Everything from the world’s tallest building to the largest dams and some of the longest bridges uses concrete as its primary material. It is also one of the oldest. Monuments of the ancient world would never have lasted until today without concrete.
Concrete is a very old construction material. Its early form appears in records from Ancient Egypt. It was the Romans, though, who used it the most. Many buildings and monuments in the Roman Empire were made of concrete. Their roads used concrete reinforced by other materials.
At its simplest, concrete is a mixture of cement, water and aggregates like sand, natural gravel and crushed stone that you place in a concrete mixer for uniform mixing. It is the requirements of the project that determine the amounts used in the final concrete mix. If the mix is right, the final product is a material that has high compression strength.
The general idea is to get the right amount of water and cement for the mix. Too much water and the concrete will suffer from a high degree of slump. Too little and the workability of the concrete suffers. Using aggregates with the wrong gradation could result in a very harsh mix that has a very low slump that cannot be fixed by adding reasonable amounts of water to the mix.
Concrete mixers (sometimes referred to as cement mixers) exist in many forms and sizes. Choosing the right one is less about what you like or what is cheapest to buy or rent but what you need and the space available at the site.
Modern mechanical engineering has allowed the design of cement mixers that are small enough to fit through doorways. They still have enough power to produce homogenous mixes in three minutes or less and in large enough volumes.
At the same time, there are portable cement mixers that have features normally found in fixed plant systems. These are excellent for construction work in remote areas or for use in small batch plants with the addition of a silo. There are even portable cement mixers capable of mixing concrete for lab use.
Heavy-duty twin shaft portable concrete mixers also exist that have the capability to mix in large volumes as well as handling tailings. Not only do you have a powerful mixer, but you also save on the cost of materials through recycling.
Concrete is the core material of every construction job. With the availability of concrete mixers for any kind of project requirement in any environment and situation, there is now no excuse for supervisors and site managers to not have the right kind and mix of concrete.
