Concrete

Putzmeister Breaks Concrete Pouring Record in the World

Published

12 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

Lokesh Lays Stone For Rs 31 Billion Cement Unit In Kadapa

Line-2 expansion to make Kadapa a major cement hub

Published

6 days ago

July 20, 2026

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Andhra Pradesh Education and IT Minister Nara Lokesh on Wednesday laid the foundation stone for the Line-2 expansion of Dalmia Bharat Cement at Chinnakomerla village in Mylavaram Mandal in Kadapa district. The project carries an investment of Rs 31 billion (bn) and is slated for completion by the third quarter of the financial year 2028. The expansion is intended to boost industrial growth and employment generation across the Rayalaseema region.

Once commissioned, the Kadapa facility will become Dalmia Bharat’s largest integrated cement manufacturing ecosystem in southern India, creating over 1,000 direct and indirect jobs and opening new business avenues for regional micro, small and medium enterprises and transport operators. Lokesh said the expansion signalled growing corporate confidence in the state and reflected the practical ease of doing business that secured repeat investment.

He placed the project within the government’s wider economic targets and recalled the Yuvagalam padayatra commitment to generate two million (mn) jobs within five years, noting that the state would cultivate talent while industry created opportunities. Lokesh highlighted Andhra Pradesh’s competitive pursuit of major manufacturing accounts, mentioning past successes and a personal initiative to engage global investors when persuading them to anchor expansion in the state.

The plant will leverage Kadapa’s abundant limestone reserves to scale production and sustainability. Clinker capacity is planned to rise from two point five million tonnes per annum (mn tpa) to six point one mn tpa, while overall cement output will increase from three point six mn tpa to nine point six mn tpa. The unit is designed to operate on over eighty per cent renewable energy and deploy waste heat recovery, zero liquid discharge, water recycling and advanced AI systems to optimise efficiency. Industries Minister TG Bharat, BC Welfare Minister S. Savitha and Jammalamadugu MLA C. Adinarayana Reddy attended the ceremony.

Concrete

Cement Prices to Stay Flat in Q2 FY27 as Costs Squeeze Margins

HDFC Securities warns monsoon slowdown and higher fuel costs

Published

1 week ago

July 17, 2026

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HDFC Securities has said the cement industry is unlikely to register a sequential increase in prices in Q2 FY27 as monsoon-related demand moderation coincides with rising fuel and packaging costs that will squeeze margins. The brokerage observed that price gains remained modest, with increases of two to three per cent quarter-on-quarter across regions, and noted subdued offtake in May with improvement in June as a delayed monsoon supported construction activity. The brokerage added that modest pricing gains so far have been insufficient to offset the input cost escalation.

The report stated that input cost pressures intensified in Q1 FY27 owing to the West Asia conflict, which pushed up coal and pet coke prices and is expected to keep fuel costs elevated, with a likely peak in Q2 FY27. It assessed that total variable costs, including packing, could rise by around Rs 150 per t quarter-on-quarter and that lower offtake and seasonal operating deleverage could further raise operating expenditure by about Rs 50 per t quarter-on-quarter.

Overall, cement prices were estimated to remain flat in Q2 FY27 as monsoon-led demand weakness offsets limited upside in realisation, and rising fuel costs alongside seasonal deleverage were expected to compress industry margins by over Rs 100 per t quarter-on-quarter to below Rs 880 per t. The brokerage indicated that the combined impact of energy inflation and higher packing expenditure would be the principal drivers of margin contraction in the near term. HDFC Securities projected a recovery in margins in H2 FY27 should the West Asia turmoil subside and energy and packing costs cool off.

The brokerage expressed optimism on long-term demand fundamentals and said improving realisation together with an anticipated cost cool-off should support a margin rebound from H2 FY27 onward, underpinning favourable industry prospects over the medium term. Its outlook rests on monsoon normalisation and a decline in imported fuel prices in the second half of the fiscal year.

Concrete

Dalmia Bharat Begins Rs 31 Bn Green Cement Unit in Kadapa

New Andhra Pradesh plant to add 9.6 MTPA cement capacity by FY28

Published

1 week ago

July 16, 2026

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Dalmia Bharat Limited recently laid the foundation stone for its second manufacturing unit at Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh. The company will invest Rs 31 billion in developing the next-generation integrated cement manufacturing facility.

The foundation-laying ceremony was attended by Nara Lokesh, Andhra Pradesh Minister for Information Technology, Electronics and Communications, Real-Time Governance and Human Resources Development, along with Puneet Dalmia, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dalmia Bharat, senior government officials and company representatives.

Scheduled to be commissioned by the third quarter of FY28, the Kadapa unit will become Dalmia Bharat’s largest integrated manufacturing facility in southern India. It will have a clinker production capacity of 6.1 million tonnes per annum and a cement manufacturing capacity of 9.6 million tonnes per annum.

The facility is designed to produce what the company describes as one of the world’s greenest cements. It is also expected to generate approximately 1,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities while supporting local MSMEs, transporters, contractors and service providers.

Lokesh said the investment reflected Dalmia Bharat’s confidence in Andhra Pradesh and aligned with the state’s objective of promoting sustainable industrialisation, job creation and technology-led economic growth.

Puneet Dalmia said the project represented the company’s long-term vision of developing low-carbon cement manufacturing assets. He added that the facility would establish new benchmarks in operational efficiency and sustainability while supporting India’s infrastructure and environmental goals.

Dalmia Bharat will also expand its regional community development programmes in education, healthcare, skill development and welfare through its DIKSHa and Gram Parivartan initiatives.

The company currently has an installed cement manufacturing capacity of 54.7 million tonnes across 19 manufacturing units in 12 states. It is also the first cement company globally to commit to the RE100, EP100 and EV100 initiatives.