Slab pumping is one of the major causes of failure in concrete pavements.
What once used to be a difficult walk down a steep, graffiti-marked pathway is now a leisurely descent down a 100-foot-long concrete stairway. The set of steps leading down to Eucalyptus Lane Beach in Montecito, California is not only functional, hiding a sewage pumping station and other unsightly utilities, but it blends with the environment by incorporating sandstone boulders and stones.
Using jackhammers to strip heads of foundation piles is a time-consuming process that can take an hour or more for each pile. Now there is an alternative to the jackhammer that's quicker, easier, and more economical: a hydraulic pile cutting machine that can strip a pile head and carry away the cutting debris to a dump truck in just 3 to 5 minutes.
A plastic forming system designed to save form erection and stripping time needs no nailing, double staking, or form release agents for assembly. Its basic components include 2x4- or 2x6-inch forms, end connectors, and cam lock clamps. The hollow forms are about one-third the weight of wood. Molded plastic connectors stapled into the ends of each form allow workers to snap forms together for setup and unsnap them when stripping. Each form has a dovetail slot that runs the entire length of one side. Reusable cam lock clamps can be inserted anywhere along the slot to coincide with stake locations, even after the form is in place.
While searching for a way to cool concrete and still make a profit, Hodgson Concrete Company of Montgomery, Alabama learned about a water-source pump that controls batch water temperature to either cool or heat concrete.
