Concrete

Putzmeister Breaks Concrete Pouring Record in the World

Published

11 years ago

October 31, 2014

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Putzmeister`s machines are involved in the construction of metro rail projects, expansion and modernisation of international airports at Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore; as well as building of diverse power plants, hydraulic projects, liquefied natural gas tanks, refineries, ports, roads, bridges, high-rises, and many such challenging projects.

Putzmeister Concrete Machines India is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Putzmeister GmbH, world?s No. 1 manufacturer of high capacity concrete machines. Putzmeister India manufactures an entire range of high-tech innovative concrete equipment, adapted to the Indian market specifications and the needs at its factory and head office in Verna, Goa. The company?s sales and service network is spread across India, continuously expanding further to cater to the growing infrastructure demands of the nation. As the pioneer of R&D in concrete pumping technology, Putzmeister is dedicated to offer the best and latest innovations in India.

Putzmeister?s machines are involved in the construction of metro rail projects, and expansion and modernisation of international airports at Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bengaluru; as well as building of diverse power plants, hydraulic projects, liquefied natural gas tanks, refineries, ports, roads, bridges, high-rises and many such challenging projects.

Continuous overnight concrete pour at NCC power project
Beginning of this year, Putzmeister completed a challenging pour at NCC power plant project at Krishnapatnam in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. Putzmeister?s boom pump-BSF 36.04H-ECI-withstood the continous concreting of the foundation, which was carried on overnight, completing this feat early morning the next day. The company is proud to be associated with clients who enable us to perform extraordinary tasks.

Putzmeister continues to provide the best innovations and quality in its concrete equipment. The world and our global partners know that Putzmeister is the one who sets standards ?every single time we pour?. At the same time, on the other side of the globe, Putzmeister was all set to create a new world record in Los Angeles, US.

Putzmeister sets new Guinness World Record for longest continuous pour in US
After a great successful concrete pour in India, the next day Putzmeister set a world record in Los Angeles, US. The massive pour took place with 12 Putzmeister truck-mounted concrete boom pumps ranging from 32 m to 47 m, two Putzmeister placing boom towers and two Putzmeister trailer-mounted pumps. These concrete pumps were strategically placed both inside and above the excavation. Total 19 pumps were utilised for this enormous 16,200 cm3 concrete pouring. It took 18.5 hours to complete the pour, which steered Putzmeister towards setting a new Guinness World Record for the largest continuous concrete pour on 15 February 2014 in Los Angeles.

The pour was to lay the foundation of the Wilshire Grand project, which will be the tallest structure west of the Mississippi when finished at 73 stories and 335 m in height. Turner and Conco, the general contractor of the project, devised a plan for the concrete pour, which was located 24-29 m below street level. For the past several months, crews have prepared the site by digging a 6 m-deep pit and lining it with 3,700 tonne of reinforcing steel. "We utilised Putzmeister equipment due to its durability and reliability," said Michael Marchesano, Turner?s general superintendent. "With a continuous pour of this magnitude, you need to be able to count on your equipment to keep doing its job, even under demanding conditions."

The pour included 227 ready mix trucks making more than 2,100 trips and pouring almost 39 mt of concrete during an 18 +-hour period.

"Each truck made 10-14 concrete drops, traveling through the night between eight different concrete plants within a 30 km radius," said Marchesano. "The first batch of concrete poured onto the site came from a plant in Vernon that poured the first concrete in Southern California ever."

"We were extremely happy with how all of the Putzmeister equipment performed," said Marchesano. "A pour this size requires extensive planning, precision, and dependable equipment. Everything went more smoothly than we could have imagined."

The concrete pour qualified as the largest continuous concrete pour in history and officially claimed a Guinness world record.

High-traffic, congested location
To minimise the impact on businesses and residents, the crew began the pour on a Saturday evening and concluded around noon the next day, working throughout the night.

Given that Los Angeles is the second most populous city in the US, the construction team anticipated logistical challenges when planning the large mat pour at the project?s downtown location. "Because the concrete must be poured within 90 mins of being mixed, trucks had to arrive on time," Marchesano explained. "In case of freeway jams, alternate routes were mapped."Not only was outside traffic a concern, but job site congestion also was a challenge. Equipment had to be carefully chosen to accommodate the site?s needs.

"Through its durability and diverse selection of pumps, Putzmeister helped us overcome the challenge of having a large amount of material that needed to be poured continuously in a dense urban area," said Marchesano. "Each piece of equipment had its role and was orchestrated to help make the pour run as smoothly and efficiently as possible."

Building up
Now that the foundation is in place, the crew will begin working on the attached parking structure and 73-story building that will make up the Wilshire Grand project. Both of the existing Putzmeister MX 34-4 Placing Boom Towers that were used for the concrete pour will remain in place while the crew builds up. Two additional Putzmeister placing booms will be constructed to help place concrete for the underground parking structure.The two Putzmeister trailer pumps used on the concrete pour will also be used to pump the concrete to the placing towers. The crew will be pumping more than 60,000 m3 of concrete vertically, including lightweight concrete and C55 mixes. With such well-planned and organised preparations, we are assertive of providing precise solutions to our clients in India.

