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

UltraTech Cement FY26 PAT Crosses Rs 80 bn

Company reports record sales, profit and 200 MTPA capacity milestone

Published

2 days ago

April 29, 2026

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UltraTech Cement reported record financial performance for Q4 and FY26, supported by strong volumes, higher profitability and improved cost efficiency. Consolidated net sales for Q4 FY26 rose 12 per cent year-on-year to Rs 254.67 billion, while PBIDT increased 20 per cent to Rs 56.88 billion. PAT, excluding exceptional items, grew 21 per cent to Rs 30.11 billion.

For FY26, consolidated net sales stood at Rs 873.84 billion, up 17 per cent from Rs 749.36 billion in FY25. PBIDT rose 32 per cent to Rs 175.98 billion, while PAT increased 36 per cent to Rs 83.05 billion, crossing the Rs 80 billion mark for the first time.

India grey cement volumes reached 42.41 million tonnes in Q4 FY26, up 9.3 per cent year-on-year, with capacity utilisation at 89 per cent. Full-year India grey cement volumes stood at 145 million tonnes. Energy costs declined 3 per cent, aided by a higher green power mix of 43 per cent in Q4.

The company’s domestic grey cement capacity has crossed 200 MTPA, reaching 200.1 MTPA, while global capacity stands at 205.5 MTPA. UltraTech also recommended a special dividend of Rs 2.40 billion per share value basis equivalent to Rs 240.

Concrete

Towards Mega Batching

Optimised batching can drive overall efficiencies in large projects.

Published

3 days ago

April 28, 2026

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India’s pace of infrastructure development is pushing the construction sector to work at a significantly higher scale than previously. Tight deadlines necessitate eliminating concreting delays, especially in large and mega projects, which, in turn, imply installing the right batching plant and ensuring batching is efficient. CW explores these steps as well as the gaps in India’s batching plant market.

Choose well

Large-scale infrastructure and building projects typically involve concrete consumption exceeding 30,000-50,000 cum per annum or demand continuous, high-volume pours within compressed timelines, according to Rahul R Wadhai, DGM – Quality, Tata Projects.

Considering the daily need for concrete, “large-scale concreting involves pouring more than 1,000–2,000 cum per day while mega projects involve more than 3,000 cum per day,” says Satish R Vachhani, Advanced Concrete & Construction Consultant…

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Concrete

Andhra Offers Discom Licences To Private Firms Outside Power Sector

Policy allows firms over 300 MW to seek distribution licences

Published

4 days ago

April 27, 2026

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The Andhra Pradesh government will allow private firms that require more than 300 megawatt (MW) of power to apply for distribution licences, making the state the first to extend such licences beyond the power sector. The policy targets information technology, pharmaceuticals, steel and data centres and aims to reduce reliance on state utilities as demand rises for artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Approved applicants will be able to procure electricity directly from generators through power purchase agreements, a change officials said will create more competitive tariffs and reduce supply risk. Licence holders will use the Andhra Pradesh Transmission Company (APTRANSCO) network on payment of charges and will not need a separate distribution network initially.

Licences will be granted under the Electricity Act, 2003 framework, with the Central and State electricity regulators retaining authority over terms and approvals. The recent Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2025 sought to lower entry barriers, enable network sharing and encourage competition, while the state commission will set floor and ceiling tariffs where multiple discoms operate.

Industry players and original equipment manufacturers welcomed the policy, saying competitive supply is vital for large data centre investments. Major projects and partnerships such as those involving Adani and Google, Brookfield and Reliance, and Meta and Sify Technologies are expected to benefit as capacity expands in the state.

Analysts noted India’s data centre capacity is forecast to reach 10 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 and cited International Energy Agency estimates that global data centre electricity consumption could approach 945 terawatt hours by the same year. A one GW data centre needs an equivalent power allocation and one point five times the water, which authorities equated to 150 billion litres (150 bn litres).

Advisers warned that distribution licences will require close regulation and monitoring to prevent misuse and to ensure tariffs and supply obligations are met. Officials said the policy aims to balance investor requirements with regulatory oversight and could serve as a model for other states.