing do-it-yourself homeowner market and the pre-cast industry.

It is interesting to observe that used volumetric trucks are being sold to entrepreneurs who are interested in starting their own concrete batching business in areas where it is difficult for small job contractors to find economical loads. The objective is to provide ready mix concrete to those who want to control production quality and volume to meet limited project requirements.

This makes it easy to produce specialty mixes for unique situations to include shotcrete and gunite for pools, or mortar and grout production for block walls and masonry work. It is also ecologically responsive by helping to keep waste out of landfills.

The ability to handle a variety of job requirements while simultaneously controlling costs has established the volumetric concrete mixer as the preferred choice for projects around the world.