Concrete

Ultra Concrete Age

Prof. A. S. Khanna (Retd., IIT Bombay) on how Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) improves strength, durability and lifecycle performance.

Published

1 week ago

April 1, 2026

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The need of present time is stronger buildings, industrial or common utility buildings, such as Malls, Railway stations, hospitals, offices, bridges etc. For this, there is need of long durable, tough and stable concrete, which could stand under normal and seismic conditions. Tough railway bridges are required for bullet trains to pass without any damage. Railway tunnels, sea-links, coastal roads, bridges and multistorey buildings, are the need of the hour. The question comes, is the normal cement called OPC is sufficient to take care of such requirements or better combination of cements and sand mixtures is required?

Introduction

A good stable building structure can be made with a good quality of cement+sand+water system. Its quality can be enhanced by keeping the density of admixture higher (varies from 30 in normal buildings to bridges etc to 80). Further enhancement in the properties of various cements admixtures is made by adding several additives which give additional strength, waterproofing, flexibility etc. These are called construction chemicals…

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Concrete

NCB Signs MoU With Cement Manufacturer To Boost Construction Skills

Partnership to deliver nationwide training and certification

Published

1 week ago

March 31, 2026

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The National Council for Cement and Building Materials (NCB) has signed a memorandum of understanding with a leading cement manufacturer to strengthen skill development and capacity building in the construction sector. The agreement was formalised at NCB premises in Ballabgarh and was signed by the Director General of NCB, Dr L. P. Singh, and the head of technical services at UltraTech Cement Limited, Er Rahul Goel. The collaboration seeks to bring institutional resources and industry expertise into a structured national training effort.

The partnership will deliver structured training and certification programmes across the country aimed at enhancing the capabilities of civil engineers, ready?mix concrete (RMC) professionals, contractors, construction workers and masons. Programme curricula will cover material quality testing, concrete mix proportioning, durability assessment and sustainable construction practices to support improved construction outcomes. Emphasis is to be placed on standardised assessment and certification to raise practice levels across diverse construction roles.

Practical learning elements will include workshops, site demonstrations, technical seminars and exposure visits to plants and RMC facilities to strengthen applied skills and on?site decision making. The Director General indicated confidence that a large number of professionals and workers would be trained over the next three to five years under the initiative. The partnership is designed to complement flagship government schemes such as the Skill India Mission and to align training outputs with national infrastructure priorities.

By combining the council’s technical mandate with industry experience, the initiative aims to develop a more skilled and quality?conscious workforce capable of meeting rising demand in infrastructure and housing. NCB will continue to coordinate programme delivery and quality assurance while industry partners provide practical exposure and technical inputs. The collaboration is expected to support long?term capacity building and more sustainable construction practices nationwide.

Concrete

JSW Cement Commissions Nagaur Plant, Enters North India

New Rajasthan unit boosts capacity to 24.1 MTPA and expands reach

Published

1 week ago

March 30, 2026

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JSW Cement has strengthened its national presence by commencing production at its greenfield integrated cement plant in Nagaur, Rajasthan, marking its entry into the north Indian market.

With this commissioning, the company’s installed grinding capacity has increased to 24.1 MTPA, while total clinker capacity, including its joint venture operations, stands at 9.74 MTPA.

The Nagaur facility comprises a 3.30 MTPA clinkerisation unit and a 2.50 MTPA cement grinding unit, with an additional 1.00 MTPA grinding capacity currently under development. Strategically located, the plant is positioned to serve high-growth markets across Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and the NCR.

The project has been funded through a mix of equity and long-term debt, with Rs 800 crore allocated from IPO proceeds towards part-financing the unit.

Parth Jindal, Managing Director, JSW Cement, stated that the commissioning marks a key milestone in the company’s ambition to become a pan-India player. He added that the project was completed within 21 months and positions the company to achieve its targeted capacity of 41.85 MTPA by FY29.

Nilesh Narwekar, CEO, JSW Cement, highlighted that the expansion aligns with the company’s strategy to tap into rapidly growing northern markets driven by infrastructure development. He noted that the company remains focused on delivering high-quality, eco-friendly cement solutions while progressing towards its long-term capacity goal of 60 MTPA.

The Nagaur plant has been designed with sustainability features, including co-processing of alternative fuels and a 7 km overland belt conveyor for limestone transport to reduce road emissions. The facility will also incorporate a 16 MW Waste Heat Recovery System to improve energy efficiency and lower its carbon footprint.

JSW Cement, part of the JSW Group, operates across the building materials value chain and currently has eight plants across India, along with a clinker unit in the UAE through its joint venture.