Do you need concrete for your building site in London, Surrey or the South East? Are you wondering if you’ll need concrete pump hire, as your site has hard-to-reach areas that will make barrowing difficult? *Or are you doing an extension in the back garden but want to keep mess to a minimal? Here’s everything you need to know about Rapid Readymix’s concrete pump hire services – from what pumps we use to how you prepare for a delivery.
What is a ground line concrete pump?
With a ground line pump, concrete is pumped from a powerful hydraulic pump on a small truck through a series of pipes that run along the ground, around any obstacles, to where the concrete is needed. The concrete pipeline can be made from steel or flexible material. At Rapid Readymix, we use a mix of both, 90 and 45-degree “elbow” joints to create the most efficient route from our truck to where the concrete is needed.
Most jobs use up to 20 metres of pipeline, but we can supply over 100 metres if needed (just tell us in advance if you need more, as we provide up to 60 metres as standard). It’s much faster than barrowing – with our pumps, you’ll get about 1m3 of concrete per minute.
Why are Rapid Different?
Our concrete pump hire services includes a multiple-man team of operators who will carry everything, install all of the pipeline, perform the pumping operation and then tidy up. Leaving you to focus on laying the concrete with no hassle.
Ground line pumps are great for navigating:
- Tight spots: The pipes are narrow enough to fit through small spaces where you wouldn’t be able to squeeze a wheelbarrow.
- Corners: The pipeline can be set up to snake around corners, using either flexi pipes or steel corner pipes.
What is a boom pump?
With a boom pump, concrete is pumped from a powerful hydraulic pump on a truck along a pipe that’s mounted on a large boom arm. The boom arm extends over buildings and obstacles to direct the concrete to exactly where it’s needed. They’re great for reaching high and low. While ground line pumps go around obstacles, booms go over and under them.
Boom pumps are ideal for sites where there’s limited ground access (making ground line pumps unsuitable). Our boom pump hire service can reach anywhere from 20 metres to 72 metres. Just like our ground line pumps, our boom pumps transport about 1m3 of concrete per minute.
Ground line pumps are great for navigating:
- Tight spots: The pipes are narrow enough to fit through small spaces where you wouldn’t be able to squeeze a wheelbarrow.
- Corners: The pipeline can be set up to snake around corners, using either flexi pipes or steel corner pipes.
Boom pumps are great for navigating:
- Tall structures: The hydraulic boom arm will extend over houses and other buildings, as well as walls, fences and trees.
- Areas without suitable ground access: You can use a boom pump if you need to pump concrete over a stretch of water or across a busy construction site.
- Stairs: Boom pumps are ideal for getting concrete to the upper storeys of buildings.
How do I prepare my site for a concrete pump job?
On the day of your concrete delivery, you need to:
- Secure enough parking space: We need to be able to park our volumetric concrete mixer and our pump vehicle directly outside the property, so you’ll need to secure about 25 metres of parking on the roadside (that’s 3 to 4 car lengths). If you know that parking is going to be an issue, or the road has limited access, let us know as early as possible so that we can work out what to do.
- Clear your site: Make sure the site is clear so that we can start pumping as quickly as possible.
What is the process of concrete pump hire?
The small truck carrying the pump will pull up at your site and our team will set up the line from the truck to where the concrete is needed. The mixer will then pull up behind the pump truck and pour the freshly mixed concrete into the pump’s hopper. Our team will operate the pump as it transports concrete from the hopper to the pour site. Once your concrete has been pumped, our team will pack away the pipeline and wash out the pump’s hopper (we’ll need to dispose of the slurry onsite – read the Wash Out section of this page for more information). We’ll clean up after ourselves and leave your site as we found it.
Why Rapid Readymix?
At Rapid Readymix, all our concrete is BSI-certified, so you can be sure you’re getting the best quality every time. We mix all our concrete in our state-of-the-art volumetric mixers, which means it’s delivered fresh and you only pay for what you use (for more information, read our article on the benefits of volumetric concrete). You’ll get quality-assured concrete delivered quickly, efficiently and without any mess – even if your site has limited access.
Do you need concrete pumping for your building project? Contact us at Rapid Readymix today. We can provide concrete pumps for sites across London, Surrey and the South East.
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